The alarm I set for seven wakes me up a few hours later. Grey pushes my face, grumbling at me to turn it off. I shove his hand away from me with a slight smile and sit up. I stretch my limbs, the thin sheet that covered my naked body falling around my hips, like a puddle of silk. He can be such a grump in the morning. But I need him to get up.
There is nothing edible in the fridge, and I’m tired of take-out. It’s not healthy. We have to go grocery shopping. I can’t express how much I have missed eating greens and had anything to drink besides soda or beer. It’s alarming how much my diet has changed because of this man.
“Get up, Grey.” My voice is ragged and deep with sleep as I yawn and rub my eyes, turning to face him. “We have to go shopping—” I stop short when I lift an eye and find him staring up at me. A small slant turns his bruised cheek upright, his eyes dark with a slightly fading black eye. How is it that, even bruised and scarred, he is the epitome of handsomeness? He’s like a shattered sculpture shaped by God above. Broken, but a sculpture nonetheless.
My cheeks instantly redden under his heavy gaze. “What?” I groan.
“Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?” he rasps, slanting his mouth as he reaches over and pulls me onto his chest. “If I haven’t, I am now. You are so fucking beautiful, princesa.” His words, as usual, burn me alive. But in a good way.
A smile forms on my face. “What did you do wrong?” I tease, suggesting he’s messed up somehow even though we figured things out last night. I know Grey, and I know he would need a little more than four hours to mess up.
He narrows his eyes and drags his fingers up and down my sides. I let out shrieks and giggle as I straddle his hips. “Okay, I—surrender.”
He stops and flips us, so I am under him. “I love you, mi amor.”
“I love you too.” I’m surprised by his bold affection, but I am also enjoying it. “And I would love it even more if we went grocery shopping. The fridge is empty.”
“We have things in there,” he defends and plops back down beside me, but I sit up and stand while I’m at it. My sex is a little sore because of last night, but I can deal with it. Just reminiscing about last night makes my stomach tighten and leaves my head light.
“What? Like beer and lettuce?” I laugh.
“Yeah, protein and all that good stuff.”
“I’m guessing beer is the good stuff?”
“Well, yeah.”
I scoop up one of his jeans that litter the ground and toss it at his head. “Get ready.” I look around the dirty room and literally shiver. “I have a lot of work ahead of me.” I put my hands on my hips as I sweep my eyes over the clothes flung around haphazardly and inhale the stench of cologne and grease. “Jesus, Grey. When’s the last time you cleaned?”
“Excuse me for not being a clean freak like you,” he jokes. I glare at him. His smile wavers, and he clears his throat and whistles, avoiding my gaze. “Touchy.”
“Get ready,” I reiterate. “We’ll leave after I take care of…” I gesture around the room and even at the door, to the rest of the apartment. “This.”
As I leave the room to shower, he yells, “Clean freak!”
***
“Turn here—we need milk, cheese, yogurt—” I read off the dairy products needed, but he groans, throwing his head back with a roll of his eyes. “I’m sorry, is this boring you?” I already know the answer, but I want to test him and smack him into the right thinking when he says yes.
“What? Bored? Me?” He waves a hand and turns the cart. “Shopping for spinach and yogurt is the highlight of my week,” he says sarcastically with a grin. I want to wipe that annoying smile off his face. But I settle with bumping into him before searching for a package of cheese.
“I don’t get it,” I say. “You’re a fighter—an athlete. Aren’t you supposed to eat healthy?” I find what I’m looking for and add it to the growing cart of healthy products.
“I don’t need to eat soy cheese to kick ass,” he quips, and I flash him a smile over my shoulder. His eyes trail down to my back, and he rubs his lower lip, lust embedded in his eyes. “But I guess watching you bend for stuff makes this tolerable.” He walks up to me and smacks my ass.
“Grey!” I stand quickly and look over at the woman regarding us with a wide-eyed expression. I look away nervously and hit his chest. But he just laughs, and I roll my eyes at him.
“Stop being dirty. We have a few more things to get, and then we can go to Lowe’s for some Christmas decorations.” I also have to get his present. But to do that I’d have to know what to get him. He’s never expressed to me much about what he really likes that will translate to gifts, and I can’t just bring it up without him catching on that I plan on getting him something. I’ll just have to figure it out on my own. Though I don’t have all the time in the world. Christmas is just around the corner.
He rolls his eyes. “Does that include getting a tree?”
“We’ll have to go to the Christmas Patch for that, but yes. The tree is included.” What’s with him? Does he not like Christmas? “Is there something wrong?” I ask.
I can detect something deeper than his natural annoyance to every little thing. I just hope he can talk to me about what’s wrong. That’s what we have to work on, communication. I think we can, but it all does depend on his openness, which isn’t all that easy.
“My father passed away the day after Christmas,” he informs me, his voice thick. I notice the way his knuckles bloom into a white-hot color as he grips the cart tighter.
“Oh…I’m sorry. I…I didn’t know.” I look away, my face flushed. “Do you, maybe, not want to celebrate it?” I love the holiday, but I’ll be more than okay with postponing it for his sanity. I know how quickly and deeply he can fly off the rail. And I want to avoid that from happening.
His face twists, and he laughs. “What? No, of course not. We’re celebrating this together. I won’t let it get in the way of us.” He walks around the cart and wraps his arms around my waist. I smile instantly as he tips my head back and kisses my nose. I’m not all for PDA myself, but that pudgy woman can watch all she wants. I can’t not savor how he tastes or the way my body lights up at his touch.
“Are you sure?” I don’t want to push; I just want to make sure it’s okay with him.
“Yes, I’m sure.” He pecks my lips one more time and pulls back but doesn’t let go of my hips. “Now, how many more things on that list of yours?” He glances down at the planner in my hands.
“Just a few more things. But then we’ll be out of here,” I promise, and he nods.
We turn out of the aisle and pick up items here and there. He’s mostly quiet. I don’t know if it’s because he’s thinking of his father’s death or the terrible repercussions that followed afterward, but I curl my fingers through his and say nothing. I don’t look at him, but I can feel his eyes burning through me as I aimlessly look around for anything not on the list.
I’m picking out gelato from one of the freezers when I hear someone say, “Liv?”
I turn around and find David smiling at me, a lamp in his right hand. And then my eyes fall onto his right, and Holly is holding a handful of hangers, a good-sized ring wrapped around her ring finger. I guess they’re buying things for their new place. How cute! Where did he get that lamp? Oooh, I can just re-design Grey’s loft around that turquoise and—I’m getting off topic here.
They’re here and I’m surprised, and by the look on Grey’s face, he is too. Guess we both thought they’d be too busy…celebrating their engagement to be out and about.
“David, Holly. Hey!” I awkwardly back up from the freezer, and they laugh. Holly looks up at David with so much adoration, my heart squeezes. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Getting a few things for the house,” he confirms. “But you got Grey to go shopping? Are you a sorceress or something?” he teases, and I laugh as Grey walks over to us and flips his friend off, a smile twitching at his lips.
“What’s up, Holly?” Grey nods at her, and she nods back.
“Nothing much.” She laughs and bounces her eyebrows. “Actually, a lot. Look who proposed!” She flings her left hand out, and I laugh as David rolls his eyes with a smile reaching his ears.
“Oh, please, tell me more,” Grey exclaims sarcastically.
I begin to scold him for being rude, but she does tell him more. And she doesn’t stop going on and on about every little detail about how he planned the big surprise. I laugh like a maniac in my head and catch David’s nod. I return it and slowly, very cautiously, back away.
Grey scowls at me, and I stick my tongue out at him. Serves him right for being sarcastic! He rolls his eyes and leans against the freezer with a strained smile, as to not blow up on his best friend’s fiancée.
“So you two are really serious, huh?” David says, and I look at him, confused. He nods to the cart next to Grey. He thinks we’re living together.
“Oh, no! That’s not—we’re not…” I don’t know what to say. To move in together would be a hell of a jump in our relationship. And as much as I love him, it’d be the only jump we’d ever make. He doesn’t want to have a family with me or make the big commitment of marriage. I doubt he’d want me to move in with him.
“We’re not living together. I’m just helping him with groceries,” I tell him, feeling my heart fracture as I say the words. But I keep a stoic front, because he nods and looks guilty for assuming.
“I’m sorry, my bad.” I wave it off and try my hardest not to cry. “Christmas is coming up. Find something for him yet? I know he can be a tricky fucker to buy for.”
I make a groaning sound. “You’re telling me. I don’t know whether to get him socks or the moon.”
“Maybe both,” he jokes, and I laugh.
“What are we laughing about?” Grey’s voice booms behind me—I jump and turn around. He looks at me suspiciously, hands on his hips. I guess he escaped the chatter box. Or she saw herself in the freezer’s mirror reflection and began telling herself the glamorous story of David’s proposal.
“Nothing.” I hope I don’t sound nervous or he’d know I’m up to something.
He looks at me for a beat before moving his eyes to his friend. “See you around, all right?”
“See you around.” David nods, and they do a “bro” hug before Grey drags me down the aisle.
“Never leave me alone with her again, understand?” he whispers harshly in my ear.
“She isn’t so bad.” I laugh, and he raises a brow.
“Shall we turn around and have her tell you the story?” he challenges, and I break.
“No!” I scream and then bump my shoulder with his as he cocks his head back and laughs. “Come on, we still have a tree to chop down.”
***
“I am so getting a happy ending from you later,” Grey says, panting as he struggles with dragging the pine tree through the elevator door. I roll my eyes and listen to him complain as I carry in a load of grocery bags on my forearm.
“Oh, hush. I thought you were a big, strong fighter,” I tease him with a snort. “You’re telling me a tree is going to take you down?”
He glares at me through the dark and begins to chase after me, dragging the tree after him. I guess all he needed was a little “pep” talk for him to quit acting like a baby. When we break through the foyer and I quickly set down the bags, he grabs me by my waist and lifts me in the air.
“Grey!” I laugh and wrap my arms around him to avoid falling.
A voice clears, and I jump and whip my head in the direction of the living room.
“Mother?” I gulp.