Page 254 of Just for the Cameras
“It’s okay. Does he have his phone turned off?”
“Broke it,” Graydon says, moving past me and to the keypad on the side of his garage door. He types in a few numbers, and it starts opening.
“You broke your phone?”
“He threw it against the weight room wall when Slutty Little Glasses answered your phone.”
“Slutty Little…do you mean Hank?”
“Sure,” Hutton says as Graydon moves into his garage and starts digging through a bucket that’s next to his door. “I don’t think he’s in a great position to talk right now.”
“It’s okay. I’ll make sure he gets into his place and gets to bed.”
“You sure?” Hutton glances at Graydon, who fishes a key out of the bucket. “I’m not sure he wants to be near you right now.”
“I don’t care about that,” I say. “He can push me away all he wants, but it’s not going to happen.”
“Good,” Hutton says, then leans closer. “He needs someone like you.”
“I know,” I answer.
He offers me a side hug and then takes off as I head toward Graydon, who is struggling to open the door to his house. I press the button to shut the garage door, then take the key from him and unlock the door. He pushes through and then stumbles toward the couch, where he crashes down on the cushions and lets out a deep breath.
While he gains his bearings, I go to the kitchen and pour him a glass of water, bringing it over to him.
“Here,” I say, handing him the glass, but he doesn’t take it.
“Why are you here, Maple? Didn’t you get the hint at the zoo?”
While I was waiting for him, I mentally prepared myself for this, for him to continue to push me away, for him to say things I know he wouldn’t normally mean, and not to take offense at them. If I know anything about Graydon at this point, it’s that he will do anything to protect the people he cares for in his life, including me. And if he thinks he’s protecting me by pushing me away, then he’s going to do a damn good job at it, even if it hurts us both.
“Can you please drink some water?”
His eyes fall to mine, dark, dangerous, but also…sad. “I asked you a question.”
“And I’m choosing to ignore it.”
He shakes his head. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“Graydon, please just drink some water. I can make some coffee as well—”
“I don’t want your coffee, Maple. I want you to leave.” His voice is terse, but I stand firm.
“I’m not leaving. Not when you’re drunk and saying things you don’t mean.”
“I wasn’t drunk at the zoo and meant every word I said there.”
Yup, he’s not holding back, but that doesn’t matter to me because I can handle it.
At least I hope that I can.
“I’m not going to get into a fight with you right now. Why don’t we just get you upstairs for a shower and—”
“Leave me the fuck alone,” he says, sitting up and pulling his shirt over his head. He deposits it on the floor and then lies back down on the couch. He closes his eyes and drapes his arm over his eyes.
I stare down at him, wondering how to handle this, how to get him to listen to me, but when I see his breathing even out and his chest rise and fall at a slow pace, I notice that he’s asleep, which is probably for the best.
So I pick up a blanket that’s draped over the back of the couch, and I cover him with it before heading up to his room, where I turn on the shower and undress. I slip under the hot water and let it run down my body as I allow myself to relax for a moment and feel the anger and frustration pour out of me.
