Page 122 of The Goat in the Bedroom
“I was just someone who understood,” he replied. “Sometimes that's all you need.”
I got home from rugby practice that evening to find Gryff on the couch with his laptop, still making calls. He looked exhausted.
“How many more?” I asked, dropping my gear bag.
“Two. But Jamie from Philly is melting down. Might call him back.”
I curled up next to him, and he immediately pulled me closer, like he needed the contact to stay grounded.
“You're incredible, you know that?” I said. “These guys are lucky to have you.”
“I just fucking hate that anyone has to be that scared to be who they are.”
“You never worried about that?”
“No. I have you. I have my family. I have everything.”
Holly chose that moment to jump on his laptop, ending the video call he was on.
“Holly Goatlightly,” Gryff scolded, but he was laughing. “You’re a poop.”
“She's helping,” I said. “Forced break.”
“I love you,” he said suddenly. “Sorry, I know I keep saying it?—“
“Say it again.”
“I love you.”
“Good. Because I love you too, and I plan on saying it annoyingly often.”
We were laughing when his phone rang again, another scared player needing reassurance. But this time, I stayed curled against him while he talked, my hand in his, grounding each other through the storm.
Later that night, Penelope and I worked on coordinating schedules and responses while she grilled me about my relationship.
“So, Edinburgh was pretty romantic, huh?”
“It was... significant.”
“Significant enough for a ring?”
“Penelope.” Since she’d just gotten married, she was one of those beautifully annoying people who wanted everyone else to get married and have their happy ever afters too.
“What? I'm just saying, you two have been dancing around each other for six years. Now that you're together, why wait?”
Here we go. “We've been officially together for like three weeks.”
“After six years of foreplay,” she pointed out.
“That's not?—“
“Isn't it though?” She tilted her head. “The trust exercises? Living together? Raising goats? That's all relationship building. You just finally added the physical component.”
She wasn't wrong, which was delightfully annoying.
“When did you know?” I asked her. “With Everett?”
“Honestly? About five minutes after meeting him. But it took us a while to get there too. The knowing and the doing are different things.” She studied me while rubbing her belly absentmindedly. “You've known for a while, haven't you?”
