Ginelle's pov
I squealed- one, two then three times.
My back rested on the door after it shut behind me in a soft click. I hugged the flowers to my chest smiling as I stared down at them. I never had a favorite flower before but I now knew tulips were.
I went to peak through the window after switching on the lights to check whether Grey had left. His car was still there and through the windscreen, his figure was angled towards me that I pulled back immediately.
I placed my hand over the left side of my chest all the while trying to hold back a smile. I couldn't believe what was happening or what I had just done. The more I reminisced it all, the more I blushed and giggled to myself.
I peeked again through the window and this time his car was pulling away from the neighborhood. I walked further into my apartment not putting the flowers down for a moment. I wanted to hold them for the longest time.
I went into my room to change into something comfortable, briefly looking back at the red tulips on my night-stand. It might have appeared obsessive but this was the first time a man had given me flowers.
And this man was Grey, which gave me even more butterflies.
I smiled again, something I didn't seem to have a control over, when I thought about him. He looked so handsome in the black turtleneck that I had stared at him countless times during our date when he wasn't looking.
Our date, it was one right?
I hoped it was because I didn't want to interprete things differently when there might be nothing going on. I decided to cling onto what I could see as I thought back of the things he'd done for me.
He had called me beautiful, held me by my waist, bought me flowers, he'd read me to bed, comforted me during the nights it rained, saved me when I was once in danger and later nursed me at his place.
"What has you zoning out this much?" I jumped, holding the edge of the table, then turned around to see Leila rising up from my bed as she rubbed her eyes. I hadn't seen her when I entered the room.
"When did you get here?" I sat beside her on the bed after offering her a glass of water. Leila now appeared more alert as she told me that Louis had an appointment with a client this evening and she didn't want to be alone.
She went on about how she missed him and looked forward to seeing him tomorrow. Even with her wild stories, I found my mind drifting back to Grey.
I looked back at the flowers wondering if he had meant what I thought. Mama had always told me that all flowers had meanings so I already knew what this was but I didn't know whether it was the same for him.
Maybe he had just chosen them at random and had no idea. I shook my head, the thought making me feel even more terrible. Leila nudged my side after realizing that I wasn't listening to her.
"Did something happen?" She cupped my face like a baby and sat in front of me. I tried to shake my head but she seemed to have seen the flowers on my night stand.
"Oh my, did Grey buy you those?" Her eyes darted to the bouquet then back at me as I nodded. Leila smiled as she squeezed my cheeks and I laughed with her.
"D-Do you think he likes me that way?" I timidly asked when Leila calmed down. My eyes dropped when she just gave me a blank gaze and scoffed as if I had asked something ridiculous.
"I've seen the way that man looks at you," I slowly looked up to meet her eyes, "when you are with him he doesn't focus on anything else other than you and when you get out of his vicinity, he looks like he wants to go after you."
Her words made my heart soar and I felt my cheeks heat up. She didn't stop at that, "I know what you are thinking," I stilled at her words, a lump forming on my throat. "No one's going to hurt you, especially not him."
It was terrifying how Leila seemed just to know me. Even after something that had happened so many years ago, I found it hard to let go. Leila had attempted to convince severally but it felt as if I was stuck again.
Most people my age don't even remember what happened in their high school years but here I was still shaken because of a boy. A boy whose name I didn't remember, a boy I had never liked yet he had shattered me.
I remember telling Leila about what happened to me in my senior year. A boy from one of our classes had asked me out in front of the school gate just when school ended.
I was usually quiet and tended to keep to myself so I had been surprised when he approached me. I didn't know what to say especially when a crowd had already gathered to watch us.
I had clawed my hands with my nails, anxiety eating me up, as I thought of how to get out of that situation only for the boy to think of my silence as a positive answer.
He had scoffed, saying how naive I was to have thought that he liked me. He admitted that he didn't even know my name and the other students laughed at me together with him.
It was so long ago but I found myself stuck on that. I never let any men around me after that, something Leila had come to notice. I didn't want to be ridiculed, I didn't want to get ahead of myself when it could be a joke.
Leila had tried to get me out of my shell in our campus days with no success. I just couldn't seem to believe anyone, they were usually never serious, it would always be a lie.
I understood why Jordan and Louis were protective of me but for the first time ever, I wanted to be better. I wanted to move on from the past because I now liked someone. I liked Grey Marshal and not just as a friend.
My resolve heightened my confidence since I found myself at the door to Grey's house the next day. I was going to confirm our relationship and find out whether he wanted me that way.
I took deep breaths before I lifted my hand to ring the doorbell. It was surprising how I started to feel the brightness I had a minute ago begin to wane.
I had not even asked him if he was home, perhaps it would be a good thing if he wasn't because all the negative thoughts seemed to clash in my mind. What if he just thought we were friends?
That would hurt but it was better knowing right now than building up my hopes, I thought back. I wiped my hands again over the back of my pants and stilled when the door slowly opened.
Reece, ooh.
"Elle, what a surprise!" Reece grinned as he dusted flour off his apron. He asked me to come in after telling me not to mind his clothes.
He led me to the living room where Mayella sat watching a cartoon. Upon seeing me, she squealed while getting off the couch and came running towards me. I hugged her then lifted her up and carried her the rest of the way.
"Elle, do you know how to make cookies?" She asked while playing with my hair as Reece led us to the kitchen. I nodded once and she asked me to prepare some because Reece didn't know how, I could tell with all the flour.
They hadn't mentioned about Grey so I assumed he wasn't home. Maybe that was a good thing though I tried not to look disappointed as I placed Mayella on the counter then started cleaning up the messy bowls.
I met Reece's eye as I began rearranging everything and I refrained from asking though Reece bet me to it. Perhaps I was just so easy to read.
"Grey is taking a call upstairs," Reece's words put me on halt and I watched him run out of the room, no doubt to tell Grey that I was here.
I could have taken this chance to run out but on my right, Mayella looked at me expectantly. She was still waiting for the cookies I had promised.
"Elle?" I looked up as I continued to mix up the flour. Mayella watched with interest as if she wanted to join.
"Will I become as pretty as you?" My eyes widened as I looked back at her because I hadn't expected that, especially from a child.
I nodded at her words which seemed to make her happy. Before I could continue, I heard the movement of feet hastily coming down the stairs.
Grey appeared first then Reece followed after some seconds. He was dressed casually in a black t-shirt and grey sweatpants. As usual, in my eyes he stood out.
Grey took slow steps as if unbelieving as he approached me and my nerves hit up that I pretended to busy myself in baking.
"Tulip," I looked up, meeting his eyes to see that there was a smile on his face. "I didn't know you were coming," He elbowed his hands on the counter while watching what I was making.
"Um, I just -" It was really hard to pretend that I wasn't focused on him when he stood this close and his scent enveloped me, making me powerless.
I heard him shift even closer when I stammered that I dropped my hands from the bowl. I saw Reece quietly leave with Mayella who seemed to protest.
"Sweetheart, is something wrong?" He asked softly and I had to fistfight my jaw not to look up. I wonder where the confidence from before had vanished to.
"You won't look at me tulip?" There was a quiver in his words that I couldn't ignore. I slowly lifted my head to find his inclined my way.
His eyes swirled in discomfort as they were now dark grey. He looked at me as if in pain and I swallowed thickly trying to string out the words to say.
I looked down for a moment to gather my thoughts but I felt the palm of his hand reach out for my left jaw. My eyes met his again and I knew I got him even more worried.
"Did I upset you yesterday?" He slowly asked making me shake my head in protest though tears pooled into my eyes. He wasn't at fault yet he was already blaming himself.
The sight of my tears made his body freeze as I tried to hide my face away. I didn't even know where they had come from neither did I know why I was crying.
"Baby please tell me what's wrong," I had never heard him so vulnerable and when I looked at him, it appeared like he was going to cry himself.
Wiping my tears, I sniffled as his other hand came to cup my face. I held onto the base of his t-shirt then faced him. My throat didn't obstruct me as I tried to speak.
"A-About yesterday-" my voice was barely a whisper and I felt Grey move a step closer. His thumb brushed my tears away and at his touch, I looked up.
"I meant it, I want to be yours in every way possible." My breath hitched, butterflies filled my stomach and my heart was now pumping blood at an abnormal rate.
His assurance comforted me slightly but a nagging voice still made me doubt that I found myself asking, "You won't leave?" He inclined his head as if not clearly getting what I was saying so I added.
"Y-You won't like somebody else and leave?" I stopped folding the ends of his black t-shirt as I anticipated his answer.
"How can I when I've always wanted to stay from the very first day," I blinked away the remaining tears as I looked into his eyes.
"The lemon scent of your hair, the honey in your eyes, the warmth of your smile, the gentleness of your actions," he shook his head as he bit back his lip as if to stop talking.
His eyes fleeted over mine, a passion I'd never seen before in them melting me on the spot. Grey moved again, closer that my front pressed on his.
He tilted his head down and hoarsely whispered into my side, "I only want you." My toes curled as a current surged through me that I felt as if I'd been electrocuted.
At first I was at a loss of words then at a loss of breath when his lips took mine in the roughest yet gentlest way. I stilled, barely breathing as I felt him move over me.
My eyes closed on their own accord at the feelings that followed. One of his hands dropped from my face and went to my waist as he pulled me closer.
I wrapped my arms around his lower chest earning a strangled breath from him that had him pulling away. His forehead rested on my own, a smile instantly forming on his lips as he stared down at me.
I smiled back, a tingling sensation still over my lips. I needed to document my first kiss because it had surpassed what I had always expected. It was far up the bar I had set.
Without warning, Grey lifted me up and planted me on the counter. He stood on either sides of my legs and his arms went round my waist.
"My craving for you would never die out, not even for a second." I closed my eyes when he situated his face on the side of my neck. I heard him inhale then tighten the grip on my waist.
The knots in my stomach tripled and my hands went to his hair where I began to move my fingers through and I heard him sigh as he relaxed into me.
"I'm sorry for crying before," I apologized for something that now looked so simple. I should have reigned back the tears and prevented him from worrying.
Grey pulled away to look at my face then shook his head as he leaned over and kissed both sides of my cheeks just below my eyes.
"My tulip," my eyes flew open after he'd pulled back and I stared at my reflection through his eyes. The reflection of me smiling because, I was really his tulip.
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