Page 9 of Laying it Bare Biker Style - Grayson

“Yes, because it’s a groan like ‘UGH I can’t believe this is really happening.’” I did my best imitation of an exasperated groan.

“You didn’t sound anything like that.” He chuckled. “Whatever, Princess. Get back over here. I’m not ready to get up yet.” Lying back on the bed, he wound his arm around my waist and curled me into his chest. “So what do you think about my cuddling skills? Or do you need to experience more of them to give me a fair evaluation?”

They were phenomenal. I hadn’t had the pleasure of a decent erotic dream in forever. Being in his arms had to have sparked this morning’s sensual fantasy. But I would not be admitting that. “You definitely have potential, but I’ll need to conduct more research.”

“I won’t mind you gathering more data.” He kissed the top of my head.

“What time is it?” I snuggled in closer.

Reaching over to his nightstand, he grabbed his phone. “Nine o’clock.”

“It’s probably safe to call him now. That way I catch him before he heads over to my apartment.” Untangling myself from Grayson’s arms, I slid from the bed and padded over to his dresser to grab my purse. After digging my phone out of the bottom, I clicked on my dad’s contact and then held it up to my ear.

He picked up on the second ring. “Good morning, Brooke. Are you ready for your banana chocolate chip pancakes?”

“I feel bad, but I’m going to have to cancel this weekend, Dad. Maggie had a meltdown last night about Pete again and I’m actually at her place right now.” I added just enough annoyance to my tone to compliment the story.

“I’m glad you’re a great friend for her. But we can meet a little later and make it lunch if you want. You can eat breakfast food anytime during the day.” He chuckled.

“I don’t know. I think I’m just going to hang out here today. She finally fell asleep like at four this morning. I don’t want to wake her and I wouldn’t feel right leaving her without her knowing. Can we just skip this weekend? Text me your schedule for the week and we’ll get together for dinner some night to make up for it.”

“I can do that. Maybe the two of us can attempt the stuffed shells your mom used to make. I still have her recipe.” His voice held a tinge of sadness.

I almost felt guilty cancelling on him, but his going into a rage over what had happened to my face wouldn’t be good for either one of us. “I would like that a lot. I’ll see you later this week then. Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, Brooke.”

I hit end on my phone.

“You’re good at handling your dad. Had some practice?” Grayson sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze on me curious.

“No. I’ve never had to hide from him before. I just know how he thinks and wanted to find the best way that would avoid too many questions. More questions just allows for more of a chance to slip up. And I’ve been in my share of bar fights.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But I’ve never had marks left behind like this before.”

“You fight with girls?” He raised his eyebrow like he already knew the answer.

“Some, but mostly guys. I refuse to play helpless victim. I always take the chance to fight. No way will anyone ever get me to just surrender. My mom wasn’t given that chance. She was shot in the back. Fucking bastard cowards.” Tears welled in my eyes. I hadn’t meant to mention her again. The wound left from her death still held the power to devastate me. But talking with Grayson about her last night must have cracked that door open just enough to allow thoughts about her to start trickling out again without my permission.

Grayson had crossed the room and snaked his arms around my waist to pull me into a hug. “Hey, it’s okay to talk about her. Grieving is not a sign of weakness. It shows me she meant a whole fucking lot to you.”

“Thank you.” Winding my own arms around him, I lay my cheek on his chest. I was sure I’d never get over losing her; I was just waiting for the day it didn’t hurt so much the pain suffocated me.

He walked us back to his bed and curled us underneath the blankets. “I wasn’t quite ready to get up so let’s hang in here for a bit before I have to go figure something out for us for breakfast. And I’m surprised I haven’t heard from Ryder yet. I sure hope Sage isn’t still in labor.” He ran his fingers up and down my spine.

“With it being her first, she could be. But yeah I hope not too. Hopefully they just didn’t want to wake you or are still sleeping after all of the excitement and exertion.” Wanting to distract myself from my heartbreaking memories, but not quite ready to have naked time with Grayson be the distractor – although if I was being honest I really didn’t want him to just be a diversion – I traced my finger tip along the tattoos on his arm. “So you have tattoos like a biker, a cut like a biker, and the attitude of a biker, but you don’t have the long hair like your best friend nor do you have the long scraggly beard. Although he doesn’t have the long scraggly beard either. Are you the misfit?”

Grayson’s chest rumbled with his laughter. “No. But Ryder does call me a pretty boy. I only punched him the first time he did that. We’re too evenly matched to get into fights, so now I just flip him off.”

“I like your hair shorter. And I can still run my hands through it. But this suits you, I think. Do your tats have meanings?” I continued my finger journey along his ink.

“Not really. I liked the look of the snake wrapped around the rose. Ember works for our tattoo shop and designed it for me when I really only wanted some ink, but didn’t know exactly what. And I have a tattoo of our Twisted Flames patch. Do you have any ink? You can keep it a secret if you want and I can discover it later for myself when I kiss every square inch of your body.” He pressed his lips to my forehead.

“No tattoos but maybe someday.” I ignored his comment – even though it elicited a delicious shiver than zipped straight down to my core – because the longer I lay snuggled in his arms the harder it was becoming not to just throw myself at him. But I wasn’t going to be that easy. This was my one way to prove he wasn’t just using me for sex.

“If you’re serious and want ink, I’ll set you up at our tattoo shop. She could design you something from your ideas or even if you have no idea what you want. Ember is incredibly talented and does an amazing job.”

“I’ll keep that in mind because I’d have no idea where to go for one.” And I hadn’t really given much thought to what I would want, just that I thought they looked cool if you got the right one in the right spot. Maybe hanging around Grayson would give me some ideas. “Will you put my phone on your nightstand? I should’ve dropped it back in my purse. It’s not going to be much use to me for long. The battery is going to die since I don’t have my charger. I hadn’t planned on not going home last night.”

He plucked my phone from my hand. “You have the same phone as me so you can use my charger. We’ll plug it in after we get up. Can I text me from your phone so we have each other’s numbers?”

---