I return my gaze to my drink, feeling the emotions rising to the surface. “I don’t know…” It’s the truth; I really don’t know what to make of this situation we’re in. The things he said to me were absolutely cruel, but he has been trying to prove he didn’t mean them since.
It’s only been four days, and he was away for three of them. Yet every morning I wake up to find sunflowers delivered at the door, along with breakfast. He sends me texts throughout the day telling me he misses me and loves me, or silly pictures to make me laugh, and every time he talks to Gracie, he refers to me as Mommy. I’ve never felt so conflicted in my life. He’s finally doing and saying everything I’ve been dying for, but I can’t just forget everything he said before that.
“But he’s trying to make things better, right?” Morgan questions next.
“Yes, I suppose he is. I’m just confused with everything. Aubrey, you heard what he said… how do I just forget that?”
Aubrey gives me those wide eyes that look so much like her brother’s. “I don’t know, but I know my brother loves you and didn’t mean a single word of it.”
“Maybe. But put yourself in my shoes. If Shane had said that to you… would you get over it easily? Would you accept his apology and move on?”
She instantly blushes like she does every time his name is mentioned. “I don’t know if I could. At least not right away,” Brey says honestly.
“That’s what I thought.”
“It’s normal to still hold back, your wound is still fresh. But what’s important is that you see the effort he’s putting into making things right.” Cece places her hand on my thigh with a soft squeeze.
I take a sip of my wine and smile sadly. “I know.”
“What’s this?” Ronnie comes back into the living room holding a Post-it and a bottle of wine. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered by the compliment. But no one in this household has ever licked wine off my body.” She snickers when my cheeks turn red.
I jump from the couch and rip the note from her hand. “It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t seem like nothing with how fast you raced to get it,” Morgan giggles.
“Okay, fine. It’s not nothing. It’s just something Greyson did… He hid 143 Post-its with a little note on each stating things he loves about me,” I tell them, my blush getting rosier as I think about the three that I found this morning. This one happens to be pretty innocent, only saying that he loves the way wine tastes when he licks it off my body.
“Why 143?” Aubrey wonders.
“One for each day since our story started,” I whisper, looking down at the note.He knows the exact number of days since we first got together… How am I supposed to handle that?
“Wow… okay, I must admit. That’s pretty freaking romantic,” Ronnie says, sounding amazed that a man would go through such trouble to prove his love.
But I knew he would—this is the Greyson I fell in love with. The one who does everything to show me how he feels. He’s always been this way with me. But the other night, I got the old version of Grey. The one I didn’t like and always thought was cruel because he would say whatever he thought without caring if it hurt. So how am I supposed to know if what he said the other night was true or not?
“Jesus, 143? That’s a lot. I’m not even sure Silas could name that many,” Cecilia says with a frown.
We all turn to her with a look that clearly calls bullshit and answer at once, “Yes, he would.” The man is obsessed with her, has been since day one.
~ One Week Later ~
Greyson is wearing me down. And he knows it.
I see it in that devilish smirk he gives me every time he finds me discovering a new Post-it. Or when he comes up behind me in the kitchen, pretending to need something from the top shelf, and presses himself against me. The way my body responds to him every single time, even if my mind isn’t on board yet. As well as telling me he loves me at least twenty times a day, and I have to admit… I love hearing it.
This morning, I’ve decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. He wants to torture me with little touches? I’m going to torture him with sexy outfits.
I quickly browse through the outfits I brought back from Greyson’s room. I felt bad taking some of my clothes back, but I’m not ready to be in there with him again. So I took things I wear on the regular and left all my special outfits in his walk-in. And of course, that includes most of my more revealing clothes.Great.
I crack my door slightly, peering out into the hall, trying to determine if Grey is still on the second level. But then I hear his voice from downstairs, so I know the coast is clear. Tiptoeing over to his room, I turn the knob and push the door open assilently as possible, then close it behind me and hurry into the closet, grabbing what I need and bolting back out.
I jump into the shower once back in my room and wash myself twice, adding double the body wash and shampoo. I know how much he loves the smell. When I’m done, I slip into a high-waisted, black and white polka dot flared skirt that’s inappropriately short. And I top it off with an off-the-shoulder white crop top that has a beautiful V-neck and push-up bra sewn in, making my breasts pop fabulously.
I tie my hair up into a messy bun with a few strands framing my face, quickly add a bit of mascara, and then finish it off with a deep red lipstick. It might be overdoing it for breakfast, but I’m sure it will be worth it when I see how much Greyson struggles to keep it together.
I skip down the steps with determination to make his day a little harder, like he’s been doing to mine. When I enter the kitchen, Greyson’s head is down as he swipes through his phone.Well, this won’t do.
I clear my throat before saying, “Good morning.”
