Page 110 of Craving Francesca

“Sure doesn’t seem like it.”

Gray let out a huff of disbelief.

“You made decisions—”

“No,” he barked, cutting me off. “No. I’m done.”

My breath caught in my chest, and everything inside me stilled.

“I protect your soft bits,” he growled, pointing to himself. “You remember that?I protect your soft bits.”

Clenching my teeth, I blinked hard as my eyes started to water.

“I willalwaysdo that. You might not like how I do it, that’s fine. We’ll deal. I’m not arguin’ about this anymore. It happened. It’s done. I’m sorry you found out the way you did.”

“You should’ve told me,” I rasped.

“I was just tryin’ to get that beaten look out of your eyes, baby,” he said, lifting his hands and dropping them to his sides again. “Didn’t want to worry you with anythin’ else.”

We stared at each other. I wasn’t mad anymore, but I couldn’t make myself break the silence.

“I’m not leavin’,” he said finally. “Don’t wanna be away from you, and even if you’re pissed, you know you don’t want me gone. So, am I sleepin’ on the couch or in your bed?”

“Come on,” I murmured, walking back toward my room.

I took my time getting ready for bed, and when I came out of the bathroom, Gray was already between the sheets, his clothes folded on top of my dresser. After turning off the light, I crawled in beside him and lay staring at the ceiling. I still couldn’t believe he’d made some plan to terrorize Scott while we were gone and decided it was a good idea to keep me in the dark.

“He deserved worse,” Gray said quietly. “And not just for harrassin’ you at work. You didn’t see what I saw when you walked out of that clinic the first time, shell-shocked and scared.”

“I just wish you would have told me,” I whispered back.

“I didn’t want you to worry about what was happenin’ back here. That’s the whole reason I took you away, baby.”

“Okay.” I still thought he’d fucked up, but I couldn’t really fault his logic. If the roles were reversed, I wasn’t sure what I would’ve done. Just the thought of someone making Gray feel the way I’d felt for the past couple of months made me angry enough to run the hypothetical person over with the Tahoe.

“I never wanna see that look on your face again,” he murmured.

The memory of him tucking me into bed that day, holding my hand until I’d fallen asleep, made my eyes water. He hadn’t thought twice about driving me home and making sure I was okay, just stepped in because he’d seen that I neededsomeone, and he stepped into that role.

We were quiet for a while as all of our interactions played on a loop in my head. No one would’ve believed me if I told them how unbelievably considerate he was. He’d cared for me long before I’d even known.

He’d never even given a hint of judgment as he’d swooped in to save the day.

“Idowant kids, you know,” I said after a while, rolling to face him. “I just don’t want them yet. I didn’t want one with him.”

“I understand.”

“Do you want kids?”

“With you?” Gray asked, reaching for me. He pulled me against his side. “Just tell me when.”

“I want like four,” I warned, making him chuckle. “I want a full, messy house and sports practices and dance recitals and noise and all of it.”

“Sounds nice.”

“It sounds hard,” I corrected. “But I want it.”

“I can give you that.” He kissed my temple. “You wanna have what you didn’t have as a kid.”

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