Taming the Street Racer ✔️

41 | three words

To my dismay, Gray slips his underwear and shorts back on and convinces me to put his t-shirt over my current attire. "I wouldn't be able to concentrate on our dinner with you looking that mouthwatering," he tells me.

I go to let Chewie out of the bedroom and find him curled up with his butt on Gray's pillow. I leave him be, laughing as I leave the room. When I come back out, I find Gray smoothing a white tablecloth over a small table. I stand and watch as he places a small candle on the table and lights it.

The muscles in my legs almost give out when I see him place a few rose petals across the table, spreading them out carefully. Gray's head snaps up when he hears me walking toward him, and the brightest smile spreads across his face. He runs a nervous hand through his hair.

He slides my chair out, and I gingerly sit down, intensely aware of my heart pulsing in my chest. Gray pushes me in before going to the kitchen. "So what do you think?" He asks me from the kitchen, trying to pass the question off as casual. I smile at the care and precision he put into this.

"It's perfect," I reply, truthfully. I turn and watch him bring our plates to the table. He places them down then slides into his own chair. He places his hand on mine and gives me a meaningful look. I return it, then look down at our plates.

I beam. "Spaghetti. Very sophisticated, Chef Maddox," I say, teasingly. I follow that up with, "I love it, Gray. Thank you," to let him know how much this actually means to me.

He relaxes slightly, mirroring my elated smile. I grab my fork, twirl some noodles around it, then shove the large forkful in my mouth. Gray watches with an amused expression. But behind the amusement in his eyes, I see a strong emotion that I can't quite place my finger on. With a full mouth, I ask, "What?"

Gray just shakes his head, chuckling lowly. "Nothing, babe." Then his face flashes with realization and he curses. "Fuck, I almost forgot."

He gets up and disappears into the pantry, eventually coming out with a bottle of red wine. On the way back to the table, he picks up two crystal wine glasses. The butterflies in my stomach flutter wildly as he sits back down.

"You know I'm turning 19, not 21, right?" I tease. His muscles flex as he pours wine into our glasses. Then I turn serious, catching his gaze. "No one has every done anything like this for me," I admit, feeling almost embarrassed. "None of my past birthdays have even come close to this one."

He raises his glass, holding my hand across the table with the other. "Here's to you, Riv. And many more birthdays--just like this--to come. You and me."

I beam and raise my glass, clinking it with his.

"Happy birthday, baby," he adds, his eyes gleaming. We both take a long sip, and I savor the rich taste of the dry wine. "It's really good," I say, taking another short sip. Gray watches my expression, with the same emotion I saw earlier. I twirl my finger around the rim of my wine glass. "So I'm the same age as you now. How does that feel?"

He shakes his head. "I'm turning 20 in a few months so don't get used to this. I'm still your senior."

I laugh, taking another bite of my pasta. After I swallow, I add, "It's kind of fucked up, you know."

Gray takes a break from cutting his pasta to cast me a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"We should be in the same grade," I point out. "I'm nineteen and still a senior in high school. Isn't that a little weird?"

He shakes his head. "Didn't even cross my mind."

I take another sip of wine. "Well, would you like to guess the reason behind me being older than everyone else in my grade?"