IVY
"Holy....shit." Grayson stands outside my house with his mouth agape.
I sigh and roll my eyes. "You said you wouldn't freak out." I drop my head in my hands to cover my face. Everyone always reacts this way. I know it's a lot, but people always make judgements about me based on it and it makes me uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, but....holy shit." He says again and I groan.
"Well, thank you for this evening and for taking me home." I try to change the subject and Grayson nods blankly, still gawking at my house.
I wave a hand in front of his face. "Grayson..." I call him but he continues standing with his jaw slack, "Gray! Come on, can you at least try to compose yourself?"
He clears his throat and shakes his head. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry. Um, you're welcome for tonight. I hope we can do it again some time, but I'll have to wait until I get paid again. I mean, I'm not made of money." He says and his gaze returns to my house.
"I understand. Grayson..." I pause and wait until I have his attention, "do you wanna come in?" I can tell by the way he's staring that he wants to go inside. I've never seen someone so in awe before.
"Only if you're comfortable with it." He says and I nod. "Wait, I'm almost past my time though. Seventy-five dollars only covered me until eleven," he pauses and glances at his watch, "my time will be up soon."
I let out a heavy sigh. He's still going along with this? I was so angry when he said he wanted to pay me and go out as a client rather than asking me on a real date. But more than anything, I was sad. I don't know why I felt so disheartened. Part of me wants to go on a real date with him. I don't want him to treat me the way everyone else treats me. Part of me...wants him to be special.
I know I keep telling him I don't want that though. I'm assuming that's why he's taking this approach. The effort he's making confuses me more than I could ever express, but at the same time, the fact that he is literally doing anything he can just to be around me makes my heart warm. He just seems so genuine and kind, like he really cares about me.
I don't like it at all. All that means is that I'm inevitably going to hurt him someday. And I really don't want to do that.
I roll my eyes at him. "Just come in. Your staring is making me uncomfortable."
I walk with him to the front door and grab out my keys. As we enter, the lights in the front room turn on automatically and Grayson follows in as I lock the door behind us. I turn and see that he's trying really hard to act like this is completely normal. I appreciate the effort.
"So..." I trail off and Grayson just smiles firmly at me. I can tell he has a million questions that he wants to ask, and normally I wouldn't give him the chance to ask any of them, but I'm tempted. "Okay, can you just spit out whatever you're thinking? Your silence is even worse than your rambling."
He laughs and shakes his head at me. "I just don't know what to say. I know you mentioned making a lot of money, but I didn't imagine it was nearly enough to afford this."
"Like I said before, it's not from stripping."
"Then what is it from? If you don't mind me asking."
"I inherited the house from my parents. They were music video producers in Hollywood ages ago and invested in a bunch of real estate for my sister and I to have when we got older. They wanted to make sure we were both secure."
Grayson nods, but still looks confused. "You have a sister?"
My nose scrunches up and I shrug. "She's my half sister, from my dad's first marriage, but a sister nonetheless. I don't talk to her very much, but Violet has always been difficult to get a hold of." I grumble, almost to myself.
