I haven't slept all night. Climbing the roof was not an option so I booked it upstairs to my room and shut the door. I think no one noticed. After slipping out of my wet, chlorine-smelling dress, I changed into sweats and a T-shirt and got under my covers.
But sleep has not welcomed me, and now it's dawn and the sun is going to be up soon enough. I lay in my bed a little longer until sunlight starts peeking through my curtains.
Coffee, I decide. I need a big cup of coffee.
I barely manage to get ready for the day. After putting on some simple clothes and brushing my teeth while my eyes feel heavy, I head downstairs. My heart feels heavy, too. Last night feels like a fever dream.
Everyone already seems to be up and eating breakfast in the kitchen.
"Hey, Laylabug," Grandpa smiles, reading his newspaper with his empty plate in front of him. "We missed you last night. You disappeared."
"I wasn't feeling well. I was pretty much in my room all night."
Iris and Brett are also at the table along with their parents conversing with Nate about his life in Africa. Hale and my mom are close together and giggling as they chat as per usual. Grayson's at the coffee machine. I walk over to it.
"Oh, you poor thing," Grandma cries. "I'll make you some chicken soup today."
Grayson is putting creamer in his coffee as his eyes meet mine. "How are you?" he asks, quietly.
"Shitty." I sigh, grabbing a mug from the cabinet above. "Sleep was not my friend last night. It was my sworn enemy keeping its distance."
"Me too," he agrees.
"Did you get plastered last night or something?" Iris asks loudly as I sit down at the table with my coffee.
"What? No?"
"You look like shit," she says and Brett nods in agreement.
"Aw, thank you, guys. Every girl loves to hear those words in the morning."
"Layla," Grandma starts. "Is that true? You have had a hard week. First your dad and then Liam."
No, Grandma. Someone tried to drown me so I haven't slept all night, but thanks for the cheeky reminder.
"I told you guys I wasn't feeling well. I just didn't get much sleep."
"And where were you all night?" Nate interrupts the conversation, his attention directed at Grayson as he sits down next to Grandpa. The table goes quiet.
"I was here," Grayson answers.
Nate crosses his arms. "Likely story."
Grayson raises his eyebrows in challenge. "Where do you think I was? Out murdering people? Storing their bodies in the backyard?"
Nate turns to our mom. "This is who you want in your house? Someone who thinks jokes like that are funny? You want this person around your daughter?" Then to Grandma and Grandpa. "Around your grandkids?"
A feeling of anger shoots through me and I'm surprised to feel it towards my brother. But once I feel it, I can't seem to shake it away. Where does he get the nerve? He lives on a whole other continent and barely ever calls or visits and now he's suddenly concerned?
"For all we know he's a sadist just like his father."
"Nate!" My mom exclaims.
"Wow," Grayson smirks. I can tell he's pretending not to be bothered by what my brother just said. "Tell me how you really feel."
"Nathaniel." Grandpa's voice is firm in a way I've never heard before. "It would have been terrible and cruel if everyone in my life assumed I was just like my father. And what about you? What if everyone judged you based on the actions of your father?"
Nate grimaces. "Don't try to defend him."
Grandpa folds his newspaper up and sets it down on the table. "Of course I'm going to defend him. We are alike. More alike than you and I will ever be. I understand Grayson, I understand the depths of his thoughts and his feelings. I understand the surface of his pain. You're lucky you will never have to. All your father ever did was not know how to be loyal."
I have to fight back a small smile because Nate is stunned into silence. He pushes out of his chair and storms off, cheeks pink.
"Thanks, Dave," Grayson smiles shyly and everyone laughs and it seems like the energy is back to normal.
"Dave?" I ask, looking at Grayson across the table as everyone else continues their private conversations.
"Don't worry. He's okay with it," he answers, throwing an arm over my Grandpa's shoulder. "You're so poetic. I could listen to you talk all day."
"So is my granddaughter," Grandpa grins at me and I smile.
"Poetic? No, Dave, not at all. Snarky seems like a better word. Maybe even a tad bit boorish."
Grandpa chuckles softly.
"Did you eat a dictionary this morning?"
"Not really. I just heard your grandpapa speak and it just ... inspired something in me. I could honestly write a song right now. I feel like I'm on fire."
Me and my grandparents laugh at his silliness and in that moment I wonder how anyone could ever believe the things they say about Grayson Wallace. A part of me feels like my grandpa defending him meant something to him and that makes me happy.
"Have you ever considered public speaking?" I hear Grayson ask my grandpa as I get up for a second cup of coffee. "You'd be damn good at it, Dave."
I realize I left my phone on the counter earlier, when I turn it over it appears I have a text.
Liam: couldnt find u last night. did you give any thought to what i said??
God, I still hate the way he fucking texts. Surely he has autocorrect or something?
Layla: Need more time.
His reply comes back instantly.
Liam: how much?? i miss you :(
Maybe forever.
"Desperate fuck." I almost scream with fright because Grayson just whispered right next to my ear.
"Holy mother!" I lock my phone and set it back on the counter, continuing to do what I was doing before I looked at my phone. The coffee pours into my cup smoothly all the way up to the top, the sound somehow soothing.
"Who was that? The infamous ex?"
"Look at you. You're so smart, you put two and two together."
"Liam? I'm sorry, you dated a guy named Liam?"
I exhale, splashing a tiny bit of hazelnut creamer into my cup. "What would you have preferred, Bartholomew?"
Grayson nods, taking the coffee pot from where I set it down. "Actually, yes. Bartholomew would not have cheated on you."
"And you can prove that, how?"
"That's beside the point." Grayson shakes his head. "Why is he texting you I miss you? And what's up with that sad face is he deranged?"
I bite my cheek, holding back my laugh. "How much did you see?"
"Besides the desperate dick pic and the I'm so sorry, I want to make sweet love to you for eight hours straight text? Not much else."
I roll my eyes and actually laugh this time. "You're such an asshole."
Grayson pours himself another cup of coffee but stirs in an ungodly amount of plain creamer. "He may as well have just got down on his knees and begged it would have been less embarrassing than sending that sad face."
"Liam wouldn't find getting down on his knees and begging embarrassing, he'd call it romantic."
"What a pervert."
I can feel the air turn serious between us but it was nice to forget about everything that's happened in the last 24 hours and just laugh, even if it was only for a few moments.
"I thought your joke was funny," I say, sipping my coffee.
"Which one?" He asks confidently. "I make so many."
"The one about the murdering and the bodies."
He smiles at that and I have to wonder if me and my grandparents are the only people he ever smiles at. "My morbid little gremlin."
I know he's joking around but I want him to hear it. "I'm sorry. For what it's worth I don't think you're a sadist."
He bops me on my nose and I'm surprised to feel the flutter in my chest. "You're sweet." And then he walks away, back to the table.
A different kind of feeling settles in my stomach and I can't decipher it. Grayson is actually kind of funny? And It's definitely no secret that he's attractive.
Oh my god. I'm attracted to Grayson Wallace. Not in the creepy, I'm into serial killers and their sons kind of way that Iris pretends to be.
But in the way that every time he speaks I notice his strong jaw and the way his lips are somehow always soft. And his eyes, how they're dark brown, intimate, and inviting. When he looks at me I almost want him to never look away. Sometimes it feels like his eyes are somehow made to look at me.
It's a terrifying feeling. He once asked me if I was afraid of him. I thought I was. It felt like I was. But now I'm not so sure.
— — —
"Bro, you should have been there it was insane!"
My brain is still foggy with the amount I just slept. I'm so confused because someone is downstairs making a bit of noise. I descend the staircase, holding onto the railing for support and my stomach grumbles for food.
"Morning, Sunshine," Iris walks past me to the front door. "By the way, there's an incredibly hot guy in the living room. Put in a good word for me, yeah?" Then she salutes and slips out the front door. I can still hear the chatter and giggling coming from the living room. It's dark out now so I definitely missed the sunset.
I shake my head, feeling a little more awake, and head to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
The loud voice is approaching closer and closer to the kitchen going on about something as I'm chugging down an entire glass of water.
A boy enters the kitchen lost in the story he's explaining in great detail. I think he's talking about surfing or something. Meanwhile, Grayson looks like he's dragging himself along, not even listening.
"You're up?" He asks and the boy falls silent halfway through his intense story, turning his attention to me. "This is Kaiden but he goes by Kade. Kade, this is Layla."
Kade is the ultimate surfer dude. One look at his floppy blond hair and the puka shell necklace around his neck is all I need to know. Exactly Iris's type.
"Ah, Layla, nice to meet you," Kade smiles, bowing. Did he just bow?
"Are you guys friends?" I ask, setting my empty glass into the sink.
"No, he just eats the healthy thriving cells in my brain and then goes home for the night," Grayson says, very seriously.
"Shut up." Kade pushes Grayson on the shoulder with a laugh. "Yes, we're friends. Grayson and I are dorm buddies. Not roommates, dorm buddies. Meaning we lived right across from each other for the first year and right next to each other the second."
"Oh, cool," I smile.
Grayson sits down at the kitchen table. "This one just got back from college. His spring semester got extended."
"Extended? I didn't know that was possible."
Kade laughs mischievously. "Not extended academically," he says, resting his hands on the counter. "I was having girl trouble so I stuck around for a while. But I'm single now." He winks at me.
I bark out a laugh and scratch the back of my ear. "Oh, god."
"We were about to head out for food, do you want to join us?" Kade asks, leaning forward with a charming smile.
"No, Kade," Grayson objects with a warning in his glare.
"Oh, come on, bro. Let me have some fucking fun for once."
"Not with her, Uncle Hale's rule. She's untainted."
Kade rubs his hands together evilly. "Time to taint her."
"I'm sorry. What's going on?" I ask, more confused than I've ever been.
Kade approaches me like he's an old friend and throws his arm over my shoulder. "You can't ask questions. You're either in or you're out."
"Get your sleazy hand off of her," Grayson laughs, pushing out of the table.
"Uh! Rude!" Kade shouts.
Grayson approaches us with a small smile playing on his lips. "Say no, Layla."
But I'm intrigued now. "What are we doing exactly? Before I agree."
"In or out, it's simple."
I look at Kade and his devilish smirk. I'm bored, no one's home and I kind of want to be in Grayson's company while he's around someone he knows. I don't know why I say it but I do. "I'm in."
Grayson sighs in defeat while Kade lets go of me and shouts Yes! Punching his fist through the air.
"Let's get going, losers." his smirk grows and I have a feeling I'm in for more than I agreed to tonight.