Page 92 of Paths
At this point, we’re a fucking mess, so I give her my weight. We lay here like this until we breathe evenly and I turn to kiss the side of her head. “Pulling out as a form of birth control sucks.”
She starts to laugh and turns to me. “That was my fault.”
I raise my brows and smirk. “Oh, I know that was your fault.”
She puts her hands to my face and tries to keep from smiling. “I’m sorry.”
I shake my head and kiss her again. “I need to clean us up. Hang on, I’ll be right back.”
By the time we’re cleaned up and settled in bed with the lights out, I sigh. “I forgot to check your eyes.”
“Geeze-Louise, it happened hours ago, I’m fine.”
I pull her to me, close my eyes, and decide to give in.
After a few moments of quiet, she whispers, “Grady?”
“Hmm?”
She presses into me tight and announces, “I hate your dad.”
My eyes fly open and stare into the dark.
“I mean, obviously, you hate him, too. But I hate what he did to you and your sisters. I hate that you had to live so many years in that nightmare, and I hardly know any of the details. I hate you had to do what you did to save your sister, but at the same time, I’m grateful you’re the person you are and had the will to do it.”
I roll so I’m facing her and breathe in her soft hair, but say nothing.
“You saved me today, too.”
I look at her through the dark.
She brushes my lips with the tips of her fingers. “Thank you.”
I put my hand to her face, but quickly move it into her hair so as not to hurt her raw skin, before I put my mouth on hers.
When I finally pull away, I kiss her forehead and pull her to me. Not sure I can take more of her words, I whisper, “It’s been a long day. Go to sleep.”
She nods and I feel it against my skin.
A few moments later, just when I think she’s about to drop off, she adds, “And I was serious before. I’ve fallen so deep, there’s no way to find my way back.”
I rub her back. “Baby, the path I’ve walked to get to you? I’m never going back.”
I feel her exhale against me and her body finally releases some of its tension.
Then, for the first time in more than a year, when I close my eyes, my body fully relaxes. And lying next to Maya, who’s wearing nothing but my ring, who just admitted she’s in so deep she doesn’t want to find her way out, and who could be pregnant with my baby, I sleep.
Really, sleep.
Chapter 24 – Or Else
Grady –
I stand at the opening of Crew’s barn and watch as Jarvis lays another man, Stafford, out flat. Stafford, who is lying face down, just laid the rest of them out, so he’s no slouch. After being away for so long, seeing their improvements is impressive, but Jarvis stands out.
I fought for him to be here, so it feels good to be right.
This is the first time I’ve been back since I was captured. I had an early morning appointment I’ve been anxious about and decided to stop in here before getting back to Maya. I left her with my sisters at Crew’s house so she’d be close to him while I was gone. But I need to get back to her. The girls are heading into the city for the day, thank fuck.
