Chapter 40
As the weeks passed, things changed.
Gray cooked more. He burned less.
Cadi and Tomos laughed more.
The house, which had felt so heavy with grief and tension, felt lighter.
And the anger that had lived in Gray for years—the rage that had always sat at the edges of his skin, ready to explode—was starting to quiet.
One night, Cadi found a letter on her bedside table.
Gray's handwriting.
She unfolded it, heart pounding.
"Cadi, you know talking isn't easy for me. But I need you to know this—I love you. I always have. And I want to be better. For you. For Tomos. For myself. I don't know if I can ever fix what I've broken. But I promise you, I'm going to try."
Cadi exhaled, clutching the paper to her chest.
Her heart felt lighter, just reading that.
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Gray always went to sleep in the guest room.
But he never stayed there.
Cadi had gotten used to hearing him move around at night, his footsteps soft but unmistakable. The first few times, she didn't question it. But then, she started noticing things.
The slight indent on the pillow beside her.
The way Tomos never woke up alone.
And Tomos, ever the observer, had his own take on it.
"Da doesn't like sleepin' alone," he told her one morning, his voice serious as he munched on toast.
Cadi arched a brow. "Is that so?"
Tomos nodded. "Aye. He's always in me room when I wake up. Bet he's scared o' the dark."
Gray had been listening from the doorway. He didn't deny it. He just smiled, ruffling Tomos's hair.
Cadi pretended not to notice .But her chest felt like a vice was tightening in there.
It was hard for her too.
She had always used Gray as her own personal legwarmer, curling against him when the cold seeped into her bones. Her feet were perpetually frozen, and he had always been warm, always willing to let her tuck herself against him, bury her face in his chest, steal his heat.
And now?
Now she couldn't sleep.
Let's face it, she missed sex.
One night, she woke up and felt it.
A weight in the bed. The dip of the mattress.
She didn't move, just breathed, letting her body stay loose, pretending to be asleep.
Gray crept in beside her, slow, hesitant, like a man pushing his luck.
The air shifted as he settled in, his arm hovering just over her waist, so close yet not touching.
Cadi smirked to herself.
Let him suffer.
Without warning, she pressed her bum back against him, flush against his groin.
Gray sucked in a sharp breath behind her, his entire body going rigid.
She felt it. Hard. Pressed against her.
A low, pained groan escaped him, and she could practically hear him gritting his teeth.
For a second, she thought he'd pull away, do the noble thing and roll back into the cold.
He didn't.
Instead, he snuggled closer.
A slow, cautious shift until his arm settled over her waist, pulling her against him, his body warm and solid behind her.
Cadi kept her breathing even, kept her body relaxed, smiling in her sleep.
He was such a big puppy. Desperate for affection, for touch, but still unsure of his place.In a way she never realized before.
She felt the hesitation in his muscles, the way he was holding himself back, even now, when he was obviously suffering.
Good.
She pushed back just a little more, letting the curve of her bum nestle into his lap, feeling him twitch against her.
Gray groaned softly, his fingers tightening on her hip.
Cadi bit back the giggle which was fighting to get out.
She wasn't going to make this easy for him.
By morning, he was gone.
The next night?
She felt the bed dip again.
By morning, he was gone.