Chapter 15 Greyson #2
“Yup. Yeah, all fine. We should get to the table. Foods getting cold.” I turn quickly and find my sister watching me with a frown.
My pulse is skyrocketing, and I feel sweat forming at my hairline. I need to get away from them. I force a tight smile and sidestep her, heading to my daughter.
Damn it! This can’t be happening again. Emma and I agreed we wouldn’t explore anything between us. I need to get a handle on whatever is going on in my head. I won’t fall in love with a girl I can’t have. Again.
After breakfast, we all get dressed warmly and pile into my dad’s seven-seater SUV. My parents are upfront, Aubrey and Gracie in the middle, while Em and I are in the back. She’s been quiet since breakfast, but I don’t miss the concerned glances she gives me occasionally.
She can sense my retreat. In the short time from the kitchen to now, I’ve been avoiding looking at her or getting too close unless it involves my daughter. It’s how things should have been from the start. Instead, I let her charming silliness worm its way into my mind and heart.
We get to the lodge by the sledding hills shortly after and rent various sleds, including one that’s all closed up for Gracie, preventing her from getting too cold.
We make our way up the hill and settle ourselves in an empty spot.
The place isn’t super full given it’s Christmas morning, but there are still a few families who hold the same traditions my family does.
I watch my family enjoy themselves from a few feet away.
My dad, throwing snowballs at my screaming mother and laughing sister.
Emma, sitting down in the snow with Gracie between her legs as she throws snow dust in the air, letting it all fall down on them while my daughter squeals away with delight.
A snowball goes flying past my sister and hits Em right in the shoulder.
She gasps loudly, begins to form a snowball of her own, and sends it sailing toward my father.
But with her terrible aim, she greatly misses him and ends up hitting my mother on the back of the head, and within the next second, a fight quickly breaks out.
Snow flies everywhere, and laughter and screams can be heard from miles away. Bunny shields my daughter with her body and blindly gathers clumps of snow from the ground, throwing it anywhere she can even if she’s nowhere near her target.
She fits so perfectly here, with my family, with Gracie. With me. Those thoughts unsettle me. But they still bring a smile to my face as I keep looking at the way her skin glows in the snow. The way her hair shines like it’s pure fire. The radiant sparkle of her dazzling smile. She’s hypnotizing.
I’m so fucked.
Emma picks up my daughter in her outstretched hands and lifts her in the air above her. They’re both laughing, pure euphoria on their faces. Without thinking, I quickly pull out my phone and snap a picture of the perfect moment.
“You’re falling for her.”
I startle and almost drop my phone at the sound of my sister’s voice. How did she get here? I was so entranced by Bunny with Gracie that I didn’t even notice Aubrey walking over. When I turn to her, she observes me with an analytical look.
“I can’t.” It’s the only answer I give her. Because it’s true. I can’t fall for Emma.
“Why not?” She furrows her brows in confusion.
“Because it would complicate things. And I don’t want to bring just any woman into Gracie’s life that could potentially leave again. Anyway, Emma doesn't want anything with me.”
“But you’ve already brought her into your daughter's life, and she’s not going anywhere even if you decide to just stay friends. And did Em really say that? Or is that how you think she feels? Because from where I’m standing, she looks at you the same way you look at her.”
I look back at my girls, where Bunny is now making a snow angel beside my daughter. Is my sister right? Does Emma feel the same, and she’s simply holding back like I am? Maybe out of fear?
“How can I be sure it’s not just lust, or a crush like with Rose? You know me better than most. I’m not the settling-down type. I don’t feel things for women easily.” I’ve never admitted my feelings for Cecilia to anyone but Emma, but I know my sister has always had her doubts about the subject.
“You’re not a boy anymore, Grey. You’re a grown man with a child. It’s okay for you to want to settle down now.” She’s right, I’m a thirty-year-old grown-ass man. I can’t keep acting like a bachelor. I need to start thinking about my future, as well as my daughter’s.
She comes closer, whispering in my ear, “By the way, you’ve never looked at Cecilia like that.” When I turn my head to her quickly, she smiles and pulls away, walking slowly toward our family. “Come on, big brother. Let’s go sledding.”
Two hours later, we’re all taking our last turns going down the hill to then head over to the cabin and have lunch. My family is already down the slope waiting, only Emma and I are left to make our way down.
“Oh! Let’s do the last one together! These things are big enough for two, right? We can do it. It’ll be fun! Say yes!”
“Em, I hardly fit on my own sled. How do you expect us to both fit on one?”
“How do people have sex in tiny sports cars? The same way. They make it fit. Now come on, Ford. Get that sexy hockey butt of yours over here.”
I walk over and chuckle. The way her mind works fascinates me. I look down at both our toboggan sleds, trying to see how this can possibly work out. Simple, it can’t. “Bunny, there’s no way we can do this.”
“Too late, mine’s already making its way down.” She kicks her sled and sends it sliding away. “Bye, bye, Sleddy.” She waves at it, then giggles when she sees my annoyed expression. “Okay, now sit,” she instructs, pointing to our only ride left.
I sigh and sit down. She rearranges my legs like I’m a puppet and crosses them loosely, leaving a hollow hole between them. She then plops her butt down in it, grabbing my arms and wrapping them around her waist. “I’ll guide us. You hold on.”
“That doesn’t seem like a good idea. You’re a terrible sled driver. You’ve fallen off every time you went down so far.”
She laughs merrily. “That is not true!” It is. It’s one hundred percent true. “Ready!? Give us a push, Greyson. You’re too heavy, I can’t get us moving.”
I let go of her and try to push us forward with my hands.
“What are you doing!? Don’t let go! You’ll fall off,” Em shrieks, looking back at me.
I growl loudly. “What do you want, Emma? You want me to hold on? Or you want me to push? Because I can’t do both! Jesus, woman. You’re driving me crazy!”
She giggles and buries her face into her scarf. “Push, please.” Freaking woman.
I finally get us close to the ledge, and with one final push, we start coasting down the hill. Bunny squeals and laughs as she pulls on the strings attached to the front of the sled, making it go from side to side.
I grab onto her tightly. “Stop doing that! You’ll make us tip over!”
“No, we won’t. Stop being such a chicken, Ford.”
She yanks harder on the string, sending the sled to the left. Directly toward a bump of snow. “Emma!”
“Oh, shit!” Oh shit, is right.
The next thing I know, we hit the bump, the sled tips over, and Bunny and I are rolling our way down the rest of the hill. In each other’s arms.
When we make it to the bottom, finally coming to a stop, Emma is lying beneath me, laughing her heart away with snow stuck to her hair. She also lost her hat somewhere along the way. I can’t help but laugh too as I wipe the snow off her face.
“I told you we wouldn’t make it.”
She smiles sheepishly. “Oopsie.” I shake my head and let it fall to her chest.
“Andrew, what are you doing?” I hear my mother ask from in front of us, but I don’t look up.
“Building an igloo so they can get a room,” my dad says with all the seriousness in the world.
“Ugh! Dad!” Aubrey groans as we all laugh.
“Hey, Andrew?” Emma calls out to him.
“Yeah, Doll?” Dad answers without looking up as he continues to form piles of snow.
“You think you could add an ensuite in there? Might need to take a shower after a full-body workout with your son.” Emma giggles as I chuckle against her chest.
“Oh God…” Aubrey groans again and stomps away, pulling my daughter’s sled along with her.
The rest of the day plays out similarly, with Emma and I picking on each other and my dad making inappropriate jokes while my mom scolds him. Aubrey feels extremely uncomfortable, and Gracie babbles and giggles away in her own happy little world.
During our gingerbread house making competition, I purposely sabotaged Em’s by bumping into her as she was trying to make a nice outline for her window and stealing some of her candies and decorations.
I also ate one of her walls, and it took her a good thirty minutes to find its location. My stomach. Then when we got to the bake-off, we ended up having a food fight with cookie dough and flour. It quickly turned into a full-blown family feud, with my parents and Aubrey joining in.
In other words, the day was perfect.
It’s now gift exchange time, the part I’ve been the most nervous about, mostly because of Emma. When I think about what I got her for Christmas, I realize I’ve been living in denial… $16,593.87 worth of denial, to be exact. Jesus! What the hell was I thinking!?
I’ve never bought such an expensive gift for someone. Sure, I bought my parents their home and pay for my sister's education and housing. But a random gift for a woman who isn’t even my girlfriend? Never. First the dress, now this… I’ve definitely lost it.
Emma and I sit on one of the love seats, watching my mom and Aubrey unwrap the last few gifts with Gracie. Although my daughter seems more determined to eat the wrapper rather than actually open the gift.
It’s crazy to see the resemblance between them. Buttercup looks just like Aubrey as a baby, and Aubrey looks exactly like my mother when she was younger. At least I have an idea of how my little girl will turn out later.
I pick up the gift box I have for Em from the coffee table and pass it to her while everyone is more occupied with my daughter and isn’t paying us too much attention.
I should have thought this through better, like giving it to her at home before we left, or even when we got back after the holidays.
She takes it with a slight tremble to her hand. The gift isn’t wrapped, it’s simply put in a slim white box with a red ribbon. She gently lifts the lid and looks inside.
“Oh, Greyson…” Her eyes take on a glossy quality, and she sniffs. She looks away quickly, blinking a few times before turning back to the gift and running her finger over the jewelry. “It’s beautiful…”
A gold necklace lies perfectly inside the box, with a sunflower pendant hanging at the bottom. The petals are made with yellow diamonds, and a black diamond ties them all up in the center.
I had it made in a rush a week ago. The day following the disastrous dinner with her family, I told her I had an errand to run and rushed over to my jeweler. They didn’t have anything with a sunflower, so I had it custom made just for her.
“Would you like me to put it on?”
She nods briskly and answers quietly, “Please.”
I gather the necklace in my hand as she places her back to me.
Pushing her hair over her shoulder, I bring the necklace in front of her, making sure it’s facing the right way.
Then I secure it behind her slender neck before pulling her hair out from underneath it, letting it fall down her back once more.
When she faces me again, her fingers run over the jewel with a smile. The way she looks up at me next steals my breath. I’ve never had someone look at me like that. The same way Morgan looks at Clay… The same way Cecilia looks at Silas.
“I love it. Thank you, Grey.” She smiles with pure adoration, then turns and bends to pick up something off the side of the couch. She comes back up with a decent-sized black box with a big gold gift bow on the top. “I got you something, too.”
She passes me the box, and it’s actually pretty light for its size. I hadn’t even seen her with it. She must have snuck it down. I remove the puffy bow and pull open the wrapping, only to stop abruptly when I see the engraved name on the top of the box. BVLGARI.
What the fuck? There’s no way! She couldn’t have…
My eyes are wide as I look at the beautiful, excited smile she carries on her face. I take a deep breath and turn back to the gift, slowly lifting the lid, then shutting it back down when I get a glimpse of what’s inside. “HOLY F… FUDGE ON A SOUR SKITTLE! Bunny!”
My father bursts out laughing, slapping his thigh. “Jesus! How do you even come up with these words?”
I want to laugh with him, but I can’t. My heart rate has spiked to a thousand, and I’m suddenly clammy and dizzy. Why would she do this? Why would she get me this? “Emma, no. I… I can’t accept this, it’s too much. How did you even…?”
“I saw you looking at my dad’s. You looked like you were in love.”
“That’s not a reason to get me something so expensive!” I’m not mad, I’m just in complete shock.
“How expensive?” my dad, ever the nosy one, questions.
“$60, 000. That’s how expensive!” I tell him staggeringly.
He nods slowly, rubbing his thumb over his bottom lip. “Nancy, I want a divorce,” he declares to my mother, then turns to Emma. “I’m officially a single man, Doll. Now yours for the taking if you’ll have me. I know I’m your type; there’s no need to deny it,” he delivers with a wink.
“Well then, if you’re offering.” Bunny flutters her eyelashes at him, then holds her hand out toward me, palm facing upward. “Grey, hand over the watch. It’s Daddy Ford’s now.”
“You heard her, son! Listen to your new stepmom and give me the watch.” Dad scoots to the edge of his seat, ready to claim his new possession.
I drop my head with a shake while my mom slaps the back of his. “Shush it, you doofus. Or you’ll really be a single man.”
Emma giggles and places her hand on my thigh, causing me to look up into her captivating eyes. “You deserve it, Greyson. I know you would never treat yourself to something like this, so let me do it.”
I finally turn back to the box and open it, reaching in to skillfully remove the gold watch. The same one her dad was wearing during dinner. She takes it from my hand and helps me put it on my wrist. When she’s finished, I take her into my arms, my hand coming into her hair.
“You’re absolutely amazing, Bunny. Thank you,” I murmur against her ear.
“It was worth every penny,” she whispers back.
I don’t think I’m the only one in denial anymore…