My body tenses. “What did he say?” He huffs and looks away, almost as if he doesn’t want to speak it. “What did he say?” I repeat.
He huffs again. “That one of these days, he’ll have his way with you. He knows that out of everything he can do to me, that’ll piss me off more. He said he can’t wait to see the look on my face when he does.”
“That was a long time ago, Bryan. He’s not like that.” Or is he?
Expression serious, he stares right into my eyes. “You sure about that? Did he tell you about all the women he’s been with?” He grabs my shoulders. “I’ve seen it all, Leah. He’s not a good guy. Why else do you think he’s in Charleston right now? He knew we’d be here because I posted about it. What better way to get close to you right under my nose?” The more I hear, the sicker I feel. “What kills me right now is seeing the look on your face as I’m telling you all of this.” His hands slide off my shoulders. “You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?”
Tears fill my eyes. I don’t know what to think. I trust Greyson, but there’s a part of me that wonders if my brother’s right.
“I have,” I answer, whispering the words. “I’m in love with him, and I know he loves me. He won’t hurt me.”
Bryan steps back and walks away. “You’re damn right, he won’t. I’ll make sure of that.”
7
Greyson
I’m just out of the shower when there’s a knock at my door. If it had been a minute earlier, Leah would’ve seen me in my birthday suit. Not that I expect her to forget what I look like when I’m lying naked next to her. With a big cheesy grin on my face, I march toward my door with a newfound sense of pride and satisfaction. It’s taken me two years of wooing to finally get Leah to see the real me, and earlier this morning and all of yesterday she saw exactly who I am. Not the guy her brother or the media make me out to be.
My hand pushes down on the handle and one small tug has the door swinging open. “Hey baby,” I say before I can see who is standing in my doorway.
“That’s new.” Eli walks in with a bag of something that makes my stomach growl.
“Sorry, I thought you were—”
“Yes, you thought I was your new wife,” he says interrupting me. I let the door slam shut and he walks into the room. Eli has taken a spot at my small table and set out a breakfast sandwich, fruit and a cup of coffee for me.
“Yeah . . .” I sit down and pick at the sandwich. “Why did you bring me breakfast?”
Eli finishes his bite and sets his food down. “Bryan Nelson is the reason.”
“What do you mean?” I could look at my phone, check for messages or nasty texts from him but truth be told, I don’t care what he has to say. I’m in love with his sister, fake wife or not. I’ve spent the past two years chasing her and now that I finally have her, I’m not going to let her go.
“I went down to the restaurant to get us a table and he was there. He came right up to me, pointed his finger in my face, and told me to get, and I quote, ‘my low-life piece of shit boss out of the fucking hotel before he finds you,’ end quote. I decided it would be best to get our breakfast to go.”
“Got it.” I nod. “Well, I’m not afraid of Bryan.”
Eli throws is hands up. “This thing . . . This infatuation you have with Leah is stupid. Even if you could be together, I doubt things would even work out between the two of you.”
“Thanks for your faith in me.”
“I’m stating the obvious, man. Her brother hates you and by proxy, so does her father. Do you think she’s going to side with you over them? I bet they already convinced her to file for an annulment.”
“Are those even allowed after the marriage has been consummated?” I ask, smiling wide.
Eli hangs his head and groans. “You fucking slept with her?”
I laugh. “We didn’t exactly sleep. I think it’s referred to more as napping. I certainly fucked her and then spent the rest of the night making love to her.”
Eli puts his fingers in his ears and says, “Lalalalala. I don’t want to hear about this.”
My stomach growls and my food is getting cold. I focus on the sustenance since I’ll need my energy for later. I don’t know what Leah and I have planned but hopefully it’s something together. She may not be my legal wife, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to spend every waking minute with her. Plus, I want to sit down and get her schedule so I know when I can fly her out to the tournaments and such. I have to make sure she understands that she can root for her brother and me as long as she doesn’t mind him losing to me.