Chapter 19 Grayce

Hangover free or not, I found that being by myself at home was still the best place to be. After leaving the library—or more appropriately, ditching Jaxon out of pettiness and old drama—I’d come home and holed myself up in my bedroom for the rest of the afternoon to finish homework. Alex was asleep, but even after she woke that evening and started to get ready for work—impressive, since she’d spent much of the night hovering over the toilet and rambling about the pretty new girl she’d met—I couldn’t bring myself to leave my bedroom and socialize.
I knew I was moping in my little pity party, but I was still reeling over the honest discussion Jaxon and I’d had earlier. It aggravated me that it had taken bringing it up for him to finally remember, but that was typical. I wanted so desperately to look at Jaxon and see a guy who hadn’t once put bubblegum in my hair or whispered rude comments while his friends egged him on. I wanted to look at him and see a new person, someone I’d never known before now. I wanted to enjoy our silly banter and discuss things with him I couldn’t discuss with my other friends. I knew that deep down somewhere in there, he had it in him to be so much more than an egotistical jock.
Alas, every time I felt myself getting too comfortable in Jaxon’s presence, I remembered the humiliation of his teasing. I remembered the tears, the shame. It amazed me how difficult it was to move past such an insignificant time in life. I wanted to be the bigger person and not hold the past against him, but even thinking about the comments he’d once made still made my stomach hurt, and my hands clam up with embarrassment.
Once Alex had left for work, I grabbed a blanket from my bed and went to the living room to watch TV. I was about to curl up under the comforter when there was a knock on the door. I debated even answering but figured all the lights being on would tip the visitor off. There was no time to duck down and pretend to be non-existent. I trudged to the door and opened it.
“Hi, baby!” Mom wrapped me in a hug that undoubtedly cracked a rib or two, then planted a kiss on my cheek, likely leaving a faded pink lipstick mark behind. I stood in the doorway, speechless, trying to figure out if this was real or if I was more tired than I thought I was.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked, squeezing her back.
“Don’t look so stunned,” Mom said. She reached out and brushed a stray hair behind my ear, and then stepped around me into the house, planting her hands on her hips. I closed the door behind us, trying to pull myself together.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I said, and it wasn’t a lie. My mother was my true best friend, the woman who loved me, encouraged me, protected me all my life. “I just wasn’t expecting you.”
“Hence the surprise,” Mom said. She shrugged off her denim jacket, and I took it from her as she looked around, her expression filled with excitement and awe. “What a beautiful home, baby,” she said and hugged me again. My mom smelled so good and familiar, like vanilla and lavender. I allowed her to pull me close, and I sunk into her, feeling warm and secure for the first time in months, even years. I was so overwhelmed that she had shown up for me that I found a tear slip silently down my cheek. Mom, sensing my sniffles, pulled away and looked me in the face.
“It’s nothing,” I promised her. I wiped my skin dry and forced a smile. Mom kissed my forehead.
“I didn’t come to make you cry,” she teased. “I just wanted to see you. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too,” I said. “Is everything okay back home? How are Doug and Aidyn? Are they doing well?”
“Everyone is perfect,” Mom promised, and it was such a sweet relief to hear that she still sounded happy. It hadn’t always been like that, not even close. “Doug had to work. Otherwise, he would have come to see you, too, and Aidyn isn’t a good traveler. So, it’s just me.” She shrugged sheepishly, but I was ecstatic. It had been too long since I’d been able to spend quality time with my mother. “I can’t stay long,” she added. “I have to fly home in the morning.”
“It’s better than nothing,” I said. “Do you want to go to dinner?”
“That sounds lovely.” Mom pulled her blond hair back into a ponytail and looked around again. “Where’s Alex? You two are still roommates, right?”
“Of course. She’s working late tonight at the bar.”
Mom smiled and slipped her jacket back on as she checked her phone. As I was pulling my sneakers on, there was a knock at the door. Mom and I looked at each other, and she shrugged.
“It’s probably not for me,” she said. I sighed and went again to answer the door, praying to all the Gods in heaven that it wasn’t Shawn. He’d be the one person who could successfully manage to ruin the brief time I had with my mom. But it wasn’t Shawn. Not even close.
“What are you doing here?” I stood holding the front door open, mouth agape as Jaxon peered around me and waved at my mom like they’d been BFF’s for years. My mom, the sweet, social person she was, grinned and waved back.
“I stopped by to see if you wanted to have a drink at the bar with me,” Jaxon said.
“A drink?” I repeated. “Really? After that delightful conversation in the library?”
“Because of that charming conversation in the library,” Jaxon said.
“I can’t,” I said, a bit too forcefully. I was still butt hurt about earlier, and no one was going to get in the way of what little time I had left with my mom. “My mother is in town; we were just about to go to dinner.”
Why in God’s name Jaxon felt the need to apologize to someone he had once mooed at in the high school hallway was beyond me, and I would probably never know for sure. Before I could shut the door in his face and make him go away, my mom approached me from behind, holding out her hand for Jaxon to shake.
“I’m Sidney,” she said, “Grayce’s mom.”
“Jaxon Tate,” he said. “I’m a friend of Grayce’s.”
“A friend?” Mom echoed, and it took everything I had in me not to slap a strip of duct tape over each of their mouths.
“A friend,” I said firmly. I had to fight the urge to add, “if even that.”
“Grayce is my wing woman,” Jaxon said. I stood glaring at him, wishing a gaping black hole would come to suck me in.
“You didn’t tell me about your new friend, Grayce,” Mom said.
“He’s not really a friend,” I said. “I report on his football games.”
“Oh,” Mom said. Her eyes lit up knowingly. “So, you’re the jock. I’ve heard so much about you.”
“Is that right?” Jaxon asked. He was looking at me, and I couldn’t bring myself to meet his gaze. It was physically painful to keep from rolling my eyes at Mom, and even harder not to kick Jaxon in the knee-cap for deciding he needed to be there right at that moment like the pain in the ass he was.
“I’m sorry to intrude,” Jaxon said. He slipped his hands into his pockets. “I didn’t know Grayce would have company tonight.”
“Grayce didn’t know Grayce would have company this evening,” my mom said with a soft smile. “Would you like to join us for dinner?”
“Mom,” I said. “Jaxon probably has to go now.”
“I have nothing else going on tonight,” Jaxon said. “It’s sweet of you to invite me.” He flashed a smile at me and shrugged. I wanted to hurt him. I mean, I legitimately wanted to stab him in the foot.
“Fantastic,” Mom said. I could tell she truly meant it because, well, my mom was a saint and loved everybody, even guys like Jaxon Tate, who had managed to pry his way into my simple life and make it all weird and awkward and crazy.
“What do we feel like eating?” Mom asked as we walked. I couldn’t help but notice that Jaxon took it upon himself to step up next to her like they were good friends getting ready to catch up on everything they’d missed in all the years apart. I walked on the other side of her, scowling, wondering how in the hell this had even happened.
“There’s an excellent Italian place not far from here,” Jaxon said. “Do you like Italian?”
“No,” I said, and Mom snapped her head around to look at me.
“You love Italian,” she said.
“I don’t love how much it costs,” I said. Even I could hear the pettiness in my tone, but I didn’t have time to feel ashamed before Jaxon came to the rescue.
“No worries,” he said. “Dinner is on me.”
“Well, aren’t you the gentleman?” Mom said. She sounded so impressed with him that I was sure her heart would just fall right out of her chest and hit the ground. Same with his head as it started to inflate. Mom looked over at me, frowning. “You didn’t tell me he was such a good friend,” she said. On the other side of her, Jaxon was smirking, enjoying the fact that I was being called out by my flesh and blood.
“This is the last time I tell you anything at all,” I said, with a sigh, and I was abruptly pushed to the side as my mom and Jaxon made small talk the entire distance to the restaurant.
“So, Jaxon,” my mom said as we settled into our seats and ordered dinner. “Tell me about yourself.”
“There’s not much to say,” Jaxon said. He sipped his water, looking between my mother and me. “I mean, I play football. That’s how I got to know Grayce.”
“Are you from here?” my mom asked. Jaxon nodded.
“Grayce and I grew up together, technically,” he said. “From elementary school and on.”
“Really?” Mom honestly sounded like he had just expressed his undying love for me. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember you in Grayce’s childhood.”
“We weren’t friends then,” I said quickly. “Jaxon has always been a little bit too good for me.”
“Grayce,” Mom warned, and Jaxon laughed.
“She’s right, Mrs. Harrison. I’ve always been standoffish. I almost didn’t even remember her. It’s like we just met in college.”
“What a coincidence,” Mom mused. “And, please, call me Sidney.” She sipped her strawberry margarita, and I sighed, playing with the wrapper from my straw as the waiter delivered our food. Thankfully, we were all so hungry that the chit-chat eased while we ate our dinner. Afterward, while Jaxon paid the bill, Mom and I waited near the door for him. I was tempted to take off at a run, dragging Mom behind me and ditching Jaxon, but I wasn’t sure that would work as flawlessly as I hoped.
“Thank you so much for dinner, Jaxon,” Mom said as we walked. When I didn’t say anything, Mom elbowed me in the ribs and shot me a warning look.
“Yeah, thanks,” I muttered.
“It’s my pleasure,” Jaxon said. Before he could ramble on, I pointed to the bar across the street to my mom.
“Alex is working, and she’d probably like to see you,” I said. “Mind if we stop in?”
“Oh, I’d love to!” Mom said. She clapped her hands together like a child on Christmas day.
The place was slow since it was a weekday, but we spotted Alex at once. She was behind the counter lining up beer glasses in their designated spots. She turned to look as we came through the door, and her eyes lit up when she spotted my mom.
“Hi, Mrs. Harrison!” Alex squealed. She rushed around the bar to come and hug my mom.
“Alex, please, it’s Sidney,” my mom said and squeezed her back. “You look fantastic,” she said, scrutinizing my best friend. “Beautiful as always. I’m glad you’re taking care of yourself.”
“Grayce takes care of me, actually,” Alex said with a small smile. “She’s my rock. I don’t know what I would do without her.”
“Ditto,” I said. At that moment, Alex spotted Jaxon standing behind me, and I saw her expression change abruptly to something of puzzled interest. “He invited himself,” I told Alex, looking back at Jaxon with a glare. Mom turned and gave me a disapproving look.
“I invited him,” she said. “And he happens to be very charming company.”
“You must not know Jaxon very well,” Alex said. I couldn’t tell if she was teasing or not because her expression didn’t change. Although I knew Alex had never been Jaxon’s biggest fan, I was still surprised by her coldness.
“Well,” Mom said. She clapped her hands together once, sensing the tension in the air. “I have a long flight home tomorrow, so I think I’ll head back to the house and get some beauty sleep.”
“I’ll come with you,” I said.
“No,” Mom shook her head and squeezed my shoulder. “Stay with your friends, have fun. I won’t be any fun asleep, anyway. I could use the rest.” She hugged Alex tight, then turned to Jaxon, who was still waiting politely behind us. “It was very nice to meet you,” my mom said. I figured she’d shake his hand or something, but she opened her arms for a hug instead, and he obliged. Alex and I exchanged a look. I couldn’t tell what she was thinking. Hell, I wasn’t even sure what I was thinking.
“The spare key is under the mat,” I told Mom and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning to take you to the airport. Love you.”