Page 41

Chapter 41

Grace

There were no cars out front, but Ev and I drove past my house and parked around the corner. I didn’t know when James would be home—hopefully not anytime soon—but if my parents beat him back, the Subaru couldn’t be in the driveway. After all, it had been his for the day. I texted him that I was leaving the key fob in the wheel well since he’d misplaced the spare one. “If he loses this,” I told Ev, unhooking it from my key ring, “I’m never letting him drive again.”

“Definitely not,” Ev agreed as I tucked the fob on top of the wheel, out of sight. “Especially because neither of you will be able to drive with no keys.”

I sighed. “Fair point. I’ll just have to hitch a ride with Boyfriend.”

Ev raised an eyebrow. “Boyfriend?”

“I’m trying things out,” I explained, rising up from my crouch. “I wouldn’t want to embarrass you at school with a nickname I haven’t workshopped.”

Ev flushed. “I don’t mind you embarrassing me.”

I smiled and shook my head. He was ridiculous. “Ready?” I nodded back toward my house.

We raced those couple blocks home, but I skidded to a stop in the driveway. “Oh no,” I said upon seeing the front porch. “No, no—you can freaking forget it!”

In addition to our latest Amazon deliveries, three not-messing-around Realtor signs were leaning against the door. FOR SALE, the top one read in elegant gold script, an illustration of a barn underneath. The Cheval Collective.

A box of gourmet chocolates and a note had been left along with them, a cream-colored piece of cardstock that read FROM THE DESK OF HARRY MICHAELS across thetop:

Scott it seems my assistant accidentally delivered the original batch to the wrong address (though the error did score us a new client). Text me if you need anything else. Here’s hoping Grace feels better soon. The chocolates are for her!

Best,

HM

“I wonder if he’s ever heard of the Hashtag SavingGrace movement,” Ev said drily, but my heart warmed. Those tributes on Instagram were amazing if not drastically over the top, but honestly…

What was it Mrs.Adler said? When she’d called while we were wolfing down cheesesteaks? “You’re so very loved, Grace,” she’d told me. “It’s wonderful how your classmates and the community have rallied together today.”

Why my absence from school had sent so many people into a tizzy, I didn’t know, but I couldn’t wait to thank everyone for their kindness. Mrs.Adler was right; I was loved, and it felt so good. “We need to nix these signs,” I said to Ev. “ASAP.”

Conveniently, the Vermont People were gutting their new-but-not-new-enough kitchen so they had a dumpster in their otherwise empty driveway.

After the deed was done, I unlocked our front door and pushed through to see our boxer-bloodhound mix sitting in the foyer. “Rooney!” I cooed while he snuggled up against my legs. “Have you been a good guard dog today?”

He let out a low woof at Ev, who’d just relocked the door.

“I don’t understand why he doesn’t like you,” I said. “You’ve spent plenty of time here. He should be used to you by now.”

Ev didn’t say anything. He just tracked Rooney with his eyes. “I think he is used to me,” he said. “But he’s chosen not to trust me.”

“Well, we’ll change his mind,” I said, then looked at my dog. “Rooney, this behavior is unacceptable—”

Ev took my hand and tugged it. Together we took the stairs two at a time, leaving Rooney alone to man the foyer again. “Faster!” Ev joked. “Before he follows!”

We ignored my Do Not Disturb sign, bursting into my room. Most of my precautions were still in place. The Percy Jackson audiobook had apparently run out of steam, but my fan still whooshed. All in all, they’d done their job, thwarting my mom from checking on me at lunchtime.

“This is much nicer than a janitor’s closet,” Ev said once I’d turned it off and closed my door. “No mops, no vacuums, no stockpile of toilet paper”—he looked at the disaster on my rug, the brown sludge now turning gray—“although we probably could use some heavy-duty cleaning solution.”

I kissed him. “Let’s change the subject,” I said afterward, slinging my arms around his neck. “We aren’t here to discuss the state of my room.”

He kissed me back, hands easily slipping into my pockets. I wanted them to stay there forever. “Yeah, I know,” he replied. “It’s just that the fake vomit’s really gross.”

“But we might not be here without it,” I pointed out, lungs fluttering.

Ev was silent for a moment. “That’s true,” he eventually whispered. “We might not.”

We kissed again, and this time I felt a ripple run through me. It was only hours ago that I’d told myself Ev would always be the great unrequited love of my life—that he had to be—and now, here we were together in my room. It was all so surreal. “Wow,” I murmured, even though that didn’t even begin to cover it. “Just… wow. ”

“Yeah,” Ev murmured back. “Wow.”

Without saying a word, we knew we both needed more. Ev shucked off his light blue chambray and I only had his T-shirt halfway over his head before he slipped slightly shaking fingers under my shirt. “This is also coming off,” I told him, grabbing his Mets hat, which I’d rescued from the azaleas, and tossing it on my nightstand as he unbuttoned his pants. “There’s no way you’re wearingthis….”

He was looking at me, amber eyes wide and mouth open like he wanted to say something but couldn’t. Instead, he ran a slow hand through his hair.

Has he changed his mind? I worried, blood pulsing in my veins. Tell me he hasn’t changed his mind!

“Ev…” I stood there in my bra, resisting the urge to fold my arms over my chest. I still wanted this— desperately. I’d never been this nervous before, but then again, the other person hadn’t been Ev. “Are you okay? Has your brain short-circuited?”

He coughed. “That’s one way of putting it.”

I fought a smile. “What’s another way?”

“That you’re perfect, Grace.”

I shook my head. “No one’s perfect, Ev.”

“Perfectly imperfect, then,” he said, smiling. “You are perfectly imperfect, especially to me.”

You’re perfect, too, I thought, feeling an ache in the pit of my stomach as he stood there in only his striped boxers. Perfectly imperfect for me.

It wasn’t long before we were both undressed and tangled up in each other—still standing, but barely. Ev was kissing my neck, and I had my hands deep in his hair. “Do you have a condom?” he whispered against my collarbone.

“What? You don’t have one in your wallet?”

“No.” He kissed the hollow of my throat. “My dad told me never to keep them there. They end up breaking or expiring.” He shrugged. “That’s how my parents got Abigail.”

I tried not to giggle. “Yes, I’ve got one,” I whispered, and pulled back to flash him what I hoped was a sexy grin (it totally wasn’t). “One moment, please.”

The tips of Ev’s ears pinkened, but he wasted no time in falling back on my bed. I retrieved the small box of condoms from my desk drawer, remembering how Isa had hidden in CVS’s shampoo aisle while I waited in line to buy them. “Just don’t keep them in your dresser drawer,” she said afterward. “That’s the first place all TV parents look!”

“Start keeping one on hand,” I whispered after I’d climbed into bed with him. “If not your wallet, your backpack or something.” I handed him the sealed wrapper and began kissing his face. Nowhere in particular, just all over his goddamn gorgeous face.

“Why?” he whispered back. “So we can have sex in the janitor’s closet at school?”

I giggled into his neck. “What is it with you and janitor’s closets?”

“Excuse me, but what is with you and janitor’s closets?” he asked, sitting up and ripping open the condom. I laid my hand flat on his back, his skin so warm. “If I’m recalling correctly, it was you who propositioned me. ”

I didn’t have an answer. Nothing witty or even partly clever came to mind, especially when he turned back around and grinned at me.

Those dimples. God, those dimples.

“You’re everything to me, Grace,” he said a moment later, our limbs entwined under my covers. “You know that, don’tyou?”

“I do.” I nodded, because after today, I knew. “You’re everything to me, too.”

“Really?” He smirked. “Because I didn’t dare hope!”

And then we laughed and kissed before my heart began doing backward handsprings.

Everett Adler, Everett Adler, Everett Adler.

“You’re glowing,” I murmured.

“What?” Ev’s lips quirked up. He was lying on his stomach, his head resting on one of my pillows with me propped up on an elbow. Yes, he’d made the predictable comment that he liked the “view.”

I didn’t blame him; I liked my view, too.

“You’re glowing,” I repeated. Two setting sunbeams streamed in through my far window, making his body gleam in the light. I slowly walked two of my fingers down his spine. “Sleepyhead,” I said when his eyelids flickered shut. “You’re sleepy.”

“Mmm,” Ev replied. “You’re tempting me.” He readjusted my pillow. “Your bed is heaven, and I have everything I need right next to me.”

My stomach swirled, realizing something.

I have everything I need right next to me.

“I think…,” I whispered after a moment. “I think it’s okay if I move.”

Ev’s eyes snapped open. “Grace.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay if my parents really want to move. I know this is my house, and it’s full of so many memories, but losing it doesn’t mean I’m losing my home. ” I leaned down to kiss his shoulder blade, a lump forming in my throat. “You’re my true home, Ev. You and Isa and James.” I swallowed. “No matter where we move, you’re not going anywhere.”

Ev shifted so he could wrap me in his arms. He understood, like he always did. “Don’t give up on your presentation yet,” he whispered. “Still make that PowerPoint, all right?”

“Are you kidding?” I said incredulously. “This PowerPoint is going to be the PowerPoint of all PowerPoints! A masterpiece. The color scheme, the bullet points, the special effects—”

I dropped off, my ears pricking up and pulse heightening. “Did you just hear that?” I whispered. “The noise that sounded like…”

“A car pulling into the driveway,” Ev said, quickly nodding.

Taking a shallow breath, I slipped out of bed and crept over to my other window—the one that overlooked the front lawn. Sure enough, my parents’ Mercedes and Audi were in the driveway, and they were both slamming their doors shut. Back from drinks with the Vermont People. “They’re here!” I screeched. “They’re back!”

Complete chaos ensued. Ev leapt out of my bed, and we both started fumbling around for our clothes. My heart was going a million miles a second, pulling on the pajamas I’d abandoned this morning and flinging today’s outfit in the direction of my hamper. Your shirt’s on backward, I almost alerted Ev, but there was no time. As he pulled on his chinos, I shot another glance at the window; my mom and dad still in the driveway, just looking at our house. Admiring it, hopefully?

“You’re gonna have to go out my other window,” I told Ev, running across my room to open it for him. He could climb down the rose trellis and safely drop in the side yard. “It’s sturdy, I promise.”

Ev raised a doubtful eyebrow. “I never thought I’d be a sneak-out-the-window type of guy,” he said before lifting a long leg over the windowsill. Distantly but not distantly enough, I heard the bing of the front door. My parents were officially in the house.

But I couldn’t let Ev leave yet. “I support you,” I said once he was balanced on the trellis. “Later, talking with your mom about the new medication. You can do it.”

“Hello, Rooney!” my mom exclaimed downstairs.

Ev gave me a small smile. “Thanks, Grace,” he said. “It’s the right decision.” He nodded resolutely. “I just hope this one helps.”

“I’m always an optimist.” I kissed him. I kissed him quick, knowing we had time for slow later. This was only the beginning. We had forever to go. “I love you, Ev.”

“I love you, too, Grace.” He grinned, and then carefully climbed down the trellis. We shared a thumbs-up once he’d jumped to the ground, and I watched him take off for his house, only a mile away. His hair rippled in the sweet May breeze, the waning sunlight painting him golden.

“He’s going to marry me,” I murmured to myself.

My heartbeat thumped along with my parents’ steps on the stairs. Their voices were gibberish to me as I turned my fan and audiobook back on before flying back into bed and pulling up my twisted sheets. Okay, okay, I thought. Everything’s good, everything’s covered—

But then I spotted it.

My condoms, still sitting atop my desk.

Fuck!

It was a small box—a tiny one, even—but also was the type of thing my parents would automatically notice. “So I gave her Mara’s number,” I heard my dad saying in the hall. “It might be easier for Dani to make friends if she’s involved in something like Girl Scouts…”

What to do, what to do?! I panicked. It was too late to get out of bed to hide them. My stomach squirmed as I looked around for a solution—and it was right next to me. Ev’s Mets hat, forgotten on my nightstand. I grabbed it. You have one chance, I told myself. One chance to get this right…

I threw it Frisbee-style, and by some act of the baseball gods, it landed on top of the condoms. Backward, too, so you couldn’t see the logo. I silently cheered. Who even cared if they beat the Phillies later?

My doorknob turned…

“Grace?” my mom said a moment later. “Gracie?”

I slowly blinked my eyes open, as if I’d been hibernating all winter and was only now waking up for the spring. “Mom?”

My mother put a gentle hand on my cheek. “She’s still pretty warm,” she murmured to my dad. More of a stage murmur, thanks to happy hour.

“How’re you feeling?” my dad asked me.

“So much better,” I said, yawning a genuine yawn. “Staying home was exactly what I needed today.”

My parents both eyed the bucket on the floor, halfway full from my “leftovers” from this morning. I thought I’d hidden it in my closet…?

Whoops.

“Gracie—” my dad started.

“Well, well, well,” James said, sauntering into my room. “It seems like someone’s made a comeback.” He nudged his way in between our parents. “I was worried, but I’m glad I wasn’t worried sick about you.” He pointed to the bucket. “It should be all out of your system by now.”

We exchanged winks as our parents consulted the congealed goop again.

“I think you’re right, James,” our dad soon said. “It seems like she left everything on the field.” He shut his eyes and sighed. “Damn, that baseball game must be over by now.”

James groaned. “I’ll go turn on the TV and check,” he said, then left the room. He pumped a fist in victory on the way out, one that only I could see.

“Your color is back, too.” My mom smiled. “Very bright, very happy.”

“Because you guys are finally home,” I said, smiling back.

She gave me an affectionate look. “Why are you so wonderful?”

“Because I have such a wonderful family,” I said.

We weren’t perfect, but it was the truth.

Although I still had to bite back a smirk when my mom bent down to kiss my cheek.

“Listen,” my dad said after she left to get herself settled. “James and I are going to force ourselves to watch today’s postgame coverage while I make dinner, but first I’ll bring you a Shirley Temple with extra, extra cherries. That sound all right?”

“Oh, yes!” I clapped. “Thank you, Dad!”

“Anything for you, Grace,” he told me, and once he’d shut my door, I reached for my phone and texted Isa.

We did it , I wrote. We pulled it off!

Um, we most certainly did not! she instantly replied. My mother knows, G. She doesn’t KNOW-know, but she knows something happened today.

Uh-oh, I thought, and asked if she was in trouble.

No , she answered. Not yet.

I exhaled in relief as gray typing dots appeared.

Talk later? she wrote. Mamá has dinner on the table.

My mouth didn’t drop, but well, it pretty much dropped. WAIT , I typed. When did your mom have time to make dinner?!

During her day off , Isa replied. Everyone deserves one now and again, don’t you think?

And then: XOXO.

I laughed and sent four red hearts back.