Breanna Michelle Santana

12:14 AM

  Grayson still wasn't home. I was starting to get anxious, my foot shaking in bed. I sat in bed, upright, with my legs and arms crossed, and mouth twisted as I was deep in thought. Was I overthinking? Of course, you would be, too if man's been away with some bitch for hours, and says "don't wait up". Little concerning, isn't it? Mhm.

I'm not jealous.

I'm not angry.

He can do as he pleases, he's grown.

I trust him.

"Fuck it, I wanna find out who this bitch is." I said aloud, hopping off of the bed to snatch my phone off it's charger on the desk by the window in the corner of the bedroom.

Fidgeting with nerves that turned to curiosity and anger, I went to Instagram and searched Grayson's account.

JansenGray

7,411 followers                                135 following

87 posts

My eyes were instantly drawn to his last post, a picture I took of him one night at dinner.

"Ugh. You sexy piece of shit." I pouted, observing the image.

View all 1,267 comments

I'm going to regret this, but...

I clicked anyway and scrolled through, going straight for the earliest ones. First, I checked to see if he 'liked' any and then I read some.

Sarahgr11: @smoregan412 I want him!
LindsayHR: 😍😍😍😍
Agsgsjkcbdb: single?
Andrewmackey: nice watch bro ❄️
yrnLJ: swole💪🏾
ItsBreaSantana: mineminemine😙
JordyDeLaCruz_ : #1 on and off the field 😍😂
MoniqueStar: daddy🥴
Kylie__M: check DMS📲
BethanyMPrice: put me in coach🤤

I ignored the thirsty comments from girls in other parts of the county, or from spam accounts, and glazed over the ones from his friends. However, the last one wasn't just some random. It was Bethany, AKA Ms.Price, who I met at the alumni game. She was a sweet lady and now I know better.

"Bitch." I grumbled and took a seat to stalk her socials.

Okay, she wasn't ugly, and Grayson didn't have a type. One thing about him is, he did not discriminate.

From what I saw, she was engaged to a man named Jared who I learned also taught at the same high school.

If she's engaged, why does she want MY man, I thought in my head.

The front door opened and I heard key's drop against the glass. Knowing it was Grayson, I took my phone with me and jumped to the bed where I hurriedly climbed under the covers and acted "natural" — err, as natural as one could be at midnight after stalking their partner's likes and comments.

Grayson didn't even try to be quiet as he came into the bedroom and stripped from his clothes. He went to the bathroom, peed, and then slid in bed several inches away from my body. Unlike normal, he didn't try cuddling me. He wasn't even facing me. So, I rolled over and started to trace my finger along his back muscles.

It was quiet. So quiet, in fact, I could hear crickets chirping through the cracked window adjacent to the king-sized bed.

With everything on my spinning head, I couldn't go to sleep without a single answer.
I asked the first thing that came to mind. "Did you sleep with her, Grayson?" The woman I referred to being Bethany.

To that, Grayson said nothing. He'd regret that.

As much as my blood started to boil, I forced myself calm and thought to get some sleep.

Mhm, I thought, I got something for his ass tomorrow.

=== A FEW DAYS LATER===

After I showered and got dressed, I carried my phone and cup of water from the bedroom, on my way to the kitchen. As I walked down the hallway, though, I noticed Grayson in the mirror taking a selfie.

He looked at it for approval and then peered at me through the freshly Windex'd mirror, wondering why I was staring.

I kept walking as I said to him,"A selfie? Hm. You gonna post it?"

"I'm not taking it for my health." His response made me cackle under my breath.

If only he knew I knew, I thought.

I looked up sinisterly and smiled with closed lips. Not dignifying him with a response, I just went about my business, remembering that I'd get him back later.

In the kitchen, I ate a second bowl of Frosted Flakes as I sat on the barstool, spinning from side to side.

KNOCK! KNOCK! The sudden noise made me jump a little.

"I got it." Grayson offered, jogging to the door as he slid his phone in his back pocket.

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at him and waited to see who was behind the door.

"Grayson, good morning!" A woman's voice exclaimed. All I could see was Grayson lean in for a hug. I stepped down and angrily narrowed my eyes in that direction, getting ready to lay him out if it was who I thought it was: Bethany.

A second later, Grayson took something from the woman's hands and led her further inside.

"Brea, this is my Aunt Sara, my mom's sister. She came to the hospital when she heard about what happened and we got to talking."

"I have to go over things with your father about the funeral and such, so I asked Grayson if he could watch my sons, Kyler and Ethan." Aunt Sara grinned at me as she held onto Grayson's arm, the baby bag in his other.

"Oh," I breathed out,"I'll just get out of your way, then-"

"Actually," Grayson stopped me,"I have to go to work, so, can you stay here and watch them, please?" They both looked at me with hopeful eyes, I'd be an asshole to say no.

"Of course." I said softly, plastering a fake grin on my fresh face.

"Yay! Thanks. They're good boys, I promise, you'll be fine. I'll be back around three, just get my number from Grayson or stop by German's house if you need me." She rushed out after kissing her one-year-old and three-year-old son's head and then hugging her oldest nephew.

"Bye." We all kindly exchanged until Sara shut the door behind her.

As mad as I wanted to be at Grayson, I decided not to express it vocally. My attitude was on a hundred though, there was no hiding that.

The boys crawled and ran along the carpeted floor as Grayson laid down a blanket for them to lay on and sprinkled toys along it.

"I should've gave you a heads up-"

I interjected Grayson talking to ask sharply,"When? It's not like you've been talking to me." And that was true, ever since that night he was with her, things between us had been dry and rather off.

"I'm tryin' to apologize here-"

"No need."

"I don't think I should go to work. I mean, are you okay... to be around... babies?" He was trying hard to beat around the bush, not wanting to trigger me about the fact that I'm infertile.

I swallowed hard and adjusted my stance, tensing up. "It's okay, I'm fine."

Changing the subject, I asked,"So, you're going to work on your house, or-"

"No. Chandler asked me if I wanted in on this middle school they're working on, about an hour away."

"I still don't understand why you just gave up on that project, the house would be so nice-"

"I lost sight of why I was doing it. Plus I don't mind helping your dad."

I cocked my neck. "You still talk to him?"

"So should you." Grayson looked up at me as he stuffed the keys and wallet in his jeans.

"Pfft." I spat.

"I gotta go, call me if you need me." He leaned in for a kiss which I avoided to plant one on his cheek like he did to me the day before. Grayson chuckled lightly and then grabbed his lunch box and left the house.

"Okay, boys," I rubbed my hands together as I approached the boys in the living room,"who likes Paw Patrol?"

======

While the boys napped, I thought it was the perfect time to whip my phone out and scroll through Grayson's socials again.

The comment Bethany left didn't fail to bother me the more I looked at it.

My foot tapping, I kept lurking. I saw that of the few people Grayson followed back, Bethany was one of them and I didn't like that.

I went to her page and saw that she posted a thirst trap which Grayson liked. No surprise there.

Accidentally, I double tapped it. Not even sweating it, though, I kept the 'like'. Content, and feeling quite catty, I swiped away from her profile and went to upload a picture myself.

ItsBreaSantana
when the photographer becomes the model 📹 ... #tb

Within seconds, likes were settling in along with comments but not from anyone I knew yet.
That is, until, not even thirty minutes later, LJ liked my photo.
A few moments after that, Andrew and Jordy followed me only to like it as well.

It became obvious that they had a group chat which meant Grayson would be seeing it at any second.

Losing my nerve, I locked my phone screen and threw it into the chair parallel to where I was seated.

Ah shit, I thought when my phone started buzzing with notifications, He definitely saw it.

When I put my red face to the screen to unlock my iPhone, I noticed the notifications from Instagram.

"Yup, he saw it." I said aloud, squealing on the inside. "Fuck."

Should I delete it?

...

I should delete it.

Suddenly, a follow and 'like' from Joey stopped my thoughts on taking the post down.

It was Joey from Holland's wedding! Oh, he was so fine, and sweet, too.
I wondered how he found me and why it took so long but it didn't matter. In favor, I returned the like to his latest selfie of him on a beach but my creeping was disturbed by an incoming FaceTime from Grayson which I declined in a heartbeat. Smiling triumphantly, I plopped down on the couch while the boys continued napping, and let the 'likes' inflate my ego.