He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me - Chapter 2: Chapter 2
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Three days later, I got discharged.
While Grayson packed my stuff, he kept rambling:
"Eating out is such a rip off. Last time I took Raven somewhere decent, it was like a thousand bucks. We should just hit the grocery store and cook at home, then..."
I cut him off. "Did you make her split that bill?"
"Of course not!" he blurted out.
I raised an eyebrow towards him.
He shrugged like it was obvious. "She was my guest. You don't charge guests."
I nodded coolly. "Right."
Grayson frowned, suddenly uneasy about something.
At the grocery store, Grayson pushed the cart while walking ahead of me.
"You eat more veggies, so those are yours. I eat more beef, so that's mine. We'll split the eggs fifty-fifty. Let's skip fruit..."
I was used to this routine. He either avoided fruit entirely or only bought apples.
Occasionally he'd grab oranges—because he liked them.
Never once asked what I preferred.
I tossed a container of $29.90/lb. cherries into the cart.
He immediately scowled. "Those are ridiculously expensive. Total waste of money, and I don't even like cherries."
I didn't look at him. "Well, I want them."
He went quiet for a few seconds, like he was making some huge sacrifice. "Fine, I'll cover it this time."
I said nothing.
At checkout, after the cashier scanned everything, I suddenly spoke up:
"Ring these separately. His stuff and mine."
The cashier looked confused. "Huh?"
I calmly pulled out my phone. "I'm paying for half."
Grayson looked up at me, something unreadable in his expression.
He started to say something, but Raven's sudden appearance cut him off.
"I thought that was you guys!"
She dragged me to a nearby coffee shop to sit down.
"I felt so awkward bringing this up at the hospital."
Grayson leaned forward with concern. "What's going on?"
Raven put on her most pitiful expression. "I want to invest in a beauty salon."
Before she even finished talking, Grayson had his phone out.
"How much do you need?"
"Maybe... maybe I should write you an IOU first?"
"Don't worry about it."
I watched him quickly log into his banking app and start entering Raven's account information.
It felt like someone was taking a blade to my chest, making even breathing painful.
How pathetic.
Raven hadn't even said how much she needed, and he was already frantically trying to transfer money.
Even no IOU required.
Meanwhile, I buy a $9.80 pack of tampons and need to pay him back immediately.
"I'm short about five hundred and fifty thousand. Whatever you can lend helps."
The notification sound chimed almost instantly.
"Check your account."
"Holy shit, why did you send me six hundred thousand?"
Raven was practically glowing with excitement as she playfully swatted him, then seemed to remember I existed.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Tessa. Gray and I are just really tight, you know?"
I couldn't ignore the smugness and challenge in her eyes.
"Sure. I'm heading home. You two have fun."
Seeing me actually get up to leave, Grayson finally looked at me, still frowning.
"What's wrong? Not feeling well again?"
Before I could answer, Raven jumped in again:
"Gray, I can't just take your money like this. You have to come see the salon location with me, or I'll feel terrible about it."
Grayson didn't hesitate for a second. "Absolutely, whatever you need."
He glanced at me. "Just grab an Uber home."
I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and took a deep breath.
"Cool."
While Grayson packed my stuff, he kept rambling:
"Eating out is such a rip off. Last time I took Raven somewhere decent, it was like a thousand bucks. We should just hit the grocery store and cook at home, then..."
I cut him off. "Did you make her split that bill?"
"Of course not!" he blurted out.
I raised an eyebrow towards him.
He shrugged like it was obvious. "She was my guest. You don't charge guests."
I nodded coolly. "Right."
Grayson frowned, suddenly uneasy about something.
At the grocery store, Grayson pushed the cart while walking ahead of me.
"You eat more veggies, so those are yours. I eat more beef, so that's mine. We'll split the eggs fifty-fifty. Let's skip fruit..."
I was used to this routine. He either avoided fruit entirely or only bought apples.
Occasionally he'd grab oranges—because he liked them.
Never once asked what I preferred.
I tossed a container of $29.90/lb. cherries into the cart.
He immediately scowled. "Those are ridiculously expensive. Total waste of money, and I don't even like cherries."
I didn't look at him. "Well, I want them."
He went quiet for a few seconds, like he was making some huge sacrifice. "Fine, I'll cover it this time."
I said nothing.
At checkout, after the cashier scanned everything, I suddenly spoke up:
"Ring these separately. His stuff and mine."
The cashier looked confused. "Huh?"
I calmly pulled out my phone. "I'm paying for half."
Grayson looked up at me, something unreadable in his expression.
He started to say something, but Raven's sudden appearance cut him off.
"I thought that was you guys!"
She dragged me to a nearby coffee shop to sit down.
"I felt so awkward bringing this up at the hospital."
Grayson leaned forward with concern. "What's going on?"
Raven put on her most pitiful expression. "I want to invest in a beauty salon."
Before she even finished talking, Grayson had his phone out.
"How much do you need?"
"Maybe... maybe I should write you an IOU first?"
"Don't worry about it."
I watched him quickly log into his banking app and start entering Raven's account information.
It felt like someone was taking a blade to my chest, making even breathing painful.
How pathetic.
Raven hadn't even said how much she needed, and he was already frantically trying to transfer money.
Even no IOU required.
Meanwhile, I buy a $9.80 pack of tampons and need to pay him back immediately.
"I'm short about five hundred and fifty thousand. Whatever you can lend helps."
The notification sound chimed almost instantly.
"Check your account."
"Holy shit, why did you send me six hundred thousand?"
Raven was practically glowing with excitement as she playfully swatted him, then seemed to remember I existed.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Tessa. Gray and I are just really tight, you know?"
I couldn't ignore the smugness and challenge in her eyes.
"Sure. I'm heading home. You two have fun."
Seeing me actually get up to leave, Grayson finally looked at me, still frowning.
"What's wrong? Not feeling well again?"
Before I could answer, Raven jumped in again:
"Gray, I can't just take your money like this. You have to come see the salon location with me, or I'll feel terrible about it."
Grayson didn't hesitate for a second. "Absolutely, whatever you need."
He glanced at me. "Just grab an Uber home."
I swallowed the bitterness rising in my throat and took a deep breath.
"Cool."
End of He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me Chapter 2. Continue reading Chapter 3 or return to He Counted Every Cent, Except the Cost of Losing Me book page.