He sits back on the edge of my bed. “Okay then. Since you’re doing better, I’m going to get my daughter, take her home, and do some damage control. I’m sure our sisters have corrupted her enough.”

It’s weird to think of Grayson as a father. He was always a great guy, caring, loyal, and giving, and it’s good to know that hasn’t changed about him. “Your daughter . . . is she like you?”

He grins. “I sure hope not.”

“Why would you say that?” I ask with a yawn. The medicine usually causes me to sleep off and on for hours.

“Because I was stupid, trusting, and while I got Melia, who is the best thing to ever happen to me, the fight was hard, and I don’t want her to struggle.”

“Isn’t everything worth fighting for hard?”

A flash of regret flashes across his face before the easygoing smile I remember from childhood is there. “And some things we have to let go because they aren’t meant to be won, right?”

The words I said to him when I walked away.

“Jess, stop!” Grayson grabbed my arm as I walked back to my car.

This shouldn’t hurt so bad. It was my decision to leave him, and yet everything inside me was screaming out in pain.

But I heard his mother. I heard the anger as he said he wanted to marry me and her threaten to take everything from him. His father was there, too, agreeing because I was not good enough.

I was going to do this before we were ever faced with him having to choose between his family and me.

“Please just let me go.”

“We have plans. We have plans, and you’re just giving them up.”

I turned, tears falling down my face. “We are kids! We have plans that will never work out. We both know it. I’m nineteen and I want to live, Grayson. I want out of this stupid town with its stupid judgment. I want to travel, eat strange foods, and make bad choices. I can’t do that with you.”

He took a step back. “Why? Why am I what’s holding you back?”

“Because I love you! I love you, and I will never leave you or this place if I don’t do it now.”

“We can do it together.”

My head shook so fast, wishing I could dispel the words out of my head. “All that will happen is we’ll hate each other.”

“Oh! And fucking leaving me like this will make us like each other?”

“I will always love you, Gray. Always.”