Just Like That

26. "just a baby"

Grayson Reid Jansen

  Ah, the night before wasn't much different from the rest of the nights I shared with Brea in the past few months. However, we did just have the best sex we've ever had together so I wasn't ashamed that it literally put my ass to sleep. That's a big statement, too, because we have a lot of sex. Like, a lot, and it's never not amazing to say the very least.

So, there I was, sleeping peacefully. Minding my business, right? Until, suddenly, my air supply was cut off.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" I sprung up from the mattress. My tired eyes shot open and immediately darted in Brea's direction only to see her standing there with a pillow in her hands. She looked evil, like the little sister from Phineas and Ferb whenever Jeremy wasn't looking.

Brea began to laugh hysterically but shit wasn't funny. "That's what you get!" She roared.

"What was that for?" I caught my breath as my heart rate slowed.

Sitting on the edge of the unmade bed, I put my black Dri-fit Nike socks on and then a pair of gym shorts.

"That was for last night." She said, folding her arms across her chest in the oversized tee she wore of mine per usual.

Lines wrinkled in my forehead as I was confused. "What I do last night?"

Brea and I had this minute long standoff where she looked at me like I was supposed to know something but I drew a blank.

Finally, it hit me. No, literally, Brea threw the pillow at me. "The slap, Grayson! You slapped me in the face!"

I couldn't help but go "oh shit" and maybe chuckle a little to myself.

I thought, oh, that's it?

Knowing what she tried to suffocate me for, I relaxed and laughed it off some more.

For a second, I was worried she found out about Bethany or something. Whew.

"I thought you liked that? Last night you said-"

"I do like it... but you should've talked to me about it first." Her voice dropped and sounded sincere. Feeling a little bad, I signaled Brea over to me and pulled her onto my lap.

"You're right, I'm sorry," I apologized,"it won't happen again."

"It's all good, and it can happen again. Just let me know next time, okay? And, Grayson?"

"Yeah?"

"I draw the line at punching." Brea told me in all seriousness and started to walk out the room.

"Okay."

======

Brea and I were off running her errands but my mind was still stuck on the whole "power-bottom" thing.

"—Did you ever tell him you love him?"

Brea stopped walking and sucked her teeth. She snapped her neck to look at me. "Why are you so worried about him?"

"Alright. You wanna know why?" I barked, adjusting my stance. Brea rolled her neck and bucked her eyes. She said "yeah" so I licked my lips before speaking.

"It's because you still have his ring on." I gritted, not realizing the grip I had on Brea's wrist. She looked down at her hand and saw the promise ring on her finger that her ex gave her a year ago.

After hesitating in thought, Brea scanned the streets. She stomped a few yards away and came in contact with a homeless man. He stunk, you could smell it a couple feet away. His hair, beard, and nails were overgrown while he sported one shoe, a torn jacket, ripped sweatpants, and a distressed beanie.

I've always had a soft spot for the homeless. Ever since I was young I wondered how they got like that and what I could do to help. It was part of the reason I got into architecture and construction, because I had a dream that one day I'd build a bunch of houses, or at least a big one to fit a lot of people.

Brea wiggled the ring off of her finger and handed it to the man. She squatted down to his level and had a conversation that lit up his dirty face. As the man grinned, revealing his missing yellow teeth, I put my hand on baby's shoulder and helped her up. She informed the man about a pawn shop nearby and watched him go gleefully in that direction.

What she did was admirable. I mean, I would've liked if she pawned it herself because Kaign did have money and knowing him, it was expensive, but still, admirable.

"What ring?" She acted like it no longer mattered. I took her hand and locked it with mine as we strolled by the other stores on the strip.

"OH MY GOSH, BABE, LOOK!" Brea jumped with excitement, yanking my arm with her.

"'Babe'?" I questioned the pet name she called me. Brea sucked her teeth and ignored what I said. She ran over to the window and looked through it.

Rolling my eyes, I stood beside her and caught a glimpse of what she was so excited about. It was a pet store. Uh-oh...

"Alright, come on." I tried rushing her away before she got any ideas.

"No, can we please look at them? Pleaseeeeee?" Brea begged, she even did puppy-dog eyes.

As cute as she was, I had to say no. Girls got too carried away with puppies but they never took full responsibility. I knew that if we got a puppy I would be the one cleaning it and walking it. Besides, puppies were way too much like a baby and I didn't need one of those yet.

"No."

"Fine. You stay, I'm going in."

"Breanna Michelle. We have things to do today, people to see, places to go-"

"But they're so cute, look!"

"I see. Cute, yeah. Now, let's go."

"It's just a puppy, Grayson."

"You say that now, then it's 'just a baby'."

Brea stood up and waved to the puppy she'd been gawking at through the streaky window.

"Fine. We'll be done in four months anyway, I wouldn't want the puppy to grow up in a broken household anyway."