His mouth is a stern line, and I hate how my eyes burn. His other hand comes up to tip me into him and give me a kiss on my forehead. “He’s an idiot. Especially when it comes to you. Come on.”
He leads me to the back shelves where he helps me find what I’m looking for.
After a pat on the ass, we both return to our own projects.
I start filling in details for the wintry landscape.
It’s a means of expressing my creativity in a way I never thought I would enjoy…or be good at, but I found the hobby when I lived in the city and spent most of my nights alone.
Most of my days alone. Starting over was hard.
I stop that train of thought before I can spiral into when I finally stopped feeling so alone.
When I finally found my footing. When everything blew up in my face.
Shaking it off, I refocus on the details.
Greyson and I work in companionable silence until lunch.
We’re propped across from each other—me on the lone folding chair back here and him on a stack of two-by-fours. It doesn’t seem to bother him one bit.
We both crack open our glassware—mine made by my mother and his…leftovers. It makes me giggle.
“What are you laughing at?” His eyes glow with equal amusement.
“Is that from Sally’s?” My brow raises with knowing.
“She makes the best meatloaf in town.”
“She certainly does.” I’m smiling around my first bite of food as he chuckles.
A few forkfuls in, and his glance makes me suspicious. “What’s your plan when this is all over? After the holidays?”
I stare down at my container of bourbon chicken and chew on the inside of my cheek. I don’t have a real answer for him. Not that Greyson looks like he’s judging me. He never does.
“I don’t know yet.” Admitting that doesn’t ease the pressure on my chest like I thought it might.
He nods. “I suppose you still have time to figure it out.”
I shrug. It feels like my life lately has been moving so fast that I’ve lost complete control of it. It’s so different from the last six years of monotony.
“You know, it doesn’t get any easier as you get older. Or at least, not always.”
My brow raises at that, and he meets my gaze meaningfully. His life’s been through its own upheaval recently.
“What happened with Kim?”
Greyson grimaces. It’s his turn to look away, but his attention returns to me quickly. “Too many small things added up.”
“Little things like what?” I’m hoping it might help me figure out how I’d missed all the signs in my last relationship.
His shoulders droop a little. “After the baby was born, she just…didn’t seem to want me anymore.”
It looks like it still makes him sad but not that he’s hung up on it.
“She’s an idiot then.”
I like the way that makes him look at me.
