Page 70 of Defended By Love

I take a step back from him, my skin instantly missing the contact with his own.

“You’re putting too much on this. With expectations that high, there’s nothing to do but fall short,” I whisper, already feeling how much it’s going to hurt when Grant can’t stand me any longer.

Grant considers it for a moment. Then, with a sweeping motion, he pulls me onto his lap and bends me backwards to kiss me in a way that scorches my lips, causing giddy feelings to bubble up to the surface.

When he finally pulls away and rights me, I’m dazed, touching my lips because they still feel the force of his kiss.

“Fear of falling is for chumps who have to worry about gravity,” he says with a grin that’s echoed on my own face. “Now, what do you say we get out of here. We still have some time before the reset.”

Before I can answer, a dry cough bursts our bubble of emotions.

“Not so fast,” the DM interrupts. He’s flanked on either side by Darwin and Chanterelle. They’re both holding ominously large plates of food.

“I think you forgot about our deal,” Darwin continues.

Grant pauses, like a full deer freeze. “Come on, guys. Not today. I’ll do it tomorrow.”

Ha!

“No.” The DM holds out his plate even closer to Grant. “You’ll do it now. Our deal was that if you use your little gravity trick during our games again, you’re going to pay for it.”

Grant groans. His shoulders slump so much that he looks like a defeated shell of a once great hero.

“Pay for it?” I ask.

Darwin and the DM smirk in tandem.

“A little community service penitence,” Darwin says.

The DM slaps his arm. “Officially offended.” He pauses. “But yeah.”

“What does he have to do?”

The three of them stand before us, wearing identical maniacal grins, holding the plates out a little further in front of them.

“I have to test out some of Brady’s experiments for his new cookbook,” he sighs.

Now, it’s my turn to smile. If his licorice devilled eggs are any indication of what experiments Grant gets to try, this night is about to get very interesting.

I guess this means I officially like Games Night.

Interlude

Nothing changes in a day that never ends.

The weeks that both follow and dissolve are a blur of outrageous events, chosen alternatingly by Grant and I, punctuated with pops of colour that burn into my memory, even if they fade everywhere else. There are the main events: the opera saga that started with buying his (not his) doorman opera tickets and culminated with us singing on stage. There was the whole adventure of him trying to woo Marigold. There are parties thrown for Beth with her list serving as a guide. There was our trip to Paris, where between the layovers and delays, we didn’t even make it off the plane before the reset. There’s our quest to find Dr. Debbie and our ensuing argument of if she’s a real person or not.

But those aren’t the pops of colour.

The moments that burn into my memory are ones of me laughing with Grant like I don’t have a care in the world. Sure, the jewelry heist was fun, but it doesn’t compare with the contentment of sitting on his roof and watching the sunrise. It doesn’t compare to Beth telling me that I was her inspiration to apply to law school. It doesn’t compare with Grant’s mom thanking me for bringing a bit of life into her home.

Which isn’t to say all the pops of colour are good.

For every bright spot there is an opposing dark one. For every hug from Shelly, there’s the lack of recognition that follows the next day. For every honest moment with Beth, there’s one where she still thinks I’ve been nothing but cruel to her.

For every brushed hand and near kiss with Grant, there’s him reminding me that we can’t go further until I’ve fallen for him.

And that’s what makes it interesting because nothing changes in a day that never ends.

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