Grabbing my stuff, I head out to my car, but as soon as I walk outside, I see Grams walking up the front steps, toting one of the large plastic containers we use for transporting marijuana to The Green Halo.

“Grams! What are you doing carrying that by yourself? You could really get hurt.” Forgetting all about my aches and pains, I sprint over to her, taking the bulky bin out of her arms and setting it down on the porch.

Her eyes light up at the sight of me. “Oh, I’m fine, but I’m glad you’re up! I was just coming to see you.”

“You were? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s fine,” she assures, patting my shoulder lovingly. “Uncle Danny just called, and they’re almost out of three different sativa strands and running low on a couple of other hybrids, so he needs someone to bring him what we have available.” Her eyes drop to the car keys in one of my hands and my purse in the other, then flick back to my face. “Oh, I’m sorry, honey. Were you on your way out?”

Giving a slight nod, I shift my weight uncomfortably as I weigh how much I want to tell her. My family is usually cool as shit about this kind of stuff, as long as we’re never in danger or putting anyone else in danger, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet.

“Yeah, uh, I was heading to the girls’ apartment. I left my phone with them after the party.”

“Oh, yes, right.” She nods, staring up at me with an amused look on her face. “I was surprised to hear you come in last night. I thought you were staying with them.”

Another nod as I bite my bottom lip nervously, and my gaze falls to the ground. I really suck at lying. “They brought me home, ‘cause I started not feeling well. Probably just ate too much at Christmas dinner.” I wrap my arms over my belly and make an ugly face, acting as if my stomachache is from too much food, not too much alcohol.

“Are you okay?” Her eyebrows pinch together with concern. “Feeling well enough to drive into town?”

“Yeah, much better now.” I pat my lower abdomen and smile, continuing the lying charades game I’m playing. “Good as new.”

Good as new? Shut up now, Hudson.

Her forehead relaxes and a happy smile replaces the taut frown, as if she’s buying every false word falling from my lips. “Then it’s a good thing they brought you home when they did.”

“Definitely. A great thing.” I rock back on my heels, blowing out an uneasy breath. “So you said you were on your way to see me?”

“I need you to drop that,” she tips her salt-and-pepper head toward the Rubbermaid resting at our feet, “off at the store for me. Your dad took a group out skiing this morning, your mom just left to go in town with the girls for some big sale they wanted to hit up, and I’m covering breakfast while trying to watch Denver. I’d take it myself and have you finish up breakfast if I could drive, but you know that’s not possible.”

Without a second thought, I squat down and pick the container back up in my arms, offering her what I hope is an easy grin. “No problem, Grams. The shop isn’t far out of my way at all. I’ll drop it off.”

“Thank you so much, love. I’ll see you when you get back. Tell them all I said hello.”

The drive to The Green Halo is unusually quiet. My head, though it feels much better, isn’t ready for music quite yet, and not to mention, I’m so caught up in my thoughts about what I’m going to say to my sisters that I don’t even recognize the silence until I’m parking the car in the employee area behind the building.

I grab the tan bin and hitch it up on my hip, toting it through the back entrance, which I gain access to with my thumbprint. Following the sound of voices from the sales area, I leave the container in the storeroom to go find Danny and ask him where he wants me to put the stuff. However, as I turn the corner to the hall that leads out front, I run smack dab into a hard chest, which sends two strong arms shooting out to help steady me.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t looking whe—” I cut my apology short when my eyes land on Crew’s face, complete shock washing over me as I wiggle free of his grasp. “What are you doing here?"

He doesn’t answer me at first, appearing to be just as surprised as I am to run into each other. His gaze travels over the length of my body, as if he’s making sure it’s really me standing in front of him, leaving goose bumps in its wake. Then, as he locks his eyes back on mine, the corner of his mouth ticks up in a small smile, waging a serious war inside of me—my hopeful heart and traitorous body on one side, my sensible mind and self-respect on the other.

“Well? Are you just gonna stand there and stare at me, or tell me why you’re at my family’s shop?” I demand, my tone borderline rude.

His proud smile grows. “I’m working here now.”

“Working here?” I scoff, pinching my eyebrows together in disbelief. “Since when? What are you talking about?”

“Last week, I called Doug and asked if he could help me find a non-bartending job, if he knew anyone hiring, and he told me Danny was looking for some help. I’m guessing he didn’t tell you?”

My eyes grow wide as the nausea from earlier threatens to make a reappearance. “My dad hired you? Are you fucking serious? Am I on some prank show right now?” I spin around in a circle, waiting for people with cameras to jump out at any minute.

“No, this isn’t a damn TV show, Hudson. I’m really working here. After everything that happened with—” He blows out a long breath while brushing an unruly strand of hair out of his face.

I try not to stare at how his shirt pulls taut around his chest and biceps, but fail miserably. I'm supposed to be pissed off at him right now...I mean, I am pissed off at him. So why does it feel like a flock of geese have taken flight inside my belly? What is it about him that I find so captivating? Why do I want to forgive him before he’s even said he’s sorry? What the fuck is wrong with me?

“After everything that happened with you last week,” he continues his previous thought, ripping my gaze from his toned upper body and back to his cautious green eyes, “and everything going on with Mom, I realized I needed to pull my head out of my ass and get my life back together. So I quit my job at the pub and started working here.”

I do my best to wipe all emotion from my face as I whisper, "Were you going to tell me?"

Shifting his weight uncomfortably, he drops his focus to the ground. "When the time was right," he mumbles at his shoelaces.

My back straightens as I nod stiffly; a thousand questions teeter on the tip of my tongue, but I'm too scared to know the answers. Instead, I point over to where I left the bin and say, "Well then, you can let Danny know where I left that...since you work here and all now. I gotta get going."

Spinning around on my heel before he can say anything else—before he can break my heart any more than he already has—I scurry to the exit. As I push the door open, seconds before I reach the safety of the outdoors, he calls out, "Hey! How's your arm?"

"It’s fine," I answer absentmindedly, glancing back briefly over my shoulder before rushing out to my car.

Hurriedly, I buckle my seatbelt and stick the key in the ignition, wanting to get as far away from him as possible before I do something really stupid. Like go back inside and slap him. Or kiss him.

Or both.

Shifting the car into reverse, the sleeve of my shirt slides up on my arm a little, and I freeze as I catch sight of the bandage I woke up with this morning.

Then it hits me.

How the fuck does he know about what happened to my wrist?