29. Alex

Chapter 29

Alex

I woke up to the easy fit of Grace's body against mine. It felt natural to have my hand splayed across her hip, her ass curved into my groin. She'd finally stayed in bed past dawn. Then again, we'd stayed up way past her bedtime.

I still didn't understand how we were here. The lodge had initially been intended just until Mallory finished skiing, but when my sister called, Grace sent me to shower. By the time I emerged from the steam, Kate was on her way to pick up Mallory and drop off an overnight bag.

The night had passed in slow motion, talking and touching and eating and laughing. We'd fed each other room service, fucked until we were sweat-drenched and spent, then laid wrapped around each other and whispered for hours.

I stroked her back and told her about Victoria, how we'd fallen into a relationship accidentally, convenient but never satisfying. She scraped her fingernails over my scalp and told me about Shannon, how they'd fallen in love before her transition and Shannon promised her feelings wouldn't change. I twisted her long hair around my fingertips and told her all my favorite things about San Francisco, how I used to run the length of the city every Sunday before I made Senior Associate, and she encouraged me to make time for it when I went back.

She rested her head on my chest with her arm around my waist and trusted me with the full story of her dad kicking her out and canceling her financial support: tuition, rent, phone. She told me how she'd stayed at a domestic violence shelter and the social worker helped her come up with a plan — including introductions at her alma mater in Vermont — which inspired her career choice.

Between our slow storytelling we'd drifted off, but when one of us stirred, we reached out and came back together, stroking and caressing and whispering until we fell back asleep. I'd never felt so satisfied. It wasn't just the sex; there was something about Grace that made everything feel easy and light. So completely different from the high-pressure life I'd paused in San Francisco.

I dreaded the fact that I only had five days left before I had to go back, knowing that my abrupt departure and unresponsiveness would probably lead to retaliation. When I got in the cab in New York last week, bound for the mountains instead of the airport, I'd given up my chance at this round of promotions. The partners would expect another grueling year or two before giving me the nod.

With my arms wrapped around her, I dreamed of a different option … but I could barely function on my own in that job, and asking her to do long-distance wouldn't be fair to either of us. She deserved a future with somebody who could give her a family, and as my dad had told me about his own years with young kids, it hadn't been fair to Mom that he'd worked that much.

So I thought about my brother's advice, to enjoy my time with Grace while I had it. While I was here, with her curled up in my arms, I would soak up every ounce of the sunshine she brought into my life. I would hoard her, like the selfish bastard that I was, and do anything I could to make her happy so that I could get just a taste of that residual joy, to stockpile it away for when I left her behind.

Now the sun was peering through the curtains, ready to start the new day.

My phone chimed on the nightstand. Keeping one arm securely beneath her head, I rolled over to read a message from my brother.

Nick

It's been days, how'd it go? Don't leave me hanging.

I swiftly replied, attaching a selfie Grace had taken on the ski lift.

Nick

Holy shit, she's beautiful.

What the hell is she doing with you ?

"What are you laughing at?" Grace murmured into my bicep.

"My brother," I nestled closer, pressing my lips against her shoulder. "He says you're beautiful." I felt her warm blush on her neck.

I held out the phone, which she accepted it to read the messages herself.

It vibrated in her palm with a FaceTime request.

"He's calling!" she squealed, tossing the phone and diving under the covers.

A laugh burst out as I swiped. In the reflection, I saw my smile widen at my brother's blond Viking mane and scruffy stubble, a far cry from his polished camera-ready deity.

"Eeew, I didn't want to see your ugly mug. I'm calling to talk to your girl."

My girl. It felt good to hear Nick call her that. My Grace.

"She's hiding," I flicked the screen to her head under the covers, then turned it to see Nick's hand over his mouth, holding back laughter.

"I'm not prepared," her muffled voice came from under the comforter. "I'm not wearing any makeup, and I have morning breath."

"He can't smell your morning breath, sweetheart."

"But I'll know!"

‘She's adorable,' Nick mouthed, and I mouthed back, ‘I know. Hold on.'

Placing the phone on the nightstand and tucking my head under the covers, I murmured, "Please, Grace. You're gorgeous any time of day." In the shadowy space beneath the blanket, her lips quirked up. "Come on, darling, I want him to meet you."

And I realized how true it was. For years I'd hidden my relationship with Nick, wanting to live outside his shadow, and in keeping everyone distant from him, I'd had driven a rift between us. But now, I desperately wanted Nick to know Grace.

"Please, sunshine?" I pleaded, and she started to pull back the blanket.

"Grace," Nick said loudly, "Come on screen and blink twice if you've been kidnapped."

Grace pulled a hoodie over her tank top. "That's exactly what your sister said."

"Then you understand. I grew up with Mallory, I'm fully inoculated from gross girl stuff."

I pulled her up to rest against my outstretched arm and picked back up the phone .

"Nick, this is Grace." In the FaceTime reflection, her eyes went wide as her body stiffened.

Nick's eyes softened. "Nice to finally meet you Grace, I've heard so much about you. Honestly, I'm having a bit of a fanboy moment." Leave it to Nick to be disarmingly humble.

Grace seemed completely frozen, so I asked, "What'd you hear?"

"You're the one who named the dog, right?"

"You heard that?" she asked. She did?

"When they adopted the new puppy who barked at harmless things like leaves and squirrels, Mom said you suggested Cassandra, based on the princess who was cursed by Apollo with prophesy that nobody believed. Mom said Mallory yelled ‘hashtag believe women,' and that settled the debate."

I let out a long chuckle. "That sounds like exactly how it would go."

"So how did Mal react when she found out you two were …" He raised a brow and made a suggestive hand motion, and Grace cracked a smile.

"She didn't like it at first, but Kate talked her down from the ledge."

"Kate?" Nick's face flickered with shock, which transformed into a mischievous grin. "Kate Martino went to bat for Alex ? Never thought I'd see the day …"

"Wait," I said in confusion, "What am I missing?"

"Kate never liked you," Nick said simply. "You called her Kayla."

"And you offered to buy her artwork and never did," Grace added.

"When was this?" I asked, racking my brain.

"The first day we met her, up in the clearing," Nick said, then with a scolding tone. "Right before you gave alcohol to the sixteen-year-olds ."

I remembered vaguely, mostly because I made fun of Nick for being too uptight. "It was a harmless splash of whiskey, split between four of us."

"You were trying so hard to be the cool brother," he teased.

"Was this the day you kissed her?" Grace asked my brother.

What? Nick kissed Kate? When did he —

"Nah, she spent most of that first trip trying to decide which of us Clarke kids was the most likely to be a serial killer."

The two of them locked eyes over FaceTime.

Grace tilted her head subtly towards me.

"Hey!" I said, ready to defend myself.

Nick snickered. "Don't even try to pretend it's not you, Lex."

Damn, he was right, so I changed the subject. "But … When did you kiss Kate?"

"The next Christmas, no big deal," Nick said with a flush to his cheeks. "I'm surprised she told you about that."

"She didn't, Mallory did," Grace said, and Nick's brow lifted. "Mal said that if Kate kissing you hadn't ruined their friendship, then I was probably ok with this guy." Her elbow poked my rib. "Then Kate told Mallory that if she protested she would look like a hypocritical jerk."

Nick's entire head dropped out of the frame as he doubled over. "Ok, that tracks. That sounds like the Kate I know and —" and then he burst into another round of laughter.

"Kate's the only sensible one of the lot of you reprobates, so if you have her blessing, you have mine as well." He made an exaggerated sign of the cross.

Uncomfortable with receiving a blessing, I scoffed. "We're not Catholic."

"Just feels right," Nick chuckled with a shrug.