Текст книги "Berries and Greed"

Автор книги: Lily Mayne

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Текущая страница: 12 (всего у книги 33 страниц)

Chapter Twenty

Greid

As I stared at her, my hearts started going nuts. Before I could stop it, my gaze drifted down to her mouth.

Should I ask if I can kiss her? No. No! What the fuck, dude? She tells you that you make her happy and your response is to try and stick your tongue down her throat? You total creep.

Not to mention the fact that we were both high. And her saying I made her happy did not mean… anything. She meant our friendship made her happy. Living here made her happy. She’d given absolutely no indication that she thought of me as anything more than a friend. And a roommate.

Man, that was more depressing than it should have been. I should have just been happy with her friendship. Grateful for it. It was wrong of me to long for anything more, and I absolutely could not ever tell her. She was living in my house, for fuck’s sake. Completely reliant on me for the time being. It would feel like I was… leveraging the power I technically had over her to coerce her into something she didn’t want.

The thought made me want to squirm in horror. God, no. I couldn’t ever even hint that I liked her in that way. It would make her wildly uncomfortable. Probably make her worry that I’d kick her out if I didn’t get what I wanted. Especially as I had insisted so vehemently that this arrangement was completely non-sexual in nature.

Maybe I could just ask to give her another hug? Friends do that, right? Hug?

But no. Still weird and wrong. Because I would not just be feeling friendly if I hugged Beryl.

I jumped when her hand shifted on my knee. Tingles raced over my whole body as it slid down a little to squeeze my calf.

I heard Beryl swallow, then hoarsely say, “Greid…”

“Want another joint?” I blurted, already jamming it between my lips and fumbling for a match.

She paused, then slowly slid her hand off my leg and sat back. “No, I’m okay, thanks.”

“Cool, cool.” My voice cracked with nerves and utter disappointment. Nothing could ever happen between Beryl and me, even if she ever hinted at wanting it.

For multiple reasons. Not just because of the living situation. I had to remember that. She was human. I was a demiurgus. We didn’t fit.

Even though… fuck, it felt like we’d fit. It felt like we’d be so good.

After dropping the match into the ashtray, I sat back and took a long drag of my joint, closing my eyes and trying to shake off the funk I’d fallen into. We’d been having an amazing evening. I couldn’t ruin it now by getting all mopey. I couldn’t ruin Beryl’s good day.

“Oh, shit.” My eyes popped open, and I reached over to fumble for the little latch on the window, pushing it open. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

I kept my elbow propped on the edge of the nest so the joint stayed close to the window, directing the smoke outside. “So, um… Did you like the wrestling?”

She laughed, tucking her knees to her chest and pulling her onesie over them. “Yeah, it was fun. Is it… Are they actually fighting?”

“Nah, it’s all acting.” I’d refused to believe it for years, and my siblings used to tease me mercilessly for being so gullible. “Still impressive though, right?”

“Oh yeah, absolutely.” She tilted her knees to nudge my leg, giving me a sly smile. “Do you think you’d be a good wrestler?”

I snorted. “No fucking way. I’m a terrible liar, remember? I can’t act for shit.”

She laughed, then cocked her head. “I think I’d be good at it.”

Suddenly, all I could picture was Beryl in a tight spandex suit. My gut bottomed out, so I hurriedly took a drag of my joint.

“Yeah, you’d be good at it,” I said. “You’re obviously a good actor. You fooled the sex people for years.”

She chuckled. “Yeah.”

There was a pause, before she cleared her throat. “I hope you know that I haven’t acted at all around you, Greid. I haven’t been pretending. I can be totally, one hundred percent myself with you.”

A pleased smile tilted my lips as my face spikes twitched. “Good. Um, me too.”

She grinned at me, resting her chin on her knees. “I know I can say or ask you anything without feeling naïve or embarrassed.”

I snorted, tapping the ash off my joint into the ashtray. “I’m embarrassing enough for the both of us.”

“You’re not embarrassing at all. I love how unapologetically yourself you are. You’re so...” Her cheeks flamed bright pink. “Anyway, I, uh… I liked the wrestling.”

I nodded, rubbing one of my ears to try and stop it fluttering madly. “How about shade?”

She laughed. “Yeah, I like that too. I don’t think I’ll want to do it all that often. It feels a little weird to be so… spacey.”

“Yeah, I get it.” I shrugged. “That’s why I like it, but I know some people don’t enjoy feeling, you know, not totally in control.”

“Yeah, I think that’s what it is.” She paused. “I like being in control.”

My mind took that in a completely different—and inappropriate—way, making my gut squeeze tight. Did Beryl like being in control in… all things?

Suddenly, I was picturing Beryl standing over me as I knelt on the floor. Or, oh shit, while I was tied to a bed, where she could do whatever she wanted to me and I’d just have to lie there and obediently take it. I’d never been tied up. It was an unfulfilled fantasy of mine. All of my fantasies were unfulfilled.

My cock twitched, so I hurriedly grabbed several blankets and dragged them over me. Realising I hadn’t responded to Beryl, I sucked on the joint and mumbled something indistinct around it.

Tracing the blanket beside her, she quietly asked, “Do you miss Agma?”

Blinking at the abrupt subject change, I made a face and shook my head. “No. Not at all. We weren’t right for each other. She tried to turn me into what she wanted. What was right for her.”

Beryl pursed her lips, keeping her eyes downcast. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t wish she could’ve just accepted you for who you are. It doesn’t mean you don’t miss her.”

“I really don’t,” I told her honestly. “I was attracted to her, sure, and initially she seemed… good.” Meaning bossy and dominant in the way I liked. “But the longer we were together, the clearer it got that we didn’t work. We wanted, um, different things.”

She nodded. “You mean like her being really sociable and wanting to go out a lot?”

“That, yeah. That was a huge part of it. She thought it was super boring to sit and watch TV in the evenings. She never wanted to just stay in and relax. We didn’t share any interests, which is fine in itself, but she kept trying to, like… shoehorn me into parts of her life that I didn’t fit into. But not for my benefit. Just because she wanted to have a boyfriend she could show off who… I don’t know, enjoyed wine-tasting evenings and going to look at confusing artwork or watch pretentious indie films at the weekends.”

Beryl chuckled. “But you have a lot of artwork in your house, so you must like it.”

“I do like and appreciate art, but Agma liked the stuff that was like… you know, a single black line on a white canvas or a half-eaten apple on a pedestal. So she and all her friends could pretend that they understood its ‘deep meaning’ and spend an entire evening discussing it loudly over dinner in a fancy restaurant, saying it spoke to them and stuff.” I snorted, taking another drag of my joint, and muttered, “Such bullshit.”

Beryl nodded. Sounding a little guilty, like she didn’t want to badmouth Agma, she said, “I bet she didn’t like any of the shows you watch.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “Nope. She thought it was embarrassing and juvenile.”

Beryl’s cheeks flushed with anger. “It’s not juvenile or embarrassing. It’s just how you relax. You work so hard, Greid, and your jewellery is so beautiful and intricate. I bet it’s a real strain sitting there for hours, hunched over and staring at all those tiny details.”

Warmth rushed through my whole body as I grinned at her. Beryl got me. “Yeah, well, Agma didn’t see it that way. She was impressed by my business. I think she just wished the rest of my lifestyle fit in with the image of that. You know—successful jeweller living in a nice part of the city…”

“Those things are impressive. You should be so proud of yourself.” To my utter alarm, Beryl’s eyes got all shiny with tears. “I’m proud of you, Greid. I think you’re amazing. I envy you so much.”

“What? No. Envy me? No.” My throat closed up as she sniffed and rubbed her eye. “Beryl—”

“God, sorry, I don’t know why I…” She covered her face with her hands. “Stupid shade.”

“Do you want me to go and get you some water?” I hurriedly stubbed out my joint and went to climb gracelessly out of the nest, but she grabbed my leg.

“No, stay here. Please.” Tears were dripping down her flushed cheeks, and she swiped angrily at her eyes. “God, I’m sorry. I think it’s just—Actually achieving something today has made me… It feels amazing, but also overwhelming.”

“You’ve achieved loads,” I croaked, my own eyes watering. I could not handle seeing other people cry without tearing up myself, and seeing it on Beryl was particularly heartbreaking. “You moved out of the cult, Beryl. That was a huge change. And you… you’ve been out into the city, and you go out every morning to get coffee—”

I cringed when Beryl burst into fresh tears. Fuck, I’d made it worse.

“God, that s-sounds so p-pathetic.” She slid down the wall, and I quickly yanked my leg in so she could lie down.

“I’m sorry,” I said desperately. “I didn’t mean it like—Beryl, please don’t cry. You’re gonna make me cry.”

She started crying harder. Big, ugly sobs as she wiped her nose with the sleeve of her onesie. “God, Greid, you’re so fucking nice.” She covered her face with her hands. “I’m sorry, I think I’m just… I haven’t let myself think too hard about everything that’s happened, and now it’s all just coming out.”

“That’s okay.” I fidgeted with the hem of my onesie to stop myself reaching for her. “Do you… do you want me to leave you alone? In the nest?”

“No,” she burst out, moving her hands to look up at me with red-rimmed eyes. Her mouth trembled, more tears dripping. “I want—I want… Can you hug me again, Greid? Please?”

“Sure, of course. Yes.” I awkwardly shifted to lie down beside her, and equally as awkwardly wrapped my arm around her curled-up frame.

She immediately shuffled closer until I could get my other arm under her and she was buried against my chest. My hearts thudded hard, eyes falling closed as my chin rested on the top of her curls.

This was okay, right? She’d asked me to hug her. She wanted comfort. This wasn’t me leering at her like a creep and asking, Can I have a hug? Hehehe.

It wasn’t even like I could really feel her through our giant onesies. She was just a little mound of soft fabric shaking against me as she cried into my chest. I was desperate to thread my fingers through her soft curls, but obviously I didn’t. I just gave her back soothing rubs, frantically trying to think of a way to make her feel better.

But then, maybe she needed to let it all out. Maybe she just needed to let herself process all the recent changes in her life.

After a few minutes she started to calm down, but she didn’t move away. Her hot forehead rested in the hollow of my throat, and I could feel her small hands clutching the front of my onesie, so I clung to her tighter, curling my legs up to cradle her body completely.

“I don’t think I ever truly realised how much the cult has fucked me up,” she said with a wet sniff. “Growing up there was… not normal. As much as my aunt tried to shield me from all the cult stuff.”

I swallowed. “Yeah. It must have been lonely.”

I’d been picked on and teased by my siblings, and belittled by my dad, but at least I’d grown up with a big family. A proper family, not a group of strangers who lived together for a very odd reason that was entirely inappropriate for a child to be exposed to. My mother was ridiculously overbearing, but I knew she loved me. My siblings loved me too, they were just assholes. But loveable assholes. Not like my dad.

“I always thought I was so independent and confident,” Beryl said hoarsely. “But if I’m so independent, why did I stay there for years? Why didn’t I leave?”

“It’s hard to walk away from things. Especially everything at once. And you—your dad abandoned you, so why would you be eager to leave the person who took you in after that? If your aunt is there, it makes sense that you’d want to stay.” I allowed myself to briefly stroke the back of her head. “It just takes time, Beryl. Even if you’d just moved from another city or town, it takes time to find your footing in a new place. But, I mean, look at you. It’s only been a couple of weeks and you’ve already found a job. You’re doing great. You’re really brave.”

Beryl’s breaths calmed. She sniffed again, then tried to shuffle even closer. “Thanks, Greid. Thank you for everything.”

My pulse leapt with alarm when she started blubbering again, but then she said, “I’m glad I left with you and not before. I can’t imagine not knowing you now.”

“Me neither,” I said, squeezing her a little tighter. “You’re the best, Beryl.”

“I’m not,” she said with a watery laugh. “I’m not anything. I’m just beige, like The Order’s compound and everything in it.”

“You’re not beige,” I said, horrified. “You’re the furthest thing from beige. I-I noticed you—god, this is fucking embarrassing—but I noticed you at the compound because… you were the only one there who actually looked like a real person. You weren’t standing in line like the rest of them, and you were glaring at me like you’d rip my balls off if I went near you, and it… You looked… real.”

Squirming with embarrassment, I cleared my throat and added, “And I, um, I liked your hair. And your freckles. You looked interesting.”

She snuffled a tiny laugh, face still buried against my chest. Which was probably a good thing—I wasn’t sure I wanted to look at her while I humiliated myself like this by admitting I’d been instantly drawn to her.

“There are other members there with red hair. Well, I wouldn’t call my hair red. More like a boring ginger.”

“It’s not boring,” I said immediately. “And I know, but… I didn’t notice any of them. I noticed you.”

She was quiet for a minute, but I felt her clutch the front of my onesie tighter. Eventually, she rasped, “I was kind of annoyed when I saw how handsome you are.”

I froze. Beryl thinks I’m handsome? Ignoring my pounding hearts—fuck, I hoped she couldn’t feel them—I let out a weak chuckle. “Um… okay.”

“Only because I knew they would all be falling over themselves to become your mate, and I didn’t like the thought of some demiurgus going in there and taking advantage of their devotion.”

I cringed. “Fuck. Not my finest moment.”

She shook her head, still buried against me. “I get why you went there, Greid. And being out here, seeing how normal demiurgus are… I mean, I’d always believed it anyway, but never really got to see it. I can understand how it… doesn’t really seem believable from a distance that there are a bunch of humans living up that hill just waiting and desperate to become a demiurgus lover. Treating you all like you’re gods.”

“It was a mindfuck,” I admitted. “I knew about the cult, obviously, but… yeah. I didn’t really think it would be like that. I thought it might just be, like, humans who are super fascinated by our kind and want to study us or something. Not… you know. The sex stuff.”

She snorted. “Yeah.”

“I did try and tell the old man that we’re not, like, mystical god-like sex demons. I’m pretty sure I even brought up pooping.”

Beryl burst out laughing. “Well, I mean, everybody poops.” She poked me lightly in the ribs. “Even mystical god-like sex demons, apparently.”

I grinned, then realised I’d buried my nose and mouth in her curls at some point. Jerking my head back up onto the pillow, I tightened my arms around her to pull her even closer.

Was this weird? That we were still lying like this while just talking? Should I let her go and apologise for not doing it sooner?

But then Beryl let out a long sigh and snuggled closer. One of her curls tickled my chin, and my eyes slid shut as I breathed in her warm scent.

If she still wanted me to keep holding her like this, I’d sooner have all my limbs torn off by wild animals than willingly let go. This might be the only chance I got to be this close to her.

I was going to cling to it for as long as possible.

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Chapter Twenty-One

Beryl

As I stared at Greid’s sleeping face the next morning, just inches from my own, I finally let myself admit it.

I liked him. As more than a friend.

I really liked him.

I really, really liked him.

How could I not? How could anyone not? He was just… wonderful. There was something seriously wrong with Agma for her to have walked away from him.

I couldn’t bring myself to be too mad about that, except for righteous anger on Greid’s behalf over how she’d made him feel silly and small for the things he enjoyed. Over her attempts to try and change him.

But the fact that she was no longer in his life? Yeah, no. I wasn’t mad about that. At all.

I’d accidentally fallen asleep tucked against him. He’d just been so warm, and he’d smelled so good, and he’d made me feel so much better after my embarrassing crying episode. And now that I was awake, I felt embarrassed all over again. Greid was too polite to have woken me up, so he’d probably just endured lying there until he’d eventually fallen asleep himself.

I resisted the urge to trace his interesting features as I watched him sleep—which, yes, was a creepy thing to do. I wanted to feather my fingertips over the little spikes along his hairline to see if they were as sharp as they looked. I wanted to trace the flat slope of his nose and the curve of his mouth, which was slightly parted around his deep breaths, showing a peek of his sharp teeth.

The hood of his onesie was up, but a strand of silky dark hair had fallen over his angular cheekbone. I wanted it to tuck it behind his ear and see if those frondy tips were sensitive. If they’d flutter against my fingertips like they did when he was nervous or embarrassed or shy.

His yellow eyes were bigger than a human’s, and they looked it even when closed. Thick, dark lashes rested on the tops of his cheeks, making him appear vulnerable.

He was beautiful. Inside and out. Just… the best person.

I hadn’t been around many great people in my life. Not that the people at the cult were bad, but they weren’t exactly shining examples of regular, everyday people. They were anomalies.

My mom… Well, she’d taken off when I was so tiny that I had no idea what she even looked like. I had no memories of her. And my dad was just a piece of shit. Violet was a good person, but I knew she didn’t really think so herself. I knew she regretted some of the choices and mistakes she’d made.

I suddenly remembered what she’d said to me on my last night at the cult. “Sometimes I wish we’d left when your dad brought you here. Gone out into the world so you could experience a normal childhood. But I was scared.”

An unexpected swell of anger toward her rose. I’d been scared too. I’d been terrified. My dad had sucked, but he’d still been my dad. And he’d just left me there, on the top of that hill, in front of those enormous doors, and taken off back down those stairs with nothing more than, “Ask for your Aunt Violet” as his parting words.

I knew she hadn’t been expecting to suddenly become my parent, but she could’ve left the cult with me then so I had a shot at a normal life. She should have. She’d done her best to give me an education, but my childhood had been so lonely. And strange. Even then, I’d known I was living in a strange place. I’d known that other kids didn’t live like that.

As quickly as the anger rose, it drained out of me and guilt took its place. Violet had done her best. She’d loved me and kept me safe. She’d raised me to be strong and independent.

And I understood her reluctance to leave the cult. The outside world hadn’t been all that kind to her. Staying there had kept her away from the temptation of slipping back into her old ways. Maybe I would’ve been worse off if we’d left. Addiction could skew people’s priorities, make them more likely to do things they normally wouldn’t. I definitely would’ve been worse off if we’d been living alone in the city and Violet had ended up going back to prison for something, or getting hurt for running with the wrong people, or any number of things.

She’d done what she thought was right for both of us. There was no point getting bitter about it now—thinking about all the what-ifs and what I might have been doing at this point in my life if I hadn’t spent most of it in that compound.

You probably would have never met Greid.

The uncomfortable feelings melted away as I focused on his face again, my body relaxing under the mound of blankets that covered us both. That was true. I probably would’ve gone my entire life without ever even passing him on the street. It wasn’t like he went out much, and it wasn’t like I would’ve ever come to this part of the city, where all the well-off demiurgus lived.

I refused to let myself start thinking sappy things like, maybe you were just waiting there for him. I didn’t believe in fate. I believed in people deciding their own futures. But now that I was here with him… it felt right.

I’d made the right decision, agreeing to move in here with him.

Now I just had to decide what I wanted to do next.

Just as I was about to close my eyes and savour lying in this little nest with him, tucked away from the rest of the world for a while longer, the blaring sound of a horn made me jump out of my skin.

Greid’s eyes flew open. He squawked at the sight of me so close, jerking his head back and smacking it into the wall. Groaning, he fumbled under the blankets before pulling out his phone, and I winced as the horn sound got twice as loud before he finally turned it off.

“Sorry,” he croaked. “Alarm.”

“That’s oka—Wait. Shit.” I bolted up. “What time is it? I’m meant to go back to the bar at about ten-thirty to give Mani my information.”

“Don’t worry, it’s only eight-thirty.” Greid yawned, jaw opening super wide. “I set some alarms last night so we wouldn’t miss it. See?”

He turned his phone screen toward me. I peered at it, snorting when I saw the words berry job thing under the 8.30 a.m. alarm, plus about twenty other alarms set after it in five-minute increments.

“Berry?” I poked his shoulder.

“I was super high.” He yawned again. “Looked right when I typed it.”

“Why are there a million alarms set?”

“Because I sleep through them. I’m really good at stopping them within a split second of them going off without even waking up.”

I laughed. “I bet that’s the quickest you move all day, huh?”

“I’m just saying, if it was an Olympic sport…” Greid sat up and stretched as best he could in the tiny, enclosed space. “So, um… I hope you managed to sleep okay in here. Uh, sorry if I took up too much room in the night. Or kicked you.”

Kicked me? “I slept really well.”

He grinned at me, yellow eyes still hooded with drowsiness. “That would’ve been the shade.”

No. It was you.

Flushing, I started pulling all the blankets off me. “I better go get ready. The appointment at the bank is at nine-thirty, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Greid’s jaw cracked around another yawn as he followed me out of the cubby.

Yesterday afternoon, he’d helped me type up a short resumé that omitted any overt mentions of the cult, instead focusing on my work in the vineyards. Then he’d made an appointment for me at the nearest bank branch so I could set up an account.

It all made me feel like an actual adult. I’d be walking back into Abyss with a bank account and a resumé like a real person. I wouldn’t feel so much like I was just pretending.

“Can we get coffee on the way?” Greid asked as we left the living room. “And breakfast. Obviously.”

I smiled. “Sure. We’ll have time, right?”

“Yeah. The bank’s just at the next stop on the subway. Few minutes’ walk from the station.”

“Okay.” I hovered at the bottom of the stairs while he stood outside his bedroom door. “See you in a little while, then. Are you sure you don’t mind coming with me?”

“Of course not.” He tried to suppress another yawn as he said it.

I laughed and turned for the stairs. “Let’s hurry so we can get coffee as soon as possible.”

I didn’t feel as tired as I’d thought I would after trying shade for the first time. I really had slept well, curled up in that little nest with Greid. By the time I was freshened up and dressed in clean clothes, I felt wired and jumpy at the thought of speaking to a bank manager.

I met Greid in the front hallway, smiling when I saw him dressed in one of his sharp three-piece suits with his hair tied back in a somewhat tidy knot. I could hardly believe I’d left him down here just fifteen minutes ago all rumpled and mussed from sleep.

He looked so handsome. But still tired, his yellow eyes heavy. He held up my coat for me, so I slipped it on quickly, determined to get him some coffee as soon as possible. And—ugh—one of those blood tart things that he liked so much.

I left Abyss and hurried down the street, grinning when I saw Greid waiting for me at a little table outside Deep Brew.

I’d told him he could go straight home when we got back to the Cimmerian District from the bank, but he’d said he wanted another coffee, so he’d waited for me while I went into Abyss to speak to Mani.

He was hunched over his phone, two takeout cups on the table in front of him, but looked up as I crossed the street to reach him. Standing up in a rush, he pocketed his phone. “How did it go?”

“All good.” I grinned at him, excitement and nerves swirling in my belly. “My trial shift is tomorrow.”

“Oh wow. Awesome.” He handed me my coffee, then picked up his and edged out from the table. “What time?”

“Just four ’til seven. Mani said it will give me time to get the hang of things but also let her see how I handle the start of the evening rush.”

“You’ll handle it fine,” Greid said with utter confidence as we started heading home. “Do you have to wear all black or something? Seems like the kind of place to make you do that.”

I laughed. “Yes, actually. Luckily I have some black clothes that should be fine.”

“Do you, um…” Greid ducked his head. “Do you want me to come and meet you at the end of your shift? To walk back, I mean. It’ll be dark by then.”

“Yes, please,” I said quickly, then grinned up at him. “We could get dinner on the way home.”

He perked up. “Ooh, yeah. There’s a really good Japanese place down the street that doesn’t deliver. I’m always too lazy to come pick it up, so I don’t get it very often.”

I laughed. “Sounds good. Um… hey, if you’ve finished work by four, could you… Do you mind maybe walking me there as well? Just so I’m not silently panicking the whole way before I even get there.”

“Yeah, of course,” he rushed out. “No problem. But you’ll be great, Beryl. If anyone can handle drunk assholes, it’s you. Just look at them the way you looked at me that day at the compound.”

I burst out laughing, memories of last night rushing to the surface and making my chest grow warm. “Like I would tear your balls off if you came near me?”

Greid cleared his throat. “Yeah. Uh-huh. That way. It’s effective.”

Grinning, I sipped my coffee. “Better try and tame my hair so it looks somewhat presentable.”

He glanced over, yellow eyes running over my wild frizz as his ears fluttered. “Looks fine to me.” Lifting his cup, he mumbled, “Looks nice.”

Warmth flooded my cheeks as I remembered him saying last night that he liked my hair. I didn’t dislike my hair, but it wasn’t a beautiful red or auburn that magically fell into perfect curls. It was more like a pale, washed-out orange that tended to stick out in a frizzy mess unless I tamed it with a lot of time and product.

But Greid liked it.

He glanced down at me as we turned onto our street. “Excited?”

“Yeah, but nervous. I think I might work out today to try and burn off some of this anxious energy.”

He grunted, lip curling. “Have fun with that.”

I laughed. “I actually miss it. It’s been nice having a break over the last couple of weeks, but I can feel myself getting antsy. I’m not used to being so sedentary.”

“Being sedentary is the best,” Greid declared. “It’s my mission in life to be as sedentary as possible.”

I grinned up at him wryly. “The mission seems to be going swimmingly.”

“I try my best. I’ve put a lot of hours in.” He gestured for me to go first up the porch steps as we reached the house. “But I should probably start work.”

“Sorry for taking up your morning,” I said ruefully as I unlocked the door.

“Nah, it’s all good. Might lodge a complaint with my usual coffee delivery person though, seeing as I had to actually leave the house and go get it myself this morning.” He nudged the back of my head as he followed me inside. “Unacceptable.”

I snorted as I unbuttoned my coat. “Your complaint has been noted.”

Greid toed off his boots, revealing bright green socks. “Gonna go get changed then start work.”

“Okay.” I headed for the stairs. “See you later.”

He stopped outside his bedroom door, fiddling with his coffee cup. “If you get bored later, after your workout, you could—Um, you’re welcome to come and mess around on the computer upstairs. If you want.”

I grinned at him. “Sure. I might even bring you lunch.”

His eyes brightened. “I won’t let you in if you don’t. Are you gonna make eggs?”

I snorted, putting one foot on the bottom step. “I should probably learn to make something else.”

“I like your eggs.” He blinked. “That sounded weirder than I thought it would.”

Laughing, I started heading upstairs. “See you later, Greid.”

“Later, berry,” he said slyly, but I was too far up the stairs to poke my head down and shoot him a mock glare.

Once in my room, I quickly got changed into my workout clothes from the compound and tied my hair back in a high ponytail. Heading back downstairs, I went into the kitchen and began searching the cabinets for a bottle I could use. While I was in there, I heard Greid leave his bedroom and shuffle upstairs to start work.

The basement was cold, making my bare arms prickle as I descended the stairs. Stepping onto the treadmill, I turned on the TV after spotting the remote sticking out of the machine’s cupholder and replacing it with my water bottle.