Untameable (BWWM)

Chapter 10

Grant went to work the next day despite my objections. His entire chest and abdomen was sore from all the vomiting but come nightfall, it'd come to an end and he spent the rest of the night doing his best to recover.

I went ahead and came into work as well, although I'd much rather be home with him, making sure he properly healed but the man is so damn stubborn when it comes to his job and since I didn't intend to have much conversation with him anyways, I didn't argue.

It was Wednesday, the day before the Fourth of July the store had finally slowed down enough for me to take a late lunch. I tried to do so alone and without the company of my darling God daughter but Sycamore literally follows me everywhere. And as much as I love and adore her, Titi Ruby Jean would much rather use the mere thirty minutes she has to actually eat food instead of swatting her toddler fingers.

"Please stop," I wrestled with the one-year-old. "You're gonna snatch my earring out."

Since she was able to, Sycamore has always been a grabber. Pulling on any and everything she could get her hands on, especially when it came to my person. Glasses, earrings, necklaces. Right now, my God daughter had a tiny handful of my earlobe and she was tugging as hard as her little fists would allow.

Balancing a baby in one arm and my Chinese delivery in the other hand was getting impossible. My workspace was a mess and there was no where I could place either. I was gonna end up dropping one of them and it certainly wasn't gonna be my $20 lunch.

"Zane! Help me!" I called out to the only other person nearby.

By nearby, I meant on the other side of the store, but like the galant knight he is, he rushed into my office as quickly as possible. "Z to the rescue," he laughed as he unfolded Sycamore's fingers and took her into his arms.

"Thank you so much! I didn't need you to keep her. She was just attacking me."

"Nah. It's just how she shows affection. Ain't that right, little sapling?"

Sycamore nodded her head proudly as if she knew exactly what she was agreeing to. Her dark brown curls moved as she did.

Z tapped her nose and Sycamore returned the gesture with a small touch to his. She held onto his neck as she stared down at me with those enormously innocent brown eyes and teasing smile behind her binky.

She really did love him. More so than me probably. "If anything, that little girl loves to antagonise me."

"Its the birthdays. They're too close together. Enjoy your lunch, Sis. I can take things from here."

"Thank you," I repeated as I dragged my hand down my face in relief.

"You alright?"

"Hm?"

"You seem a lil distant all this week. I'm just worried."

"Oh," I shrugged. "It's nothing. I'm just a little... I don't know."

I had been a married woman for nearly a week and I didn't even have the privilege of basking in the joy of it nor the chance to openly wallow misery. What I had been feeling since Sunday, was being dealt with all by my lonesome. Not even Zane knew of my agony and I was too embarrassed to tell River, her friend Brisah, or anyone else I cared about.

How can I even bring this up to someone? I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to tell anyone that Grant illegally married us. It's still so surreal being married. Randomly at that. I literally woke up married.

For days, I have silently endured my own personal hell of being trapped in a relationship with a man I was ashamedly madly in love with. Grant believed that his being sick, and me taking care of him, was the end of my taciturnity but no. Unless it was related to his sickness, I said nothing to him.