Breanna Michelle Santana

I woke up for the third morning with an aching back. The first thing I did when I arose from the cushion was crack it.

For the record, I put myself in the dog house - not Grayson.

After Holland and Mark's wedding, I knew he was quite upset with me. At first I didn't know why, but then I realized maybe he was jealous? Which, of course, he had no right to be but I suppose he was taking this dare mildly serious.

Stretching, I rolled up and let out a breath. A warm one - I needed to brush my teeth. So, that's exactly what I did right before hopping the shower.
Once my daily routine was over, I went into the master bedroom and tiptoed along the carpet to retrieve my suitcases that weren't unpacked yet after a almost a whole week.

I took two suitcase at the same time and transferred them to the guest room across the hall. There, I put on a outfit that consisted of a white, fitted short-sleeved crewneck, denim jeans that were distressed at the ankle, and a pair of low top Air Force 1s.

As soon as I opened the door, Grayson opened his and we stared at each other. I looked away first and started down the hall.

While I was the one who did make him upset, I wasn't going to keep apologizing or begging for his attention. I knew that when he was ready, he'd talk to me.

I turned the news off on the tv and began folding the blankets I used the night prior.

Grayson's eyes were glued to me as he went to the kitchen and immediately raided the refrigerator.

"Good morning." He said roughly.

"Morning." I said back, avoiding looking up at him. When I did catch a glimpse though, I saw that he had this whole shadow-y beard thing going on and it was quite hot.

I picked the blankets up all at once and walked them to the guest bedroom where I placed them on the bed and left there.

When I returned to the living room, I happened to see Grayson glaring at me with an empty jug of milk in his hands.

"What?" I asked, not even with an attitude.

"Were you going to tell me we're out of milk?" He asked, sounding like somebody's father.

"We're out of milk." I told him dryly, snatching my purse and sweater off of the couch.

I heard mumbling coming from the kitchen but didn't care enough to acknowledge it.

======

"—When the bones are good, the rest don't matter. The paint could peel, the glass could shatter. Let it ra-a-a-a-ain, you and I remain the sa-a-a-me..." I sang along to the song "the bones" by Maren Morris.

Finally, I pulled up at this restaurant and put the car in park.

When I got out, I very lightly hit the car next to me.

"Shit!" I cursed and I checked for any possible damage right away.

"Hey, watch wh— Hey."

"H-hey. It's you." I lost my anger and started to smile.

It was the guy I met at the wedding, Joey.

"In the flesh. Brea, right?" I nodded at his question to which he shook my hand and made me giggle.

"What?" He asked at my laughter.

"Nothing, I just wasn't expecting a handshake."

"Oh, what, you wanted a kiss?"

"No, no." I said, blushing. "So, what're you doing here? I thought you were just in town for the wedding."

"I'm from Florida originally, but that's a long trip so I'm waiting in out. You?"

"Oh, I live... around. So, uh, I guess I'll be seeing you. Bye!" I quickly tried walking away before it got any further.

"Brea." He called out. I stopped in my tracks and mouthed some words.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Want to get lunch, we're already here?"

"Listen, I have a-"

"Boyfriend? Yeah, I know. Grayson, yeah? Yeah, he's cool."

"You know him?"

"Oh, we go way back. He won't mind you having a bite with an old friend, will he? I promise I'll be a gentleman. Unless... you have to ask for permission first?"

One thing I never needed was permission from anyone to do anything.

"Pfft," I went,"he won't mind. Come on."

Joey's eyes lit up and he trailed closely behind me. As I neared the entrance, I started to rethink things. "On second thought," I said aloud,"I just remembered I had other plans. I'm sorry."

"That's fine. We'll have to do this another time, then."

"Yeah, sure, of course. Bye, Joey."

"See you later, beautiful." He didn't let go of my hand.

I inched away and corrected him. "It's Brea."

"Aren't you both?" Smooth.

I vaguely went "aha" and waved one final time before getting back inside of my car.

======

Not even a second after I put the car in park, I jumped out and slammed the driver's side door shut.

Some construction workers whistled and cat-called at me as I walked through the grass to get to Grayson.

I waited until he was finished and the men were leaving to ask to speak with him.

"Hey." I yelled loudly to greet him kindly since he was up on the roof. He looked down at me and gave a head nod as if I was one of the guys.

Patiently, I waited for him to come over to me outside of the door.

With ease, Grayson joined me on ground level and removed his gloves.

"Hey." He surprised me with a kiss on the cheek.

I smiled big with closed lips and left Grayson wondering why I was so bubbly.

"What?"

"I thought you hated me."

"I could never hate you, dummy. Mad at you, yes, always."

"I know, I suck. I'm sorry."

"If you sucked maybe I wouldn't be so mad." I laughed at his sexual innuendo.

"You could've got some if you weren't ignoring me all week!"

"Yeah, yeah. You would've been too worried about the contract. Speaking of which-"

"Shh. I'm one step ahead of you! I got it right here and I was hoping we could make some revisions." I led the conversation but took it to Grayson's truck.

I unfolded the piece of paper and revealed the hand-written contract.

"So. It's pretty obvious what we have to change." I vacillated.

Grayson looked at me. "I'm glad we're on the same page."

"Me too. Sex is back on the table. What was I thinking?"

Grayson's smirk went away and I wondered why.

"What?" I asked him, putting my hand on his knee.

"Nothing."

"Hey," I intoned,"that's another thing I wanna add to the contract: no more being closed off. We have to communicate to each other how we feel when we feel it. No more 'I don't know' or 'nothing's wrong'. Okay?" To this, Grayson agreed so I had to make corrections to the contract.

3̶.̶)̶ ̶N̶O̶ ̶S̶E̶X̶!̶ ̶[̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶e̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶O̶R̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶s̶]̶

4.) COMMUNICATE & COMPREHEND

"I'm sorry about that Joey guy from the reception. I didn't think anything of it-" I was ready to apologize but got cut off.

Grayson sat up and said,"It's okay," but I also interjected.

"No, let me finish." Once he let me talk, I went on. "I didn't think anything of it; you were gone and I got bored. He was nice and we danced but that's it. Did we come close to kissing? Yes, but I stopped him. For you. Just like today when I ran into him, he wanted to get lunch but I let him know I had a boyfriend."

Grayson's eyes got big and he got this cute, boyish smile. "You said the 'b' word?" I nodded, laughing.

"Well I am stuck with your for another five months, might as well enjoy it."

"Let me show you something." Grayson's excitement prompted him to lead me through the exoskeleton of the house.

"Wow," I said with sarcasm,"I've never seen sticks before. Ooo, look, and wood!" Grayson gave me a face and I laughed at him.

"What are you even going to do with this place, Gray? I mean, your dad said it was pretty significant. I'm thinkin', you let Holland, Mark, and your niece live here! Or, it can be like a family house for, like, events and stuff. I mean, or you could just live here, but what would you do with all this space?"

"Well, the house will be finished in five months..."

"Yeah, and?"

"And that's when our bet will be over..."

I suddenly picked up what he was pointing down. "Um, you don't think you'll be tired of me?" I dodged.

"Why would I be?"

"Let's think smaller okay, less optimistic."

"No, no. We're passed that. What's so scary about the idea of having little Gray's running around?"

"Well, nothing, unless that idea includes me in it."

"Why wouldn't you be in it, you'll be their mom." I started to choke on air when I heard him say that.

"Relax, drama queen, it was just a thought." For a second, it seemed as if he was really into that idea. If only he knew I would never be able to have his baby's - or anyone's for that matter.