Page 21 of Harts & Hurts

“How did the bath go?” Her voice was soft because Melrose was in the room with us, asleep in her portable crib.

I ran my hand down my face while shaking my head. “It was a shit show,” I admitted and chuckled when Anistyn giggled. “Whatever the opposite of being a natural at something is, that was me giving baby girl that bath. And she knew it too. Her little ass was mean muggin’ me the second her body touched the water. I knew she was thinking, this nigga ain’t even got the right grip on me.”

Anistyn giggled more, clasping her hand over her mouth when she was louder than she meant to be.

“I remember you saying something about not wanting to drown her, and I didn’t get it until I felt like I might drown her. She was probably praying that I didn’t drown her, in her little baby mind.”

“Stop!” Anistyn laughed like she couldn’t pull it together, which encouraged me to keep cracking jokes. I liked seeing her laugh like that.

“I’m not lying. Before it was even over, Gretta hip checked me out the way and took over. She told me that I’ll have to repeat the course tomorrow.”

“You have to repeat the course? Is she giving us grades? So you failed?”

“F-minus.”

“Oh, no.” Her shoulders shook as she continued to chuckle. “You used to learn entire playbooks. I’m sure you’ll get it.” She paused. “Playbooks. That is a football thing, right? Did I make that up?”

The confused look on her face was cute. “Nah, you didn’t make that up. Playbooks are a thing. And yeah, I learned them. So you’re probably right. I’ll probably get this too. Eventually. Football came naturally; giving baths to wet, wiggly babies does not come naturally.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t.”

We sat in companionable silence for a minute or so until I broke it. “Say, something happened today that I feel like we should address.”

“What’s that?”

“Old boy, Cam’s cousin. He was all in your face. Dating and women have been the last thing on my mind since the whole shit with losing Fisher. I mean, to keep it a buck, I wouldn’t mind having sex to . . . alleviate some of the stress.”

“Is that an invitation?” she asked.

My eyes flew to hers. “What?”

She fell into a fit of giggles. “I’m playing with you, Griffin. You know, ha ha? It was a joke.” She sighed. “We’re stuck together, not stuck together, that has a negative connotation. We’re . . . teammates in raising our niece for the foreseeable future. I won’t be able to keep letting my representative show up forever. You’re gonna have to get to know the real me. The silly me. The me that cracks bad jokes. The me that gets an attitude when I’m under too much pressure and don’t know how to handle it. The me that makes sarcastic and smart remarks when I’m overwhelmed. The me that’s sometimes bedridden during that time of the month, depending on how hard the cramps hit.

“We need to accept the humanity in each other. I can’t speak for the Harts, but the Melroses have tended to make the Harts something other than human when they wanted to vilify them. I need you to let me be human, and I’ll let you be human. Wanting to have sex is very human of you, Griffin. Thanks for letting me know that you’re horny.”

The fact that she kept a straight face, even though I knew she was fucking with me, caused me to release a bark of laughter that caused Melrose to shift in her sleep. “You’re hell. I didn’t get that about you at first.”

She grinned. “I definitely act up. Seriously, though, you brought up a good point. You’re grown. I’m grown. At some point, we’re both gonna want sex. It’s unfortunate that sex comes with so much, . . . I don’t know, connection and stuff around it. I mean, the probability for things to get messy is high as hell. If it wasn’t for that, I would literally suggest that we meet each other’s needs. I mean, just for the convenience factor alone. We live together. I have what you like. You have what I like. You’re sexy.” Her eyes raked over me slowly. “You have all those big muscles. I’m sexy. I have all these curves and this soft skin.”

“You’re crazy as hell, Anistyn. You’re telling me that it’s a bad idea in one breath, but the next, you’re pointin’ out all of your desirable attributes.”

She giggled. “It would be so easy though. I wouldn’t have to go on dates and weed through all the trash dudes and creeps. But could you imagine how the shit would hit the fan if our families found out we were having sex? Oh my goodness, they would die. Especially my aunt Agatha. She’s the one who tried to get Ashlynn ex-communicated from the family for marrying Fisher.”

“Yeah, I have an aunt like that too. Aunt Myrtle. There’s nothing she hates more than a Melrose.”

Anistyn laughed.

“We should do it just to piss them off.”

She laughed harder. “Anyway, I’m sure you have somebody or a few somebodies that give you regular action. I just hope you won’t be doing it here.” She looked around the space, which not only included the living room but encompassed the kitchen as well. “Tight quarters.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t bring a woman here. That’s not the precedent that I’m trying to set for my niece. I don’t want her thinking that men bring women home, fuck them, and then send them on their way.” I took a breath. “If you meet somebody, I guess you’ll need to go to his place. Or maybe once we move into the main house, you can . . . entertain him out here.”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Will was a cutie pie, and it was nice to have him flirting with me. Honestly, though, the things I have the bandwidth for right now are so limited, and dating isn’t on the list. I miss my sister. Even though I didn’t see her or talk to her every day, just knowing that I no longer have that option breaks my heart one hundred times a day. Then there’s the little girl over there asleep in her playpen. Learning to care for her and give her everything she needs is my main priority.”

“Yeah. I can see why you said it would be easier to just let me hit.”

“Nah, I don’t need that drama. I don’t need you getting all attached because, of course, one shot of me would have you coochie-whupped. Then I’ll roll over at night, and you’ll be standing in the doorway, watching me sleep. You’ll be going through my phone and stuff. I don’t need that.”