Page 78 of Crash and Burn

"If you need help burying the body..." she joked.

I'd spent half the day dreading a confrontation with Grant. Now that he'd proven himself to be too much of a coward to show his face, all I wanted to do was storm up to him and demand an explanation.

I was half contemplating just showing up at his place unannounced when the door chimed and one last customer walked in.

It was Grant.

My heart leaped.

I hadn't expected him to show up at all today. Now was my chance. The bar was close to shutting down for the evening. I could shoo everyone away and give Grant a piece of my mind.

Then my heart, which had taken up residence in my throat, sunk to the floor as another person walked in behind him.

It washer.That girl. Alana.

She immediately plastered herself to Grant's side and took his hand in hers.

"Why are you here?" The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.

That woman blinked her pretty, long-lashed eyes at me.

"I came to apologize," she said. "I made quite a scene when I just showed up here. I feel bad about not introducing myself to you properly."

"And who would that be?" Evan said with a charming smile, but there was an edge of cold steel behind the words.

"Alana is—" Grant paused.

Alana filled in the silence. “I’m Grant’s—“

"It's complicated," Grant said, talking over Alana as she tried to continue. "We're still figuring things out."

I almost threw up in my mouth.

"We've known each other since we were kids,” she trilled. “We were inseparable. And now that I'm back in town—" The woman looked up at him and beamed.

Grant turned his gaze to me.

"I was wondering if we could talk?" Grant asked carefully.

A hundred responses flitted through my mind but none of them seemed appropriate.

With a decision made in a split second, I whirled around and grabbed my purse from behind the counter.

"Bar's closed now, right?" I asked Mason.

"Yes..." he said slowly, looking between Grant and me as if watching a slow-motion train wreck.

"I'm taking off then," I replied curtly.

Giving Grant and that woman a wide berth, I made my way to the front door, my fists clenching my purse straps.

"Liz—" Grant reached out to stop me but I ignored his outstretched hand and kept walking.

I kept walking until I crossed the threshold and found myself on the sidewalk, the cool evening air hitting my face.

I walked out without a single word.

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