Page 15 of Grumpy

“How long it would take before your sanity reached boiling point and you kicked her out of the house.” Grimm pulled out his phone and opened the app Keys had designed to keep track of the club’s various bets. Every member had it, as well as the club kids over eighteen, the Non Cras MC, and Master Key Security Solution employees. Anyone could add a new bet at any time and stipulate who was allowed to get in on the bet, some club specific or just keeping out the person whose life they were betting about. Like how Grumpy had been unable to see the tab marked “How Long It Takes Before Grumpy Blows a Gasket and Kicks Mom Out”.

“Who won?” Grumpy groused.

“No one specifically had today’s date, but several of us had ‘by Christmas’.”

Grumpy fought not to roll his eyes. It felt fucking weird, because one would go and the other wouldn’t, and that just gave him the heebie-jeebies. He could handle a lot of shit, but not eyes. That was just gross. He had to give himself a pep talk before each time he took his prosthetic in and out.

His mom’s too loud cries continued like nails on a chalkboard.

“Might as well come in,” Grumpy said, stepping back. “She’s going to be a while.”

“Keys bought extra tickets in case she purposefully tried to miss the first ones.” Grimm closed the front door behind him.

“Keys is a smart man.” Too smart sometimes, to the point where he missed standard social cues. Grumpy was happy that Keys found someone who loved, respected, and adored his quirks, and not just because she had many of her own. “Take a seat,” Grumpy gestured to his living room. “I need to get my compression wraps on.”

“Hope you’re not expecting me to help with that,” Grimm proclaimed as he threw himself back onto the soft cushions.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Grumpy assured him. “Remote’s under the middle cushion in the gun safe. Combo is 7-9-6-6-5-2.”

* * *

Grumpy: Ding dong the witch is dead

Kelly glanced down at her phone. She wasn’t surprised it was from Grumpy. Since leaving the hospital five months ago, they’d rarely seen each other in person, but they talked over the phone when they could—or they did after Kelly had told him how much single-word answers pissed her off. Texting was a good way to communicate until his jaw was unscrewed, but even after that, Kelly knew it was hard for him to have long verbal conversations. She didn’t mind the messages. At least it was something, and it was more than they’d talked prior to the explosion.

Still wasn’t the same, though. Kelly used to be able to tell the time of day from Grumpy’s appearances in the diner. Now she had to use a clock like a muggle.

Kelly: What happened?

The breakfast rush was ending at the diner, which was good. It gave the staff two hours to prep for lunch, take breaks, and switch shifts. Generally Kelly helped with clearing tables and cleaning the floors, but Sophia was trying to keep her in more of a hostess position so there was someone always at the door. Kelly felt weird being so stationary. She got the idea of the immediate greeting from the customer service standpoint, but the downside was slower flipping of tables. Was a smiling face at the door worth slower service? Kelly figured she’d try it for two weeks to give Sophia’s idea a chance, and then she’d give her honest assessment.

Grumpy: My sanity couldn’t take it anymore.

Kelly wasn’t surprised by that answer, but it also wasn’t the details she was hoping for. But using the expression “pulling teeth” took on a different tone when she was speaking with someone who’d literally broken his jaw six months ago.

Kelly: I have the double morning shift this morning. Want me to bring you lunch on my way home?

Grumpy: I’d like that. I need to un-Mom my house.

Kelly chuckled. She knew from previous conversations that Margery had moved things around in Grumpy’s home. Apparently this was something she did every visit, but it was more extreme this time due to the length of her stay. Personally, Kelly was glad to see the woman go. She meant no disrespect towards the older woman, but Kelly just did not like her. Grumpy’s mom acted like she was the only person in the entire world who could care for Grumpy. Like she had been the one to save his life instead of the countless doctors, surgeons, first responders, and nurses that actually had. And the few times Kelly had been by to visit in person since Grumpy had gotten back from rehab, Margery never left them alone. Did she think Kelly was going to jump Grumpy’s broken bones if she dared to leave the room?

It was just odd. So Kelly was not sad in the slightest to see the woman go.

But… Her absence did leave an opening, like cracking a door at the possibility of a future. Grumpy was getting better. Eventually, he’d be back to his life. There’d be slight changes to his routine, but she had no doubt he’d be right back at the diner every day as he’d been.

So where did that leave them?

Kelly did not trust Margery, but she also couldn’t get the woman’s words out of her head about Grumpy having cheated on his ex-fiancée and ex-wife. One relationship with a cheating allegation wasn’t great, but it was understandable. People saw what they thought they saw, and it was hard to change opinions. Maybe one of them took something the wrong way, accused him of cheating, and broke it off despite his innocence. Kelly could understand that, even get behind that.

But two? And if he was ready to marry one and had married the other, then they were serious relationships. Kelly didn’t take Grumpy as the sort of man to just throw engagement rings around. Margery had also mentioned “others”. Likely girlfriends.

Kelly had been cheated on before. Numerous times. It was why she no longer did long distance relationships. A tourist would travel through, flirt with her, they’d start something, and then he’d leave with the promise that the distance would not affect his feelings for her. Bull to the shit. Fool her once and all that rot.

Nope. Kelly did not do cheating. There was no such thing as an accidental cheater. It was a choice, and that choice meant “bye-bye” in her book. Beyond the choice, it was about respect. The cheater did not care enough about her or their relationship to consider the consequences. No matter what men said, it was impossible for any man to trip and accidentally jam his dick into another woman’s vagina.

Kelly hated to admit it, but having Margery around had been an excuse to keep Grumpy in the friend zone and not have to confront him about his mother’s allegations. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get that other woman out of her head. The crying one from the hospital hallway. Clearly, Margery knew her or about her. Which meant she had a big enough role in Grumpy’s life for him to have introduced her to his mom.

Personally, the obvious age-gap bothered Kelly, but only on a vanity scale. Her boobs were not as perky as they’d been when she was in her early twenties. So long as everyone was over eighteen and consenting, Kelly truly did not care who slept with whom. But if Grumpy was used to skinny twenty-somethings, there was no way she was undressing anywhere near him.