46. Noah
“Why do you like puzzles so much?” True picked up a piece of the jigsaw puzzle we were working on at her grandmother’s kitchen table and squinted in concentration, trying to figure out where it belonged.
“Something about it scratches my brain the right way,” I replied. I liked seeing it go from scattered pieces to one big picture.” The finished product was always my favorite part. It was why I had some of my favorites framed in my room.
I snapped another piece of the border in place, lifting my gaze to see Ms. Ruby walking over with two mugs.
“Eggnog,” was all she said before walking away. Whipped cream and a cinnamon stick floated above the rim, making me lick my lips.
True’s eyes twinkled when I just stared at my cup. “I’ll take yours if you don’t want it.”
“Nah, I’m just tryna figure out if it’s spiked.” I lowered my voice, leaning over the table to whisper. “Every time I come to your grandparents’ house, one of them tries to get me drunk.”
True snorted and picked up the mug closest to me. “Sorry, I think that’s their love language. But I watched her make this earlier, I don’t think there’s liquor in it.” The sip she took left a mustache on her top lip before she licked it away. “No alcohol,” she reported. “But damn, that’s good.”
She pushed it back over the table to me, careful to move around the puzzle.
Greyson and I had driven here after wrapping up at the resort today and we’d been here ever since. The chef on staff at Wolfe Summit had prepared a Thanksgiving spread for the guests and staff who wanted to join, but we left to have dinner here once the second-shift manager showed up.
Now, Greyson was on the other side of the living room, playing around on Mr. Pauly’s old organ. Mr. Pauly was on the bench beside him, his pipe dangling from his mouth while he watched Greyson with a crooked smile, trying to name the tune he was playing.
Ms. Ruby and Lady were on the couch, watching TV.
There were only five of us here, but the house felt full. Like there was too much warmth to be contained inside these four walls.
Greyson’s family was the same way whenever I went home with him. No explosive arguments, no backhanded compliments, and no cold looks. Just family members who loved the fuck out of each other.
I didn’t know that existed until I started spending the holidays away from home.
“What you thinking about so loud over there?”
True peered at me over her mug, a puzzle piece held between the fingertips of her free hand.
“I like your family,” I answered truthfully. A lot about True’s personality made sense when you knew who her family was. She came from love, so it wasn’t a surprise she had so much of it to give.
Her eyes softened. “My grandparents love y’all.” She dropped her head to one side with a soft smile. “And my mom can’t wait to meet you.”
“You told your parents about me?”
Nodding, she pushed her new box braids from her face. “Yea. Like the second day after I met you. She calls you “pretty boy” every time we talk,” she added with a shake of her head.
“You told your mom about me and you told her I was pretty?”
True was laughing on the other side of the table and I was soaking up the sound.
“I didn’t tell her that. She just does a lot.” Her laughter quieted before she hid half her face with her mug again. The heat of her stare made me clear my throat as I sat up straighter.
Talking about her parents made me think about my parents’ upcoming visit. And thinking about that made me think about Greyson. I needed to tell her about both, but I went with the easier one, swallowing hard around the unease clawing up my throat.
“I have to tell you something.” She’d been upfront with me about Greyson and I owed her that in return.
Her eyes rounded, my question prompting her to lean in closer to me across the table, and she grabbed my fingers in a loose grip. “What is it?”
“I kissed Greyson.”
True blinked. Set down her mug. Smiled at me.
“Oh…okay.”
“That’s it?”
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say. Did you like it?” Her lips twitched while she scanned my face.
I knew she knew the answer before I said, “Yea.”
“It’s about damn time,” she exhaled. “Man, I wish I could have seen the look on Greyson’s face before his “fuck it” moment. Or did you kiss him first?” She squeezed my hand before releasing it and sitting back in her chair, waiting for the details.
I told her the quickest version of what happened in the hall yesterday.
“I knew it,” she kept saying to herself, a smile playing at her lips. “God, I really am my mother’s child.”
She finished her sentence as Greyson walked in the kitchen. I watched as he leaned down to kiss her, his thumb finding her bottom lip right after. “You taste good.”
Every time they looked at each other like that, everyone else in the room was invisible. The intensity of their connection always made me stop and stare. True looked at him with a dark gaze she never turned on me.
She was different with Greyson and he was different with her.
It didn’t make me jealous, it just made me appreciate the different sides we brought out of each other.
We gave each other different things and I was going to have to embrace that. Maybe it wasn’t meant for one person to give me everything I needed.
“What are you thinking about so loud?” Greyson’s question was like déjà vu, but it had a grounding effect as he leaned down to brush a kiss on the side of my head. He smirked at me, pulling out a chair to help us with the puzzle.
We sat around the table for another hour before getting ready to leave.
The whole time I sat there, I couldn’t understand how two people could feel more like my family than the one I was born into, but Greyson and True were home. More than that, they were exactly who I wanted to be with. And while I still had a lot I needed to figure out about my future, I knew I wanted both of them in it.