Page 43 of Shot Through the Heart

“Did you remember to put shorts on?” I ask, dropping the laundry in an empty basket behind the couch. Harper scrunches her eyebrows at me and crosses her arms.

“No,” she grumbles, and I head toward her.

“No shorts means no twirling or playing on any playgrounds we might pass,” I tell her, snatching up a pair of black shorts from the pile of folded clothes that I keep forgetting to bring upstairs.

Bending down to her level, I hold the shorts out for her to step into, which she does quickly, talking about needing to spin to show off the sparkles in her dress.

It takes another ten minutes to get her out the door. Every time something caught her eye, she justhadto show Greyson and tell him some elaborate story that went along with it. All it took was colorful flowers and any reservations about him being a stranger seemed to have disappeared. He smiles the entire time, engaging and encouraging her outlandish stories. Not that I blame him. Harper has a way to drag anyone around her in.

By the time we get to the aquarium, Harper surprises both of us when she takes Greyson’s hand and drags him to the outdoor otter exhibit. He looks over his shoulder toward me, eyes wide with shock before turning back to answer whatever Harper asked him.

I hang back, letting him have this moment with her, and take out my phone to snap a picture of the two of them. My heart melts at the sight of them laughing as one of the otter’s swims past. For someone who had a child literally sprung on him, he fits right in with ease.

It’s barely been an hour of us spending time together, and already it’s difficult to deny how right this all feels. It’s almost easy to ignore the mess that got us here and just pretend that we’re all here together.

Harper gives him no warning as she throws her arms around his neck and demands he take her to see the fish. Grey wraps his arms around her, picking her up and immediately turning to find me. His eyes seem almost glassy as he walks over holding our daughter and when he silently holds out a hand for me, I know mine most likely are as well.

“I can carry her upstairs for you,” Greyson offers. We’re standing beside my parked car in front of my townhouse after spending all day out and about. We were dragged around the aquarium all afternoon, bouncing between the sharks, dolphins, and fish. Harper loved every second of it, although I also think she was happier that Greyson did every little thing she asked. She used him as her own personal lift so she could get better views of whatever tank we were in front of.

It took me a solid ten minutes to convince her we didn’t need to go around the aquarium for a third time, and even that came with a bribery of finding a playground after we got dinner.

“It’s okay. I can do it.” I wave off his offer, hyping myself up to carry thirty-six pounds of dead weight. He was already suckered into carrying her around while she was awake, and considering this is his first day with her, I don’t want to risk overwhelming him. He says he wants to be a part of her life, but so far, he’s only experienced the good moments. I’m used to the back-breaking moments that come from having a toddler.

I’m reaching for the handle when he gently puts his hand out to stop me and positions himself between me and the car door.

“I know youcando it. I’m not offering because I think you’re incapable, and I don’t want to overstep.” He takes my hand in his, slowly rubbing his thumb back and forth over mine. My breath hitches at the vulnerability in his eyes. “I’m offering because I’m not ready for the day to be over and I’m hoping you’ll let me help you with this to keep it going just a little while longer.”

Well, shit…can’t argue with that.

“I’ll get her bag,” I whisper, reluctantly dropping his hand. As I gather our things from the trunk, I take a second to tell myself this has nothing to do with me. He’s here for our daughter. I can’t let myself get caught up in the affection he’s showing.

Greyson meets me at the front of my car, Harper unaffected by the movement and still passed out in his arms. I swear that girl could sleep through a hurricane.

He follows me inside and up to her bedroom where he carefully lowers her to the bed. I step in, not bothering to wake her up to change into pajamas. Once I take off her sneakers, I tuck her in with her favorite unicorn and turn on her nightlight before slowly backing out of the room with Grey behind me. I should probably wake her up before I go to bed and make her go to the bathroom. She hasn’t had any accidents in a few months, but I don’t want to risk that streak simply because I didn’t want to wake her for five minutes.

We stop at the bottom of the stairs, awkwardly facing each other as we hover between the entryway and living room.

“Thank you,” Greyson says in a whisper.

“It’s no problem,” I dismiss him, speaking in a regular voice so he knows it’s okay.

“Today was the best day I’ve had in, well, in five years if I’m being honest.” His cheeks are stained a light pink at the admission, and I have to cross my arms in order to resist touching him.

“Harper had so much fun,” I say, chuckling as I think over all the excitement from today.

“Did you?” Greyson asks, throwing me off with the question.

“Did I…what?” My heart thuds heavily in my chest as he takes a calculated step closer.

“Did you have fun?” His tone is patient, completely unbothered with having to spell it out for me. My head bobs in answer and he raises a brow at me.

“Yes.” My voice cracks as I answer, but I ignore it. “That doesn’t matter, though. Today was about Harper and you getting to spend time together.”

Greyson stares at me, eyes tracing over my face as he searches for something I’m not quite sure of. It takes all my willpower not to fidget under his assessing gaze.

I can tell the moment he finds what he was looking for. His shoulders drop and his eyes close.

“I should have chased you back then. I should have known that you would never just leave me like that, but I was hurt and angry. I was…” He shakes his head and looks at me with desperation in his eyes while he struggles to find the words.

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