Page 93 of Always Been Yours

I cross my legs and sit next to him. Waving my hand in front of me. “You can’t just do things like that all the time. It’s like you’re perfect or something. Stop it.”

His head tilts back in laughter, deep and rumbly. “I’m not perfect, Viv. But I’m really trying to be for you.”

I jokingly grimace in response, but my blush gives me away. I contemplate if now is a good time to ask him the question I’ve been wondering for a while, knowing that only more will come from it.

He taps my forehead. “What are you thinking about?”

“You don’t have to answer,” I start, “but I’ve been curious about what happened with your knee.”

“What do you mean? I assumed my parents told you or that youpossibly saw an article. It wasn’t a secret.”

He’s right. As a top prospect it was a big deal in the sports world for a couple weeks. I’ve watched the clip when he’s running the bases. The way his knee twists a little too far. You can’t hear the pop in the video but it’s like you canseeit. He made it about halfway to third base before he collapsed onto his back. I’ve only watched the video once because it’s one of those moments where you can feel the injury yourself, like a phantom pain. And the fact that it’sGradymakes it so much worse.

“I know what happened, yeah.” I play with the edge of the comforter. “I guess I mean what happened after. That game was only a couple weeks after you came to visit. Your mom told us you were having a baby in June.” I think she was waiting until after my birthday to break the news. “But it must have happened before that, knowing Stella’s birthday.” After a quiet second I add, “I’m not mad, obviously. This isn’t a test or a game. I’m just curious how you’re so okay with everything that’s happened since then.”

He shrugs, looking unfazed. “We can talk about it. Arielle and I met at the beginning of our junior year. We both put off a humanities credit and were in Art History together.”

“I loved that class,” I whisper to myself.

He chuckles at my interruption. “It wasn’t bad. But yeah, we met. We dated for a few months. We had broken up a few weeks before my parents’ vow renewal.” He grabs my hand, tugging gently until I look up at him. “I was not with anyone when I tried to talk to you that night. I don’t know what I was expecting to happen, but I wouldn’t have triedanything, not even a fight, if I was with someone else.“ I nod. I don’t believe for a second Grady would ever hurt me or any woman in that way. “I mean, Arielle and I kind of knew that we weren’t going to be together forever. I’d wanted to move back to San Diego and play for the Sharks, maybe play a fewyears for the farm team out in Vegas. But ultimately, I would’ve gone wherever I was drafted and that would’ve been fine. Arielle wanted to move back to the East coast. Neither one of us was ever willing to budge for the other. We knew that our relationship had a timeline, and we were okay with that for a while.

“A few weeks after my injury, I wasn’t in a good place. Mentally or physically. I truthfully didn’t know if I wanted to play baseball at a professional level anymore. I’d been questioning it for a while. But I was up for the draft that year, and it wasn’t my decision at that point. I was eligible and there was a very good chance I would have been picked up. Anyway, early into my recovery, Arielle came to see me and told me that she was pregnant. We didn’t get back together immediately but we were spending time together again and preparing for Stella. We just grew closer but neither one of us would budge. It kind of felt like if one of us couldn’t move back to our hometown than neither of us was going to.

“The closer we got to Stella’s due date, the more I realizedthatwas what I wanted more than anything. I wanted to be a staple and present in Stella’s life. I didn’t want to miss out on moments because I was traveling or getting home hours after bedtime. I realized I wanted a normal life. And sure, I would have liked the opportunity to finish my college career differently but I’m happy with how it turned out. At this moment, I’mreallyhappy with how it turned out.”

I tangle our fingers together and let everything he just said process. I’m not sure if I really want this answer but I ask the other question that has been haunting my insecurities. “And Arielle… What happened after Daisy was born?”

Grady looks at me and runs his other hand along my thigh. “That started before Daisy was born. We didn’t get married at first because we didn’t want to force ourselves onto the other justbecause she was pregnant. And then Stella was born, and we were fighting while pretending to be a happy family. So, we got married with the delusion that it’d fix everything between us. It didn’t. Daisy wasn’t really anaccident, but she wasn’t really planned.“ He shrugs again. “Soon after she was born, things changed for the worse. I don’t blame her—Daisy,” he clarifies, “at all,obviously.Arielle and I were doing everything we could to save a dying marriage. A relationship that had died our junior year of college, honestly.

“I know it was hard for her to take care of both of them by herself during the day. I was the only one working. We both have an inheritance.” Grady’s cheeks turn pink. He has always been quiet about the money his paternal grandparents left him and Blake. “So, it wasn’t like we were struggling but one of us had to work. We couldn’t live off of that forever. We agreed just until Stella was in kindergarten, then she could do whatever she wanted, and I would support her. Teaching was more stable than theater work. Especially in Phoenix. But then Daisy was born…”

“And five years turned into eight years…” I finish for him.

He nods. “We went to couples counseling and saw therapists individually. We worked on our marriage for a few months, but it always came back to the same conclusion: neither one of uswantedto work on it anymore.“ He says it with such little emotion that a few more of those pesky insecurities quiet down. I know that he feels like he failed in some way because he’s divorced and failed his daughters in some ways by extension. I can understand that. I don’t agree with him, but I can understand. But there is no anger or longing in his voice when he talks about his marriage or Arielle. He’s just giving me the information I’m asking for.

“She asked for the divorce,” he continues. “I knew it was coming. Truthfully, I was just too lazy and jaded to do itmyself. Everything was as easy and amicable as possible. There were no big fights or arguments. We didn’t even fight about who the girls would go with, not really. I mean, it was a conversation—a long one. But ultimately, we came to the same conclusion: Arielle needed a little more freedom for her career right now, and neither of us like the idea of nannies. My schedule’s the same as their schedule. It just all worked out like it was probably always supposed to.” He looks at me for a long moment. “Do you have any more questions?”

I shake my head and lean in to kiss him on the lips. His arm snakes around my waist, pulling me to straddle his lap.

“One more thing…” He kisses my nose and pulls away. “This is important.” He runs his hand up my neck to grab my jaw. “I’ve never felt the way I do with you, with anyone else. And I don’t just mean how I’ve felt in the last few months. No one’s ever made me feel any of the things you have in my entire life. You’re so many things to me—my first friend, mybestfriend, my first crush and kiss, the first girl I ever loved. But that still doesn’t do it justice. You’re so much more than all of that. And in the last few months, you have gone from the girl I always remembered to the woman I’m falling in love with.”

I pull back just enough to look him in the eye. I don’t say anything for a second, taking in this moment and his words. A piece of me has always been in love with Grady, before I even understood what that meant. I guess I was in love with Brody at one point, but I never gave him pieces of myself in the way I did with Grady. He’s all of those things to me too. Even if we haven’t saidthosethree words to each other. I don’t know if I’m even ready for that, but that reassurance is everything I need right now.

I nod and lean forward, placing a feather-light kiss to his lips. “Me too. All of it.” I’m done talking about our pasts, at least fortonight. Sure, we have more to talk about. Years and years’ worth of things to rehash, but for the first time since Grady returned to Amanda Beach, I’m letting myself believe that we’ll figure it out. Maybe this will end… but maybe it won’t.

I deepen the kiss, pulling him closer.

The one thing I know is that I don’t want to go my entire life without knowing what it’s like to have Grady and to be owned by him. Even if it’s temporary. Even if it kills me when he’s gone.

I lift up on my knees as my lips make their descent down his neck. My hands tug on the waistband of his shorts. He lifts his hips at my request and pushes them off. He does me the favor of not teasing me by keeping his briefs on.

No. When Grady kicks his shorts off, everything goes with them.

He’s sitting there in front of me, naked as the day he was born, and I think I might start hyperventilating. My eyes drag along his body, going back to his half-hard cock that he lazily strokes as he watches me. He gets harder with each slow stroke up his length. When I place my hands on his thighs, his hips gently buck at the contact.

I replace his hand with mine, and we both watch as I slowly work him to his full length. My mouth practically starts to water at the sight of him. As amazing as his fingers have been, they’re only a small appetizer to what I know he could do.

I’m not always a huge fan of giving head but there is no question about it—I’ve never wanted a man to come down my throat more than I do right now.

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