Play It Safe(92)

Lash smiled back, relief in his.

Seeing that, I stopped walking and ran.

He caught me in his arms and mine closed around him tight.

Face in his neck, I held him tighter then I moved my mouth to his ear and whispered, “Thank you, honey.”

His arms gave me a squeeze and he replied in a whisper, “Anything for you, babe. Anything.”

“I love you, Lash.”

“I know, babe.”

That was when I burst into tears.

Yes, again.

Two seconds later, Lash transferred me into Gray’s arms and Gray held me close as Lash wandered around the room packing.

“She do this a lot?” Gray asked, one arm tight around me, one hand sifting through my hair.

“Oh yeah, usually about you, though, never about me,” Lash answered, sounding amused.

“Told me she’s hard as nails,” Gray shared, still holding me close, hand sifting through my hair.

At that, it was Lash who burst out laughing.

Jeez.

I pulled my face out of Gray’s chest, dashed a hand across my wet cheeks and snapped, “I am!”

It was then, both of them burst out laughing.

Now I was getting mad.

“I’m a hard as nails, badass Vegas showgirl who’s been around the block,” I declared.

“Okay, babe, keep tellin’ yourself that,” Lash muttered, shoving underwear in his bag, grinning.

Right.

Whatever.

I pulled out of Gray’s arms and looked up at him.

“Have you had dinner?”

He looked down at me, dimple out which made my irritation vanish but I didn’t let on.

“No,” he answered.

“Do you want room service?”

“Yeah.”

I looked to Lash. “Do you want to join us?”

Lash looked to me then to Gray then smiled huge and answered, “Fuck no.”

“You’re welcome,” I told him.

“I’m not,” he told me.

“But –”

“Babe, you love me, I get that. But your man does not want me here and I orchestrated this so I’m cool with bein’ kicked out. Reunite. Enjoy it. You deserve it.” He came to me, wrapped his hand around the back of my head, kissed the top then he let me go and stepped back. “Me and Freddie’ll see you two at breakfast.”

Then he walked into the bedroom area and disappeared into the bathroom.

I looked to Gray and whispered, “You could have made him feel welcome to have dinner with us.”

“Dollface, no way in hell he’s welcome to have dinner with us,” Gray whispered back.

I glared at him thinking he was probably right.

“Baby, come here,” Gray ordered. “You’re too far away.”

“I’m two feet away.”

“Ivey, for seven years you’ve been two states away. You’re too far away. Come here.”

My heart swelled, my belly curled in a really nice way and I went there.

And when I got there I found he was again right. Really right.

And when I made it the two steps to him, I was right.

Right where I wanted to be, right where I belonged.

Held tight against the long, lean frame of Grayson Cody.

* * * * *

My head pressed back into the pillows as it washed over me.

At the same time, Gray shoved his face in my neck and I heard it come over him.

We came simultaneously; we’d never done that before.

It was brilliant.

The fingers of both his hands were laced through mine, holding them over my head pressed into the pillow. He was buried deep and staying right there. My legs were up, knees bent, thighs tucked deep to his sides.

We said nothing, just came down, joined, close, holding hands, tucked tight, Gray’s breath drifting against my neck, mine his shoulder. We needed no words, we’d had them, we’d need more but not now. Now was about what he’d just given me, I’d just given him, both at the same time, our bodies as close as they could be, our fingers laced, sharing space, breath, a bed, our time, our lives.

What we should have had for seven years, this, more of Gray’s dimple, his laughter, maybe children, creating a family.

We felt it, both of us, I knew it. I knew it was searing through his mind too. We took that moment after being found again to experience the loss, mourn it so we could let it go.

I loved him then and now so desperately, it hurt. But if what happened didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have Lash, I wouldn’t have Freddie. It sucked I couldn’t just have it all without the pain in between but I’d learned life didn’t have that in store for me and I wasn’t a victim, life didn’t give that to anybody.

But I had it all now.

All of it.

Everything.

Then Gray’s lips moved to my ear and he whispered, “Say you love me, Ivey.”

Yep. I had it all.

Everything.