Shattered Dreams (Boys of Bellerose, #3)(41)

“Right,” I breathed. “Easy as. So, what do you think is really going on with Gray?”

Rhett’s hold on my hand tightened again, his only reaction to my random conversation switch. I just really needed the distraction from my unease over flying, and what better distraction than my unease over a lover acting like a stranger.

“I honestly have no idea,” Rhett said softly, shifting his head just enough that I knew he was staring at the drummer. “It’s not in his personality to freak out over sex or this sharing dynamic we have going on. That wasn’t the first time you two fucked, so it can’t be anything like that, and I also don’t see him losing his shit over discovering that he’s completely in love with you. Which the bullheaded asshole is.”

Our relationship right now couldn’t be farther from love if it fucking tried.

“Could it be a personal problem from his life before Bellerose?” I wondered. “I mean, he’s ignored all of you as well. Maybe the timing of whatever happened to him just happened to coincide with us being in bed together.”

I was grasping at any excuse, but the truth was, until Grayson told us himself, we would always be guessing.

“He’s too old to ignore us because personal shit is going on in his life,” Rhett said shortly. “All it would have taken was a brief call or text to explain what he was doing for us not to worry, and we’d have left him to it. Whatever the reason, he still needs his ass kicked.”

“Motherfucker,” I muttered, but the rest of my rage was cut off as the engine sound increased, and I could almost feel the plane gearing up to take off. Rhett’s warning about the initial thrust allowed me to keep my calm when it happened, and I only closed my eyes for a few seconds as the ground first started to fade away outside my window.

My worry over Grayson muted as I watched our ascent, the clouds such an incredible sight out the window. It took longer than I expected for us to stop ascending and finally level out, and when that happened, the seatbelt-sign light disappeared and people began to move about the cabin. Hannah made her way to the front bathrooms, the flight hosts started to bang about in the kitchenette, and I felt myself relaxing into my seat. I’d been tenser than I realized until I’d finally allowed myself to relax.

“How was that?” Rhett asked. Our hands were still clasped together, and I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather take my first adult flight with.

“Better and scarier than I expected,” I said with a laugh. “It’s incredible to see houses and land turn into tiny Lego landscapes, and then the vast expanse of water… makes you feel kind of small and insignificant.”

Rhett ran his thumb along my palm. “You’ll never be insignificant, Billie. No matter how small you feel. The most precious parts of the world are often found in small packages.”

This motherfucker. He was going to kill me one day with his poetic kindness.

“Thank you,” I whispered. “Fuck. Don’t get me crying before I yell at Grayson. He’ll think I’m sad then, and I’m mostly furious as hell.”

Rhett’s laugh was low and soothing. “Sweetheart, every man knows that if a woman is crying while she’s yelling at you, she’s reached maximum pissed off, and you should either run or shut the fuck up. Both, really.”

“Both is the best,” I agreed, my own laughter spilling free. It felt nice to joke again after the past few days of feeling stressed and sad.

Two factors that could have been resolved with one conversation.

A conversation I was about to fucking have.





eighteen





BILLIE


Rhett let me go with a “Good luck and shout if you need me.” I really hoped I didn’t need him, because that would mean this conversation had taken a terrible turn.

Angelo met my gaze as I moved along the center aisle. “You okay?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Fine, just need to have a conversation. You know how it is.”

He didn’t say anything else, but his expression was grim as he followed my progress, and when I turned away from him to look for Grayson—who was not in his seat any longer—I somehow knew that the mafia prince’s eyes remained on me.

Jace had his head buried in his phone as I passed, and the fact that he was also ignoring me didn’t bother me as much as Grayson. I knew why Jace was an asshole. This was completely out of character for Gray, and that was what scared me the most.

The back part of the plane was unfamiliar to me, and I was surprised to see a closed door that didn’t look like it was attached to a bathroom. Turning the handle, it opened easily, and I found Grayson sitting on the end of the bed. Of course, Bellerose’s private plane had a fucking bedroom.

Why was I even surprised?

“Figured you’d want some privacy,” he said shortly. “To talk.”

He was cold. Cold in a way I’d never felt, except maybe the first night I’d walked into their hotel suite. His gaze then had been impassive, and he’d said very little, but I’d felt the weight of his stare. That Grayson almost felt like a dream compared to the flesh-and-blood man I knew now.

A bad dream returning to life.

“Why do we need privacy?” I asked, surprised at how steady my voice was because I sure as fuck didn’t feel steady on the inside.