Page 68 of Things I Wish I Said

Chapter forty-six

RYLEIGH

The minute I hear Grayson’s car pull into the driveway, I panic.

“Oh shit. I’m not ready.” I scramble with my suitcase on the bed, cramming clothes into it and hastily grabbing my toiletries from the bathroom.

It’s the first week in July, and I’m set to head to the Hamptons with the De Leons for vacation where my family will join us the second week we’re there.

I was given explicit instructions to be ready when Grayson got here, or we’d miss our flight.

Apparently, they chose this weekend to start construction on the interstate, and there’s expected to be some crazy traveling delays.

“It’s nearly eleven now. You only had all morning,” Katie reminds me.

She sits at my desk, grinning while she watches me race around my room.

I grab a pair of sandals from my closet and chuck them into my bag. “I know, but I got an email from a really big donor for Wishing Well and I couldn’t not respond. I had to write him back, and then—”

“Once you started that, then you got another email, and another and . . .” Katie rolls her eyes. “I get it. You’re dedicated.”

I snort and give her a little shrug. She’s not wrong. Now that my first semester at college is over and I’m back home, I’m working at Wishing Well full time for the summer, and it’s hard not to be passionate when you were once a desperate recipient hoping for a break.

“Are you planning on working this whole trip, too?” she asks.

I turn, hurrying to grab my charger off the desk beside her and stub my toe on the leg of the bed in the process.

“Son of a . . .” I hop around on one foot howling as Katie chuckles.

“No,” I gasp, finally getting around to answering her.

“Victoria’s already told me we’re relaxing.

Said we can have one afternoon each week to check work stuff, and the rest is all vacation.

” I grimace, both excited and appalled at the prospect.

Apparently, soccer wasn’t the exception.

I put the same amount of passion and energy into everything I care about. Including Grayson.

I grin at the thought.

“Have you told him yet?” Katie asks, breaking through my thoughts.

I don’t need to ask what she’s referring to. I got the results of my scan back early this week.

“No.”

“What are you waiting for?” she shouts .

“I don’t know,” I say, chewing on my lower lip. “The right time, I guess.”

“The right time,” Katie repeats like I’m crazy. “Any time would be the right time.”

“Whatever,” I say, snatching a few pairs of socks out of my top dresser drawer. “I just didn’t want it to be at a time when either of us are distracted, and we’ve been so busy this week, between his baseball camp and work.”

Katie groans. “Getting older sounds boring.”

I bark out a laugh.

“Do you think there will be any hot boys on the beach?” Katie asks, her eyes brightening at the prospect.

“Katie!”

“What? I’m thirteen now. It’s totally acceptable for me to have a boyfriend. I bet they’re all rich in the Hamptons, too.”

I roll my eyes. Ever since Grayson and I got back together, all Katie talks about is finding a boy exactly like him. Apparently, she seems determined to meet one on vacation.

“Ryleigh, Grayson’s here!” Mom calls up the stairs.

“Shoot!” I slam my suitcase shut and put all my weight into it, squealing in victory when I manage to zip it closed. “Are you walking me out or staying here?”

Katie scoffs. “And miss seeing Grayson? I’m walking you out.”

I laugh as we head for my bedroom door and take the stairs down to the first floor.

It’s been almost eight months since Mom and I moved into John’s house, seven since they’ve been married.

I was shocked when Katie insisted I take the bigger bedroom, even more so when I realized it had an en-suite bathroom.

I might have cried tears of joy at the water pressure, and sometimes, I still can’t get used to the fact that we have two floors or that the sink doesn’t drip in the kitchen.

“There are my girls.” John beams at us while Grayson takes my suitcase and carry-on from me.

“Do you have your supplements?” Mom asks, her forehead creased in concern.

“I have them,” I promise.

Satisfied with my answer, she turns her attention to Grayson. “I know you’re running late, so we’ll let you two go. Tell your mother we’ll let her know when our flight gets in next Saturday. It was sweet of her to offer to pick us up.”

“Will do.” Grayson smiles. “She’s already talking about all the food she’s going to make and the places she wants to take you.”

“I can vouch for this. She’s talked my ear off about it all week.” I grin. “I think I got more work done than she did.”

Grayson glances at his watch. “I hate to cut this short, but . . .”

Mom jumps to attention, ushering us toward the door. “We know. Get going, you two.”

Grayson opens the front door and takes my bags outside with a final goodbye to everyone inside while I pause on the doorstep and turn, pulling them each into a tight hug.

I go to John last, his big burly arms coming around me in one of his familiar bear hugs that I used to cringe at but I now sort of love .

I spent nineteen years without a father, so I’m not sure calling John “dad” is ever in the cards for me, but in the last year, that’s exactly what he’s become.

“Drive safe,” he says before releasing me. “And let us know once you’re there.”

“I will. See you next week,” I call out, before I turn and head toward Grayson’s car, smiling when I slide into the passenger seat.

He reaches out and grabs my hand with his right, expertly backing down the driveway, and we’re off.

Several hours later, we arrive in the Hamptons just past two o’clock.

I stare in awe at the passing scenery. The huge houses with wraparound porches providing gorgeous views of the strip of dark blue sea in the distance.

By the time we pull up to the De Leons’ vacation home, I’m unsurprised to find it’s every bit as lavish.

The massive cedar-planked home towers in front of a backdrop of sandy dunes. Beach grass waves behind it in welcome.

“Wait until you see the inside,” Grayson says, gauging my reaction.

He steps out and opens my door, pulling me from my seat. “Come on. Tour first, bags later.”

We mount the steps of the massive wraparound porch to the front doors where he punches a code into the keylock then pushes it open.

I step inside an entry room, which leads to an even larger living room with plush sofas, accented with blue-and-white throw pillows. A large kitchen with white cupboards and state-of-the-art appliances connects the space with a screened-in porch off the back.

But what stops me in my tracks is the giant wall of glass windows overlooking a breathtaking view of the ocean.

I step closer, my gaze soaking in the breaking waves, sand, seat oats, and seagulls. “It’s beautiful.”

Grayson comes up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “I see something more beautiful.”

I glance up at him with a smile. “How many floors are there?”

“Three.”

“Which one is our bedroom on?”

“The floor below this one.” He grins. “Why?”

“Show it to me?”

The second the words leave my lips, Grayson pulls me out of the living room and down the stairs.

I laugh, filling the quiet as we clomp down them like a herd of buffalo.

We pass two closed doors before he yanks me into the third, revealing a spacious bedroom with a door leading outside to a porch overlooking the ocean.

He closes the door, backing me up toward the bed, a dark glint in his eyes as his gaze trails my body. “Fuck, Sinclair, you know I love it when you wear that skirt.”

One hand settles over my thigh, sliding up to cup my ass at the same time his mouth finds mine .

I moan against his lips, dipping my hands beneath the hem of his shirt, loving the way his muscles clench in response.

His body before college was already incredible, but after a year as a college athlete, it’s insane—honed and chiseled to perfection.

His mouth shifts to my ear, his teeth grazing my earlobe before moving south, licking and nipping his way toward my neck while my breathing grows ragged.

We’ve been together probably a hundred times since that day in November I paid him a visit at George Mason.

Living only a short drive from each other has been every bit the dream I hoped it would be.

Date nights, time out with friends, and the chance to attend all his home games.

We got to do it all together, and any time we’re alone, I still can’t get enough of him.

I gasp when he leans me back on the bed, pushing my shirt up so he can cup my breasts, then bring his mouth back to mine.

I want to tell him about my scan results. I should tell him now, but I know the moment will be interrupted and forgotten with the news, and right now, all I want is him.

Always him.

After dinner with Victoria, me and Grayson opt to take a walk on the beach .

The evening air is surprisingly cool, tempered by the breeze coming off the water. We took a quick swim earlier, so I know just how cold it is.

The salty scent of brine fills my nose as we walk, a hint of cinnamon in the air from the man beside me.

Grayson reaches down and takes my hand, tugging me toward him as our gazes soak in the sights. Whitecaps dot the dark water as waves crash and lap against the shore in a soothing rhythm, the ocean seemingly an endless blanket of blue in the fading sun.

Somewhere above us, a seagull caws. A child screams in delight along the shoreline.

We’re not the only ones out tonight. More than a dozen families and couples stroll along, milking the last of the daylight.

I pause, and I can feel Grayson’s eyes on me as I stare out at the ocean, a soft smile playing on the corners of my mouth as I remember the last time we did this. The memory of LA is bittersweet—painful but necessary. I’m not sure we’d be here without it.

When I glance up at him, there’s a question in his eyes, but he doesn’t voice it. Instead, he presses a soft kiss to my hair, which is in that awkward stage between short and a chin-length bob.

“A year ago, I stared out at the ocean, thinking it was for the last time,” I say.

Grayson stills beside me, sensing the direction I’m headed. “A year ago, I had no interest in coming back to this place. Until I met you. ”

I nod, absorbing his words. “I forgot how much I love the East Coast.”

It’s not like Mom and I could afford many vacations growing up, but I don’t say that. This conversation isn’t about that.

“Last week, I had my scans done.”

I hear the air rush from his lungs even as his muscles stiffen.

I turn, glancing up at him, into eyes the color of storm clouds, and say, “They came back clean.”

He blinks. Sucks in a breath. His expression is wary, like he’s almost afraid to believe what I’m telling him. My eyes fill with tears as I think about how far I’ve come and the road I traveled to get here.

“What does that mean?” he finally asks, though I have no doubt he already knows; he just wants me to confirm it.

“It means”?I smile?“I’m officially in remission.”

Grayson whoops and lifts me off my feet, spinning me around as I squeal in delight. Once he sets me back down, he cups my face in his hands and crushes the biggest, sloppiest kiss on my mouth. “How long have you known?”

“A few days.”

“Why didn’t you fucking tell me?” he says, but he’s smiling from ear to ear.

I laugh. “Maybe it’s stupid, but we both had so much going on this week. You were away at training camp, and I was working like crazy to prepare for this trip, and I didn’t want to tell you over the phone. ”

“Damn, Sinclair.” He presses his forehead to mine, a tremble in his voice when he says, “This is the best news. The best fucking news.” He shakes his head like he can’t believe it, then releases me and glances around the beach, throwing his hands up in the air as he screams, “Hey, Hamptons! My girlfriend here is cancer free!”

A smattering of applause breaks out around us, and I flush.

“God, I love you,” he says, pressing his mouth to mine.

This time, his kiss is softer, slower, and I savor the feel of him against me, the taste of him on my tongue.

“I love you too,” I whisper against his lips.

“We need to celebrate!” He brings my hand to his mouth, kissing my palm. “Tonight. Let’s go out. Have a drink, get dessert, or coffee. Go bowling. Something. Anything. What do you say? You in?”

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt lucky, but in this moment, I feel like the luckiest girl alive.

So, I nod. “I’m all in.”