Page 38 of My Grape Crush
“I'm not jealous of anything you own."
Rhys smiles, although it doesn’t reach his eyes. With no hug, fist bump, or even a hello, my head is on a swivel, assessing their dynamic. Rhys’s stance is pure fire, but Sawyer, taller by a couple of inches, uses that slight advantage to peer down at his brother.
“I thought you were filming today, and now I hear you’re crashing our party.”
“We wrapped early.” Rhys shrugs then gives Sawyer the cold shoulder to address me. “I love Nicole, by the way. Super chill and knowledgeable. And the vineyard looks sweet on camera. I already have the vignette planned for later."
“Great! Our follower count jumped another thousand after your post yesterday. It’s amazing how people are responding.” I beam at him, aware that I’m gushing, but whatever. His body felt so warm against mine last night. The memory of it got me through most of the morning.
“The amazing thing is that my introverted baby brother makes a fortune by shoving his face in front of a camera,” Sawyer chimes in with decidedly less enthusiasm.
It’s cold in here. The central air clutches my bones. But it just got one a hell of a lot cooler.
Rhys crosses both arms over his chest. “What can I say? Some of us are naturals in the spotlight. And some of us were born to push paper.”
Along with irritation, something eternal and unmoveable hangs in his voice. This is not the picture of brotherly warm and fuzzies I imagined. This is a conversation that feels like it will need a fast exit.
“Dani and I plan to push lots of paper while we discuss the bands and talk shop. Nothing that ever interested you before,”Sawyer replies, a bit testily if I’m not mistaken.
“What interests me is the amphitheater,” Rhys emphasizes. “Becoming intimate with every inch of this place.”
I lift my chin, shaking off the strange hot-cold rush that’s come over me from Rhys’s steady stare.“Why don’t we make it a family affair?” Isuggest. “Any extra exposure Rhys gives us is a win.”
After a beat, Sawyer says, “Sure,” like it's the least interesting thing I’ve said so far. Then he levels an uncompromising gaze at Rhys, whose smirk brims with triumph.
Very suddenly, I see the problem.
These two are at war.
Chapter Twelve
RHYS
It’sone of two things. Either Sawyer has managed real change, or he found a way to override his natural tendency to be an uptight douche. Did not expect him to rock the rizz. But he’s still reaching in that bougie suit and square-toed loafers that crunch annoyingly on the pea gravel.
Did he think a winery had paved pathways?
“Evelyn speaks very highly of you,” he says to Dani. “‘A rare and revolutionary talent’ is how she phrased it.”
She laughs, and here’s another unprecedented angle to process: my brother and comedic flair, together in the same body.
“Take that with a grain of salt,” she says. “Evelyn has a taste for the theatrical.”
“Nero Vino is the Valley’s biggest success story. To pull that off requires a competent village.”
“And your rebranding is next-level,” I add, inserting myself into Sawyer’s shameless schmoozing.“Those labels are works of art.”
Dani shoots me a look. Something about her in those glasses fuels a perverse school teacher fantasy I didn’t even know I had. “Don’t pump me up too much,” she warns. “The market tells the ultimate tale.”
“You took a risk, which ninety-nine percent of the world never does. And look what happened.”
“You reached for the stars too. Leaving home at fifteen, creating an empire from nothing.”
Four sentences exchanged, with Sawyer not uttering any of them? Of course, he butts back in. “I’d like to see your rebrand ideas,” he says. “If you’re free tonight, we can discuss how all this might come together over dinner.”
Hold on. Vibe check. Dani and I are technically on the fringes of a situationship.I’ve seen her naked. My DNA marked her skin. She’s living rent-free in my head. All that and Sawyer is first to corral her into a dinner date?
“I thought you were driving home tonight?” If I say it, maybe it becomes the truth.
