“Oh, hell no.” Just the thought of it makes me laugh. Write my own vows? I wouldn’t even know where to start, and I’d just spend an hour rambling on about how much I love Grady. And his dick. “She gave me a book that had like… premade ones? Pre-written? We could choose one of those?”
“Do we have to have them at all?”
Now there’s an idea.
My next question has me hesitating. I know it’s a sore spot, and I don’t want to bring up bad memories, but we can’t ignore that it exists. And I’m curious. I want to be so careful that I don’t step wrong or do anything that his douchebag ex did. I want this to be nothing but a positive experience for Grady; otherwise, what’s the point? “What about—um, your first…” I don’t know how to word it properly.Please use your special mind-reading Jedi abilities and just know what I’m trying to say.
Grady does in fact use his special mind-reading abilities, and I love him so much for it. “He insisted. Wanted the whole peacock display.”
“So, you wrote…?” You know what? I don’t think I want to know this part. I don’t want to hear how much Grady used to care about someone else. Enough to almost marrythem. How do I compare to that? A ridiculous question, of course. I know how to take care of Grady’s heart.
“It was a bunch of drivel that, looking back on it, I just wrote because I thought it was expected of me.” Grady swallows, and I take his hand, squeezing. He smiles lightly and tugs me under his arm, settling me snugly against his chest. “I was a shy kid, and I didn’t talk to a lot of people. He gave me attention when I had none, and it’s easy to get swept up in that. None of it was real, not when it mattered.”
I snuggle closer, wishing that we were at home so I could open his shirt and press my cheek against his chest. “We don’t have to do vows. As long as you say ‘I do’ at the end, promise to love me forever, and kiss me, I’ll be happy.”
Grady kisses the top of my head, lips lingering, and my eyes flutter closed. There’s no better feeling in the world than being the recipient of his softness. It’s for me alone, and that makes me want to curl at his feet.
“We have to do speeches later,” he says, “and I think that’s enough.”
“If you kiss me really good under the arch, I’ll take one for the team and do the speech.”
“Deal.”
Hades trots over and noses at my pocket, where he knows the tennis balls are. He’s so eager to get one that he flies right past where it lands and has to backtrack before bringing it back.
It takes another half hour before Hades slows down, content to sit in the grass and chew on the ball instead of returning it for another throw.
“Ready to go home?” Grady murmurs, nose in my hair.
Home. I’ll never get over Grady saying that. Our home. Ours. Together. One that also doesn’t have a fully usable bathroom right now.
“I was thinking,” I say, drawing out the words as we head back to the car, Hades happily trotting beside us without trying to pull. He’s ready for bed.
Grady doesn’t say anything in response, but the look that he gives me is incredibly suspicious. The smile I give in return doesn’t ease the expression. I don’t know why; I’m completely innocent.
“Maybe when we get home, we can snuggle in bed and watch some reno videos about bathrooms? Then tomorrow after work, we could take a trip to Bunnings? We probably want our sinkback at some point, right?” I don’t know about him, but I’m sick of walking all the way to the kitchen to wash my hands.
“Probably.” Grady opens the passenger door and steps back so that Hades can jump into his seat and get clipped in.
Once we’re strapped in, too, I reverse with one hand, an arm across the back of Grady’s seat. Showing off is worth it when Grady gets that dark look in his eyes. Like he’s thinking dirty thoughts. So am I. If we didn’t have Hades in the car, I’d find a dark spot somewhere so Grady could fuck me in the back seat. Wouldn’t be the first time. The control I need to keep my hands off him is a full-time job.
“Well?”
“We can do that.”
“With popcorn?” I ask hopefully.
“Do we have any?”
“I bought some the other day. I even wentintothe supermarket to get it.”
Grady’s mouth lifts at the corner. “By yourself? How did that go?”
“No one has tried to bite me yet. I’m actually getting offended at this point.” It’s either not that big a threat, or I’m not biteable, and I’mverybiteable!
“We can go together next time, and I’ll bite you; how does that sound?”
I love this man. “In the veggie aisle?”
