All I Ever Wanted(53)

        

"They are pretty sweet," Jesse said. "Just when I thought I couldn't get any sexier . . . bam."

Jimmy rolled his eyes. "You're a piece of work. Just don't fall off the stage."

"You mean get pulled off," Jesse insisted, then turned to Grady. "The weather forecast is sunshine, breezy, and mild. Perfect for an outdoor concert at the Sea Breeze amphitheater. The merchandise has all arrived and looks badass, by the way. We're sold out! I mean, we couldn't squeeze one more body into the venue without getting in trouble with the fire marshal. Media coverage has been awesome. And you said that we already have more donations to the Susan Heart Lupus Foundation pouring in. This is even more than we'd hoped for. Our handsome mugs have been plastered everywhere. Yesterday, after the Entertainment Tonight piece, we were trending on Twitter. I think we still are."

"And look at how cute I am." Jesse drew a circle around his face and then flexed a muscle.

Grady had to chuckle despite his mood.

"We're all pretty damned ripped, even Jimmy," Oliver said. "All that rehearsing Arabella made us do whipped us into shape."

"I know how hard you guys have worked," Grady said, trying not to react to Arabella's name. "And I'm stoked over how much money we've already raised. Donations really are pouring in on the website. It's more than I imagined."

"Then what the hell is wrong with you?" Jesse asked. "Come on, spill." He looped his arms over the side of the hot tub and waited. "At least give us something to chew on. And don't tell us it doesn't have anything to do with Arabella."

Grady shifted on the slippery seat. "I guess it still gets to me sometimes that Arabella ran off, thinking the worst of me," he said, and his answer was partly true. But now he knew that she had been pregnant and hadn't told him. A whole lot of maybes started skittering through his brain and wouldn't stop.

"You've got to get over that," Oliver said. "Damn, I thought you'd worked that shit out. Grady, leave the past where it belongs."

"That's not as easy as it sounds," Grady said.

"You were both so young," Jimmy reminded him. "Don't tell me you're going to blow this second chance with her. I don't get it. You're not one to hold grudges."

"This goes way deeper than a grudge." Grady felt a stab of pain at the thought. He knew his absence over the past few days had to be bothering her. And the anguish on her face when she'd revealed the pregnancy haunted him when he tried to go to sleep at night. He loved her so much, but this new revelation was so damned difficult to get past. More what-ifs banged around in his brain. 

"Is there something you're not telling us?" Jimmy asked, always the intuitive one.

Grady gave him a long look, wanting so much to spill his guts, but this wasn't his story to tell. If Arabella wanted them to know, it was up to her.

"What goes down in the hot tub stays in the hot tub," Jesse said.

"Dude, that doesn't work for this situation," Oliver said. "You're such a tool."

"I just pissed," Jesse said.

"You better not have," Oliver sputtered, but Jesse only laughed.

"And I farted too." He pointed to the bubbles. "Fart bubbles." He waved them in Oliver's direction.

Jimmy laughed. "You're both a couple of tools."

Grady chuckled and felt himself relax just a little bit.

"I still think it sucks that we can't drink," Jesse complained. "I don't know what harm a few beers could cause."

"No toxins in the system!" Oliver shook his head firmly. "We can party after the concert," he said. "And I plan on it."

Jesse groaned. "No beer. No shitty food. You're killin' me."

"You'll live," Oliver said.

"Really?" Jesse asked. "Because that kale salad you forced on me for lunch nearly did me in."

"It's a superfood."

"Yeah, super gross." Jesse made a gagging sound. "Those fart bubbles are kale fart bubbles."

"You sound like a five-year-old," Jimmy said with a laugh. "There's more to life than pizza and beer."

Jesse groaned. "Beer . . ." he said in a voice of longing. "Pizza . . . how I love you so."

Grady listened to the banter with half an ear. All he could think about was Arabella. His mind wandered until he felt another splash in his face. "Who the hell just did that? Jesse?"

Jesse held his hands up in surrender. "I confess, it was Jimmy."

"No, it wasn't." Grady looked at Jimmy, who shook his head but then said, "Grady, just go on over to the beach house. Whatever is going down between you two needs to be resolved before the concert. You're miserable and you're out there somewhere, not able to concentrate. And I'm sure Arabella is miserable too. Just do it. We've all worked so hard toward Saturday. It would be a damned shame to have something screw it up at this point. And she deserves to have this moment in the sun too."