Page 125 of Unspoken Hearts
I gently lift a shoulder. “Another week. Maybe sooner if Grayson hasn’t forgiven me by then. I reckon he’ll want me out of there quicker.” A frown pulls between my brows.
“At least you’ll have somewhere to go.” Macie’s tone is quiet as she looks away, obviously thinking about him again. “I won’t have anywhere to go if he tells me to leave.”
My mouth presses together. “It’ll be fine, cowgirl,” I let out gently, meaning it. “Trust me.”
Macie hums, not sounding entirely convinced.
Sighing, I pull my phone out of my pocket. Clicking on my many messages I've sent to Grayson today, I add another one quickly before shutting it off and dropping it in the box beside me.
I look at Macie who spins around her legs to face me, eyes brilliant and wide, lips perfectly pink and freckles bright in the afternoon light. I stare at her, studying the parts of her I’ve memorised from years of only being able to glance her way. The sweep of her cheekbones, the sharpness of her jaw, and lines of her more prominent collarbones.
Macie’s always been the girl I can’t see living without. Like without her I can’t breathe properly. I don’t feel whole without her beside me. She’s my world; what my thoughts revolve around. The first thing I think about when I wake, and the last thought when I close my eyes.
I’ll never let her go, even if my brother tries tearing us apart.
“Can I ask you something?” Macie interrupts my thoughts, blinking at me.
“You just did,” I quip calmly. Her head tilts but a faint smirk pulls in her mouth. “Go ahead.”
Her hands fiddle in her lap as she looks away at the view, the sunlight shining off her large eyes as I wait for her to continue. “Do you ever think about leaving this place?”
I frown, my chest heaving a little. “No, never. Why?”
She shrugs. “It’s something I thought about when Axel asked me to move away with him.” She pauses, licking her dry lips. “He wants to finish uni so that we can find a better place to live, but this feels like the only place where I’ve actually felt wanted, as dumb as that is to say right now with everything going on….”
My heart sink a little. I grab her hand, linking her thinner fingers with my rough ones, the warmth of our connection spreading up my arm like fire. “I don’t want to leave this place, because this will always be my home, and I think you feel like this is your home as well.”
Nodding slowly, she peers down at our joined hands. “I really don’t want Grayson to make me leave.”
My smile falls as I look down into her shiny eyes, knowing that she’s been afraid of the same thing I have since Grayson stormed off this morning.
What if he doesn’t agree to this?
What if he doesn’t give us his blessing?
What if he doesn’t want anything to do with Macie now?
I shake my head to release those confusing thoughts. The familiar ache starts in the middle of my skull as I tuck her hair under my chin, holding her closer than ever.
Macie needs me right now.
“He won’t.”
“How can you be sure?” The raspiness of her voice rocks me to my core.
I’m silent for a long time, holding her in my arms, grateful I can finally do this after so many years of waiting, but what if all those dreams were useless? Pointless? Nothing but heart breaking dreams that my brother might shatter within a blink of an eye.
“I’m not,” I answer honestly, tone low. She sucks in an inhale. “But I don’t think he’d make you leave after everything you’ve been through.”
I hear her swallow, tears silently slipping down her cheeks. I pull away, holding her face in my cupped hands. Large green eyes stare up into mine, full of fear and agony like they were when I first saw her. She was so young, and I had no idea what she was facing, but I’d seen the look in her eyes. The silent pleading for help in her incessant need to never look weak. I saw right through those iron-clad walls she had up, seeing the scared girl who needed people to look out for her. I silently promised I would do whatever I could to protect her without Grayson realising.
Staring down at her, I chew on my lip. “You’ll have a place to stay, Mae. I’ll make sure of it.” My blood thumps loudly in my neck, heavy like sludge.
“But Honey Haven is my home.” I can hear the truth in her tone. “I belong there.”
That makes the muscles in my jaw tighten. “Even if Grayson doesn’t agree tothis?”
She shakes her head, forcing down saliva, cheeks flushing pink. “He has to.”
