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“Maybe that’s a good idea,” Kaitlin interrupted. “I think the two of you need to try and work this out.”
I cringed. To have to go through all this with our freaking parents eating up every word like a trashy novel? I would hate to be Avery right then. I wanted to kill Aiden for putting her in this position!
Avery’s grip on my hand loosened, but she didn’t let go. She glanced around the room and then set those big, honest eyes on Aiden. “Do you love me?” she asked.
I choked on some spit.
“Aves, you’re my best friend. You’re practically my twin sister. Of course I love you.”
He was clueless. The friggin’ moron was completely clueless.
Avery’s face paled and her hand started shaking in mine. I gave her a gentle squeeze just to let her know I was still there, and suddenly she clamped down on my hand so hard I almost cursed.
Her voice trembled as she whispered, “I love you too, Aiden.” Then, still crushing the bones in my hand, she looked up at me. Her desperation was obvious. “You ready?”
I didn’t miss a beat. “Hell yeah.”
I dragged her out of there without letting her look back.
Avery
If Grayson weren’t propelling me forward with the arm he had around my shoulders, I would probably have still been standing on the front steps to the condo building. I was in shock all over again.
I couldn’t believe it. I mean I literally could not believe it. As in, my brain physically wouldn’t accept the information.
“He has to be wrong,” I mumbled as Grayson strolled me down the street. “He didn’t know what he was saying. He didn’t understand what I was asking.”
“He definitely didn’t get it, but Aves . . .” Grayson sighed.
“He can’t know whether or not he loves me if he’s never given it a thought. I’ve been so patient, all these years. Maybe I just needed to say something. Maybe if I’d just kissed him once.”
“I don’t know, Avery. He’s pretty dense, but a guy doesn’t just ask for space if he’s in love with you. Even if his love is subconscious.”
I think this conversation was making Grayson uncomfortable, but I couldn’t stop myself. My brain was stuck in a loop because moving forward meant acknowledging that Aiden saw me as a sister, and that was simply unacceptable.
“He just hasn’t ever considered the possibility of a relationship between us,” I insisted. “Maybe he hasn’t hit that level of maturity yet. I mean it’s not like he’s ever gone out with anyone else. He never talks about any other girls.”
“Maybe he’s gay.”
“Grayson!” He was laughing at his own joke. “Aiden is not gay! Don’t you even joke about that! It’s not fu
“Come on, it’s a little fu
My stomach did this weird flip. Had Grayson always been so sweet? I hadn’t thought so, but he’d been incredible since the moment I jumped in his shower.
I leaned into him, sagging against his side, and the next thing I knew, my arms were around his waist and I was hugging him. He stopped walking and hugged me back. When his arms pulled me tight against him, all of the tension left my body.
“I didn’t realize you were so nice, Grayson.”
The warm sound of Grayson’s chuckle rumbled pleasantly against the side of my face that was resting on his chest. “Damsels in distress have always been my Achilles’ heel, but don’t let that fool you. I’m really not that nice.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not. If I was nice, I wouldn’t be having such a hard time not grabbing your butt right now.”
I gasped and shoved away from him. He let me go but caught my hand and intertwined our fingers. His holding my hand made me blush even worse than his perverted comment had.
Since I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, I didn’t notice when he stopped walking until I was yanked to a halt. He stood in front of a small bistro with a questioning look. “Hungry? Di
The restaurant was dark and cozy with soft lighting. Grayson helped me out of my coat, then held out my chair for me before taking his seat directly across from me at the small, candlelit table for two.
The moment was so surreal. I always knew Grayson was charming. There was a reason he’d dated most of the girls in school, and yet they still kept lining up to be his next fling.
Seeing Grayson Ke
The server brought out glasses of ice water, and I started chugging mine because Grayson was making me so nervous.
“You might want to slow down there, slugger, before you get a . . .” I winced and Grayson laughed. “. . . headache.”
As Grayson watched me, his eyes sparkled in the dim light, making him look like he’d just stepped off the set of a Hollywood movie. Aside from his tall, broad frame and amazing body, Grayson Ke
His teeth were perfect, and he spent so much time smiling that the gesture on him was a work of art. He even had this one adorable dimple that only showed itself when he was really, truly happy about something. That dimple was present now.
I broke the silence with a nervous laugh. “This is awkward, isn’t it?”
Grayson pursed his lips until they turned white because he was trying so hard not to laugh at me. “Awkward? What’s awkward?”
He knew darn well what I was talking about! Grayson was always torturing me like that. I asked him why he did it once, and his answer had been because it was fun to make me blush. Well, mission accomplished, Mr. Ke
He was waiting for an answer.
“You know . . .” I squirmed in my chair. “This. Us. Being here like this.”
Grayson suppressed another laugh. “Being here like what?”
“I don’t know. This restaurant is so . . . atmospheric, and you helping me with my coat and pulling out my chair.” I was now so red that my face was going to stain permanently. “It just feels, I don’t know, sort of like . . . like a . . .”
“Like a date?” Grayson asked. He wasn’t laughing anymore. He met my eyes with a startling intensity.
I couldn’t find my voice, so I just nodded.
He gave me another heart-stopping smile. “That’s because it is a date, Avery.”
I felt my eyes grow to three times their normal size, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them to stop. “What?” I gasped. “No, it’s not!”
“Yes, it is.”
His voice left no room for argument, but that didn’t stop me. “We can’t be on a date!”
“Why?”
“Because you’re . . . you’re . . . you’re you and I’m me! We grew up together! We’re practically family!”
Grayson frowned—a real one, not his usual pout-to-get-his-way sad face. “You grew up with Aiden too.”
All the air left my lungs. “That’s different.”
“How so?”
“Because he doesn’t treat me like a sister.”
Grayson looked like he was about to argue that, but I really didn’t want to discuss Aiden, so I quickly said, “You, on the other hand, act like an a
“Gross?” I thought he’d be offended, but he actually laughed. “You think I’m gross?”
“Yes, I do. You are so horny it’s unhealthy. You burp in my face every time you eat onions, and you don’t bother to leave the room before you fart. This afternoon you dripped your sweat on me. On purpose!”