Chapter Twenty-Two #6
Grier returned her smirk. Fair is fair, she thought. “You never cease to surprise me.”
A small smile tugged at the corner of Tobin’s lips, and a familiar softness filled her eyes when Grier looked at her. It was a look she’d seen on Tobin’s face with a certain regularity over the last several weeks—one of quiet fondness, reserved just for her.
“Oh, I am full of surprises, girlfriend,” Grier retorted.
The word slipped out before she could catch it. Heat flamed her face, and she knew it hadn’t gone unnoticed.
Tobin’s eyes narrowed at her. Grier hadn’t meant to start this conversation—they were still clinging to some semblance of taking things slow, despite how quickly their libidos ruled the physical nature of their relationship.
She didn’t want to scare Tobin off with premature declarations.
But the truth was, she absolutely wanted to claim her.
And she’d be lying if she said labeling their relationship wasn’t something she wanted sooner rather than later.
Tobin’s lips twitched. A light glinted in her gorgeous eyes, and Grier’s chest tightened, her heart beating frantically against her ribs.
“Girlfriend, huh?” Tobin asked, still fighting to contain an impish grin slowly spreading across her lips—those lips Grier never seemed to be able to tear her eyes from.
Grier shrugged, feigning nonchalance. She averted her eyes to the popcorn, busying her hands with seasoning it, despite already having done that. And she knew Tobin was aware she’d already done it—Tobin had handed her the seasoning.
“It was meant to be a turn of phrase,” Grier muttered. Then, more pointedly, “But… now that you’ve brought it up…”
“Whoa, hold on! You brought it up…” Tobin’s face went suddenly stoic, unreadable.
Grier’s discomfort bloomed, and she averted her eyes, unable to share her disappointment.
“Girlfriend.”
Grier’s head whipped up, breath catching audibly in her throat. Tobin’s stoic facade faded into a full, consuming grin, and the light returned to her eyes.
Grier threw her arms around Tobin and kissed her fervently— innumerable times—consuming her light, airy giggles like the sustenance they were.
Grant coughed before entering the kitchen. “Just checking if you need help with the snacks. We’re all loaded up and ready to go— just waiting for you two. And the snacks.”
“Sorry, Grant. My girlfriend and I are ready now.”
She handed Tobin the tray of snacks, grabbed the popcorn, and looked at Grant, who was watching her with warm, understanding eyes.
“Can you grab the floats? My girlfriend and I will meet you downstairs.”
The chuckle she heard from Tobin as she reached the top of the stairs made her heart flutter. Grier’s heart felt light, her head so full of promise.
Girlfriends.
She encouraged Tobin to take her usual spot, then grabbed a blanket from the pile behind Delta and draped it over both of them.
“No one mind me—I’m just going to be snuggling with my girlfriend during the movie tonight,” she announced, grinning so hard it hurt.
“Gross,” Delta sneered from her place next to Lake. “I do not want to see you kiss.”
“I said snuggle, Delta. But, since you brought it up…”
She turned and planted a loud, exaggerated smack on Tobin’s lips, eliciting a surprised mmm from her and an exasperated groan from her niece.
Grier couldn’t focus on the movie. She was brimming with excited energy. It had been so long since she’d been in a committed relationship, and things with Tobin felt so… good. She just wanted to live in this moment for a while.
Besides, she was far more content snuggling in deeper to Tobin, listening to her heartbeat steadily through her chest, feeling the slow rise and fall of her contented breathing, simply soaking in her closeness.
When the movie was over, Grant took Delta and Lake upstairs. Grier shifted their positions, pulling Tobin into her chest so she could wrap her girlfriend in her arms. Grier sensed a shift in Tobin’s energy—not withdrawn, but something quieter, contemplative.
She drew incoherent patterns along the skin of Tobin’s forearm, just letting her touch settle a peacefulness between them.
Her hands drifted up to Tobin’s head and neck, where she found the tension knotted in her muscles. She gently tugged the tie from Tobin’s hair, releasing her ponytail, and pressed her fingertips into Tobin’s scalp—tugging at her hair and massaging the muscles, trying to ease her tension.
“You’re so fucking good with your hands,” Tobin hummed, eyes closed.
“And you’re so tense all of a sudden. What’s going on in here?”
Grier lightly drummed her fingers against Tobin’s scalp before returning to her gentle massage.
A soft moan escaped Tobin’s throat.
“I haven’t slept much this week. I think I’m just tired.”
Grier heard the fatigue in Tobin’s voice—but she didn’t miss the way Tobin’s body remained taut, unwilling to relax into her the way someone merely tired would. She could tell Tobin was holding something back.
“Yeah, you mentioned that when we talked. You made it sound like work was affecting your sleep schedule.”
Grier kept working fingers through Tobin’s hair, and finally, she felt Tobin surrender, letting her head fully rest in Grier’s hands.
“That’s part of it.” Tobin sighed. Still withholding.
And Grier knew she was going to have to pry the truth out of her. “Tell me, Tobin. I can’t help if you don’t let me in.”
Her voice was soothing but firm, even to her own ears. She hoped Tobin felt that, too.
“My appointment is next week. My fertility appointment.”
The tension beneath Grier’s fingertips returned, but she skillfully kneaded into the muscles of Tobin’s neck and relished the way Tobin’s body seemed to just accept the change—relaxing again, allowing her weight to confidently rest against her.
“You’re worried about it?”
“Yes. I—“ Tobin faltered, gathering her words. “We haven’t talked about it. And after tonight, with the whole girlfriends thing, I just…”
Now it was Grier’s turn to freeze.
She stiffened with regret, worried she’d pushed Tobin toward a commitment she wasn’t ready for. But Tobin wasn’t pulling away— she was just… talking. Calmly.
Her own anxieties were clearly clouding her ability to understand what was happening—for both of them.
“Just what?” she pressed, needing Tobin to name her fears before they tangled with her own and created a volatile reaction neither was prepared for.
“…just—I don’t know what it means—for us.”
Her head tilted forward, shame and confusion radiating from her posture.
Grier didn’t know what it meant either. But she knew what she wanted it to mean.
She knew she didn’t want it to change anything between them.
She knew she would be there for Tobin, regardless of what the appointment revealed.
She squeezed the tops of Tobin’s shoulders, using her thumbs to work the tension at the base of her neck.
Then, gently, she invited Tobin’s head back on to her shoulder—where she could give her weight back to Grier.
No matter what, Grier had committed to bearing this burden with Tobin.
She wasn’t going to let Tobin forget it.
“I think as long as we both remember that there’s an us at the end of the appointment, that we can figure out whatever the results are—together.”
But her anxiety wouldn’t settle. She had to ask the question she feared most. She hated the insecurity behind it—but she needed reassurance that their relationship held weight for Tobin, too. Old habits die hard.
“If that’s what you want?”
She hated how it sounded like a question.
Tobin shifted her against her shoulder, nuzzling her nose against the apex of Grier’s jaw. Her lips were there, finding Grier’s pulse point, and Grier knew Tobin could feel the race of her heart against her lips.
her.
Then Tobin’s hands were in her hair, pulling her in—anchoring
Her lips brushed against Grier’s just before her confession: “That’s what I want.”