Page 59 of Unlucky You

I grinned and shrugged. “I made her look good.”

“While putting her business on blast.”

He tossed the iPad beside him and reached for me. His eyes moved over my body before he lifted a hand and brushed his finger across my stomach. “You been out minding people's business today?”

“Nope, spent the day with my sister at the spa. When I got home, I cooked dinner, edited some pictures, and now I’m here. What about you?”

“Put up drywall for eight hours straight, loaded trash into a portable dumpster until my back ached, and went by my mother's house to see my son before he went to bed. That’s why I was running late. His little ass hustled me so I ended up playing the game with him when he was supposed to be sleep, then I had to run by my place to shower and change. I’m sure you didn’t want me up in your place smelling like the day I had.”

I leaned into him and buried my nose into the curve of his neck, placing a hand on his thigh to balance myself. “You smell good. You did this for me?”

When I leaned back, he stared with a neutral expression. “Is this for me?”

His palm met my thigh and glided up until he was able to tug at the hem of my shorts. “Nope, for me. I like to be comfortable.” His eyes remained on where he was still holding onto the hem of my shorts but a smile spread across his handsome face.

It took a minute before I had his eyes. “I see my son isn’t the only one running game tonight.”

“He lives with your mom?”

“Yeah.” I noticed the way he tensed slightly.

“You don’t have to talk about him.”

Grand remained silent but his expression relaxed. “It’s not that I don’t want to talk about him…”

“Just not with me. I get it and I promise it’s fine. We’re just chillin’.” I offered a smile, hoping to lighten the mood, but his expression remained tense. His fingers mindlessly grazed my thigh as the thoughts that plagued him shifted through his mind.

“I loved Aleah,” he began and paused like the words hurt. I was sure they did, so I kept quiet and allowed him the space to navigate whatever he needed to say. After a long moment of silence he continued. “I don’t know how to do this without feeling like I’m being disloyal, but I also know that I can’t stay in this space of loving her and not moving on with my life. So it’s not about me not wanting to talk about him with you but more so about what that looks like.”

“I’m not expecting anything. You warned me to stay away. It’s not your fault that I didn’t.” The words felt like a lie as they left my mouth. I wasn’texpecting, but I washoping. Grand was demolishing that hope and I didn’t have the right to be angry or disappointed.

He loved her, which meant he couldn’t love anyone else or want me…

“You damn sure didn’t listen.” He smirked, shaking his head. “You have the right to have expectations, Saniya. It’s only fair, because conflicted or not, I have them too. I’m glad your hardheaded ass didn’t listen.”

I felt my cheeks warm from the heat of his gaze. “You love her and you two have a son, which means she’ll always be present. I would never try to compete with that part of your life.”

Grand’s eyes turned hard. “Youcan’tcompete with how I feel about her, but we can be what we are. I’m not going to deny that I want this to be something.”

Something.

The hope was back.

I lifted both knees onto the sofa and climbed into his lap, dropping my arms onto his shoulders, linking my fingers at the nape of his neck.

“I’m good with this beingsomething.”

My gaze lowered.

“Can we besomethingwith less clothes on?”

He laughed lightly. “Nah, not tonight. I didn’t bring anything with me.”

“I have...”

He frowned hard, gripping my thigh to stop me from moving off his lap. “I’m not fucking behind another man, Saniya.”

“You’re the first person I’ve been with in over a year.” I glared and he gave me a deadpan expression, as if my statement was offensive.

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