Grayson raised a hand to sweep his sodden hair back out of his eyes and raised a brow. "Chaise? What're you doing here?"
"I... live here?" I didn't know why I'd posed it as a question. Of course, I lived there. It was my house. Well, Dad's house. I'd grown up in it. "What are you doing here?" I countered. "And... and why are you...?" I gestured at his body and did everything I could to not look directly at his bare chest or the towel.
If Grayson felt any shame at his state of dress, he didn't show it. He folded his arms over his chest, which only made his pecs look more inviting. Casually, he leaned against the doorframe. "House sitting."
"What?"
"House. Sitting." Grayson repeated the words slowly, like I was an idiot. "For the summer. Your Dad's out of the country."
I gaped. "My what is out of the what?"
"Isn't college meant to make kids smarter?" he asked. "What did they do at that place, give you a lobotomy?"
After seeing Anna bouncing on Trey's dick, I wouldn't have minded a lobotomy. If it would wipe that image from my mind, I'd have taken just about anything on offer. Why hadn't someone invented those mind wipe stick things from the Men in Black movies? That would've done the trick. I was fully convinced that would be the last image to flash before my eyes when I died. I'd be haunted by it forever, and the knowledge that Anna had a way better body than I did. I didn't hate my body or anything, I just would have killed for some of her curves.
Maybe that's why Trey had liked her more than me.
Grayson flicked my forehead. "You in there, Kitten?"
I slapped his hand away. "I'm thinking."
"Careful, you might hurt yourself."
"What do you mean he's out of the country?" I demanded angrily. "He didn't tell me he was going anywhere!"
"He's a conducting summer classes as a guest lecturer in England. He didn't want to leave the house empty that long."
"Okay, well, I'm here, so..."
I let the implication hang in the air. Grayson wasn't an idiot. I mean, he went to college with my dad, so I had to assume they were at least as smart as each other. If he wasn't, he'd never have made it in business. His parents owned an advertising company and they had adopted Grayson in as a manager shortly after he'd graduated. Rather than resting on his laurels like some playboy heir, he took his role seriously. Well, more seriously than some. He still had way more time off than he ought, and he spent most of that time hanging around with my dad. Still, not everyone was so fortunate to find a job right away. Most of the kids in my classes would pay off their debts for the rest of their lives.
"No."
"You have your own place!" I shot back.
"That I'm renting out for the summer. It's fully booked until your dad gets back."
"Can't you get a hotel or something?" I pressed.
"For ten weeks?" Grayson scoffed. "No. And I've gotta go to work. Forget it, Kitten. I'm staying put."
Look, there were worse things than putting up with Grayson for a few weeks. Things like finding your roommate fucking your boyfriend came to mind. But, if Dad wasn't around, then I didn't want his friends hanging out in the house unsupervised. It didn't help that Grayson was criminally attractive, and I knew he had a habit of bringing women around. If he wanted to do that in his own place then it was none of my business, but after he'd invited Kelly into our house for their little pool table interlude, I didn't trust that he'd behave even though I was home.
"So, what am I meant to do?" I asked.
"I don't know. Call your boyfriend. I thought you were meant to be on a trip with him, anyway? Your dad said you wouldn't shut up about how great Hawaii was gonna be."
The lump was back in my throat. I couldn't swallow it down no matter how hard I tried. I felt the heat of humiliation lick across my cheeks like a fire and tears burned in my eyes. I was so sick of crying. It was incredible that I had any tears left, yet more kept coming. They rolled over my cheeks unchecked, leaving long trails before they dripped off my jaw. My lip trembled, and I tried to open my mouth to explain, but all I could do was let out a strangled whimper to convey all the hurt and heartbreak I felt.
Grayson forgot he was in just a towel when confronted with a crying woman. Rather than excuse himself to change, he simply lunged toward me and pulled me into his arms. He crushed me against his chest and, any other day, I might have had a lot to say about that. Namely, about his well-defined body and the way my breasts pressed into him. Instead, I balled my hands into fists against his pecs and sobbed onto his sodden skin. One of Grayson's large hands was on my back while the other moved to my hair, stroking and smoothing it against my neck.
"He... he cheated!" I wailed.
I felt Grayson's hand curl into a fist against my back. "That little asshole."
I wasn't about to disagree. He was an asshole and, compared to Grayson, he was little. I mean, Trey was lean and wouldn't be a match for the older man in a fight. I didn't know if Grayson was little in terms of, you know... equipment, but that wasn't really any of my business. Anyway, I had little experience in that regard. I might have kissed a lot of guys at parties, but Trey was the only one I'd slept with.
"I saw them," I sniffled pathetically. "He was with my roommate. I walked in and they were –"
"I get the picture, Kitten." Grayson's voice was kind, but there was a hard edge to it. I didn't for a moment think that he was angry with me. He'd never been angry with me. Annoyed, maybe, but it wasn't like he'd raised his voice or anything. I had to believe that it was all directed at Trey. Uncharacteristically, he lowered his head and planted a tender kiss against my forehead. "Forget him. He's not worth you breaking your heart over if he can't see what a catch you are."
I wasn't about to confess how much the kiss had made my heart flutter in my chest. It felt weird to be devastated and faintly turned on at the same time. That was probably how people fell into rebound relationships. They were sad and horny and just wanted to feel loved by someone. I could get that. I didn't think tumbling into bed with my dad's best friend was the right way to go, even if he was sexy as hell. It wasn't like I hadn't fantasized about it before. I mean, I had eyes. Grayson had a body that was designed to be noticed by women. Seeing him with Kelly on the pool table had basically been my sexual awakening. For a month afterwards, I'd imagined I'd been the one with him instead of her.
I tilted my head back to look up at him. I wasn't strong enough to break out of his arms. I mean, if I'd wanted to wriggle out of his grip then he'd have let me. Grayson wasn't a monster, and I wasn't a prisoner. But, after three long days of travelling on my own and now feeling the comfort of another human being, I wanted to be held. It grounded me. Hell, I was even calming down far more quickly than I had when I'd been holed up in hotels and sobbing my heart out in gas stations.
Grayson brushed the back of his fingers against my cheek, catching the stray tears and wiping them away. Once he'd swiped his thumb under my eye, his hand trailed down over the side of my neck and goosebumps erupted in its wake. I knew that he wasn't doing anything sexual, but I couldn't help feeling a knot tighten in the pit of my stomach, nor the heat which coursed through my veins.
Either he didn't notice, or he was too polite to comment because Grayson let his hand rest on my shoulder and cleared his throat gently. "How about I get dressed and then I help you bring your stuff inside?"
The blush lit my face like a beacon. It came on so suddenly that it left me lightheaded. I took a quick step back from Grayson and stared right at his chest. My gaze travelled back down to the towel. Like lightning had struck me, the realization that I'd been hugging him when he was basically naked jolted some sense back into me. I turned around to return his dignity.
"Right, totally!" My voice was an octave higher than usual. "I'll wait by the car."
The car was good. Safe. It was outside and nowhere near a hot guy in a towel. Once I was outside, I could pretend that my face was red because it was a warm day and not because I'd the thought of him leaning down and kissing me had crossed my mind. As I darted down the stairs, I told myself over and over how stupid it was to think that he'd do anything so crazy. It didn't matter if I was twenty-one. To Grayson, I was always going to be some stupid kid. Worse, I was his best friend's kid. There was no way he'd ever thought of me as anything but a brat.
People rarely realized how much stuff they had until they had to move. I was no different. Honestly, I barely knew what was in half the boxes we hauled out of my car. I didn't even know how I stuffed them all in there. If I'd ever been inclined to play Tetris, I'd have hit some high scores with my stacking skills. Together, we dislodged them one at a time and dropped them off in the hall instead of making multiple trips up the stairs. Grayson wouldn't let me take anything too heavy, because he was a gentleman, or he didn't have any faith in my body strength. Either way, I was grateful for his help. If I'd been home alone, it would've taken me half the night to unload the car, never mind getting everything back to my room and unpacking.
Grayson left me alone in my bedroom once the last box had made it up the stairs. I couldn't imagine he was keen on the idea of digging through the boxes of my shattered life. Not that he'd have found anything interesting. It was all the same crap I'd had when I moved out. There were a few more books, some pictures, and a few memories of Trey that I intended to burn when I had the chance. Other than that, nothing super personal or humiliating.
I focused on finding the important things. Sheets, power cords, my laptop and tablet, toiletries, and some clothes so I'd have something to change into the next day. Zombie chic was fine when I was in the car, but I didn't want Grayson to think I was a total slob because I dragged myself around the house in unwashed clothes and zero makeup.
Satisfied that I'd done enough for the night, I headed downstairs in search of a bottle of water. I hadn't really worried about boundaries and things like that while living with Dad. It was weird being conscious of Grayson's space when he was in my house. For some reason, I felt like I was the guest in his house and not the other way around. When I arrived in the kitchen, he was leaning against the kitchen island with his back to me, his phone against his ear.
"I know it's short notice. It's not like I planned on this," he told the person on the other end of the phone. After a pause, he continued, "Sure. I'll let you know."
Grayson turned around and spotted me standing there. Without breaking our gaze, he said, "I'll speak to you later," before he hung up the phone.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to –"
"It's your house," Grayson said. "You don't have to apologize for walking into the kitchen."
I hopped up onto the island and perched on the edge. I was within touching distance of Grayson. If I'd wanted, I could have placed my hand over his and felt those powerful fingers against my skin again. I mentally shook off the thought. There was no need to make things more awkward than they already were. Thinking about Grayson doing something like bending me over the island and fucking me would do precisely that.
"Did you just cancel plans because of me?"
Grayson shrugged, but it was obvious that he had. After a moment, he said, "They weren't important."
"And I am?" I asked before I could stop myself.
He pondered on the statement for a few seconds before he ignored it completely. "Hungry?" Grayson asked. He opened an app on his phone. "I can order us in something."
"I'm fine." Almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth, my stomach snarled furiously. I snatched my gaze away and stared at the floor. "I'm probably just gonna go to bed."
Before I could hop down from the counter, Grayson wrapped his fingers around my arm and held me in place. "When did you last eat?"
It was my turn to shrug so that I wouldn't need to verbalize the lie. Either Grayson was psychic, or he knew me better than either of us cared to admit. I felt his gaze rove over my body. It wasn't invasive or perverse. Rather, it lingered on my stomach before he turned his attention back to his phone.
"I'm ordering pizza."
"Good for you...?"
"You haven't eaten since you left, have you?"
"I'm not hungry." My stomach growled again. I mentally willed it to be quiet. I made to slip down from the counter again. "You do what you want. I'm gonna be upstairs."
Grayson placed himself in front of me, one hand on the counter by my hip and the other on his phone. My knees were against his torso. If he'd pushed a little closer, I could've wrapped my legs around him. The thought made my breath hitch at the back of my throat. He caught me with a smoldering, commanding gaze. I'd always thought of blue eyes as gentle, but Grayson's were powerful, like the sea during a storm. I leaned back away from him, not trusting myself to resist the urge to kiss him if I didn't.
"If I'm staying with you this summer, I'm setting a few rules."
"Shouldn't that be my line?"
Grayson ignored my interruption. "No being a brat."
"Again, my line."
"You'll do as you're told." As if to emphasize his point, Grayson pushed forwards. My knees slipped and my legs were forced apart. I was sure that I was the only one of us with something filthy on our minds, even if he was getting so close that I could feel his breath as it washed over my lips. "You'll behave like you would if your dad was here, and you'll take care of yourself. Is that clear?"
I couldn't find my voice; all I could do was nod.
"Good girl, Kitten." Grayson flicked my forehead gently. "We'll start with dinner."