BRIELLE
My hand is currently being tugged along the beach at fucking five am in the morning.
The sand falls onto the top of my fluffy sliders covering them with sand.
I hate sand.
The faint glow of the moon allows me just enough light to see the sand currently getting in the ruffles of fur on my sliders.
Groaning, I follow Grayson further onto the beach until he finds us a perfect spot to watch the sunset on.
It's cute, but annoying how he woke me up at five to watch the sunset, but the way his hands are fidgeting by his side signifies he's nervous.
Or just cold, but I really doubt that. It's still pretty warm, and I'm only wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top without being cold.
The clothes Grayson practically shoved over my head before leaving. Ignoring the fact my $40 underwear is in-fact ripped up on the floor.
My downstairs area is killing me, it's been a while since I've last done the dirty so it's a little tired. And painful.
"Here," Gray finally decides, sitting his ass on the sand and I grimace.
He pats the floor next to him and I shake my head, no way am I sitting on a beach full of sand. It would of been so much better if he just went with the idea of sitting on the loungers. But no, we have to go on the bloody beach.
As soon as I sit on the sand, it will go in all the wrong places and I am not risking that. Nada, zilch, no.
"Ha, no thanks. I'm not sitting on that," I point towards the sand that could also have one of those weird creatures hiding underneath it.
I saw a tik tok of some guy digging it out once, it scared the shit out of me.
Gray tugs on my hand and I squeal, bracing myself for the impact of sand. But instead, I'm placed on his lap.
I let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks."
He kisses my cheek once, "No problem babe."
One hand taps my thigh, over and over, not like the way he usually does, but just frantically. Anxiously.
"What's on your mind?" I ask, brushing a loose curl off his face.
"You."
A grin wipes onto my face but I quickly hide it, getting a peak of the tattoo behind his ear.
"Hey, you know you can tell me anything right?"
"I won't judge," I add, running my hand along the base of his jawline.
He sighs, leaning further back, his arms holding both him and me up. His biceps barely fitting his shirt, they look as though they're about to rip the shirt apart.
"Yeah. I know."
My eyes flick towards the tattoo, but quickly avert when I feel his gaze on the side of my face.
"Oh. That," Gray mutters, his chest slowly rising.
"Sorry, I don't mean to intrude or force you to tell me. You don't have too, I'm sorry," I panic, looking anywhere but his face.
"Baby, it's fine. I'm stupid for not telling you after we had that conversation on the bench, I just didn't want you to be more careful around me."
My eyebrows furrow, "Careful?"
"With what you say," He sighs, "I told Lucas and for weeks he was so careful with talking about anything to do with the topic. It made me feel stupid."
My hand plays with the curls on his head, as his hand squeezes my waist.
"I get that. I told my cousin about Josh and she was skeptical for weeks. Until it got to the point where she got insensitive and just says it like as though it's nothing," I whisper, looking into his eyes.
We fall silent for a minute as I play with his hair slowly, twirling a curl around my finger currently wearing one of his rings.
The one that was on his pinky finger, my fingers aren't that big I promise.
"It was after Sofia had died. My life was shit, I'd just lost my sister and missed her like hell. Lucia was up my ass about playing hockey and going to all these events. I wanted nothing more than to not be here anymore."
"I OD, woke up on my bathroom floor the a day later feeling like shit. Lucia was actually having a bath when I fucking woke up. In the same room. She didn't give a shit. She told me to say hi to Sofia and I wanted to fucking kill her," He grumbles, squeezing my waist tighter.
"I'm so sorry," I whisper, "If you need anything, I'm here, always," I intertwine our free hands, squeezing his hand nice and tight.
"Always?" Gray smirks.
Rolling my eyes, "Whatever."
"That's actually why I wanted to take you out here," He clears his throat.
"Oh yeah?" I hum, looking at him.
"I want to go out with you Brielle."
My eyes widen, "I thought we were together."
"You did?" He asks, eyebrows furrowing.
"Yes and no, I guess. It pissed me off that you hadn't gotten the balls to ask me out yet, but at the same time I just thought that you know me and you were together. Seeing as we've both said I love you."
"But that's shit, you deserve this type of asking out. Not some shitty way of just thinking you're dating when I haven't fucking asked you out," Gray mutters.
Smiling, his hand squeezes mine and I tilt my head to one side.
"I thought you don't date," I tease.
He rolls his eyes, "You're the only exception, I guess."
My cheeks ache from the wide grin spreading from each cheek.
"You're the only girl who makes my heart flutter whenever I look at you. The only girl I've ever wanted to date, the only girl that gets my dick so hard that I have to fucking jerk off ten minutes later," My eyes widen at his comment, "And the only girl that I've loved and want to love."
"It's me and you baby," I think my cheeks are at least the colour of a strawberry- no, worse.
"So, Brielle Yves, please be my girlfriend or I'll have a fit and cry."
"Sure," I tease, shrugging one shoulder and he glares at me.
"I'm kidding! Of course I will," His face lights up as my thumb strokes his hand. "You're still a loser."
Gray rolls his eyes, "Yes, but I'm your loser now."
"Damn right," I grin, throwing my head back.
Gray is still glaring at me as his hands fidget with the rings on his fingers. His eyes trail from the sun currently rising, and the trees around us. And then to the empty beach.
My hair blows in the wind, "What's wrong?"
"You haven't said anything."
"I said sure," I point out and he groans.
"You think that helps me? I want a definite yes, not just a meh sure."
"I did not say meh," I laugh, shaking my head.
"But of course Grayson Valente, I would love to be your girlfriend," I smile, rubbing my thumb along his palm.
"Good girl," Grayson kisses my cheek once and I turn my face to give him a kiss on the lips.
What? Girls can be wanting too, it's not just the men who get all touchy about kissing.
"Love you," I whisper, kissing his lips once more.
"Who does?"
"Me, obv."
Grayson leans forward, lifting himself up as he moves his hand to the back of him, reaching into his pocket.
A second later he pulls out a red box, with the words Cartier written over it.
My mouth drops at the sight of it, the most expensive box I've ever seen. Other than the chanel one, I haven't seen anything this much money before.
Graybear whispers something to himself and looks up at me, laughing when he sees my facial expression.
He slides open the box, and I'm met with the prettiest bracelet I've ever seen. It has green clovers on several parts of the bracelet, that glisten in the sun.
"Holy shit," I whisper as Graybear smirks at me, "How much did this cost?"
"A bit," He shrugs as though it was nothing and pulls out the bracelet. Holding out his arm, which is a silent command to hold out my wrist for him.
It slides on easily, not moving around too much, like he measured the size of my wrist. That was probably why he was snooping around my jewellery a week or two ago.
"Thank you," I gasp, spinning the bracelet around my wrist, grinning like a child.
His lips meet my cheek, in a small kiss, "Anything for my girlfriend."
~~~
After spending half an hour more on the beach, we finally walk back to the hotel hand in hand.
We walk in silence, our hands swinging back and forth as the sun starts to shine brightly.
It got too hot sitting outside on the sand that was currently warming up due to the hotness of the sun.
As we walk into the main hotel reception, we head towards the elevator. But only stop when someone calls out something unexpected.
"Son."
Grayson freezes, as do I.
Spinning on my heel, I turn to face the culprit.
A man in his late fifties stands in front of us, wearing a black suit. His head is full of light brown curls as his features look exactly like Grayson's. A phone is clutched in his right hand, just below a very expensive looking- shiny watch.
His shoes are leather and also shiny, just like everything about this man.
Grayson's face is frozen, his features have pure shock written on them.
"Gray," I nudge him, which only sends his face back to what it normally is. But when he sees whoever this guy is- it changes again.
I have a feeling whoever this guy is, is his dad.
"Dad," Gray's voice breaks.
And so I was right, I guess Hawaii is the country of dads. Seeing as we're all seeing our dads for the first time in years.
The man takes a few steps forwards, coming closer to Grayson as he squeezes my hand. But then he squeezes so hard I think my palm my fall of, I gasp and he loosens it quickly.
"It feels like I haven't seen you in forever, you've grown," The man chuckles, running a hand along the small amount of stubble on his chin.
"It has," Gray mutters, "And so have you, dad."
The man takes a deep breath, pushing his phone in his pocket before rolling onto the back of his heel.
"Work has me up doing conference calls at six in the morning," His dad laughs, shrugging.
I stay silent, not really knowing what to say during this reunion kind of thing. So I just let Gray and his dad do the interacting.
"You have a job?" Gray asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, I work with Charles. Well, more he works for me now," He pauses to laugh, "But yes, in New York."
Grayson nods, "New York. Not far from Connecticut. Didn't come to visit?"
"You never returned my texts Grayson, I wanted to come by but no one ever responded to me. I didn't want you to feel like I'm intruding," The man says.
At least he has decency to do that. Some peoples parents don't even text to say they're coming over- aka my mum.
"Why don't we talk over dinner?" The man attempts, raising both eyebrows at his son.
Grayson is unsure for a moment, but then he slowly nods. I remember him saying how much he adored his dad, and loved him so this doesn't surprise me. I'm just hoping he isn't going to break Gray's heart.
"Sure," Gray shrugs.
The man then turns to me, "I'm Diego, Diego Lozano."
I nod, "Brielle. Brielle Yves."
Diego's eyebrows raise, "So you're the daughter of Charles."
I laugh, "Unfortunately so."
But he doesn't laugh, the man only sends Grayson a nod and then looks back to me. His eyes flicking between us.
"She's my girlfriend," Gray acknowledges, and Diego nods once again.
"I suppose she'll also come to dinner?" His dad asks, which makes Grayson scoff.
"I would prefer it if she came."
Diego nods once, pulls out his phone from his pocket.
"Alright that's fine with me, if it makes you feel better of course she can come. Shall we say, seven pm at the hotel restaurant? I'll make the booking now if you'd like," Diego inquires.
"That would be cool," Gray nods, sending his dad a tight lipped smile.
Placing an arm on Gray's bicep, it flexes once under my touch but soon softens.
"Great, I'll see you soon," Diego nods once, before his phone starts ringing.
"I've got to take this, I'll see you later."
"Yeah, see ya," Gray mutters, turning away as he walks ahead to the elevator.
His hand fidgets with the rings on his fingers and I wrap a hand around his, squeezing it once to let him know I'm here to comfort him.
"I need a fucking nap," Gray mumbles as soon as we walk into the hotel room.
He jumps onto the bed, pushing his face into the pillow. Only before it lifts up and looks at me awkwardly standing in the middle of the room.
"Baby come here, I want a cuddle."
Smiling, I walk over to the bed, kick off my shoes just like he did and climb under the covers.
His body snuggles into mine instantly and I sigh, playing with the curls on his head as his breathing slows down.
After a while he falls asleep, and I scroll through Instagram, seeing Astrid hanging out with her new bestfriends from some private school.
Leo has posted over a million photos of Cardan on his spam account, taking him for walks, complaining about the huge shit my puppy did on the floor, and of course- the photos of Cardan in costumes.
Superman, shrek, iron man etc, he looks awfully cute in it.
Soon enough it turns five pm and we have two hours to get ready for the dinner.
Ben is out doing who knows what, and Gray has been sleeping this entire time. I don't blame him we were both up for a while last night.
"Get up," I demand, poking his face, but he only snuggles himself closer into my neck.
"But I don't want too," Gray whines for the hundredth time.
"You have too, remember dinner date with your dad," I remind him, making him groan in response.
Other than getting Ben up in the mornings, Grayson is definitely the most difficult to get up. He's obsessed with cuddling, all grumpy and private on the outside but on the inside, he's all snuggly and lovely. It's adorable.
"Come on, we can't be late," I say, raising an eyebrow as his head shoots up.
"Yes we can, just for other reasons," Gray smirks, pushing his waist into me making me gasp at the feel of his 'morning wood.' Even though it isn't fucking morning.
"Go and have a shower," I groan, pushing away the feeling of warmth in my stomach. "A cold one."
Gray smirks wider, "You can join me, I've always wanted to do it on the bathroom wall."
"No doubt you have," I joke which only makes him frown and climb off me.
"You're mean," Gray sighs, siting at the edge of the bed.
Suddenly he spins around, "Give me a kiss."
Leaning over, I give him a kiss which only turns into a hand on my waist pulling me into his lap.
Gray stands up, keeping his lips on mine as our tongues battle. He carries us into the bathroom, shutting the door behind us as he places me on the counter.
"Grayson," I groan as he attacks my neck.
"I'm in the mood," He says against my skin.
I scoff, "You're always in the mood."
"Yeah, you're fucking right I always am."
~~~
Gray's hand stays on my waist as we wait for our waiter to come and take us to our table.
His mouth meets my ear, "Why did you have to wear this outfit, now I have to sit at dinner with my dad who I haven't seen in years with a fucking hard on."
"Sounds like a you problem," I mumble.
"It is, and you're going to help me," He says, biting the top of my ear which makes me gasp.
"I already gave you a handjob in the fucking shower," I remind him and he groans.
"Stop talking about it, it's only making it fucking worse," Gray presses himself into my back, pushing his erection against my back.
"Enough," I whisper shout as the waiter comes back, wearing a very fancy looking outfit.
He shows us to our table and Gray stays behind me the entire time, two hands on my waist and guiding me around.
We get to the table and I sit down, Grayson jumps into his seat, using a hand to push down his trousers in hope his dad doesn't see his hard on.
"Son," Diego says, his hands folded over each other.
"And Brielle."
"Hi," I barely squeak, sending him a nod.
He nods back, turning to his son. And within minutes they're in a conversation and I'm sat here awkwardly.
Gray places a hand on my thigh, rubbing it as he talks to his dad.
"So how's hockey going?" Diego asks as we get our food.
"Great, actually. It's good," Gray smiles, nodding at his dad.
It's nice to see him smile, especially around his dad. They've had some long conversations by now, talked about hockey most of the time.
"So where'd you go?" Gray asks, breaking the tension of the question that's been avoided for the last hour.
Diego sucks in a breath, "I went around Europe for a while, travelling a little. Then realised that I'm doing nothing with my life, moved to New York and met Charles. We built our company together."
Gray's breath hitches as he squeezes my thigh.
"Did you ever think about me?"
The dreaded question, the one Grayson has been thinking about since the moment we stepped inside this restaurant.
"All the time son, I wondered what you were doing," A smile creeps onto Grayson's face as he coughs into the napkin.
"So what now?" Gray asks.
"I would love for you to spend some more time with me, I have an offer for your future and we can talk about it. Or just spend time with each other," Diego says and Graybear curtly nods.
"Sounds cool, you don't mind me spending time with Diego do you Bee?" Gray turns to me, shocking me with the fact I'm finally being talked too.
I don't mind it, this time is for Gray and his dad to talk and get to know each other again. I would never come between him and his relationship with his dad.
"No, not at all," I smile at Gray as he kisses my cheek.
Diego's eyebrows raise as he sighs.
"What? I can't kiss my girlfriend," Gray jokes, throwing an arm around my chair before leaning into my ear.
"Thank you for being here baby, it might not seem like it but you're really helping me," He says before kissing my forehead.
"I love you."
A smile creeps onto my face as Diego coughs, covering his mouth with his napkin.
"So you guys are at the l-word stage now?" He asks, eyeing both me and Gray suspiciously.
I scoff, "Yeah, we are."
Graybear nods, smiling as he turns to look at me. His eyes full of lust.
Diego smirks, "Well son, keep her while you can."
My face drops, what's that supposed to mean?
I turn to face Grayson who has a sheepish look on his face. But his eyes tell me a different story, he looks confused and hurt by what his dad said.
"Anyway, back to your future Grayson."