by Tiffany Jade
"Sunnie’s," a husky male voice supplies from behind me.
Grayson.
A smile lights up Jenna's face as she glances over my shoulder. Dax too then.
"Well good afternoon boys." Jenna steps around me as I turn to smile at the twins. Jenna wraps an arm around Dax and waves at Gray. We all stand there for a couple seconds of awkwardness.
"So, lunch?" Dax asks, breaking the silence. Jenna shoots me a pointed look. Yeah, yeah, I got it.
"Yeah, you guys coming?" I begin walking down the hall, and without missing a beat I hear three sets of footsteps following behing me.
"D, my truck," Grayson says as we all walk.
"After lunch you girls wanna come with us to pick up Gray's new truck?" Dax asks as Grayson makes some noises that sound like he clearly does not want us tagging along.
"Of course, no problem," Jenna answers, ignoring Gray and beaming towards Dax. Yeah, they are so going to happen.
I shake my head as we all pile into my car. Jenna follows Dax into the backseat. Mhmm. So that leaves Grayson in my passenger seat.
I grab my sunglasses out of the center console and slide them on, if he's going to sit next to me I'm going to at least enjoy the view, subtly of course. Ya girl still has her pride.
"So new truck?" I ask as I begin to pull out of my parking spot.
"Yeah, hopefully he doesn't wreck this one too," D scoffs from the backseat.
"Wreck? Oh my gosh what happened? Are you okay?" I glance over at Gray, only to be met by a pissed off look.
"Really bro?" Gray shoots a glare into the back seat at Dax, Jenna's eyes widen and she glances up at me in the rear view mirror. Grayson adjusts his snapback and sighs heavily before looking towards me. "It's not a big deal, I'm fine." He crosses his arms across his chest, little kid pout style.
"When did it happen?" Jenna pipes up from the backseat, social cues be damned, the girl is nosy. But I'd be lying if I wasn't super intrigued by what was going on too. Dax keeps his mouth shut this time, so we wait to see if Grayson answers.
"A few months before we moved here, we left home a couple weeks after I got out of the hospital," Gray answers and then pulls his phone out and puts his headphones in, effectively shutting down the conversation.
Leave it to Dax to never keep his fucking mouth shut. I can't help but be pissed through our whole meal. Everyone keeps trying to make small talk but the atmosphere is obviously strained.
Dax keeps glaring at me, definitely wanting me to lighten the fuck up. But maybe if he hadn't opened his mouth in the first fucking place, everything would have been fine.
Thankfully everyone eats relatively fast, due to the silence and soon enough we are all loaded back up in Liv's car and headed to the dealership. I shove my earbuds back in and turn my music up as she drives, trying to ignore the concerned glances she thinks are concealed by her sunglasses. I shake my head and close my eyes, relaxing back in the seat.
A few songs pass and I can feel myself calming back down. I actually begin to doze off when I feel a gentle hand on my arm. Opening my eyes quickly, I see Liv's hand resting on me. She gives me a small smile as she waits for me to take my earbuds out. Looking around as I remove them, I see we are already at the dealership.
"Let me guess, yours is that big black monster over there?" Liv grins at me as she points out the window at my new baby. I can't help but smile back at her as I nod. "It suits you," she giggles as she continues to look it over.
My mood quickly changes as I see the excitement on her face. I don't need to take out my bad mood on her. It's not her fault my brother is an idiot.
"Ready to go for a ride?" I ask her with a wink, her eyes widen as she takes her sunglasses off to look at me.
"Me?" she looks back towards my truck. "What about my car?"
"We will take it!" Jenna quickly pipes up from the backseat.
"Ya!" Dax jumps in too. "We need dessert! Jenna and I will go grab something and meet you guys back at the apartment." Without waiting for our answer they both slide out of the backseat and wait for us to get out. I untangle myself from my seatbelt and get out too, heading over to Liv's door and opening it for her.
"Let's go, she's waiting!" I hold my hand out for Liv to take, motioning my head towards the truck. She takes a deep breath before giggling and placing her hand in mine. The fuck am I doing.. I don't hold hands...
"Hey!" Jenna's shout catches me off guard, Liv too as I feel her jump. We both turn to look back at her. "You keep my girl safe," she shoots me a death glare as the words leave her mouth.
I look down at Liv and feel my heart beat a little faster as her cheeks turn bright red.
"Don't worry," Gray shouts back in Jenna's direction. His eyes meet mine as he lowers his voice, so only I can hear, "I've got her." He smirks at me as I stay silent and he tugs on my hand leading me over to the passenger side of his new black monster.
"So, you gonna let me drive?" I ask innocently as I watch Grayson walk around and admire his ride.
"Excuse me?!" I laugh at the look of pure horror he shoots me.
"I take that as a no?" I playfully glare at him as he opens the door for me and gives me his hand to help me climb in.
"Maybe one day Queen." He winks before shutting the door and rushing over to climb into the driver’s seat.
I watch him with a grin on my face as he looks around the interior excitedly. He connects his phone to the Bluetooth and within seconds has music pumping through the speakers. "Fuck, she's beautiful," he comments as he begins to pull out of the dealership parking lot. I laugh at him but nod in agreement.
I keep my eyes locked on him as he drives down the road. His right arm resting on the console separating us, his left hand gripping the steering wheel. His tattoos standing out as his muscles flex. Looking up towards his face I admire the line of his chiseled jaw and once again study the art wrapped around his neck and running up his head, peaking through his hair. A smile turns up the corner of his mouth.
"Enjoying the view?" he asks me, humor in his voice.
"You're really pretty," I tell him. I've been caught, there’s no denying it. He turns to look at me, an amused look on his face.
"Pretty?!" he starts laughing. "That is a new one, Queen. Hot, sexy, papi, dangerous, handsome, asshole, trouble, daddy," he pauses and shoots me a grin. "So many things I've been called in my life, but I've never had a girl call me pretty."
He raises his eyebrow at me before pulling off of the interstate. I don't know what it is about watching an attractive man drive that affects me so, but something in the way he looked right now had me feeling all sorts of ways.
"Well add it to the list, Da—" I start, but quickly catch myself. WTF Liv! I can feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment as the words almost leave my lips.
He stares intently at the road ahead of us and clenches his jaw. We both shift around in our seats awkwardly. "So," I pipe up to change the subject, and hopefully erase my embarrassment. "Where you takin' me?"
Grayson clears his throat before glancing over at me. "You'll see," his lips turn up slightly as he reaches up to turn the music up. Accepting his want for no conversation, I settle back in my seat and stare out the window.
Out of the corner of my eye I can see Liv settle back into her seat and begin staring out the window. We aren't going to talk about the fact that her almost calling me...well that...had made me feel, fucking turned on honestly. I hadn't been able to stop the visions of her in my bed that had erupted in my mind. I shake my head to clear the images.
After a few minutes I turn the music down a bit. Liv glances over and gives me a shy smile, but then turns and looks back out the window instead of saying anything. The next twenty minutes pass by in silence from both of us. Not an awkward silence though—a weirdly comfortable one.
A small snore sounds from the passenger seat. Looking over I see Liv has fallen asleep with her head up against the glass of the window. It makes me smile, the light is hitting her perfectly and putting a halo like glow
around her.
Whaaaaat the fuck, I turn quickly back to the road. I turn the music back up a bit, hoping not to wake her. I should just turn around right now instead of taking her out to the lake. It's easier to be the Grayson everyone else sees when our friends are around. When D is around to glare at me every time he catches me watching her. When Jenna is keeping an eye on my every move. I should turn around. So why am I still going?
His lips are on mine as his hands run slowly down my body. My hands are pressed up against his chest and I can feel the heat from his body. His heart racing as my fists clench his shirt. He pulls his head up and rests his forehead against mine.
"I need you, Liv," he whispers to me, his voice almost raspy. His hands have landed on my hips and are holding me tight, pressed up against him. His head dips and his lips start placing gentle kisses along my neck. My breath catches in my throat and my eyes close as he reaches up and his hand slides into my hair, gently tugging to expose more to him. A soft moan escapes me as his mouth finds a spot that weakens my knees. I can feel his smile at my reaction. "My Queen," his voice, husky and deep in my ear.
"Queen?"
"Gray?" I question as I feel his warmth leave me, the sound of music reaches my ears. I hear a small chuckle.
"Liv. Wake up." My eyes shoot open and I'm met by a very smug looking Grayson.
Looking quickly around I see we are pulled over next to a beautiful lake. I look back over at Gray, who's still smirking at me. "Having a good dream?"
"I wasn't dreaming!" I quickly defend. Fuck. I can feel my cheeks getting hot...again.
"Mhmm," Gray nods with a twinkle in his eyes. He chuckles again before getting out of the truck.
Fuuuuuck. I close my eyes and throw myself back against the seat.
Of course, of course I would have a dream about him when he was sitting right next to me. And obviously he heard me say something that clued him in to what I was dreaming about. Yep, explain this one away Liv. I open my eyes as I hear my door open.
"Let's go daydreamer," he offers me his hand. I take a deep breath before taking it and letting him help me out of the truck.
As I land on the ground I try to let go but he pulls me close to him. I stop breathing as he leans down. "The real thing is better," he whispers into my ear before walking away, leaving me standing—frozen in place.
Chapter 8
"Where are you taking me?" I finally get enough courage to speak again after my embarrassing nap.
Aaaaand he's ignoring me.
"GRAY!" He stops abruptly and I run right into him. And now I'm on the ground. Dude is built like a brick wall I swear.
"Woah! You good there Liv?" He chuckles a bit as he turns and sees me on my ass. I shoot him a glare, but that just makes him grin at me. "Come on, Queen," he sticks his hand out in an offer to help me up. "Just a little bit farther."
He pulls me up and keeps ahold of my hand as he turns and begins walking again. The butterflies in my stomach convince me to try and let go.
"Knock it off bud, I'm just making sure you don't bruise your ass today," he says, tightening his grip. He glances back at me. "I promised Jenna," with a wink he turns back around, pulling me along. A deep breath whooshes out of me. He laughs again, shaking his head. Accepting my fate, I glance around as we walk.
For only being here for a short amount of time these two boys had found a pretty amazing spot. The dirt trail we were walking up was surrounded on each side by a ton of trees, making it almost impossible to see even a few feet into the forest. Living in the city had its perks, but being out here was definitely refreshing.
With only the sound of our footsteps and the birds chirping occasionally I could feel the stress of everything that had been happening leave my body. As if he could feel the tension leaving my body too, Gray turned and gave me a small smile.
Her hand finally relaxed in mine. I'm assuming her mind finally quit trying to solve the world's problems.
That's why I loved it out here. D and I were not city boys, the loud noises and tons of people had overwhelmed us pretty quick when we had first gotten here so one of the first things we had done was drive around looking for a place like this. But to get to the view I wanted to show Liv it was a bit of a hike.
Another twenty minutes of walking and I could tell Liv was losing momentum.
"You good Queen?" I ask her as her speed starts to slow.
"Oh yeah," she nods, fully stopping now. "I'm great. I've figured it out." My head tips in confusion as she shakes her hand out of mine. "This is how it ends, getting dragged up a mountain," she gestures around, "by a strange boy," she points at me, "hiking me to my death." She sits down dramatically on a rock at the side of the trail.
"Oh my God, shut up!" I tell her with a laugh. "We've been walking for like twenty five minutes!" She shoots me another glare, just making me laugh harder.
"Go on, leave me here to die." She fans herself with one hand and waves me off with the other.
"Holy hell woman," rolling my eyes I head over to the rock she's resting on and turn my back to her. "Hop on Queen."
"What? Really?!" I can hear the surprise in her voice. I look over my shoulder to see her giving me a weird look.
Seeing I'm serious, her face lights up. "I haven't gotten a piggy back ride in years!" She stands up on the rock and climbs onto my back. "Holy shit, you're tall! The world looks totally different up here!" I shake my head at her excitement.
"You're so weird," I mutter. Wrapping my arms around her legs I begin walking back up the trail.
"You get used to it," she informs me, wrapping her arms loosely around my neck and resting her chin on the top of my head, she settles in for the rest of the walk.
Well, I can say with all honesty, that I did not picture this day to include me literally climbing Grayson. Jenna is going to fucking die when I tell her this. Ugh.
How sweet though, I mean in a totally friendly way. This is totally friendly. Definitely a thing a friend would do.
ANYWAY.
After what feels like forever I notice the trail is starting to level out. Grayson walks over to another rock and turns his back to it.
"Kay Queen, you need to walk up to this, it's part of the experience," I reluctantly, I mean, I totally willingly, step down onto the rock and take Grayson's offered hand as he helps me down to the ground.
The smile lighting up his face is the purest one I've seen from him yet. The outdoors does this boy good. "Come on," he pulls me forward. "Look!" he motions out as we come to the edge of the trail.
"Wow..." was all I could get out.
Our hike had led us to the edge of a cliff, overlooking the lake I had seen when we arrived. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen.
The sun was high overhead now, shining onto the water making it sparkle as it lightly rippled in spots from jumping fish. Wildflowers bloomed around almost the whole perimeter, throwing vibrant shades of golden yellow, deep blue-violet, snow white, and a scattering of pink.
"Gorgeous," I whisper, taking it all in.
I watch her face as she looks out over the edge. Her hazel eyes wide as she takes it all in for the first time. A small smile plays on her lips.
"Gorgeous," she whispers. She really is.
Shit.
"Not bad right?" I clear my throat and take my eyes from her and stare out at the water.
"Not bad?!" she exclaims, turning toward me. "I never even knew this was here and I've lived here since I was seven!" She starts to shake her head at me.
"What?" I ask her.
"Who would have thunk it? The bad boy has a soft spot for beautiful scenery," she crosses her arms as she tilts her head at me. "I'm amazed."
"HA! Funny, Queen," she smirks at me, so I put on my most serious face. "Don't tell anyone this but..." I pause and motion for her to scoot closer. Convinced she's going to hear something good, she moves in. "I like puppies too," I whisper into her ear.
She smacks me on the arm as she begi
ns to laugh.
"I thought I was going to get something good on you!" she tells me, between giggles.
"That is good!" I assure her. "If anyone found out about that, it would totally ruin my image!" I stand tall with my arms crossed, playing up the bad boy vibe. Tears spring up in her eyes as she laughs even harder.
"Well ok Mr. Bad Boy, as beautiful as this is, we should probably head back. We were supposed to meet Dax and Jenna back at the apartment for dessert," she pulls out her phone as she speaks.
"There's no service out here, that's part of the appeal" I let her know, as she glances at her phone and notices she slides it back into her back pocket. "And I'm SURE Jenna and Dax are getting along just fine without us. They probably REALLY enjoyed their dessert," I wiggle my eyebrows at her.
"Gross!" She closes her eyes and shakes her head as she wrinkles her nose. Now it's my turn to laugh at her. "You're probably right though."
Nodding my head I grab her hand again. "Come on, I want to show you one more thing." I pull her to the edge of the cliff, grinning as her grip tightens on me. "Trust me?" I ask her.
"Not as far as I can throw you," she responds, not even taking a second to think about it.
"Fair," I nod with a chuckle. "But look," I point to another path hidden by a grouping of rocks. "This takes you around the other way, it's an easier hike."
"Well why the hell didn't you bring me up that way?" she grumbles.
"Would have ruined the surprise grumpy girl." I start to walk and to my surprise she is still holding onto me. Glancing over my shoulder I can see a nervous look on her face. "What's wrong?" Her grip on me has tightened as we start walking down the side of the cliff.
"The edge is like, right there," she points over the side. I instantly move her around so she is closest to the rocks and I'm on the outside, she grins up at me. "Thank you," she says softly.
"Totally killing this whole bad boy thing aren't I?" I ask her, sighing.