I could hear his quiet sigh, then his footsteps retreated as he walked away. I waited a few more minutes until the door to the main hallway opened and shut. Once I was sure he was gone, I dropped the throw and started stripping the teddy from my body.
As I marched naked to my dresser to find my coziest sweats, I ignored my reflection because I didn’t want to see the tears trickling down my cheeks. It was bad enough to feel them.
Chapter Nine
“Earth to Grier.”
I jolted in my chair and turned my head to look at Davide. He stood next to my desk, his head cocked as he studied me with an openly concerned expression.
“Hey. What’s up?” I asked, setting down the pen I’d been clicking mindlessly as my brain obsessed over what had gone down with Elijah five days ago.
“Are you okay?” he finally asked after letting the silence stretch between us for a minute.
I shrugged a shoulder. “Not really, but I will be.”
“Please tell me you’re not thinking of quitting,” he said. He leaned over the desk and rested his palms on it as he lowered his face closer to mine. “You have been a godsend, and I will legit bawl like a baby if you abandon me, Grier. I’m talking gasping, snotty tears. There will be begging and maybe even me throwing myself on the floor and clutching your ankles to keep you from walking out.”
I couldn’t control the laugh that burst out of me at the visual he painted. “No, no. Nothing like that,” I finally assured him.
He shifted to lean a hip against my desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “Then, what’s got you so down?”
I hadn’t been able to talk about this with anyone. I didn’t tell the girls what happened other than that I wasn’t dating my guy anymore. I didn’t want to be the cause of drama in our group. It wasn’t worth it. But I really needed to talk about it. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth as I looked up at Davide.
Before I could decide if I was going to tell him or not, he asked, “Is this about Elijah Lawson?”
I blinked at him, completely taken aback, which made him laugh.
“Grier, honey, I knew as soon as he walked in the Friday before you started here that something was going on between y’all. Both of you have zero chill. He was eyefucking you every time he thought I wasn’t looking, or even when he knew I was, and you were fidgety as hell.”
My shoulders slumped. “So much for being discreet,” I mumbled.
“Did something happen?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “But I’m hesitant to tell you. I don’t want you to feel like you have to choose sides or anything.”
“Okay, then. I won’t choose sides. I’m your friend right now, not your boss. It’s obvious you need to talk about it, and it’s just as obvious you can’t talk to the women in your life. So, tell Daddy what’s going on.”
I grimaced at his words. “Oh, my God. Don’t call yourself Daddy anymore. It’s just weird.”
“What? Elijah gives off serious Daddy vibes. Especially with that scruff he tends to wear.”
“Yeah, no. I didn’t call him Daddy.”
“Why not?” Davide asked.
“Because I don’t have a Daddy kink?” My answer sounded more like a question, which made him smirk.
“Well, you should call him that the next time you see him. If nothing else, it’ll be fun to watch his head explode.”
I shook my head. “I doubt I’ll see him again anytime soon. And when I do, I don’t want it to feel awkward.”
“You need to live more, Grier.”
A bark of laughter escaped me before I huffed out a sigh. “I just want to be happy. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
He reached out and patted my hand. “It’s not. Now, tell me what happened.”
Though my eyes stung, I told him the entire story. I couldn’t control the hitch in my breath when I told him about my last conversation with Elijah, but I managed not to cry. Barely.
