Forever And Ever

53. Emery

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Woods," I say quietly. "He—Jack—I dated him. But—but we broke up and he's kind of crazy now, but I'm really sorry. I didn't know that he knew where Grayson lived. I wouldn't—"

"I'm not upset, Emery," Paul says gently. "I just want to know why he was here. That's all."

Grayson holds me a little tighter and I relax into him.

Mr. Whiskers gets up and walks away. Paul watches him but doesn't say anything.

"Are you sure?" I whisper, wringing my hands. "I can—well, I don't know for sure—but I can—"

"Emery, it's okay. Really," he insists. "I'll leave the two of you be down here."

He walks to his room and I wrap my arms around Grayson.

"You're not going to spend time with him?" I look up at Grayson.

"He worked a long day yesterday," he kisses my head. "I think he'd rather just sleep right now."

"Oh okay," I tuck my head into his neck. "Do you think we woke him up?"

"I don't think so, baby," he murmurs.

"Okay," I mumble.

"Can I kiss you?" I bite my lip.

He lifts me up and carries me to his bedroom. He tosses me onto his bed and crawls over me.

"Yes," he says urgently.

I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. He flips us over so that I'm straddling him.

I kiss my way down his neck and he runs his hands over my back.

"Fuck, Emmy," he groans.

"I'm going to miss you, love," I say between kisses.

"I'm going to miss you too," he pulls me into his arms.

"Hey," I try to scramble up. "What are you doing? I'm giving you kisses."

"I want cuddles," he grins.

"Me too," I tuck myself into his shirt and he laughs.

"Emmy?" He says quietly.

"Yes, love?" I look up at him.

"I don't know if I still want to go to New York," he swallows hard.

He sounds like he's about to cry.

"Hey, why not?" I sit up and he puts his head in my lap. "What's wrong, love?"

"I don't want to be away from you," he wraps his arms around my waist.

"Oh, Gray, I know. It'll be okay. You'll be having so much fun you won't even notice I'm not there. You can call me whenever you want," I run my fingers through his hair. "I'll be right here when you get back. I promise, love."

I kiss his head and he exhales.

"I need you with me," he whispers.

"Love, it'll be okay," I kiss his nose. "Besides, if you really need someone to cuddle with, I'm sure you can ask Devyn to pretend to be your girlfriend."

"That's not funny," he frowns.

"It's kinda funny," I smile.

"No," he mutters.

He grabs my hand and sets it on top of his head. I massage his scalp and neck and he falls asleep.

After a couple of minutes, there's a knock on the door.