Six Rules: Book Two in the SIX Series (12 page)

          
The drive felt infinite, and hot tears poured down my
cheeks. I was beyond angry. Worse than that, I was hurt. Completely broken. How
did this guy get me to trust him so quickly? How did this fall apart so fast?

          
I finally pulled into my apartment lot and ran up the
metal steps. I opened up my front door, slammed it behind me, and fell
face-first on my couch, letting the tears flow freely. I didn’t cry after
Dillon told me I was unlovable. But this… This was real. It was real, and it
hurt, and it sucked.

Chapter 17

          
I’m not sure how long I laid there sobbing, but my guess
is within twenty minutes or so there was a loud knock on my door.

          
I lifted myself up off the couch and walked over to the
door, deciphering whether or not I should open it.

          
“Mal, I know you’re standing there. I heard your
footsteps. Please open the door,” Greyson’s voice said on the other end.

          
Despite my better judgment, I listened to him and opened
it. “Aren’t you too sick to be out tonight?” I asked in a very snide tone.

          
“I really am sick. I feel miserable. I was laying on the
couch and there was a knock at my door. Honestly that moment was the best I
felt all day because I thought it was going to be you. I thought you were
coming by to surprise me,” he said innocently, walking into my apartment
without invitation. He reached out his arm in an attempt to put it around my waist,
but I brushed him off.

          
“So she really was your fiancé?” I asked curtly, cutting
right to the point.

          
“Yes, kind of,” he responded, looking down at the ground.

          
“Kind of? Did you ask her or not, Greyson? That doesn’t
seem like a gray area. Although perhaps you just
told
her you were going
to marry her because you’re not big on asking proper questions,” I said, still
fuming about the whole thing.

          
“Yes, we were engaged. But I want to explain the whole
thing,” he said softly, his eyes pleading with mine. “Will you just hear me
out?”

          
“Why did Ben tell me she was dead? Seems like a bit of
miscommunication, wouldn’t you say?” I asked sarcastically. “Who says that
about someone who isn’t dead? I actually pitied you when he said that. I felt
bad for you, like you went through some horrible heart wrenching experience. I
feel like an idiot, Greyson. And the kid? Like I said earlier, you know my math
isn’t great, but he was around two, right? And you broke up two years ago? You
have a kid?”

          
“No, he’s not mine,” Greyson responded.

          
“She called him ‘Grey.’ I heard it. So your fiancé named
someone else’s kid after you? This is the most distorted story. I really just
want you to go,” I said, pointing towards the door.

          
“Mallory, I’m not leaving until you hear me out,” he said,
staring at me with an unyielding glance.

          
“Greyson, I don’t care about your explanation. I don’t
care,” I repeated. “None of it matters. Whatever your spin is on this, your
explanation… You lied to me. I’m sorry I didn’t make that one of my ‘rules.’ My
bad for assuming that was a standard part of our contract,” I said with a
hurtful tone. “We’re done, Greyson. Whatever this was, I’m out.”

          
“Mallory, please. I’m explaining this to you whether or
not you want to hear it. Just sit,” he said, pointing to a chair in my living
room.

          
“Thanks for still trying to boss me around like you have
since day one, but I’ll stand this one out,” I said crossing my arms.

          
“Look, I met her at my mom’s diner. She was a waitress
there,” he began.

          
“I hate this story already, Greyson,” I said, still not
interested in what he had to say.

          
“She ran away from an abusive boyfriend who knocked her
up. She had no where to go. No family. She showed up at the diner looking for a
job. She was really struggling. I was helping my mom out a bit that summer and
I got to know her. She was devastated, all alone with a baby on the way,” he
explained, staring at me as he spoke. “The guy was sent to jail for something
else, drug charges I think. She would just cry and cry about her baby growing
up without a father.”

          
“So you signed up on a volunteer flier on the diner cork
board?” I asked rudely.

          
“Mallory, it really bothered me. Thinking of yet another
kid growing up in the world without a dad,” he said soulfully. “It crushed me.”

          
“What made it your responsibility? You’re telling me some
girl cries to you about not having a dad for her baby, and just like that, you
volunteer to do it?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any more of this.

          
“Mallory, I’m not saying it was a normal thing to do. Or
the right thing to do. But my whole life, that’s all I wanted. While every
other kid was wishing on his birthday candles for a new bike, or a Nintendo, I
wished for a dad. I always felt incomplete. I hated the universe. It wasn’t
fair that all the other kids had one and I didn’t. Everyone tried to glaze over
it, just because he was fighting for our country. As if that made his dying
‘worth’ it. That didn’t make it any less heartbreaking for me. Who was fighting
for me? My mom working sixty hours a week to pay our bills? I mean I don’t
fault her for any of that. But I was angry at her. I so badly wanted to fill
that void.”

          
I listened as he spoke passionately about it, but I didn’t
feel what he was feeling.

          
“Mallory, all I could think was that I could give that
baby something I never had. I know that sounds stupid. It wasn’t my
responsibility, whatever. But it pulled at me. I felt like I was standing on
that cliff and it was all I could do to change something wrong in my own life.
So I asked her to marry me. I didn’t know what else to do. I just thought if I
could make it better, then I should make it better.”

          
“Did you love her?” I asked blankly.

          
“Not instantly, no. But I thought I could. I wanted to,”
he answered honestly. “But I understand now there is a difference in wanting to
love someone versus actually loving them.” He stared at me with intense eyes.

          
“Well unfortunately Greyson, that’s where we’re at. I
wanted to love you. I wanted to give this whole thing a chance,” I said
softly.
 

          
“How does this change anything?” he asked, full of
emotion. “Nothing happened, Mal. It was all over before the baby was even born.
About two weeks before she had him, the guy got out of jail. She ran away to
California with him, and that was that. I don’t think she even told him about
me. I literally never heard from her again. She just left and that was it.”

          
“Then why didn’t you just tell me about that part of your
life in the first place? That seems like a pretty significant event. You never
even mentioned it to me,” I said, still hurt.

          
“I don’t know. I try to pretend it never happened, I
guess. Ben helped me with that. It was really hard on me so we just joked about
it, like the best way to deal with it was just to pretend like she died. Like
there was a finite ending to the whole saga. She was gone, and that was the end
of that story.”

          
“Well then why is she back? Does this story possibly get
worse?” I asked.

          
“Not worse, per se. But it’s,” Greyson hesitated,
“interesting.”

          
“Seriously? So there is more to it? She wasn’t just
dropping by to say hi? To reminisce about the good ole days when you offered to
be her baby’s dad?” I inquired, still with a slight edge to my tone. This whole
thing was unbelievable. Greyson always talked about the unexpected as if it was
a good thing, but this was anything but good.

          
“Well, she came to ask something of me. I didn’t say yes,
so don’t freak out,” he said cautiously. “She got accepted to some fashion
institute in France. I guess it’s a big deal.”

          
Greyson paused, as if he was judging my reaction to this
little bit of information. “So,” I said, urging him to say the rest. “She came
by asking you to go with her?” I continued, rolling my eyes. “Just say what you
need to say.”

          
“No, of course she didn’t ask me to go. But she needs a
big favor. In order to take Grey with her, she would need a lot of money. She
would essentially have to ‘board’ him somewhere there if she wanted to take him
because the living quarters at the institute aren’t exactly kid-friendly. So
she either needs the money to afford taking him there, or,” Greyson paused. “Or
the alternative, she asked if Grey could live with me for a year while she took
the opportunity,” he said.

          
“What? This woman you haven’t seen for two years came by
with a baby you never met asking if you wanted to keep him? For a year? Who
does that?” I shrieked. “This whole situation is wrong on so many levels. No
normal person would do that.”

          
“I know, I agree. I guess the kid’s dad is locked up
again, and will be for awhile. She said this is the only chance she has to
really change her life. To make it something different than the path she’s been
on,” he said sincerely.

          
“What’s all that sensitivity in your voice? What exactly
did you tell her, Greyson? You wouldn’t consider her offer, would you?” I asked
sternly. “It’s completely psychotic.”

          
“Honestly, I didn’t answer her. I raced out of there so
fast, trying to catch up with you. I asked her to go and told her I would call
her tomorrow. I told her I had something more important to deal with at the
moment,” he responded, studying my face.

          
“So you two are still going to talk about it tomorrow? So
she thinks it’s a possibility?” I asked squarely. “So which is it, the kid or
the money?”

          
“Mallory, I know it’s crazy. And stupid. And totally
selfish of her. But I don’t even know this woman, what if she makes a worse
decision? Like what if she just drops the boy off with someone he doesn’t
know?” He genuinely looked conflicted.

          
“Oh my gosh, you’re really thinking about this? He doesn’t
know
you
, Greyson. The kid has never met you. And the money? You’ve been
working your ass off to save for that new building you want. You’d be willing
to give all of that up for this bat shit crazy woman who doesn’t know how to
make proper life decisions? Look, I don’t even want to talk about this anymore.
I don’t know why we’re still talking about it at all,” I said, waving both my
arms around as I spoke. “First off, that whole story start to finish makes me
think you’re crazy. And the fact that you would even consider either side of her
proposal? That makes you completely psychotic.”

          
“I never said I was considering it,” Greyson interjected,
interrupting my tirade. “I’m just trying to be open and honest with you about
this whole thing. About why she came here and what she wants.”

          
“Open and honest? Are you really choosing those words
right now?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

          
“Mallory, I’m sorry. I’m really trying to fix this,” he
said honestly.

          
“Don’t even bother, Greyson. Let’s just call this off. I
have a lot on my plate right now. I’ve got to submit my dessert bid for the
downtown art festival coming up. I have a big event next weekend to prepare for
so I’ll be chained to the bakery all week anyway. It’s late and I’m really
tired. I just want to go to bed. I have a really early morning,” I said, my
voice trailing off as I tried to think of other excuses.

          
“Dinner. Tomorrow night. I don’t care how late it is or
how busy you are. I will meet you whenever you get done with work,” Greyson
replied, reaching out and touching my arm. “I will end this whole thing with
Brianna tomorrow, I swear. I’ll actually do it tonight. I’ll tell her no.
Dinner tomorrow night, Mallory.”

          
“The last time you ordered me to dinner I never showed up.
Are you looking to relive that scenario?” I asked dryly.

          
“I’m not walking away from this,” he responded sincerely.
“I promised you the best three week relationship of your life. And given I made
you cry today, I’m clearly not doing a great job. I just want to fix this. We
can have dinner and I will tell you anything you want to know. You can ask me
anything and I will answer every question in full detail, I swear. I have no
reason to hide anything from you, I know that. I just thought it was way too
soon for some of the crazy stuff, especially since that stuff doesn’t mean
anything to me now. But I’ll give up any secret I’ve ever had, I promise.”
Greyson leaned down and softly kissed me.

          
“I’m not sure. I still don’t feel good about any of this,”
I answered honestly. “I just feel stupid. Let down, embarrassed. This is too
much drama for me. Why don’t relationships just
work
for me?”