Chapter Six-Expectations

We're all sitting at the dining table again, but this time instead of Ana sitting across from me, she's sitting right next to me. Gretchen serves breakfast as both of our families hound us with question after question. I'm paying more attention to Gretchen and trying to figure out where the hell she was yesterday.

"When did you guys even start dating?" Papa asks, gazing at me with scrutinizing eyes.

I inwardly roll my eyes at him. If he wasn't family I would severely dislike him.

I glance at Ana; we really haven't discussed the details of our lie, mainly because Mia didn't give us the chance to. I glare at her for about the thousandth time in less than ten minutes.

"Um, about three years now," Ana says. "He told me how he felt about me when he was leaving for England, and I told him I felt the same."

I raise a brow at her. She gives me a look that says 'what?' I just shake my head and address my family.

"She's right. I've liked her for a while and I didn't want to go all the way across the world without telling her how I felt."

All the girls are looking at me with the Aww faces while the men are looking rather skeptical, aside from my Grandpa Theo. Ray is looking like he doesn't know what to think or feel. I keep my gaze away from his as much as possible.

"Isn't that so romantic, Theo?" my grandmother says, reaching over to place her hand over his.

"Sure is," he responds. He winks at me. I smile in return.

"Bro, that doesn't make any sense," Elliot says, his mouth full of pancakes and bacon. I feel my heart drop at the thought of him catching us in our lie. "You said that you met a few girls back in England. Either you were lying or telling the truth."

I glare at him as I take a drink of water to think of something to say. I feel everyone's eyes bore into at the thought of me cheating on Ana. Papa smirks. I internally roll my eyes.

I clear my throat after I put my glass onto the table. I look at Elliot. "I was lying and telling the truth." I explain further when he gives me a confused look. "Ana likes to role play," I blurt.

I hear Ana gasp and choke beside me as Elliot bursts into laughter while everyone else stares at Ana in shock. She glowers at me and then stands up.

"May I have a word in private with you, Christian? Now." She doesn't even give me a chance to respond as she walks away towards the living room and out the back door.

I throw my napkin on the table and grudgingly get up, ignoring everyone's stares and Elliot's laughter.

I step out onto the deck after closing the door, and walk down the steps to the lawn and near the boathouse. Ana's pacing back and forth, an aggravated expression on her face. She looks up and glares at me as I approach.

"I was this close to punching you in the fucking face, Christian Grey!" She holds up her hand, her thumb and forefinger pinched close together. "I mean, are you insane? My father was in there, do you think I would like him to hear about my sex life—never mind that we've never had sex, but still! You crossed the fucking line!" she seethes.

I watch her as she paces before me. "Well, what would you have liked me to tell them, Ana? That it was true that I was screwing a different girl every night for a week while I've been supposedly dating you for three years? I don't think that would have gone down well."

She glares at me. "You could've come up with a different excuse, Christian! Do you know how humiliating that was? Now your whole family—and my father—are going to think I'm a freak!"

"It's not like they don't think that already," I mutter.

She stops pacing and glares at me, stepping closer. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"Nothing."

She purses her lips so tightly they're white. "Either you tell them that what you said was total bullshit, or I'll tell them that you're playing them to get money." She places her hands on her hips and defiantly lifts her chin.

I glower at her, and through clenched teeth, say, "And what exactly would you like me to tell them?"

"I don't know. I've heard you're an intelligent man—or should I say little boy, although I've yet to see or hear anything intelligent about you."

I laugh bitterly. "Oh and you think you're just so bright? Mia told me that you applied to Notre Dame and they rejected you, but I'm sure you're used to rejection, right?"

Her face drops and anger and hurt burns in her eyes. I immediately regret my words.

"Fuck you, Christian!" she yells at me, her voice cracking. "You can find someone else who is more worthy to play this stupid game with you because I'm done!" She doesn't give me a chance to respond as she runs across the lawn to her house and disappears inside.

"Fuck." I sigh and run my hands through my hair and over my face as I hang my head.

Maybe she was right. Maybe I should just give up and find some other career path to follow. I stand there for a few more moments not sure what to really do or say. If I go back inside my family's going to ask where Ana is and how will I explain what happened. I could lie again and say she got a call from someone and had to be somewhere, but I can see that coming back to bite me in the ass.

I throw my head back and look up at the unusual cloudless sky and look to the heavens for a divine intervention of some sort. The thought of giving up on something I've wanted for so long leaves me feeling empty and pathetic. But what can I do without the start-up money? Nothing. I need the money but have no clue how to get it other the plan the plan that I have—or had.

I happen to glance over to my right when I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I'm surprised to see Ana walking back towards me. I stare shocked at her as she stops and stands in front of me. I can still see the anger still simmering in her eyes when she looks at me.

She takes a deep breath before she speaks. "I'm very, very angry with you," she begins. "But we had a deal and no matter how much I hate your guts, I'm sticking to it, but I want to make a tiny change."

I raise a brow. "I want to increase my half to 45%."

I choke on my spit. "No way." I shake my head. "I'll go only to 25%."

She narrows her eyes. "Fine. 30%." she counters. "Take it or leave it, Christian Grey."

I glower at her and then roll my eyes. "Deal," I grunt. I happen to see shadows through the windows by the patio door and know my family's watching. "Smile and give me a hug."

"What?"

"My family's watching. Smile at me and then run into my arms like it's actually possible to love me," I mutter.

She rolls her eyes and scoffs. "As if." I glare at her, but she ignores me and does as I ask.

Plastering a bright smile on her face she bounces into my embrace. I wrap my arms around her, and to make it more believable I spin her around. I smile a genuine smile when she begins to giggle. I stop spinning abruptly when I feel her wrap her legs around me to get a better grip on me, and feel her heat soak into my clothes and warm my skin.

She looks down at me with a bewildered expression when I look up at her. "What?" she asks.

I shake my head and slowly loosen my grip on her so she gently slides down my body. I clear my throat and look away from her. "Nothing." I run my hand through my hair as I gather my sudden befuddled thoughts. "Ana, I'm sorry what I said to you earlier. I didn't mean it. That was really low of me and I crossed the line. I'm sorry."

She stares at me. "Wow, I thought it was totally unheard of for the Great Christian Grey to do something as humble as apologizing."

I sigh in exasperation. "Can't you just say you accept my apology so I can stop feeling like a guilty ass?"

She smirks. "I bet you feel like that all the time, but sure, I accept your apology. But don't think I won't get you back for it."

I sigh and lick my lips. "Thanks."

She presses her lips together and nods. We stand there awkwardly for a moment not sure what to do or say.

"Uh, should we go back inside?" I ask.

She glances at my house and shakes her head, grimacing at the thought. "No." She takes a deep breath and gazes at me for a couple of seconds. "I think we should go somewhere and get our story straight, so when they ask questions we can give them the same agreed upon answer."

I shrug my shoulders. "Good idea. Where should we go?"

She smirks at me. "I have the perfect place." She holds out her hand for me to take and leads me back into my house.

When we get back into the dining room everyone is idly chatting about incoherent blabber, trying to hide the fact they were eavesdropping.

"Christian and I have to be somewhere and won't be back for a couple hours," Ana announces.

Ray looks at her, his eyes hard. "And where exactly will you be going?"

"To look at honeymoon venues," I blurt. "Papa said he wants the wedding next week, so . . ."

I glance at him. He's staring at me impassively.

"I have the perfect place for you, son, come here," Gramps says.

I let go of Ana's hand and lean down so he can whisper in my ear. He winks at me when he tells me the address of what he thinks will be the perfect place. I grin down at him. Why can't Papa be like him? I love my grandpa Theo.

"We'll check it out," I promise him.

"Anastasia, can I have a word with you," Ray says. He glances at me. "I'd like a word with you, too, Christian."

I only nod my head, the fear of what Ray Steele could do to me choking me up.

He gets up and walks out of the dining room and towards the foyer. Ana and I follow him to the library on the other side of the house.

He closes the door behind him and turns around. "I would like to know why I wasn't informed of this relationship between you two," he demands, giving both of us a hard look.

"Daddy, we didn't tell anyone."

"So that means I shouldn't have known? Ana, you're my only daughter—my only child, how do you think it makes me feel that I didn't know about this thing between you two. Especially knowing you've never been in a real relationship before."

I take a quick glance at Ana. I didn't know she's never had a boyfriend. She doesn't look at me.

She sighs and her shoulders sag. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but we just wanted it to be about us. We didn't want any interference and plus you know how Christian's family is. They would be down our throats twenty-four/seven. It wouldn't have been fair if we told you and not them."

Ray sighs and stares at his daughter. "I just can't believe my baby girl is getting married. I thought I had a little while longer to be the only man in your life."

She steps into his arms. "You may not be the only man in my life anymore but you'll always be my daddy."

Ray leans down as he hugs Ana tight and rests his chin atop her head. I feel like I'm intruding on a private moment and am tempted to step out of the room, but Ray's quick look in my direction halts me.

"I'm not sure if I'm happy you're taking away my baby girl away from me when I've barely had time to come to terms with this. But I don't think she could have found a better young man than you, Christian."

I raise my brow and clear my throat. I wasn't expecting that. I pictured myself leaving in an ambulance.

"Thank you, sir."

He chuckles. "No need for formalities. I don't think you've ever called me sir in your life." He takes my hand and shakes it, then pulls me into a brief hug. "Take care of my daughter."

I nod my head. "I will," I say.

He takes a deep breath and smiles tightly at us. I think I see him tearing up. "Now you two get out of here. And just a word to the wise—something I wish someone told me when I was your age—cherish the good days and the bad days, but don't let the small stuff get in the way of your happiness. Life goes by too fast to be unhappy. I learned that lesson the hard way."

I feel despair wash over me. Ray's wife Carla died in a car accident over ten years ago. I know he loved her, even though he doesn't talk about it. Ana doesn't talk about it either. I think it's still a delicate subject—not that I could blame them.

"Daddy," Ana whispers. I can hear the sadness in his voice.

He waves his hand dismissively and forces a smile. "Don't worry about me. Go," he urges. "Have fun, be young."

Ana hugs him one last time, and I shake his head as we all leave the library.

"We'll be back later, Daddy," Ana tells him.

He nods his head. "Keep my daughter safe, Christian."

"Yes, s-Ray."

He smiles at me and walks back to the dining room. Ana grabs my hand and pulls me out the door.

"My car's in the shop at the moment. We'll have to use yours. Give me your keys."

I scoff. "Yeah, right. Like I'd let you wreck my car, knowing you just wrecked yours."

"I didn't wreck it, you ass. It needed to be worked on."

I laugh. "As if I'm really going to believe that. Get in the passenger seat. I'll drive, you tell me where to go."

She huffs out an annoyed breath. "Fine."

We both get into the car and I start the engine. Before I pull out I look at her.

"So where are we going?"

She smirks at me. "It's a surprise."

I roll my eyes knowing I'm probably going to regret going anywhere alone with this woman.

Bonus! You guys have been incredible so I thought I would give you a little extra.

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SS&G xoxo

Diamondchild-your question will be answered in chapter 14 ;)