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Grayson
“Ty, dinner’s here!” I tip the delivery man and go into the kitchen with the order in hand.
There’s no response, so I call her name louder, figuring she didn’t hear me the first time around. I place the Chinese food containers all around the table. It’s way too much for the two of us, but it's better to be safe than sorry—Ty’s pregnancy seems to change her tastes at odd intervals, and I can never guess whether she’ll find chow fan delicious or it’ll have her rushing to the bathroom.
But once I’m done, there’s still no sign of Tyley, and I frown, wondering if something’s wrong. Maybe she’s nauseous again? I had hoped that stage would be over for her, but that might not be the case.
“Ty?” I knock on her door, and that’s when I hear it. Sobbing. Muffled but unmistakable, and all concerns for her privacy go out the window in an instant. I barge into the room, my heart beating madly as I wonder if something happened to the babies. If something happened to my Tyley.
She’s there, curled up on her bed, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. I rush to her with no hesitation, kneeling beside her.
"Hey, hey," I whisper, my voice heavy with emotion. "What's wrong?"
“Go away, Grayson. It’s stupid; you don’t want to hear it.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
I sit there, steadfast, waiting for her to tell me what’s wrong. It’s not a medical emergency, and that’s something, but concern hasn’t loosened its grip around my heart yet. I caress her shoulder, and she sniffs, eventually turning toward me. Her eyes are red-rimmed and glistening with fresh tears.
"I just feel so, so…” she breaks down sobbing again, and I move onto the bed, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into a tight embrace. Tyley doesn’t try to push me away, instead crying against my shoulder. “I’m so gross.”
“You’re what?”
I don’t understand what she means, and I slip away just enough to stare into her face.
“Gross! Disgusting, ugly, fat. God, look at me! I used to have a kickass body; I trained every day, and I wanted to be a fighter, but now, the doctor won’t allow me to do anything at all. Just swim and go on stupid walks, and I look like a whale!”
"Oh, Ty," I say, my voice softening further. I try so hard not to laugh. If I do, it’ll only upset her further. It would be like mocking her perceived weight gain, unattractiveness, or emotions, and that’s the last thing I want to do. She’s so gorgeous to me, so bright and lovely. The mere idea that she could ever be described as anything resembling gross seems laughable. “How could you ever be anything less than stunning?”
She shudders with two long hiccups before trying to push me away, a pout taking over her swollen lips. “You’re just saying that because you have to.”
I refuse to let go of her, applying the gentlest of pressure to keep her from squirming away.
“No, I’m not. My God, Tyley, you could have gained sixty pounds, and you’d still be the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.” I feel her tense at my words, as if she can't believe them, and that breaks my heart a little. She only shakes her head in response. "I mean it. You are carrying our babies, creating life within you. That's amazing, and I'm in awe of you.”
Her eyes search mine, looking for any hint of insincerity, but all she finds is genuine admiration and—well, yes, love. There's love there, and how can I deny it any longer?
"That doesn't make me not ugly."
"You could never be ugly. Not today, not tomorrow, not when you're about to give birth. Not after running a 10k or bruised and bloodied after the biggest fight of your life."
I brush a stray strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear, lost in those big baby blues. Tyley allows me to hug her once more, her tears slowing down, her breathing starting to even out, and I hold her close, feeling her round belly pressing against my torso.
I don't know how long we sit here, lost in each other's arms, the smell and warmth of Tyley flooding my senses. She finally pulls away, but doesn't move to her feet, or asks me to leave. Instead, Tyley stares deep into my eyes for a moment before leaning in and kissing me for the first time since before our falling out.
And it feels like coming home.
twenty-seven
Tyley
The kiss is everything I needed and everything I feared, all wrapped into one. I thought I could move in with Grayson and keep my distance, but the way my heart thumps in my chest as our tongues dance together proves me wrong. Oh, so wrong—yet it feels so right.
The warmth of his body against mine, the familiarity of his touch, it makes me ache for more. The kiss deepens further as he holds me closer still, his strong yet gentle hands caressing my back.
Without giving myself the time to think, I reach down between us and pull at his shirt, wanting to feel more of Grayson against me. I want him, if only for this one moment, and I'm unwilling to resist temptation yet again.
I can feel his surprise through the kiss, but he doesn't pull away. Instead, he meets my urgency with his own, allowing me to unbutton his shirt and pull it off with no protest. Letting my fingertips rush down the shape of his torso, I familiarize myself with the contours of his sculpted muscles, building under my touch.
