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It feels blissful, and I moan a little.

She flushes. “Stop that. That’s what got us into this mess in the first place.”

I’m laughing again but fuck, my ribs hurt.

“I think you should talk to Grayson. Alone. I’ll deal with my parents.”

I nod slowly to not hurt my face, and she kisses me hesitantly on the cheek.

“Meredith…”

I want to ask her if she will ever be able to forgive me, if she can ever love me, but the words won’t come. I guess if she can’t, I really don’t want to know.

She walks out of the bathroom, and I follow.

Grayson paces around the foyer, and I brace myself on one of the lounge couches, still feeling slightly dizzy.

“I’m not sorry I hit you,” he grinds out from between gritted teeth, and I shrug.

“Fair enough.”

“You’ve been seeing her since she was eighteen?”

“No. We got together, then, but we broke up. Just before she went to college.”

He frowns, then his eyes widen. “Which is why she had that breakdown.”

I don’t respond, and Grayson groans.

“Why does it have to be you?”

“I’m not good enough for her. I know that.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

I sigh. “I heard you and your parents talking more than once. I heard it when your mother told you I am a nobody. No news there, but it still hurt.”

“You were never a nobody to me. And apparently, not to my sister, either. But why the fuck did you have to mess with my sister?”

“I know, I’m not Whitlock-worthy, right?”

“What? No! That’s not what I mean, you idiot! I mean, you’re my best friend. Who am I supposed to talk to about girls?”

“You don’t talk about girls. You talk about Lillian.”

“Then who do I talk to about her?”

“Still me. Doesn’t have to change.”

“While you’re married to my sister?”

I look up at him. “Wh-what?”

“Well, you do plan to do the right thing, don’t you?”

“She won’t have me.”

Grayson laughs.