36. Heat and Rainwater
Chapter Thirty-Six
Heat and Rainwater
Neve
Professor Daddy:
Hey, angel, you still awake?
I need to see you. Now, if you’re awake.
Iblink at my phone, then Cade’s phone pings, where he sits across from me. His brow furrows.
“Who’s that from?” I ask carefully.
“Fia.” Cade looks up. “Telling me to go to Grant’s place.”
I huff. “Okay, yeah… that makes sense, because Grant is messaging me asking if he can come here.”
Cade’s brow quirks. “All right. So…”
Realization strikes me like lightning, and a laugh bursts out of me. “She wants you to go over there because Sera is there. I can’t go there, but he can’t leave her there.”
Cade chuckles. “Okay, little Hart. We’ve got you.”
Me:
I’m awake, baby
come over
Cade stands, then leans in and bumps his forehead down against mine, brotherly and brief. “You’re gonna be fine, little Hart.”
He spends the next five minutes finishing his drink, and I finish mine, too. There’s a knock at the door, barely a beat after Cade gets his shoes on. My heart launches itself all the way up my throat.
I open it, and there’s Grant, looming in the frame, hair wild and damp from the rain, eyes like green lasers burning into me. He looks like he hasn’t slept, but also like he’s made entirely out of adrenaline and intent.
Cade brushes past him on his way out. “Don’t break any furniture, man. I nearly died getting that sofa in here.”
Grant huffs, but his eyes don’t leave me.
The second the door clicks shut, I blurt, “Are you out of your mind? What the hell are you doing here? If Marie finds out you left Sera with someone else to come see me, she’ll go full meltdown.
You could lose her.” I choke on a breath.
“God, Grant, what if this costs you everything?” It comes out in a rush, messy and way too loud, but I can’t help it.
All I can see is the look on his face in Ellie’s office, the way his hands shook when he talked about losing Sera.
He steps in, closing the gap, and grabs my face in both hands. His palms are hot, grounding. “This is not your fault. You hear me? None of this is because of you.”
I shake my head, but he won’t let go. “Yes, it is. If I hadn’t messaged you, playing my stupid fucking games, none of this would be happening. I’m the reason Marie’s doing this, I’m the reason you’re on leave, I’m the reason you’re risking everything. How can you stand there and say it isn’t me?”
“Because it’s not. Because I love you.” The words hit like a strike.
“I love you, and I am not letting her—or anyone, or anything, not even the fucking universe—take this away from me.” My breath stutters, but he pushes on.
“For years, I let her make me miserable. I let her control everything. I will not let her win this time. I won’t let her take my daughter, and I won’t let her take you from me. I can’t.”
Something cracks wide open inside me. The words just hang there, almost too big to fit in the air between us, and I’m not sure if it’s adrenaline or relief or just the truth finally being too much to hold back, but every molecule in my body lights up.
I grab his wrists, anchoring his hands to my cheeks. “I love you, too. I don’t want to lose you, either. I don’t care what she does. I want you. I want all of this. I want your mess and your daughter and your dumb jokes and your stupid, beautiful face.”
Grant snorts a laugh, then he’s kissing me, full throttle.
We’re moving, but I’m not sure who starts it.
Maybe both of us. He backs me against the wall, like he can’t even make it to the sofa, and I let him pin me there, all heat and rainwater.
His lips find the hinge of my jaw, then my mouth again, and I can’t stop smiling, even as I kiss him back, because I feel too good.
I feel golden and bright and invincible.
He breaks the kiss for a second, breathing hard. “You know Fia’s at my place watching Sera, right? That’s the only reason I could get away.”
I snort, rolling my eyes. “Fia? Babysitting?”
Grant’s laugh is low and rough. “Your sister loves you enough to do that, just think about that for a second.”
I let my head thunk back against the wall, grinning like a maniac. “Yeah. She’s gonna be a great mom one day.”
He hums, mouth grazing my cheek, then my neck. “I need to get back. You’re going to make me late, angel.”
I exhale slowly. “I don’t want you to go.”
“I know.” He groans. “I love you.”
I frame his face in my hands. “I love you, too. We don’t let her take us down like this.”
He laughs, burying his face in my throat, squeezing me so hard it almost hurts. “No way in hell.”