Page 77 of In Every Chapter

She scrunched her nose. “You’d do that?”

Lifting our entwined hands to my lips, I gently brushed kisses over her knuckles, loving the wide-eyed expression on her face. “Love, I’d do anything for you. We’re in this together.”

Tears sparkled in her eyes, and I tugged her towards me, holding her close. Her arms slid around my waist, and she laid her head on my chest. She might not love me, but she did at least feel safe with me. And for a woman like Paisley, that was the most important first step.

I rested my chin on her hair, inhaling the soft strawberry scent. I’d show her just how much I loved her. And once she fell in love with me again, I’d marry her a second time, if she’d have me.

Chapter thirty-three

Paisley

I flipped over on my side, scrunching my pillow into a more acceptable shape and trying to sleep. I’d counted sheep, listened to an audiobook, even done a word-association technique I’d found online with guaranteed results. News flash: they lied. Anything to pull me from the embrace of insomnia into the land of Nod. Nothing yet. If anything, I was more awake now than when I started.

I groaned and punched my pillow. The mini drumming army inside was getting out of hand. Stand down, soldiers. Sighing, I picked up my phone—horrible solution, I know—and the numbers glared back at me with hatred. Three o’clock in the morning.

Half of me wanted to call Juliet, even though I’d just seen her a few hours ago. But she’d been so sick lately, and I didn’t have the heart to interrupt her sleep. Besides, she had Myles now. Liz had Ben. Even Stephanie had Nash, with only five weeks till their wedding.

I’d been the first in our friend group to spread my wings in matrimony and romance. Now I was on the outside looking in. Sort of.

Because the husband I couldn’t remember was just down the hall. Fast asleep, no doubt. He was a freaking champion when it came to sleeping. If it were an Olympic sport, he’d win gold. I’d watched him nod off in the living room within 0.2 seconds. So not fair.

But the shadows were pressing in, old echoes of childhood and best-forgotten faces clamouring inside my brain. The room was too crowded for all of us. So I flipped the duvet back and padded down the hall, grateful for the night-lights to keep me from tripping, until I stood outside Greyson’s door.

My momentary courage quailed.

I could knock. So simple, right? Chances were he was a heavy sleeper and wouldn’t even hear me. Did I even want him to answer? That was a question for Future Paisley.

I rapped lightly, and the door creaked. It hadn’t been fully closed. Why? Did he want to keep an ear out for me, or had he just forgotten? Maybe Rosie needed full range of the house?

“Greyson,” I called softly into the shrouded darkness, shoving aside my questions. If he didn’t answer, I’d go back to—

Soft moaning came from the bed before it creaked slightly, and a moment later, the bedside lamp clicked on.

I slapped my hands over my face, but not before I got an eyeful of tanned skin. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Seriously?

“Uh . . .” I said, pivoting so I could stare at the doorjamb and drop my hands. It was a very nice door frame, painted a lovely shade of forest green. Well done.

“Pais?” Greyson sat up slowly, rubbing his face. “What’s wrong?”

He was kind of cute, all rumpled and sleepy. In fact— No. Focus, Paisley Grace. “Nothing. Sorry, I shouldn’t have woken you. I just . . . That is . . . I’ll just go,” I rambled before turning to head back down the hall to my overcrowded bedroom.

Greyson’s warm hand gripped my elbow. Wow, he was fast. I hadn’t heard him get up. “Hey.” He shifted me to face him and tipped my chin up with his finger. “What’s going on in that head of yours?”

“I just . . .” I couldn’t stare into those hypnotic blue depths and not crumble. So I squeezed my eyes shut. “My thoughts were just really loud, and I couldn’t sleep, so I thought . . .” I sniffed and peeked back at him. His gaze locked steadily on me. “I didn’t want to be alone with the ghosts,” I whispered.

“Come on,” he said gently, steering me into his room.

Rosie didn’t budge from the rug at the foot of the bed. Not even to spare me a look of acknowledgement. Clearly she had picked her favourite human, and I had been found wanting.

Greyson motioned to the bed, and I crawled on, tucking my knees against my chest as I leaned against the headboard and clutched a pillow. I frowned when he grabbed a pillow and moved to drop it on the floor. “What are you doing?”

“Didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You’ll kill your back on the floor. You aren’t twenty anymore.” The words came out harsher in my ears than in my head. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to snap at you.”

He chuckled lightly. “I’ve heard worse. And honestly, the floor is a dream compared to some of what I’ve slept on.”

“We’ll just stay on our sides.” I scooted over farther from the invisible middle line.