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I nod slowly as I await her reaction.
“Oh my God, Ava! That’s amazing!” She throws her arms around me. “I’m so happy for you!”
“But what about rent? What will we do?”
She shrugs. “We’ll figure it out. I can move to a one-bedroom somewhere, or I’ll see if there’s someone at school looking for a roommate, or whatever. I’m not going to be the one to hold you back from everything you’ve dreamed of.”
I squeeze her. “You’re the best friend in the world, do you know that?”
“Yeah, I do.” She grins at me, and I have this feeling things are going to work out for both of us.
The next couple weeks pass in a bit of a blur.
Between him leaving the Palms to stay at my place, attending events on his arm so we’re photographed for the press, trying our hardest to make sure Beck still believes we’re faking it, having lots of sex where we’re not faking it, visiting Grayson’s niece, and slipping in hours at work in between everything, suddenly it’s the Monday morning that minicamp begins, and Grayson is up and at ‘em bright and early.
I head into the bakery to fill the hours while he’s gone, but I’m still home before four. He isn’t.
I don’t hear from him all day, which feels…odd. I know he’s busy. He’s bonding with his teammates. He’s getting to know a whole new routine with a brand-new team. He’s spent so much of his time with me over the last month and a half since he first arrived in Vegas that he hasn’t gotten much bonding time with anyone else.
I have to admit, I kind of liked not having to share him.
Since he moved in with Kelly and me two weeks ago, I have been the one leaving to go to work. I cut back from close to sixty hours a week at the bakery to thirty, and most of the time I spend there is baking my cookies.
I miss decorating cakes and cookies, but the tradeoff is charity events and concerts and nightclubs with Grayson.
He has invitations to different events nearly every night, but he picks and chooses the ones he wants to go to. He’s in high demand, especially since he’s new to town, and there’s something really damn special about being the woman he wants on his arm at all these events.
Beckett has checked in with me a few times to make sure I’m okay with this arrangement, and I’ve assured him I am. We haven’t told him I’m moving in with him just yet.
We get through those three days of minicamp, and we find ourselves spending yet another weekend together as we prepare for the closing on Grayson’s new house in the morning.
It’s as we’re lying together in my small bed in the afterglow of another exhausting release after an appearance at a nightclub tonight that Grayson says, “I need a snack after that round.”
I giggle, and we both put on clothes and head out to the kitchen, where we happen to run into Kelly.
And she’s not alone.
“Graham,” Grayson says with a nod.
They’re on different sides of the ball, so I’m not sure if they had much interaction at their minicamp. I do recall Grayson mentioning that Austin plays the same position as Asher, though, so I wonder how important these minicamps are for the coaching staff to determine who will start.
I’m happy for Kelly, but I’m also worried for her.
“Nash,” Austin says back. He eyes Grayson a little warily, and there’s something in his eyes that I can’t quite identify.
An awkward beat passes between the four of us. “Anybody hungry?” I ask.
“We were just heading to bed,” Kelly says, setting her glass down on the counter. She gives me one of those looks that tells me she’s ecstatic he’s here, so I give her an encouraging nod before they head out of the room.
I dig through the pantry for something to eat, and Grayson searches the shelves beside me.
“Damn shame,” he mutters.
“What is?” I ask. I half expect him to make some comment about Austin, but he doesn’t.
“No Tootsie Rolls in here.” He purses his lips and shakes his head disapprovingly, and all I can do is laugh.
He grabs a loaf of bread and takes it over to the stove. “Grilled cheese?”
