Rm W/a Vu (17 page)

Daphne turns the knob and pushes the door open before I can stop her—or maybe I could have, I just didn’t want to. Her hands fly to her mouth and her bright eyes widen in fake shock. “Oops.”

Chapter 14

O
nce the door hits the wall behind it, I lean forward to see what it was hiding.

I’m…confused, and that confusion wraps itself around me and pulls me forward until I am standing in the center of the room. I turn in slow, calculating circles as I take in the contents of the room. “It’s…it’s not what I imagined,” I say aloud as Daphne joins me.

“What did you think was in here?”

I blush and look at her through the corner of my eye. “Whips and chains and stuff.”

Daphne’s laughter fills the room, echoing off the walls and sleek furniture. There’s a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, several gaming systems in the cabinet below it, and a couch several feet back. Along the other walls, various action figures and comic book memorabilia is displayed. Maybe Greyston kept this room from me because he’s afraid I’ll label him a nerd.

While my vision of the room may have been entirely wrong, I still know what I heard that night.

“Come on,” I say, grabbing Daphne’s wrist and dragging her from the room. “We shouldn’t be in here. I feel weird about it.”

“Juliette, it’s just a game room. What’s to feel weird about? Look!” Daphne exclaims, pointing toward the television. “He’s got
Kinect
! Can’t we please play?”

I shake my head. “No way. Not without asking permission first.”

“Then call him!”

“No, he’s working. Come on.” I’m finally able to get her out of the room and down into the kitchen. I pour us each a glass of lemonade and prepare a little fruit tray for us to snack on while we relax outside.

As I wash the last sprig of grapes, I hear Daphne rifling through papers behind me. “Who is this incredible specimen?”

I turn to see what it is she’s looking at, assuming maybe it’s one of the magazines Callie was looking at on the weekend. It’s not. I place the grapes on the plate and move around the island to peer over her shoulder, and I recognize the papers immediately. “Oh, Greyston must have forgotten those this morning. That’s the baseball player he’s trying to sign. Um…” I glance down under the photo and read his name. “Xander Richland. He’s from Houston.”

“Well, he’s delicious!” She’s not wrong. His longer wavy brown hair and golden brown eyes only add to his chiseled jawline, and his wide smile showcases shallow dimples that make him seem approachable.

It takes some doing, but I’m finally able to pull her away from Xander’s profile and out to the pool. We’re out there for a little over an hour, just floating on our inflatable rafts, before I hear the house phone ringing. 

“I’ll be right back,” I say, hopping out of the pool and walking toward the house. The phone is on its cradle near the patio door, so I pick it up, smiling when I see it’s Greyston.

“Hey, you.”

His warm chuckle greets me before he speaks. “Good evening. How was class?”

I lean against the doorframe, looking out at Daphne lounging on one of the floatation devices. “Really good. How’s Houston?”

“Warm…and kind of lonely.”

“Awww. Don’t say that. I’m sure Toby’s keeping you all kinds of company,” I say, knowing that their time away will probably be good for them if they’re experiencing some kind of strain in their relationship.

“He does what he can, but he’s down at the gym right now.” Greyston pauses briefly before continuing on. “And I just wanted to call and check in with you. See how things are going.”

“Everything’s great here. Daphne and I are just out floating in the pool, having a light dinner and a glass of wine,” I explain to him. “Then, I think we’re going to head upstairs and do homework. All-in-all, we’re a couple of party animals.”

Greyston laughs, and I have to admit I miss the sound already. “Well, I’m glad you ladies are having a good night…” Greyston is distracted by something, and then I hear Toby’s voice in the background. “Hey, Juliette?”

“Yeah?”

“Toby just showed up. We’re going to go and grab a bite to eat. I’ll give you a call tomorrow?” he offers.

It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to hear he’s going to call again. Deep down, I know he’s not saying it for the reasons I want him to. I’m taking care of his house for him; he just wants to make sure everything is going okay.

“Sounds good. I’ll talk to you later. You boys have fun tonight,” I instruct before hanging up and rejoining Daphne.

We relax in the pool for another thirty minutes before we head inside and change into our pajamas. We both have assignments for separate classes to work on, so we hit the books. By midnight, we’re both exhausted and climb under my blankets together with the intention to talk until one or both of us passes out.

The next two days go by much slower than I’d like. School seems to drag on, and work is a bit of a bore, being mid-week. Of course, then I return home alone to a big empty house, where I cook myself dinner and watch an hour or two of TV before retiring to my room and doing homework.

The only part of my day that I really look forward to is around seven-thirty at night when Greyston calls to check in. By Thursday, Greyston assures me that he’s signed Xander and that he’ll return on Friday as scheduled.

After hanging up with Greyston, my phone rings again. This time, it’s Erik. He apologizes for not calling earlier, citing school assignments as his reason, which I totally understand. He confirms our plans for Friday night, and I tell him that everything still sounds great before giving him my address.

There are a couple of things for me to look forward to on Friday when I wake up; the first being Greyston’s return home around six, and then the chance to go out and have a little fun with my peers. My excitement leads to my inability to get a good night’s sleep on Thursday, and I have to rely on a lot of coffee to get me through the day.

Thankfully, I only have a couple of classes and am home just after two. The minute I curl up on the couch in front of an afternoon talk show, my eyes begin to droop, and I fall asleep.

The dreams I have are bright and cheerful. Familiar blue eyes are a prominent part of those dreams, and it seems as though we’re more than just friends in this particular sequence.

We’re lying in my bed, our legs intertwined and most of our clothes still on. His lips are on mine, soft at first, but soon grow hungry with need as his hands grasp at my body, wanting more, yet never pushing for it. My entire body warms as his lips begin to explore my neck, and my fingers thread themselves into the soft hairs on the back of his head to hold him in place against the hollow of my throat.

“Juliette
,” he whispers, his breath sending a cool tickle over the skin he’s just kissed. His lips leave my neck, and he looks directly into my eyes, bringing his right hand up to softly stroke my cheek.
“Juliette.”

Something about his innocent touch feels different from all the rest in my dream, and his voice seems a little more hesitant. I try not to think about those things, pulling his face back to mine. Our lips barely touch before he speaks again.
“Juliette, I’m home.”

My eyes flutter open, and I find myself staring across the low coffee table at the TV, my brain still muddled with the fog of sleep. As I continue to breach the barrier into consciousness, I realize it’s six-fifteen, and the talk show I was watching before passing out is no longer on. I’m momentarily confused. Parts of my dream still linger, but it’s all fading quickly—as dreams often do. I run my fingers through my hair and turn my head toward the ceiling. My heart leaps into my throat when I notice I’m not alone.

“Holy crap!” I cry out, slapping my hand to my chest in an attempt to keep my heart from breaking through.

Greyston takes a small step back from his spot behind the couch and offers me an apologetic smile. “Sorry,” he says quietly. “I didn’t mean to startle you. Good dream?”

Ignoring his question, I sit up, my heart calming more and more with each passing second. “No, it’s okay.” Greyston moves around the sofa and sits next to me. “How was your flight?”

“Thankfully short. I couldn’t wait to be home. I just hope that my next trip isn’t for quite some time.” With a content sigh, Greyston relaxes back onto the couch and rests his head. “So, what do you want to do tonight? Order in? We could go out if you wanted to get out of the house?”

“Oh,” I say, my voice falling to barely above a whisper. “I actually have plans tonight.”

Greyston seems happy to hear this. “Great. You going out to a movie with Daphne?” he guesses.

“Um, no. There’s this frat party on campus. I was invited to go by a classmate. Erik.”

The happy smile fades from his lips and he sits up, resting his forearms on his thighs and looking at his feet. “I see.” Greyston stands up and looks down at me. “Well, I’m going to go and unpack my things. You have fun tonight.”

Greyston leaves me alone in the living room, and I can’t help but feel like he’s upset with me. I don’t like the idea, and I wonder what I might have done to upset him. Deciding to go talk to him, I make my way up the stairs. When I reach his door, I find it closed, and I can hear him talking. Even though I know I shouldn’t, I press my ear to the door. His voice is far too low for me to hear, so I give up trying and head to my room to get ready for the party.

I step into my closet and look through my clothes. It’s been so long since I’ve gone out on a date—even with Ben—that I’m kind of at a loss. I shoot Daphne a text for her advice since she knows my small wardrobe pretty well, and it’s not long before I receive her reply.

I go through my clothes, locate the items she’s suggested, and pull them on. The skirt isn’t so short that it gives the farm away for free, but it does show off a decent amount of leg, making them look longer than they are, and the shirt has a low back, showing off an ample amount of my sun-kissed skin. Happy with how I look, I find a pair of comfortable heels to complete my outfit and head to the washroom to do my hair and makeup. I keep it simple, playing up my eyes and the color of my shirt with a light blue shadow and adding a coat of mascara. Keeping the low back of my shirt in consideration, I pull my dark hair up into a twist and secure it with several hairpins, letting the ends fall down to brush my neck.

Just as I’m giving myself a final once-over, the doorbell rings. I find I’m nervous, but not in a butterflies-in-stomach kind of way. Taking a deep breath, I exit my bedroom to answer the door. It takes me by surprise to find that Greyston has already invited Erik in.

That’s when the butterflies erupt. Not because I see Erik, I realize, but because Greyston’s eyes have shifted to watch me descend the stairs. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but there’s something in the way he’s staring at me that confuses me. If it were anybody else, I’d swear that particular look resembled…
desire.

I shake off the ridiculous thought and continue toward the door. When I look up at Erik, who’s dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, he’s looking at me in an entirely different way than when he asked me out. I begin to wonder if Erik is expecting more than I’m willing to offer up tonight.

“Hey,” Erik says, his eyes moving down the length of my body, taking a little more time than necessary on my breasts. “You look great.”

“Thanks.” I look between him and Greyston. “I take it the two of you have met?”

Greyston seems less than impressed; in fact, he seems downright hostile. “Oh, we’ve met.” I try not to read too much into it, but I think I detect a note of jealousy in his voice. This only serves to further confuse me when I pair it alongside the way he was looking at me a moment ago.

I’m about to suggest to Erik that we leave when Greyston’s hand reaches out and takes mine. His hold is firm, yet gentle, and his thumb begins to move back and forth over the back of my hand. Sparks shoot up my arm, and my eyes lock on his. “Can I talk to you a minute while Erik waits for you…
outside
?”

“Uh, sure.” I turn to Erik with a nervous smile. “Why don’t you go wait by the car? I’ll be right out.”