Page 19 of Pretty When It Burns (When The Lights Go Down #1)

Chapter sixteen

"Reckless" - The Strike

Grayson

I’ve done it.

Mia is here.

Part of me still can’t believe it, but here she is, nestled in my bed in LA, tired after a long day of travel.

I brush her dark chocolate hair away from her face, my fingers lingering on her skin before I lean down to press a kiss to her temple. Her eyelids flutter open at my touch and she turns to face me, her eyes meeting mine with a sleepy warmth.

“I was in the middle of a really good dream,” she says.

“Oh yeah?” I grin.

“Yeah. This really hot guy I used to know whisked me away to his big mansion in LA, and asked me to live there with him.”

I chuckle at her words, unable to resist crawling into the bed with her before leaning in to kiss her.

“Well, I’m here to tell you,” I reply, one hand sneaking down her leggings to squeeze her ass. “That you’re not dreaming. You’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

She smiles that brilliant smile I know can undo me every time. Nestling into me further, my hand still positioned underneath the thin fabric where it belongs, I wrap my other arm around her.

“What do you want to do today, beautiful?” I ask her, brushing another kiss along her forehead.

“What, you don’t have some exciting, fun-filled day planned to convince me this was really a good idea?” she asks.

Shit. Fucking shit.

I absolutely should’ve had a big, romantic gesture in mind once I finally got her here.

“Uh, yeah, I mean—I suppose I should’ve planned that,” I stammer, obviously flustered. “Give me the rest of the morning to figure something out? Plus, I need to check in with the guys, if any of them are here.”

“I’m sure Rylee and I can entertain ourselves for a while,” she laughs. “Maybe you should check in with your sister, too, if she’s still hanging around?”

“Right,” I groan. “My sister.”

I’m absolutely certain Johanna is still hanging around.

With all that’s been going on, I haven’t made the time to see if she’s really planning on staying, or check in with her on how she’s dealing with our mother’s illness. Just because I’m not planning to do anything about it doesn’t mean I’m not going to be there for Joey.

“Grayson, I know she’s different than she was when we were growing up,” Mia says. “But why does her being here bother you so much? You tense up anytime someone mentions her name.”

Lily always complained I’m impossible to read, that she could never tell what I was thinking, but not Mia. She reads me like a damn book.

“It’s not so much the issue of her being here,” I sigh, deciding it’s time to let Mia in.

“It’s that she comes here, then turns around and gives a report of my life to my mother, who refuses to call and ask me herself.

It’s infuriating, because she doesn’t deserve to know anything about my life, but Johanna makes it so she knows—whether I like it or not.

No matter how many times I tell her not to do it, she ignores me and does it anyway. ”

“Check in with the boys, and go find your sister,” Mia says as I roll over and groan into my pillow in protest. “I’ll be waiting for you when you get back. We’ll spend the rest of the day together doing whatever you want. Deal?”

“Deal, baby,” I reply, rolling over to face her again with a smile.

A whole day with just me and my girl? There’s nothing that can make me say no.

As soon as Mia gets ready and goes to catch up with Rylee, I go to see which of my bandmates are still at the house. Apparently, the answer is all of them.

I find them in the media room playing a racing game on the Xbox.

“I’m an idiot,” I state plainly, interrupting their game.

“Yeah, we knew that,” Tony smirks, pressing pause. “Did your super well-planned attempt to go after Mia blow up in your face?”

“No,” I retort, whipping the nearest pillow at Tony’s face, almost wishing it’s something that packs more punch. “Actually, she’s here. I brought her back with me, and she’s going to be staying for a while. But, I can’t say I made a plan for what to do once I finally got her here.”

“Classic you,” Eric says with a roll of his eyes. “But on a similar note, Rylee is here too. She finally agreed to move in.”

Brandon, who I was most nervous to see after the way we’d left things, starts a slow clap from his spot on the couch.

“Congratulations, guys,” he says sarcastically.

“What did I do?” Eric presses.

“I’m just wondering if you’re going to stop cheating on Rylee every other night now that she lives here,” Brandon replies sharply.

“Okay, first of all, you know I haven’t slept with anyone else in over a year,” Eric snaps. “I’m done messing around. I’m thirty fucking years old and I need to start acting like it. I want Rylee. I’m done pretending I don’t.”

“You better mean it this time, Eric,” Brandon warns. “If you hurt her again, I promise you, I will beat your ass.”

“Okay, and we’re moving on!” Tony announces, lifting the tension as always. “Back to helping Grayson, guys, come on.”

Surprisingly, it’s Brandon who speaks up, yet again.

“You sure as hell don’t deserve my help,” he says.

He’s right, I don’t—but he keeps going anyway.

He reminds me of how one of the first things we did together as a band after Eric and I first moved to LA was hike up to the Hollywood sign.

None of us had ever been, and it seemed like a right of passage now that we lived here.

We hiked up just before the sun set, cracked open a few beers, played a few songs, and celebrated the beginning of our new chapter.

It’s the perfect plan for my first night here with Mia.

“Brandon,” I say, still hesitating to meet his gaze. “Thanks, man.”

He nods solemnly, telling me silently that he can accept Mia and me, that he’s giving us his blessing.

One mission accomplished. One more to go.

I arrive at the door to the guest room that Johanna has claimed as hers and knock.

“Hey, Joey,” I call.

“Gray,” she smiles upon swinging the door open. “You’re home.”

“I need your help with something,” I admit.

Johanna lights up at the request. “You never ask for help. This must be serious.”

I catch her up on everything that’s happened the past few days—signing my divorce papers, impulsively flying to Dallas, coming back to LA with Mia—and finally, the plan Brandon and I hatched.

“Brandon came up with that?” she asks, something unreadable flickering in her voice.

“Yeah, why?”

“No reason,” she says a little too quickly. “It’s great, that’s all.”

She walks with me to the kitchen, tells me to go sit down at the bar and she’ll take care of everything. It’s official—none of this plan is my doing.

Johanna puts together an amazing spread of food and packs it into a backpack cooler she found in the pantry.

A bottle of white wine, a blanket, and a speaker fill a second bag.

She’s truly thought of everything. I watch her in quiet awe, realizing for the first time how capable and thoughtful she can be when she wants to.

It’s rare to see her doing something for someone else—and enjoying it.

“Thank you, Joey,” I say sincerely.

She smiles in return, but before she can respond, the sound of the garage door interrupts us, echoing through the house.

Mia’s back, and it’s game on.