Chapter 33: Damaged Goods: Chapter 32

I show up at Grim’s doorstep the same night, a knot of nerves in my throat.

He lives in a Spanish colonial revival mansion with palm trees, a kidney-shaped pool, and all that jazz.

I knock on his door. His mom flings the door open within seconds, wearing a full-blown Hermes suit and a slight frown. She looks deathly serious, and again, I’m reminded how he’s under so much pressure from his family to take over the family business.

“Mrs. Kwon.” I smile and nod. “Is Grim around?”

She gives me a quick once-over, toes to face. “Why, isn’t he expecting you?”

“No,” I admit. “Actually, I’m not sure if he wants to see me. Which is exactly why I’m here.”

“Weird logic. Let me ask him if he’s accepting visitors.” She slams the door in my face, and I can’t help but chuckle a little. No wonder he’s such a hard ass. It runs in his DNA.

Somehow, I know he’ll see me. Grim is no cop-out, and even if we have our disagreements, he meets every challenge head-on.

Which is exactly why he’s the right owner of the captain title.

The door opens again. This time, I see Grim, wearing a No Fear hoodie and a tie-dye sweatpants, like it’s the nineties. He frowns at me. “Thought I took the trash out earlier.”

“Bro.” I raise my palms up in surrender. “A few words?”

“Actually, there’s only one I need to hear.” He folds his arms over his chest. “And you know what it is.”

“I’m sorry.” The words slide out of my mouth easily.

I know when I fuck up, and I definitely screwed up with Grim. “I put my ego before your happiness, which is a shitty thing to do to your best friend. I was so high on being golden, my principles turned to rust. I knew how much you needed this win to be able to unchain yourself from your family’s grip, and still, I did the wrong thing.”

“Then why did you do it?” Grim’s eyes narrow.

He’s not letting me off the hook. Not yet.

Hell, he didn’t even invite me in. “Why’d you put me through all this crap?”

I let out a breath. “Because I wanted to make my dad and brother happy. Their approval meant more to me than my own dreams. Being an All Saints High football captain was a family tradition, and I didn’t want to break it. But it turned out that it broke me.” I rake my fingers over my head, looking at my feet. “I did it to make other people happy, and I ended up making everyone miserable. You and I included.”

Grim sucked his teeth, considering my words. “Yeah, well, you’re gonna have to make up for that.”

I look up, frowning. “How?”

“Let’s start with you not fucking up the Bailey situation. You know you need to clean up this mess.”

“Already on it.” I nod.

Grin rolls his eyes. “Wanna come in?”

“Can’t,” I say. “Got lots of fires to put out.”

“Well.” Grim smirks. “Consider mine done.”