Page 47 of Manhattan Heart

Shereacts.

She feels what she feels and she deals with it with her body.

This India is holding it in and there’s only one reason she’d do that and it’s because the doctor warned against excitement and stress.

Motherfucker.

My girl is holding back because of me.

I let her go and don’t bother chasing her down to the yoga studio.

I just stand there with my hands scraping through my hair, frustrated to say the least.

I hate this. I hate feeling this way.

That night when we climb into bed, she gingerly makes her way over to my side, careful not to lie on my left. Thankfully we don’t have sides of the bed that we assign as ours. As long as we’re cuddled together we don’t give a fuck what part of the mattress we’re on.

Her leg twirls around mine and her hand rests on my stomach.

“You feeling okay?”

She was frosty yet charming through dinner.

Cal and Lincoln shared nervous glances with me and I just smiled.

I love her even when she’s pissed off with me.

“If I said I need a kiss from my mean girl, what would you say?”

Her eyes soften and I take that as my cue to stroke a fingertip under her bangs and down her nose.

“I always have a kiss for you.”

I lean in and right as our lips are about to meet, my excitement ramps up, fuck what the doctors says, I love kissing my girl.

She says. “But the moment you’re better, Grayson, I’m kicking your ass all over for what you did.”

There she is. My beautiful mean girl.

I laugh into our gentle kiss.

“Sweet man,” she murmurs as she falls into sleep.

I have all the sweet I need resting in my arms.

I fall to sleep right after her.

C H A P T E R 15

India

Girls night is held at Catie MacNamara’s house this week.

I didn’t want to go to a club and Sena is having some bladder issues. As in she’s peeing constantly now that she’s preggers again. It feels like we’ve seen her round belly for forty-nine years but she swears it’s her fourth and last. We’ll see.

It’s three weeks since Gray’s surgery.

He’s more agile now and insists it’s fine I go out, though I was close to calling Cal and asking him to come over and babysit.

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