I carry her over to my bathroom, where I set her down on a playing mat with a couple of toys. I keep a basket with things for her in my room for when I need to take a shower and Little Tulip isn’t sleeping.
I hurry into the shower to clean up and wash my hair at lightning speed, then jump back out and rush over to my closet to collect a sailor-looking jumpsuit. The top half is a pearly white short-sleeved V-neck that cuts off right below my breasts and then gives way to navy blue wide-legged pants with four button pearls at the top.
Running back into the bathroom, I get dressed and fix my hair into a messy chignon. “All right, Little Tulip. Let’s go make some pancakes!” Picking up my tiny best pal, we march down the steps and get cooking.
One hour later, the pancakes are all done, and Gracie is munching away in her highchair when Greyson appears in the kitchen. “Morning! You’re just in time.” He sits down at the island beside Gracie, kissing her forehead as I push a plate toward him.
“Good morning,” he says in his usual hoarse morning voice, his eyes boring into mine as he takes the fork from my hand.
Feeling nervous, I let go and turn around quickly, busying myself with cleaning up. I hear him chuckle quietly while my back is to him. I look over my shoulder and find him shaking his head as he cuts into his food.
I finish picking up everything off the counters and wipe them down, then start cleaning the pans by hand. Greyson shows up by my side, placing his plate and utensils in the dishwasher, then grabs a rag and walks around me to where I’ve set the now clean dishes.
As he passes behind me, his hand brushes against my lower back, startling me as I nearly drop the pan back into the sink and gasp slightly. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” He smirks as he starts drying off what I’ve washed.
“Is this the new norm?” I ask with a smile while peeking his way before looking back at my task. When he doesn’t answer, I turn and find him frowning. “You, laughing and smiling. Have I broken your grumpy state for good?” I tease.
“I don’t know; maybe you have.” He winks and gets back to drying.
I watch him for a few seconds, unsure of how to proceed from here. I’ve been thinking of what happened between us all morning, and I’m not sure what to do about it all.I need answers.
“We should probably talk about what happened last night…”
He puts away the now clean pans and leans against the counter. “We should.”
We stare at each other, neither of us saying a word, until I say the only conclusion I came up with as I was setting Little Tulip down with her food. “I don’t think it should happen again.”
His brows furrow, and I rush off to explain myself. “Not that it wasn’t good. It was amazing. Like, really,reallyamazing. But I don’t want to confuse things. We finally have a good friendship going. Well, I think. And I don’t want casual sex to ruin that.”
His jaw works for a few beats before he nods. “You're right. It was a spur-of-the-moment reaction. We were exhausted and drinking. We were both just satisfying an itch.”
Well, I wouldn’t have put it exactly like that, but I guess that’s what we’re going with.“Right.” It’s all I manage to say as he studies my features. Feeling like I’m under a microscope, I walk over to Gracie and begin to clean her sticky face.
“I like your look today. You gonna wear it to the game?”
I look down at my jumpsuit. It’s one of my favorites, but as much as I like it, I’m not ready to wear it outside. It’s stupid, I know. I have half a wardrobe filled with vintage and retro clothes that I only wear in private. Thousands of dollars’ worth of clothes that never see the light of day.
I just know how much my mother would disapprove of my fashion sense if she ever got word of what I wear in my private time. I don’t know why I still care so much about her opinion at my age. Even when I’ve done my best, she would still find a reason to be disappointed in me.
“No…”
He’s been trying to get me to dress more like myself, and I have. Whenever we’re home alone, I let go, but I’m not ready for the outside world to see me like this. Not even Cecilia knows. She’s seen my closet when we lived together before she moved in with Silas, but when she asked about them, I told her they were costumes I never got rid of.
He lets out a deep sigh, and I don’t need to face him to see his expression.I know he’s disappointed.
My phone on the counter suddenly starts vibrating against the surface. “You got a call,” he says as I spin slowly to look at my phone from a distance.
“Just let it ring.” I know who it is. Every morning around the same time, I get a call. As well as at 6:00 p.m. and just before bedtime.Tommy is relentless. I used to find it charming; now it’s just annoying.
“Is it him?”
When I look at Greyson, he seems angry. I don’t bother answering, he knows it’s him. Same as every morning when he’s here and my phone rings.
Grey reaches for the device and answers the call before I have time to stop him. “No, Greyson! Don—”
“Listen, asshole. She wants nothing to do with you and your tiny, unsatisfying dick. Stop calling, stop texting, stop fucking thinking about her altogether! She’s not gonna answer you, and she’s definitely not coming back. So give up, you degrading shit. Whatever she still has at your place, pack it up and send it to her parents. I swear if I ever see your name pop up on her phone again, I’ll be knocking down your door.” He hangs up the phone and passes it to me.
“Greyson! He’s a lawyer! You can’t threaten him like that,” I say in complete shock.
