All's Fair in Love and Las Vegas

Chapter Forty-Five

        The next few days were some of the worst of my life. It was horrible.

        Grayson took a few weeks off from work. At first I questioned why he took so much time, but as the days wore on, I felt like a few months wouldn't be enough. Neither of us ate much, or cooked much. We ordered takeout when possible. Once in awhile one of us would cook something elaborate, but the other never questioned it. We both understood the need to be busy, but also the need to have time off from life. So we stayed busy. We ate. Cooked. Did puzzles. Watched movies. Cleaned to the point of the place sparkling. 

        We didn't go out for five days. When we did, people noticed. Specifically, Tay.

        "Hey! I haven't seen you guys in like a week!" he said brightly. He'd ambushed us, having decided to come over right as we were heading home from the grocery store.

        "We got a stomach bug," I lied. That was what Grayson and I had come up with for our excuse for our disappearance. "It was awful." 

        Tay smirked. "Both of you? It makes sense, with all the kissing that you guys do, but yikes. Not a fun week."

        "Not fun at all," Grayson agreed blankly. I'd noticed that when he talked now, he no longer had that brightness in his tone. That sparkle that made him so brave, so optimistic. He spoke like an entirely different man. 

        "Bummer. Glad you're both feeling better," Tay said sympathetically. "Listen, are you guys hanging around for thanksgiving? I was thinking about throwing something at my place."

        "We'd love to, really, but we're stuck going back to Laura's," I said, although I didn't know which option was worse. Laura's would've obviously been a nightmare, but I didn't know how I would've kept up a smile at Tay's for an entire afternoon. He was such a joyful person, no one was ever sad around him. No one except Grayson and me. 

        Tay was devastated. "Aw, man. Well, I'll let you guys take care of your groceries. Come by the coffee shop this week?"

        "I'll be there," I said, meaning it. I needed to start getting out of the penthouse. Starting with getting coffee from Tay.

        He bid us goodbye, skipping down the sidewalk. Staring after him, I wonder when I last skipped. I must've been small, like eight or nine years old. I couldn't help but be jealous of Tay, wondering when I'd feel that happy again.

        Grayson and I took our grocery bags upstairs quietly, putting things in the fridge and cupboards. Washing my hands, I heard Grayson say, "She's going to ask."

        "She doesn't know," I said coolly.

        "It doesn't matter. She'll ask. Or worse, find out," he said bitterly.

        Aggressively, I turned off the water. "She's asking for all the wrong reasons," I said through clenched teeth.

        "You think I don't know that?" he snapped, then drew in a deep breath. "Sorry, Jackie. Really."

        "It's okay. She makes me angry too," I said tightly.

        Grayson leaned back against the counter, chewing his lower lip. "That doesn't mean I'm allowed to get angry with you."

        "You're allowed to get angry with me. It's a team effort," I said, attempting to joke. I almost caught the corners of his lips turning upwards, but they immediately dropped a second later.

        "What are we going to do about it?" he asked.

        "Same thing we always do," I said wearily. "Deny any chance of pregnancy and tell her that we don't want kids."