Page 118 of Unspoken Hearts
Grayson steps closer, his body towering over mine as he repeats in a rough voice, “You betrayed me, Macie.”
My eyes flick between his menacing, glassy ones. I nod slowly. “I—” Pulling his face away, it turns glacial again, and I lunge for him. “Please, Gray. I never meant to—”
“But you did, Macie. You’ve hurt me. And I don’t want you near me,” he bites out, making my gut roil.
I reach for him once more, and he pushes me away like I weigh nothing. “Stop it!”
“Don’t touch her!” Reid shouts from behind me.
Grayson glares in his direction. “Don’t tell me what to do!”
Reid grabs him again, and I feel the rush of bodies swarming me. Austin rips Reid off, pushing him away. I hold my stomach, trying to control my breathing that’s becoming uneven.
Pulse hammering, I peer up to see Grayson’s menacing glare. “Please don’t leave. Don’t go like this, Gray. Please, I’m still your friend!”
He shakes his head, making me cough on my tears. “No, you’re not. A friend wouldn’t go behind my back like this. A friend wouldn’t hurt me this badly. Go away, Macie. Go have Reid because I don’t want you anymore.”
I choke on a sob as Grayson turns his back on me, storming inside. My body caves in as I give in to the emotion. I don’t hold back tears as I fall to my knees, sitting in the dirt. Holden’s arms surround me. I lean againsthim, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably, seeing Grayson’s hurt face branded in my memory. Sawyer runs after Grayson.
“It’ll be okay,” Holden mumbles against my ear, but it feels like an empty promise.
My life just tore apart once again all because of me.
Chapter thirty-three
Reid
“Explain.”
My hand runs over my face as I kick the dusty floor, my blood heating at how Grayson yelled at Macie. I can take his shouting and frustration, but not Macie. She doesn’t deserve that.
I stare at my dad, waiting for my answer with tightly crossed arms. I don’t hold back.
“I love her, Dad. I want to be with her, and I have for a really long time, and I guess since her being here, we realised that we wanted to be together, but we didn’t want to hurt Grayson.”
He huffs a long breath, dragging his fingers through his greying hair, looking like he’s about to burst as well. “You two have got to stop with this jealousy, because now it’s costing too much.”
“That’s not what this is,” I grit back.
Sharp, indigo eyes land on mine, and I slam my mouth shut. “What else do you call this then?” He walks closer, no flicker of amusement or patience in his older features.
I shove my hands in my jeans pocket and shrug. “I never wanted to compete with Gray, especially over Macie. Believe me, I tried to ignore my feelings for years, but I couldn’t anymore. I don’t want to.”
“Well Gray obviously doesn’t see it that way. He thinks that Macie is now going to leave him for you. And in a sense, she will, but she’s been his friend for years, and you know how hard it was for him to make friends when he was younger.”
I rub the back of my neck as memories push into my mind of Grayson struggling in primary school because he was too bossy and trying to out do everyone. Nobody wanted to be around him, so I was always having to look after him. I never minded, because I was used to him trying to be better than me at everything. I would usually just let him win to keep him from whining, but when I left for high school, he didn’t really have anyone, except for Laynie who must have loved him back then to put up with his nonsense.
Two years later, going into high school, that’s when they met Macie and became best friends. Grayson has gotten better recently, but he still has this charge in him to try and prove himself with everything, even if there is no competition.
“I never meant to take away his friend, but I couldn’t ignore my feelings anymore. Why should I ignore it just to make my brother feel better? That’s not fair.”
Dad steps closer, his hands coming to rest on my shoulders. “You know I want you to be happy. I have seen the way you look at her, and protected her even before anything happened between the two of you, but Grayson is also my son. I have to think about him too, and right now, he probably feels like he’s been stabbed in the back, because he has been.”
“How do you think Macie feels?” I snip out bitterly, and his hands drop to his sides. “Her parents left her, her aunt, and now Gray. Did you think about that?”
Dad is silent for a moment before saying calmly, “I know about everything with Macie, and believe me, I feel sorry for her. Nobody should go through what she’s been through, but I don’t think Grayson will see it that way, at least not for now.”
“What do you meannot for now?”
