Forbidden Fate (Crowne Point 3)
Page 100
“Have you even had a real friend, Grayson?”
I had a best friend. Her name was Story Hale. But I don’t want to be her fucking friend. I want to be the father of her child. I want to be her lover, her husband.
Dudes complained about the friend zone, but maybe if I was lucky, if I tried really fucking hard, I could stay in Snitch’s friend zone.
Maybe that’s all we could ever have.
“I did. Once.”
STORY
* * *
I woke up rested and happy, my right hand warm. I looked over—Grayson held my hand. He’d held my hand all night? He was asleep at an odd angle. He hadn’t even rolled over to fall asleep. He’d just sat against the bed, holding my hand all night.
My chest ached.
Then, like he could sense I was awake, he stirred, and looked over his shoulder up at me. Blinking those beautiful blue eyes awake.
“How are you feeling?”
His voice was soft, eyes softer, and he still held my hand.
My heart cracked.
“It’s the first time she’s spent time with her father,” I said softly, unable to keep my feelings bottled.
His brow furrowed. “She?”
I quickly yanked my hand out of his, feeling too raw and vulnerable.
The first time the baby spent with her dad, and probably the last. I hugged my knees to my chest. Grayson slowly stood, rubbing his neck as though it had a crick in it. He looked too adorable, too sexy, rubbing the knots out as the sun illumined his messy bed hair.
He was still only in boxer briefs, the silky kind he always wore that left nothing to the imagination. True to Grayson Crowne, he was completely callous to the effect it had on me.
“The sun is up,” I coughed.
He closed one
eye into the rays. “So it is.”
“What are you doing here?”
He stopped rubbing his neck, eyes digging into me. I didn’t like that. I pulled the blanket tighter around my knees, a flimsy cotton armor.
“I’ll always be there for you, Snitch.”
No you won’t.
Anger swamped the sadness in my chest, allowed me to breathe. I threw off my blankets and got out of bed.
“Leave. Go back to your wife.”
He blinked like I’d slapped him.
“If you tell anyone—” I said.
His eyes flashed. “Everyone will believe me,” he growled.