"Where are we?" I asked, following him up the stairs from the underground parking garage.
"Well, I actually have two plans. The first one might not be your cup of tea, so I have a backup," Grayson explained, sounding a little nervous.
"Not my cup of tea? All your surprises are amazing," I promised with a happy smile.
He shook his head. "This one might not be. So if you don't want to, or even if you freak out halfway through, it's totally fine. I have a back-pocket plan as an emergency."
Freak out? Why would I freak out? But he seemed intent on keeping it a secret, so I shut my mouth and clung to his hand as we sprinted across the street.
"Grayson, are we just running through the streets of Toronto?" I accused, laughing. We were still weaving through the streets five minutes later, and the suspense was killing me.
"Nope, we're actually here," he said, finally leading me up a short set of steps. At first I didn't see anything, except the baseball stadium. Maybe he was taking me to a game? Odd choice, since I've never mentioned anything about baseball to him, but maybe he's secretly a big fan.
He noticed me looking and laughed. "Try up here, Jacks," he teased, lightly tipping up my chin. I gasped, covering my mouth.
"The CN Tower?" I asked, delighted.
"You're not scared of heights, right?" he asked anxiously.
"No, I love heights!" I said, emitting a happy little hop. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"You're welcome," he laughed, accepting the giant hug I gave him. "I have tickets scheduled for five minutes, so we better hurry in."
Eager, I followed him inside. There was a swarm of people milling about, but Grayson just walked right through. I bet he had special access or something. He held my hand tightly as we stepped into the elevator, squeezing as the doors slid shut.
"It's a little fast," he whispered. My eyes went wide and I stumbled a little as suddenly the ground took off, shooting upwards. I may not have minded heights, but such a long elevator ride wasn't the greatest idea for my stomach.
"You good? We can head back down once we reach the top if you want," he murmured, so quiet that none of the other elevator occupants heard him.
I shook my head, my mouth dry. "The ride is a little rough. It'll be fine once we stop."
My theory was correct. The doors slid open and I was the first person off, with Grayson right behind me. My stomach immediately settled down and I was able to breathe freely again. "Not so bad now," I told him bravely.
"Good. Because here's the best part," he said as we rounded the corner.
"Oh, wow," I said softly as we walked up to the huge floor-to-ceiling windows. We were so high up, much higher than it looked from the ground. Around us, skyscrapers willed themselves to be as tall as we were. Then, right to the left, the glittering lake stretched out as far as the eye could see.
"It's beautiful, Grayson," I whispered.
He smiled. "I guess I wanted to be able to show you my country from a bird's-eye-view."
"It's lovely. I hate to admit it, but I think your country beats mine," I said, half-joking.
He laughed softly, and I realized he'd let go of my hand to put his arm around my waist. My heart jumped a little, but I ignored it and asked, "How many times have you been up here before?"
"Honestly, probably fifteen. But every time is amazing and different," Grayson murmured, looking around in just as much wonderment as I was.
I didn't know exactly how much time we spent up in the clouds. We sat on a bench together, watching the clouds roll by and the occasional helicopter or small plane. Grayson sat next to me, still holding my hand. As time went on, the sky dimmed and the lights began sparkling in the skyscrapers. A calm settled over me, and I realized this was probably one of the best birthdays I'd ever had. Or at least the best I'd had in a while.
"How late can we stay?" I asked after a long time. I hoped he would say forever.
Grayson reluctantly stood, saying, "We actually should go; we have dinner reservations."
This was new—I'd never been fancy enough to have dinner reservations. "We do? Where?"
"A place I've been going to for years. They've got good food," he explained as we hopped back in that horrible elevator. Once again I clutched his hand, waiting for this nauseating nightmare to end. I sighed in relief when I stepped onto solid ground again.
The place was pretty fancy, but not so fancy that I felt overdressed. Grayson, always the gentleman, pulled out my chair for me before sitting down in the seat opposite.
We ordered, then talked about birthdays. Apparently poor Grayson had grown up getting socks and sad little beige stuffed animals for birthday presents. Once he'd passed eighteen, he'd been bought more practical gifts, like watches and ties.
"I'm getting you something fun for your birthday," I promised.
"Thanks, but don't feel like you have to get me anything," he said, already shaking his head. "That week will literally be crazy, so I don't even know if I'll have time for my birthday."
"Everyone deserves their birthday, but I see what you mean about that week," I sighed.
"I'm not ready for it," Grayson admitted. "It's going to be one nightmare after another."
"I know." And he didn't even know about his scandalous mother and Clay's plan to unveil her wicked ways.
"But enough about our dismal future, it's your birthday," he said, trying to brighten the mood.
"Okay, what about our not dismal futures?" I asked. "We're keeping in touch, right?"
"Of course," Grayson agreed. "Maybe we could make plans to visit each other? Say once every two years."
A mischievous idea crossed my mind. "Or just whenever Clay and Kylie host Christmas and Thanksgiving," I said with a smirk.
He laughed. "I really hope they get married. This sounds awful, but I think it'd be good for them."
"No, no, I see what you mean. Besides, they clearly are head over heels for each other," I laughed, taking a sip of water.
"Oh, clearly. I just hope they figure out that they need to take things seriously before Clay does something stupid like tells her she smells like clams and means it as a compliment."
I tilted my head, frowning. "Does he do this often with girlfriends?"
"No, but it feels very likely," Grayson said, shaking his head in despair.
I snorted into my water, making both of us laugh harder. We had to be getting stared at, since the aura of the restaurant was calm and composed, but I didn't care.
Our dinner arrived and suddenly I was extremely hungry from shopping and standing in a tower all day. Grayson and I practically wolfed down our meals, and I don't think either of us could've handled dessert.
"That's okay, I bought a cake and it's in the fridge so we can have it later," he said with a shrug.
I couldn't help but get a huge smile on my face. "You bought us a cake?" I asked, beaming.
"Yeah, what kind of birthday doesn't have cake?" he scoffed, closing the check. Then he smacked himself in the forehead and exclaimed. "I left your birthday present in the car!"
"That's okay.Didn't you already buy me like eighty presents?" I accused.
"The mall didn't count," Grayson said, waving me off. "Besides, this is something special I picked out for you."
Now I was curious. "Can I open it in the car?" I asked.
"Yes, you can," he laughed. "Ready to go?"
"Ready." I'm excited for this gift. We got in the car and he reached into the console compartment, pulling out a small box wrapped in silver paper. "Happy birthday," he said shyly, passing it to me.
I quickly tore off the paper and took off the lid. Taking out the bracelet, I squinted to see the little pendants. When I realized what they were, I gasped. A rose. A "Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas" sign. A Canadian flag. An airplane. Finally, the letter G.
"I figured we could keep adding them until January," he said softly next to me. "So you always remember our adventures."
"Oh my gosh," I said, covering my mouth and blinking back tears. Normally I didn't cry much, but this was the best gift he ever could've given me. Leaning over the console, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged him tight. "Grayson, I love it!"
"Happy Birthday," he said, pulling me across the console and holding me in his lap. More tears pooled in my eyes as he embraced me, because I couldn't even begin to thank him for this gift. A choked sob escaped my lips as I buried my face in his shoulder.
"S-sorry, I'm..I'm wrecking your shirt," I said a moment later, sitting up and wiping my eyes.
He smiled, whispering, "It's okay, you can wreck my shirt."
I laughed and wiped my eyes, knowing they were puffy and red. "You're sweet."
"I try," he said, making me laugh again. Sometimes it scares me how easily he makes me laugh. It shouldn't, but when none of these feelings are real...
I smiled down at him, not minding the pressure of his arms loosely around my waist. Grayson smiled back, except his eyes were getting that all-too-familiar look in them. My breath hitched momentarily, my smile disappearing. It only now clicked in my head that I was sitting in his lap, with him holding me, and our faces only inches apart.
The apart detail changed as he leaned in to kiss me, setting off little sparks all down my spine. I laced my arms around his neck, dipping my head down to return my own kisses. I pressed my body closer to his, since there wasn't much room in the driver's seat. Except there was never much room when it came to us. Not enough room, not enough air to breathe. Especially when Grayson's lips were so hot on mine, so desperate to just hold on for one more minute.
It was always one more minute.
Breathing hard, he broke away for a moment, saying, "I like Jackie at twenty-four."
"I like her too," I murmured, crushing my mouth to his again. A soft whimper escaped the back of his throat, and I couldn't help but smirk; apparently I was better at kissing than I thought.
At least when it came to Grayson Answell, that is.
It was going to be a long car ride home.