I grit my teeth, wanting to tell him that he better be grateful thatI’mhere and not someone else. But I know what fighting with Snapper looks like, and the last thing I need is for him to be alone in this house with Anastacia and angry.
No, I don’t think he would hurt her, but she doesn’t need to see him angry.
So, I bite my tongue and get up from the couch.
“Just wanted to make sure she had some company.” His eyes narrow, following me as I walk past him. “Good night, Snapper.”
He says nothing as I walk out the door, but I hear the lock click as I’m walking down the steps. I get on my bike and head home.
Chapter Eight
Anastacia
Grizz comes by every day. We have meals together. Watch TV together. Nap together.
Sometimes we fall asleep on the couch after the sun goes down, but every morning I wake up in my bed with him gone.
Snapper stays out late, but there are times he comes home and sees us together. He scowls. Curses under his breath. But he never tells Grizz to leave. I’m not sure what he’s mad about, but I’m starting to feel bad about it. When I ask him what’s wrong, he says nothing. I can’t fix it if he won’t tell me how. All it does is make me realize how much I don’t belong here. Yet, I see the way Snapper’s face softens at times, and I think he doesn’t want to be so grouchy toward me, but maybe he can’t help it. Like he doesn’t know how else to be.
“Let’s go sit outside,” Grizz says after loading the dishwasher.
No matter how much I try to clean up after we eat, he never lets me. He tells me to relax, that I’m doing enough by making the baby.
Every time he says that, I laugh and tell him the baby is already made—I’m just cooking it.
Then he laughs.
It’s a cute joke, and I love that we can joke together at all. I’ve never had that before. Not once in all my life. But that’s what happens when you’ve never had a normal relationship with someone I suppose.
Is what I have with Grizz normal? I’m not sure I know what normal looks like, and that’s probably why I have all these fantasies floating around in my head. I didn’t have friends growing up. In school, I was the kid everyone stood away from because I smelled weird and didn’t have new clothes. Half the time there wasn’t hot water at home, and the other half it wasn’t running at all.
“Hey, you okay?”
I blink a few times to clear my vision. Grizz is standing in front of me. I look up to see a concerned look on his face.
I put on a smile. “I’m fine.”
His eyes narrow. “If you’re not fine, you can tell me. Or not tell me, if that’s easier, but you don’t have to lie and say you are.”
The smile slowly falls from my face.
His large hands come up to cup my cheeks. Gently, he holds my head in place to keep looking at him. “You don’t have to pretend with me. That shit is exhausting.”
Emotion seizes my chest, but I manage to nod.
“Come on. Fresh air will be good.”
His arm goes around my shoulder, and it all feels so good. We walk to the door, and he pulls it open, allowing me to go first. I step onto the wooden porch; the heat hitting me like a wave. Iwalk to the swing and sit on it, letting it gently swing back and forth. Grizz sits in the chair across from me.
“Afraid I’ll break that thing.”
I huff a laugh, looking up at the hooks holding it.
“I could sit over there,” I say, moving to get up.
“No,” he says quickly. I raise a brow. “I like looking at you like this.”
I smile, ducking my head as I sit back down and get comfortable.
