MILLER
I still need to know if he can come play. We kinda made plans.
PRESTON
Quit being an idiot.
ME
I don’t think he knows how.
MILLER
Taytie Tot, you’re still here?
ME
You literally saw me yesterday.
“Everything okay?” Grant asks, holding out a fresh cup of coffee. He’s been waiting on me hand and foot since he came home a few nights ago to find me curled up on the couch in pain.
“Hurts,” I grumble and sit up to take it from him. “Thank you.” He presses a quick kiss to my forehead and lifts my legs to sit on the couch beside me. When I try to pull them off his lap, he clamps his hand around my ankle to keep them in place.
“You’re welcome. What was all the dinging?”
“The group chat is popping off. I forgot we planned to go to Ivory’s for lunch today.”
“You can skip it.”
“I can’t. They know I’m in town because I just saw them lastnight at the game, and I already feel bad about not telling them where I’m staying or all the times I’ve been in town before and they didn’t know. Miller just made a jab about me still being here.”
All the secrets I’ve been carrying are adding up and I’m starting to feel the weight of them. I know Miller didn’t mean anything by it, but the jokes about my comings and goings get to me, especially when I’m already hormonal.
Grant rolls his head on the back of the couch to look at me. “You know you don’t have to hide where you’re staying, right?”
“But if I tell them I’m staying with you then I have to explain we have a history and then it’ll just get messy and I’m not ready for that. Not this week.” My words die off in a moan when Grant squeezes the skin between my big and second toe.
“Does that feel good?” He smirks, and god, why is he so hot?
“I wouldn’t say it feelsgood, but it distracted me from some of the other pain. How did you know to do that?”
“I’ve been reading up on it. There are certain pressure points in your feet and ankles that relieve the pain associated with cramps.”
I soften at the thought of him searching ways to relieve period cramps and wanting to help. It’s next level book boyfriend shit. He makes it really hard not to love him. Not that I’d tell him that. We may be playing house, but we’re not back together.
“I hate seeing you in pain.” He continues massaging my feet, occasionally hitting a different pressure point to stimulate relief. “If you’re sure about going, how about a soak in the tub before you leave? I can get it set up. You can soak for a bit and then hopefully by then the medicine will kick in.”
It was almost time for another dose of pain medicine. Though it barely helped, it at least took the edge off and made it so I could function.
“In a bit. I want to finish this coffee first. What are you doing today?”
“I’ve got some work to do. Just because the team is off doesn’t mean I am.”
“You need to rest too.”
From what I’ve seen, Grant works nonstop. Between managing the entirety of operations for the baseball team and checking in on all things Stella in New York, he rarely takes a day off.
“I will.” He runs a knuckle along the arch of my foot, and I mewl at the sensation. The subtle shift of my feet on his lap does nothing to hide the twitch I felt under his sweatpants.
