Chapter 29
Dreams do come true...sometimes.
“Hey, I’ll be expecting a call any moment from Coach. Answer my cell if it rings while I’m in the shower,” Grey called out when he peeked his head from the bathroom door. I sat in the middle of the hotel bed, the sheet covering my naked body as I finished an organic chemistry assignment. We’d been locked together at the hotel since Saturday night, and it was Monday morning. After almost sexing on the beach in the cold air without a condom, we decided to find a hotel away from the condo and be with each other. I’d turned my cell off, anticipating contact from Carter and Chelsea. I’d already told my family that Carter was fine, so I didn’t expect any calls from them. I didn’t want any distractions.
I only wanted Grey.
“Is he going to be pissed that you didn’t go to practice?” I asked.
Grey decided not to go to his morning practice, opting to stay in bed with me. I had to make him promise to go back tomorrow. He seemed reluctant to let me out of his sight.
“I’ve never missed practice in four years. He’ll live. There are some things more important than running.” He grinned, and for the first time in a long time, he was happy.
I made him happy.
Grey had been my grumpy best friend with a rare smile, who tended to see the glass half-empty instead of full, though he would argue he was a realist. I had no idea he’d been carrying such trauma inside. I knew his parents’ relationship had been troubled. I’d even witnessed his mother’s fiery temper, but to pull a gun with intent to use on his father explained Grey’s troubled relationship with his parents. And also why marriage scared him. I would be patient with him. Maybe convince him to go to therapy.
“Now, I know you haven’t had any sleep. Nothing is more important than running,” I half-teased.
“Nothing is more important than being with you.” He walked over to me in his naked glory and kissed me. His tongue savored my mouth before he pulled back. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.” I grabbed his chin to plant another kiss. “Go shower and let me finish my assignment before we go another round.”
He winked. “I can be super quick.”
“Later, dude. I’m hungry.” My stomach growled as if on cue. “See?”
Grey kissed me again before he went back to the bathroom. We’d planned to grab lunch after I finished my assignment due today. Then, we would talk about whether we really had a future. We’d been sleeping and sexing for the last day and a half like we were on borrowed time. And maybe we were. Nothing had been resolved between Carter and me. Chelsea was a non-factor that I still needed to deal with, if for nothing else, to resolve the lease. I didn’t want to live with her anymore. Most importantly, I was still pregnant and hadn’t yet told Grey.
His cell rang while he was in the shower, and I saw Tatiana flash across the screen. Tatiana was one of the best runners in the country on the track team with Grey. We’d spoken a few times over the years, and she’d always been cool with me.
“Oh, my God, you won’t believe what I just heard,” her shrill voice announced.
I answered, “Hey, Tati. This is Darren. Grey told me to answer his phone. What’s up?”
“Oh...Is he around? I want to tell him myself.” Tatiana’s tone sounded accusatory.
“Yeah, in the shower, but he’s expecting a call and didn’t want to miss it. You want me to tell him to call you when he’s out?” I asked without thinking that my words implied intimacy.
“How’s Carter?” She asked abruptly. “We’re all worried about him. No one saw him on campus today.”
“He’s fine. Probably be back on the field by Saturday,” I tersely replied, disliking how she dropped Carter’s name in the conversation to remind me I had a man or to fish out if he and I were with each other now. “So, you want me to tell Grey to call you back?”
The phone left my hand to Grey’s ear. He still dripped from the shower, a towel around his lower body. “Hey...what’s up?”
“Where are you? I stopped by your place.” I could hear her as if I still held the phone to my ear.
“I’m out with Darren. Did you call for anything else?” He half-turned away from me, and it dawned that she was the woman he’d been seeing. The woman he spent nights with. There might have been more than one woman, but she was his teammate. Someone with whom he spends a lot of time during practice and at meets. Tatianna shared his love of running and his dream. Her surprised hurt thatIanswered the phone, grabbed me through the phone.
She grew silent, probably trying to piece together what I had said and what he just said. I shook my head at him in warning, and his forehead dipped in confusion. Tatianna started speaking again, “Umm...Darren said you were in the shower. Where are you?”
Grey glanced at me, and worry etched across his face. “I’m out. I’ll call you later once I get home.”
“Don’t bother,” she barked.
“Okay, I won’t,” he replied calmly, making it clear to both of us who he preferred.
Trying to remind myself that he had every right to be with another woman, I moved to the other side of the bed to give him privacy. He reached for my wrist to keep me from getting up and implored forgiveness in his hazel eyes.
