Chapter 18 Taylor
Period pain should automatically allow every woman access to free pain management.
Give me a script and a pass to the front of the line for a controlled substance, because this is fucking unbearable.
I’ve been laying on a heating pad on the couch for the last thirty minutes to no avail and I already wish I could just go back to bed, but know the pain would keep me awake anyway.
My phone chimes on the armrest above my head, so I blindly reach for it to see who’s texting and groan when I see Ivory’s message in the group chat.
IVORY
Don’t forget lunch at our house today!
I did, in fact, forget we planned lunch at Ivory and Preston’s house since the guys are off today.
Another thing about periods? They come at the worst possible moment and ruin my life every single time.
For a while, my IUD had lulled me into a fake sense of normalcy, and I’d blocked out how bad my endo affected me during my periods.
I thought with this new medication regime that I was finally rid of these down and out months, but alas, I can’t be that lucky.
It worked for a little while—a momentary reprieve from the torture of womanhood—and now, my body is like “aha, bitch, gotcha!” I hate it so much.
It might be time to start talking to my doctor about more permanent solutions.
The only reason I hadn’t done it already was because of my busy schedule, but I don’t think I can take this suffering much longer.
MILLER
Say less, Ivey.
Can your husband come play outside for a while?
IVORY
You’re literally in my kitchen right now drinking coffee with him.
MILLER
I still need to know if he can come play. We kinda made plans.
PRESTON
Quit being an idiot.
ME
I don’t think he knows how.
MILLER
Taytie Tot, you’re still here?
ME
You literally saw me yesterday.
“Everything okay?” Grant asks, holding out a fresh cup of coffee. He’s been waiting on me hand and foot since he came home a few nights ago to find me curled up on the couch in pain.
“Hurts,” I grumble and sit up to take it from him. “Thank you.” He presses a quick kiss to my forehead and lifts my legs to sit on the couch beside me. When I try to pull them off his lap, he clamps his hand around my ankle to keep them in place.
“You’re welcome. What was all the dinging?”
“The group chat is popping off. I forgot we planned to go to Ivory’s for lunch today.”
“You can skip it.”
“I can’t. They know I’m in town because I just saw them last night at the game, and I already feel bad about not telling them where I’m staying or all the times I’ve been in town before and they didn’t know. Miller just made a jab about me still being here.”
All the secrets I’ve been carrying are adding up and I’m starting to feel the weight of them. I know Miller didn’t mean anything by it, but the jokes about my comings and goings get to me, especially when I’m already hormonal.
Grant rolls his head on the back of the couch to look at me. “You know you don’t have to hide where you’re staying, right?”
“But if I tell them I’m staying with you then I have to explain we have a history and then it’ll just get messy and I’m not ready for that. Not this week.” My words die off in a moan when Grant squeezes the skin between my big and second toe.
“Does that feel good?” He smirks, and god, why is he so hot?
“I wouldn’t say it feels good, but it distracted me from some of the other pain. How did you know to do that?”
“I’ve been reading up on it. There are certain pressure points in your feet and ankles that relieve the pain associated with cramps.”
I soften at the thought of him searching ways to relieve period cramps and wanting to help. It’s next level book boyfriend shit. He makes it really hard not to love him. Not that I’d tell him that. We may be playing house, but we’re not back together.
“I hate seeing you in pain.” He continues massaging my feet, occasionally hitting a different pressure point to stimulate relief.
“If you’re sure about going, how about a soak in the tub before you leave?
I can get it set up. You can soak for a bit and then hopefully by then the medicine will kick in. ”
It was almost time for another dose of pain medicine. Though it barely helped, it at least took the edge off and made it so I could function.
“In a bit. I want to finish this coffee first. What are you doing today?”
“I’ve got some work to do. Just because the team is off doesn’t mean I am.”
“You need to rest too.”
From what I’ve seen, Grant works nonstop. Between managing the entirety of operations for the baseball team and checking in on all things Stella in New York, he rarely takes a day off.
“I will.” He runs a knuckle along the arch of my foot, and I mewl at the sensation. The subtle shift of my feet on his lap does nothing to hide the twitch I felt under his sweatpants.
This orgasm ban is driving me crazy. I’ve never needed the release more than I do now.
Living with a man who looks like sex on a stick will do that, but the added effort he’s put in of cooking me dinner, making my coffee to my liking, and now researching how to help with my pain means I’m even more turned on.
“Teresa called,” he says. “I may need to head to New York soon. It’s been a while since I’ve checked in and showed my face around the office.”
“How often do you make trips up there?”
“I try to go at least once a month. I don’t want to be an absentee boss. My main focus right now is the team, but I still need to show my staff that I’m dedicated to all my ventures.”
What he doesn’t say is he doesn’t want to be his father.
A boss who demands excellence and perfection but spends most of his time at the golf course now that his kids are old enough to do his bidding.
It’s always been a contentious relationship.
I was hoping it got better when I left, but all signs point to that not being the case.
“You couldn’t be an absentee boss if you tried.” I squeeze his arm. “You’re not him. You could never be him. I’m sorry things haven’t gotten better.”
“Why would you be sorry? They treated you like shit.”
“Still, I wished taking myself out of the equation would’ve helped.”
“The damage was already done.” He can’t hide the sadness in his tone and swallows roughly.
His phone rings, interrupting the moment. Surely, some of the work he alluded to. “Let me take this and then I’ll get you another dose of medication.”
He stands and gently rests my legs back on the couch before walking down the hall to his home office. In the silence, my mind drifts back to the last interaction I had with his family—the one that ultimately led to our downfall.