It Could Be More | ✔

28. #NoFilter

When we got back to Vik's, we followed the sleeping arrangements we were supposed to have last night. From the mega side-eye she kept giving me through the rearview mirror on the drive, I knew it was because Liah had something to say.

While Corey assured Vik his hand wasn't broken, Liah dragged me upstairs to the guestroom. I collapsed face first on the bed, my body screaming for sleep. Liah wasn't letting that happen, though.

She laid on the bed beside me, on her back as she stared at the ceiling. "This is getting kind of ridiculous, Ari."

"What is?"

She rolled over onto her side. "You're my best friend and I love you, which is why I have to be honest with you."

Slowly, I lifted my head from the pillow. "Honest about what?"

"This thing with Grayson." As soon as the words left her mouth, I let out a groan. "Did you even tell Corey he was at the party?"

"No. We agreed this was our Grayson free weekend."

"Just tell him."

"For what? It's not like we can go back to the party and confront my brother."

Her perfect brows dipped, her eyes narrowed. "That is not what I meant."

She wasn't understanding. Getting up from the bed, I grabbed my bag from the floor to find my pajamas. "Which part of Grayson Free Weekend are you having a problem with?"

"Honestly," she said, sitting up and crossing her legs. "All of it. Why are you so afraid to tell him you're with Corey?"

I paused my search for my sleep shorts. "Are you serious? He literally threatened Corey the first time he tried to ask me out."

"You and I both know that Gray is a softer than a marshmallow. He'll be mad, sure, but he'll get over it. He's your brother. He can't hate you forever because he doesn't like your boyfriend."

In a perfect world, that would be true. But in this world, Grayson stopped talking to me for years for no apparent reason. Blood or not, he could hold a grudge.

"We're going to talk to Gray the next time he comes home. Okay? Now, can we not bring him up again for the next twenty-four hours?"

Liah stared at me a moment before letting out a sigh. "Okay."

I grabbed my toothbrush and headed for the door. "Thank you."

"But if you keep dragging this out, you'll only make things worse," my best friend blurt out, all in one breath.

I turned on her. "Seriously?"

"No one likes being lied to. Just tell Gray. Then you and Corey can live happily ever after like those characters in your books." She let out a self-satisfied sigh. "Okay, I'm done now."

Rolling my eyes, I left for the bathroom. I tried to get back into that stress free zone I'd been in all night, but Liah ruined it. She thought everything was going to be all rainbows and unicorns after Corey and I told Gray everything.

That was the hope. But I knew Corey and Gray better than she did. After everything was out in the open, Grayson would shut me out again, or Corey would try to be the good guy and remove himself from the situation.

A happily ever after seemed like a fantasy.

● ● ●

We had a late start on Sunday after sleeping in all morning. We almost forgot about the pizza party and Vik's parents coming back later that evening. The four of us made sure the house was clean and that we left behind no evidence of ever being there.