Page 50 of Always Been Yours

Grady’s words from that dinner ring through my mind.

“And you’re okay with that?” I can’t hide the disbelief dripping from my tone.

“I’m notokaywith the fact my daughters are growing up thousands of miles away from their mom. But I’m more open to the idea of my daughters seeing their parents happy as two separate people than unhappy in a marriage.“ He pauses, seeming to think his next words over. “I would rather my daughters know what it’s like to have a mother who’s proud of herself and who chased her dreams rather than resentment grow between all four of us for choices we made and those that were made for us.”

All I can do is nod. It does make sense. I don’t know Arielle and I’ve never asked about her, but I know that if there was anything so horrible about her, I would’ve heard.

And maybe this is my first step to trusting Grady again, because I do trust that he’d never make a decision that would harm those little girls, even if he had to rip his own heart out.

“It just didn’t work out, Viv. I’ve spent enough time being angry at her, and myself, that I don’t want you wasting a minute of your energy on that.” Under the blanket, he gives my leg a little squeeze.

I scoot a few inches closer toward him and catch his hand between my thighs, rendering it motionless.

I hear the almost inaudible sigh he lets out right before his hand spreads to its full width and his grip tightens. Not hard enough to hurt but hard enough that I can’t fight the images of what his hands would feel like on other parts of my body.

Neither one of us talked much throughout the first half of the game but we sat there in a comfortable silence while my siblings, and our friends, conversed around us and the crowd continued to cheer. His hand stayed on my thigh the entire time and at some point, I let my pinky wrap around his.

Just like we used to when we were hiding under covers during movie nights.

“Jeremy looks so handsome!” Calypso declares before we all jump out of seats to cheer for this year’s homecoming king.

“I can’t wait to embarrass the shit out of him with this for the rest of his life,” Lexi teases but I know she’s happy for him—especially as a former homecoming queen herself. I, on the other hand, won prom queen our senior year.

Knox offers me some skittles and asks, “Are you chaperoning the dance tomorrow? I thought I saw your name in the email that wassent out.”

I nod while watching the homecoming court walk across the field in their crowns and sashes. It’s only a requirement for teachers to volunteer for school events if it involves their grade levels, but sometimes the teachers will trade chaperone duties for other things. “Mr. Sparks offered to cover my bus duty for a month if I chaperoned the homecoming dance for him.”

It was an easy decision.

“That man really has the worst social anxiety. Nothing is worse than afterschool bus duty,” Knox laughs.

I chuckle thinking about Mr. Sparks handing out paper cups of punch and making small talk with the other teachers for an entire night. He’s a sweet man. Short, slightly heavy-set, and unfortunately resembles a toad. We tried for a few years to convince him to play Santa for the elementary students, but he declined every time. Now Pete, the owner of the tourist shop, Just Visiting, comes to the school every year in a red suit and beard. He doesn’t quite have the right build for it, but we make it work.

“Are you chaperoning?”

“Yup,” Knox replies with a sly smirk, popping thePfor emphasis. “We both are.” He waves his hand toward Grady.

“I didn’t know that,” I say, as my head turns back toward Grady.

His cheeks are pink, probably not noticeable to anyone except me. “Yeah, I’ll be there.” Knox turns back to his husband and Lexi, knowing his instigating work is done for the night. Grady clears his throat and quietly asks, “Can I give you a ride tomorrow?”

Chapter Eighteen

Vivi

family meeting

Sat, Sept 24 at 5:23 PM

Asher

Vivi and Grady sitting in a tree…

Lexi

1st comes love, 2nd comes marriage <3

Calypso

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