Ginelle's pov
I'm surprised.
Turning right to briefly listen to Leila then back and I find Dalton gone. Frantically looking around only for him to back to us after a while. Coming with Grey is yet another surprise but the stuff in his hands surprises me the most.
He appears relaxed with Dal holding his left hand and his right one tucked into the side pocket of his brown pants. His leather jacket is unzipped and I can see the broadness of his chest from the black shirt that clings on him.
He looks good, he always does and when I meet his eyes, they're still trained on my face that I look away embarrassed. I hope he isn't offended with me checking him out openly.
"Will you join us, please?" Dal doesn't hesitate to ask him and from the corner of my eye, Leila shifts then clears her throat.
"Leila, this is my new friend Grey." I look between the two of them and whereas Grey only nods once, Leila's eyes seem to widen and she appears as if she's about squeal but I quietly press her hand.
I'm still not sure if Grey just came to the park at random. He still has the almost yellow bunny ears on a tight grasp. Dalton still waits his answer but then Grey bends down and whispers something to him.
His eyes however remain on me in the crouch that he's in. His long legs spread out as he balances himself on his toes. My hands move to the waist of my dress and I begin tracing the patterns there.
I'm nervous and flustered under his gaze and he does seem to notice too because his eyes follow the movement of my fingers. They remain fixed there till he finishes talking to Dalton then rises up to meet my eyes.
"Grey came with his friends!" Dal exclaims soon after as he squishes himself into Leila's lower body. "Let's go and join them," he looks at me then back at Leila with his pleading eyes.
Leila looks at me once for confirmation and I nod. Dal watches us keenly and as soon as I give my consent, he's off to Grey's side. I smile at his eagerness as we follow behind them.
"So," Leila whispers beside me as she bumps my hip against hers. "Your friend?" I drop down my eyes for a second as my cheeks warm up at the tone of what Leila is suggesting. Grey and I were just friends.
"I was going to tell you soon," I usually don't keep things away from her, especially the ones that I feel confused about. My friendship with Grey is special to me and I hope she's okay with that.
"You know I don't mind," Leila's bright smile adorns her face and her auburn hair matches the colour of her eyes. I envy her beauty and she's so natural too.
"Oh my!" Leila shrieks and I look ahead to what has her so excited. Grey and Dal have stopped several feet away from us. I didn't realize we were that slow.
Leila tugs me forward and I realize they were waiting for us to catch up.
"Hurry up!" Dal whines as soon as we're by their side as if he's bored waiting. Grey looks down at my hands and I cast him a small smile. His eyes don't linger for long because Dalton is already on move.
"The swings are there," he points to the left and I assume that's where Grey's friends are. I'm excited to meet them and hopefully we all get along.
Grey hasn't spoken once though and I wonder about that but then he wasn't the type to talk much. I wish I were Dal, who was being graced by his deep voice.
By the swings, there's a man. He's closer to Grey in built but the girl beside him catches my eyes more. She has chest nut brown hair, the same colour as mine.
She giggles softly as the man keeps pushing her higher on the swing. I can't help but smile at how adorable they are and somehow Grey catches my eye.
He doesn't break eye contact and I feel some sort of anxiety come up, the good kind though. I feel all mushy just looking at him and his hooded eyes only make him more attractive.
"Masha!" The girl then calls out as she makes a beeline to us. The other man is hot on tail and it is now that I get a good look at his face that I realize he looks just like the young girl. Perhaps a brother.
Grey ruffles her hair and it's almost like he's smiling. His head is tilted so I can't read him well but he's not as guarded as he usually is. The other man comes to stand in front of me.
"I'm Reece," he extends his arm and smiles charmingly. I shake his hand then Leila and I introduce ourselves.
"That's my sister," he points at the girl who stares at Dal from Grey's side. Her eyes are amber and I'm at awe. She's pretty.
She doesn't seem to notice us though and I turn to Reece, "You're Grey's friend?" He looks surprised for a moment then shortly looks over his shoulder.
"Yes," he says as he furrows his eyes at me. Leila goes over to Dal when he doesn't move to speak to Reece's sister. How cute those two were being.
"You work in the military too?" I ask curiously. He was just as muscular as Grey though he was boyish in many ways. Grey was all man.
My question seems to have shocked him but before he even replies, Grey comes to us, to my side. Reece looks at him strangely then at the two of us and a coy smile spreads on his face.
"Ginelle," his husky voice fills my ears and I crane my neck to look at him. His thick eyebrows are furrowed and his right hand clenches as he glares menacingly at Reece. I wonder why, they were friends.
I take the bunny ears he's been holding which he easily releases. At least they're in good shape. Now that I look around, he's the only one without his on. Even Reece has his white ones on.
I tug his jacket so that he looks at me. There's still a frown on his face and I purse my lips in disapproval. I stand on my toes to reach his head but he's so tall. I'm barely reaching his upper chest.
Amusement goes through his eyes and I hear a deep rumble within him. I sigh pleadingly, "bend down?" He obediently leans over to my face, too close that his stubble almost grazes my cheek.
His now dark eyes slowly grow to their usual calm colour but his frown doesn't go away. I quickly put the bunny ears on him, lightly messing with his dark hair that is as smooth as silk.
I tap his forehead to clear the creases and his jaw instantly stops ticking. His eyes fleet all over my face and I smile in victory until a gasp comes between us. Reece is still watching.
I stand straighter and Grey slowly follows too. Reece looks likes he's witnessed something abnormal as he gapes at the two of us. He shakes his head then smiles at me and Grey's eyes seem to harden.
"Elle," Dal waves me over and Leila smiles at me as says something at Reece's sister who laughs heartily. They seem to have bonded already.
"Hello, my name is Ginelle." I say as I admire her eyes that shyly glance up at me. Her hair is tied in a cute orange hair tie.
"Mine is Mayella," she replies swaying around with her small fingers clasped together. I smile at Dal who seems to have made a friend.
"Elle, Maya and I go to the same school!" He comes to my side and I'm surprised that he already has a nickname for her.
"Really!" I exclaim looking at Mayella who happily nods. Someone will soon start getting excited about school.
"Elle," Dalton shakes my other side and Leila laughs at how they both cling to my side. Reece and Grey are watching us too and I'm suddenly shy at all the attention.
"Maya wanted to go to the merry go round, can we?" Dal asks as he shakes my hand. He can be a little persuasive but I gladly nod at him.
"Let's go now," Dal takes her hand and they begin to run off. Reece laughs at them and he moves to catch up with their small feet.
Leila follows along laughing. My feet are aching a bit so I choose to walk. I was slightly tired but with Dalton's energy, I had to catch up.
"Okay?" Grey comes to stand beside me. I almost laugh at how funny he looks with the bunny ears but his serious face dilutes that.
I nod my head and he looks down at my feet. I wore some cream open flats so he can see my feet. It's not a pretty sight though. My feet often redden when I stand or walk for long.
"Sit there?" He points at a seat nearby while concerned at the state of my feet. I want to protest but I'm too tired to.
Grey squats in front of me and hesitantly looks at me as he out-stretches his arm. I stare back at him and gulp when he touches my leg.
He softly takes my right leg and examines it as if I'm a sick patient. His thumbs rubs over the flesh of my toes and I almost giggle at how ticklish it feels.
People stop by to watch us and I even hear some exclaim at what a cute couple we are. Grey doesn't seem fazed, he's still concerned about me.
"It's okay," I slowly pat his broad shoulder to get his attention. His eyes are worriedly fixed on my normal feet.
"Medicine?" He takes out his phone from his pocket as if to call someone and I tug his hand down before he dials. I wonder who he was about to call.
"No Grey," I stand up to show him that I'm not fainting soon. "I'm really okay, just tired." He seems slightly convinced as his hand still hovers on the pocket with the phone.
"They must be waiting for us," I quickly take his hand before he protests. My eyes scan the whole place but the four familiar faces are no where to be seen.
They didn't even get us tickets. I sigh in frustration. "We have to get our own tickets," I shout so that Grey hears me. The playground is full of shrieks and playful banter.
He looks at me with furrowed eyebrows and I repeat my previous statement. He leans closer and upon repeating the third time, I wonder if he really can't hear or he's playing tricks on me.
I move along with him to get the tickets anyway. I realize that my hand is still in his when I'm about to pay. My cheeks flush and when I attempt to pull away, Grey holds on tighter as he pays.
I'm overthinking as usual but I don't know whether he wanted to hold my hand or he was just preventing me from paying. The latter made more sense.
Unfortunately the secured merry go round was full so we have to take the open one. The seats in the other were small anyway, Grey would have barely fit.
He still hasn't released my hand and I'm enjoying the rough feeling of his palm against mine. He has interlocked our hands now as we make the queue to board.
I sit on the red plush seat with Grey beside me. He shifts closer as I securely place my purse on my lap so it doesn't end up flying away when we start moving.
His fingers graze over my hair that flushes into his face due to the wind. I apologetically take it on one side just as Grey whispers, "Beautiful."
My heart flutters, my stomach dips as if butterflies swarmed by. Grey still stares, he strokes my hand, never taking his eyes away as my rosy cheeks grow warmer.
My other side is eventually occupied by a boy. He's about my age and he smiles once at me. He appears afraid of the ride. Before I even interact with him further, Grey switches sides with me.
I don't think much about it, perhaps he wasn't comfortable earlier. The ride begins off slow and I'm thrilled, waiting for it to pick up the speed.
Everyone begins to shout excitedly once the rotation gets much faster. I smile into the wind and I feel Grey press onto my hand.
His eyes are closed and though it might look like he's relaxed, his body is tense. His shoulders are squarely stiff that I shake him worriedly. He doesn't move.
"Grey?" I again try, this time closer to his ear and his eyes flutter open. I relax a bit when he exhales deeply.
"Tulip," he tenderly calls, holding onto me. His eyes are apprehensive and before I ask anything, we're swerved off and we begin spinning in the opposite direction.
Everyone screams and I end up falling onto Grey's lap. I'm so afraid of what is happening and Grey moulds me into his chest as we keep rotating.
"Safe with me," he mumbles into my hair but I'm too afraid. I hold onto him tightly, nuzzling into him even as the speed gradually dies out.
Everyone scrambles to alight after the ride comes to a stop. I bet half of everyone here would ever climb on this again. How afraid that boy must have been.
I have no time to think about him further because Grey cups my face as he assesses every part of me. He looks over every visible part of my body and he relaxes after finding no harm.
My hands are on his firm chest and I quickly scramble off him. Who seats that comfortably on someone else? I hear Grey mumble incoherently under his breath and I hope he's not tired out by my weight.
He gets off with me as a crowd already surrounds the place. It wasn't normal for these rides to malfunction so it was a terrifying sight to see.
Some children were wailing by their parents and I was quite relieved that Dalton and Mayella were safe.
"Elle! Masha!" They come running our way with Leila who worriedly examines me. She pulls me into an embrace and Dal joins along.
"Reece is looking for you all over," Leila pulls away and dials a number, perhaps Reece.
"Are you okay, Elle" Mayella softly asks and I smile as I nod at her. She relaxes and as soon as Reece emerges, she rushes over to him. She tells him about something that I can't hear.
Reece looks up at Grey then at me. He lingers back on Grey and I hear him mumble, "What just happened?"
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I found myself using present continuous tense in this chapter severally so I decided to keep it that way. I'd like to hear what you think of this.
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