Beautiful Graves(96)

“Okay, let me talk to my dad. I’ll join you tomorrow or the next day.”

“No time.” He grabs my hand between us and tugs me to his body. I let myself enjoy his warmth. His hardness. “Tomorrow morning. Let’s go grab your suitcase. You don’t even have to bring your purse. My treat.”

I kiss the side of his neck. “All right, Bill Gates. That’s enough. I need to head back home. Dad and Donna are going to Mexico tomorrow.”

“We’re really not going to have sex, are we?” Joe’s face falls. His hand is pressed on the small of my back. His erection is digging into my stomach. I’m turned on. I want to have sex. But I feel like we’ve both made huge progress, and I just want to know we’re not acting on instinct here because of what we just found out about Dom.

“Not even a little.”

“Ever.” He buries his head in my shoulder, laughing. “You’re killing me.”

“Okay, let’s make a deal that a Graves family member can never say that to me, not even jokingly.” I rub his back.

It makes him laugh harder. “We’re dark.”

“That’s why we’re drawn to each other.”

“But the wine sucks.” He pulls away, making a disgusted face.

“The wine blows!” I laugh. “I bet Damon Albarn drinks fine wine. We’re Oasis. Cheap lager and crisps all the way.”

“Vinegar crisps.”

“I can do you one grosser.” I gag. “Prawn cocktail crisps.”

He is staring at me now, the way he used to, in Spain. Openly and without embarrassment. “This week was the first one in years where I’ve been genuinely happy.”

I smile. “Me too.”

“Do you feel guilty?” he asks.

“A little,” I admit. “You?”

“Nope.”

I don’t tell him what I’m thinking. That we both just found out Dom tried to ruin our lives . . . but that we still forgive him.

Because the wound is closed, and it’s time to move on.





TWENTY-SEVEN


I tell Dad and Donna that I have things to sort out in Salem.

It’s not a lie per se. I do have things to do in Salem.

I need to notify my landlord that Nora and I are breaking the lease. To officially move out of the pigsty also known as my apartment and remove the remainder of the furniture I left there, and I also need to give the Graveses the engagement ring back.

I don’t mention that I’m going to spend time with Joe. I don’t have to. They know he’s been in San Francisco this whole last week and can connect the dots themselves.

“Just don’t let the time there cloud your judgment.” Dad is standing at the door, holding his suitcase handle, looking worried. This is his way of saying, Please don’t turn your back on us again for dick. I hear him loud and clear.

“What he means to say is, don’t feel pressured to make a decision one way or the other.” Donna plays the good cop, giving Dad a playful shove. “We’re happy you’re choosing to go back to school, no matter where you’ll be.”

Renn bumps his shoulder against mine, ambling toward the door. “’Kay. ’Nuff talking. Dad, Donna, go away. I’ll drive Ever to SFO. Have fun. Buy us gifts. Expensive ones. Goodbye.”

He slams the door in their faces.

“Rude!” Dad points out from the other side of the door, and we laugh.

Renn turns to me, all business. “You all packed, sis?”

I nod, patting the duffel bag that I’m holding. Dad and Donna’s flight leaves from Oakland International Airport, so we couldn’t ride together.

“Finally. I’ll have the house to myself. Thank you, Big Guy.” Renn winks and points at the ceiling.

“You think having the house to yourself required divine intervention?” I raise an eyebrow.

Renn sighs. “It’s been really bad, Ev. These people have, like, no life at all. They’re always around.”

“There’s a solution for that,” I point out.

“Already thought about it.” Renn shakes his head. “I love them too much to kill them and make it look like a suicide pact.”

I laugh. “I mean rent an apartment, you jackass.”

“Excuse me?” Renn coughs, feigning shock. “This is San Francisco. I can’t even rent a storage locker.”

On the car ride to the airport, I ask, “Did you break up with that older chick?”

“I did, actually.”

“How’d she take it?”

“Too well for my fragile little ego.” He moves a toothpick around his mouth. “I think it was her wake-up call. She told me, ‘Oh my God, my boy toy is dumping me. I really did hit rock bottom.’”

“She sounds like a smart cookie,” I say, with all honesty. “Way too smart to be wasting time with your barely legal ass.”

He chuckles. “She decided to confront her husband as a result. They had a big blowup, and now they’re trying to work on their marriage. She quit her surfing lessons because her husband wasn’t comfortable with her being taught by a guy who knows what it feels like to put his dick into every hole in her body.”

“Surely, you could have told me this story without the last gross TMI bit.”