Grey

Chapter 5

"Riel? What're you doing here?" I asked, furrowing my brow in confusion. It was then that I realized how close I was to Grey, and in his moment of distraction, I pushed him off of me.

"Makenna invited me. I was looking for you inside and found her. She told me I could find you out here," Riel folded his arms, his eyes shifting from me to Grey and turning cold. Even in the darkness of the night, I could see the hatred in Riel's eyes. I didn't want to turn to see the hostility Grey probably held in his eyes as well. Although I was curious about how they knew each other, I decided not to press it. I barely knew either of them, and their drama was theirs, not mine.

"I was just about to head inside, actually. Now that Grey and I have an understanding," I turned and cast a cool glare at Grey, who merely tightened his jaw in irritation, not bothering to break eye contact with Riel. Geez, this was some serious beef. I rolled my eyes and walked over to Riel, deciding against giving Grey and his ego any more of my time.

"Have you eaten yet?" I asked with a friendly smile. Riel broke his glare with Grey to smile down at me, shaking his head. "The pasta is really good tonight, do you like Italian?" I motioned for Riel to follow me as I headed back towards the door. He took one last glance at Grey before following my lead.

"I do. My grandparents are from Sicily. They made the best pasta for my family when I was growing up. Their pasta will be hard to beat," he smiled crookedly, those forested eyes lightening as he moved on from the standoff with Grey.

"I wish I had that. Both of my grandparents are from Ireland. Guinness stew, all the time. Five-year old's don't like Guinness," I chuckled lightly.

"Irish, huh? I'm guessing that's where the pale skin and freckles come from," Riel commented with a cheeky grin. I nodded and opened the door for him, but he had already reached over my head and held it for me.

"Thanks," the corners of my lips turned up in a smile and he winked. I led him towards the kitchen, grabbing a white ceramic plate from the stack at the start of the buffet line and handing it to him.

"I'll be over there by the window," I pointed over to where Makenna, Allison, and Jack were sitting. A sigh of relief escaped me upon noticing that Grey had yet to return.

"Sounds good," Riel grinned at me and I maneuvered my way around the other tables to my friends. I sat down where I had been before, letting out a deep breath and scooting my chair in.

"-it's gotta be short for something. Greyson? Or maybe it's his last name. Like a darker, more bad-boy version of Christian Grey. Without the creepy sadistic masochism part. Ooh, or maybe-" Makenna was still talking about Grey. Jack's eyes had glazed over as he stared off into the distance over my shoulder, zoning out completely. Allison stared at Makenna, obviously disinterested, now slowly chewing her pasta in what looked like an attempt to keep herself occupied.

"Makenna- did you invite Riel to dinner?" I questioned, folding my arms across my chest. My voice appeared to have startled both Allison and Jack, as they nearly fell out of their chairs when I spoke. I stifled a laugh and turned back to Makenna.

"Obviously I wasn't going to let you third wheel. And he came, so he's obviously into you. He's so cute. So cute," Makenna grinned excitedly as if she had just given me some huge Christmas present.

"You're forgetting the part where I told you I wasn't interested," I tilted my head to the side and Makenna frowned. This was so typical of her, dragging me into her delusions like she dragged me into parties.

"But, Jordan-" she began, but I shook my head, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"No. Makenna, I will entertain him for tonight, because he's already here. But please stop meddling in my love life. I don't want to date. I don't want to fall in love. Love is a distraction, and a distraction I don't need. I need to focus on getting into medical school. If you see someone you think is cute, then date them. Please, stop dragging me into these situations. I'm not you. I don't party. I don't date. I don't do the whole 'emotions', 'boys', 'let's have fun' thing. I'm not you," I explained softly, trying to somewhat protect her feelings. Her thin blonde eyebrows furrowed slightly as she tried to process what I was saying, her bottom lip slowly protruding in disappointment.