All's Fair in Love and Las Vegas

Chapter Twenty-Two

Grayson had a TV in his room. That shouldn't have surprised me–tons and tons of people had TVs in their rooms. It was normal. But I'd never had such a luxury, and now I felt like a princess.

"You know you don't have to sit a whole ocean away, right?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

Boom, the shyness was back. "Where should I sit then?" I asked.

Grayson patted the blankets right next to him, so I scooted over and sat in the crook of his arm. The weight of his arm draped around his shoulders was unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome.

"Is this okay?" he asked worriedly.

I nodded happily. "Mm-hmm!"

His eyes crinkled with that familiar hidden smile and he flicked the play button. I nestled into his shoulder, getting comfier and comfier with every passing minute. Grayson didn't mind me snuggling up to him, even lightly tracing his fingers over my shoulder. Yes, our friendship sometimes suffered from our marriage, but it was always nice to have a sense of  companionship, even if it was sometimes fake.

We steamrolled our way through three whole movies, all different, all of them enjoyable. Grayson and I surprisingly had a similar taste in movies, something that true married couples rarely have. Eventually I got so tired that Grayson noticed and turned off the TV.

"No, it was just getting good," I whined softly.

"Jackie, you're dozing in and out, you missed about a quarter of the movie," he said, his lips twitching with a secret smile.

"I did?" This was news to me.

He shifted, gently placing me among the pillows and covering me with the sheets. "Get some rest, Jackie, you have a long day of dress shopping tomorrow."

"Oh yeah," I mumbled, my head drooping towards the little divot between our pillows.

"Night, Jackie," Grayson whispered, brushing my hair back from my cheek with the pad of his thumb. Warmth rippled across my body as I slowly drifted off, relaxing and falling into a deep sleep.

Those moments of sleeping on a cloud were short-lived. First it was horrible, awful dreams, then being shaken awake in a sweaty, whimpering mess.

"Jackie, Jackie," Grayson said, almost chanting in his desperation.

I gulped down clean, cool air, trying to just fill my lungs before saying, "S-sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, no. Are you okay?" He was such a terrible liar.

"Fine, fine," I said, fear washing over me. Going back to sleep would mean more nightmares. But I couldn't just lie awake; I'd end up tossing and turning and keeping Grayson awake all night.

"You're not, Jacks, please tell me what's wrong," he pleaded, taking my hand in his large one and caressing my fingers. The gesture broke me, and seconds later I was sobbing into my palms.

"Oh, Jackie, it's okay, I'm sorry," Grayson whispered, heartbroken as he pulled me into his lap and hugged me so tightly I practically disappeared in his embrace. I tried blinking back tears, choking back sobs, but my sadness just poured out uncontrollably.

"I-I'm sorry, Grayson, I'm sorry," I apologized, the words tumbling out of me. "I'll stop crying soon, I promise."

No, no, you don't need to stop crying," he soothed. "Cry as long as you need to, okay? When you're ready we can talk or we can just try to make you comfortable and get you some rest."