Always, Tulip

▫️Thirty-eight

"Babe," I turned to glare at Grey when he leaned to seat beside me at the table where my phone rested.

"Yes, tulip?" Glad that I was giving him the attention, he placed the grapes on the table and cupped my face.

"Did something happen?" He moved to straighten my eyebrows when I didn't drop my forced glare.

His pecked my forehead thrice and did the same for my cheeks and when I looked into his eyes again, there was a proud look there.

"You could have waited!" I pretended to look offended but deep down I was giggling at how affectionate he was.

"But they were taking so much of my time," he replied so naturally as he lifted me up and sat me beside him.

"Your time?" I watched him nod as he took out the grapes and slowly began to remove them out of their bunch.

"My time with you," he nudged my mouth open so as to start feeding me and I just chewed the fruits as I continued to stare at him.

Who could have thought that this man was once quiet and never smiling? It was really hard to believe but I honestly loved all versions of him.

"What is it?" I shook my head and fed him some of the grapes too and he seemed more satisfied at the gesture.

"You didn't have to be jealous," I mumbled quietly but ended up almost laughing at the face he made.

"But I wasn't," he protested immediately mumbling that he had the right to be with me unlike my friends.

"How come, you were glaring each time I ignored you." I was holding back my laughter now when he furrowed his eyebrows at my statement.

"So you really were ignoring me, baby?" My amused look dropped for a second and I jumped off the table then I gave him a cheeky look.

Before he could catch me, I ran out of the room laughing, his voice just as nagging as he called after me.

My apartment not being quite as big as his, there was no where to run to so he caught just two steps into the kitchen and he hugged me from behind.

"I got you," he began to pepper kisses at the side of my face down the skin of my shoulder where my oversized shirt had fallen down.

"Promise that you'll not ignore me again," He mumbled into my skin and playfully nicked my ear when I didn't respond.

"Okay," I smiled evenly at him and turned to wrap my hands around his waist. He easily hoisted me up and twirled us round the room.

Still smiling, I cheekily slipped my hand into his shirt and started to tickle the skin of his lower back.

Grey burst in deep chuckles soon after and his grip around me loosened for a moment as we laughed together.

He led me to the couch in the living room and leaned over me to brush his lips against mine and then unexpectedly began to tickle me back.

I rolled over the cushions with him in laughter and it felt like we were kids once again, playing freely with no worries about life.

We got distracted in the process, losing track of time and were it not for mama's call as she asked about the party's location, we would have never realized.

Since mama would be picking up Lora on the way, we agreed to meet at the venue and I started to get ready first as Grey picked up his suit from his car outside.

I let him use the bathroom after I was done and since the clothes to put on were defined, I didn't waste much time choosing what to wear.

My dress was almost identical to Leila's though the material was different. After insisting we all match, I had settled for a pale pink dress while Clarissa's was of a faded purple color.