I wake up to Grayson's body sweating and trembling.
"Gray?" I murmur, running my fingers through his hair softly.
He doesn't move.
"Gray?" I mumble again, more urgently this time, but he still doesn't move.
He's still asleep. He's having nightmares.
"Oh, Gray," I sigh as I sit up on the bed and put his face on my lap.
He whines quietly.
"Gray, love, you need to wake up," I kiss his forehead and run my fingertips over his cheeks.
He stirs and whines again.
"Love, I need you to wake up. Open your eyes," I kiss him again.
His eyes flutter open and he looks up at me, his eyes wide and scared.
"Are you okay?" I murmur.
"I'm fine. I'm okay," he looks around the room.
"What was the nightmare about?" I squeeze his hand.
"I don't remember," he looks up at me and blinks. He looks so lost.
"Are you going to go back to sleep?" I ask quietly.
"I—I don't know. What time is it?" He reaches for the nightstand and nearly falls off the bed.
"Come here, love. Don't move," I pull him back into my arms and reach over for my phone. "It's 11:47. You probably need to sleep more."
"I don't think I want to sleep," he whispers. My poor boy.
"Okay. That's okay," I smile softly at him. "Then what do you want to do, love?"
"I want to hear your voice," he shuts his eyes.
"Okay," I kiss his forehead again.
I don't even know what I say. I just start talking. I don't think any of it makes sense, but it satisfies Grayson. He lays in my arms, listening to me talk until I feel his breathing even out and he falls asleep again.
"I love you," I say to the top of his head.
I rest my head against the wall and let myself drift back to sleep.
I wake up and rub the back of my neck. I really shouldn't have fucking slept like that.
I look down at Grayson and he's still asleep. He looks peaceful sleeping. So much better than last night.
I grab my phone and quickly take a picture of him. I open my camera roll to check it when I see another picture I didn't take.
It's one of me and Grayson sleeping last night. I wonder who took this one.
I zoom in on myself so I can see how it looked the way I was sleeping. My neck looks all bent and I can't stop myself from laughing. That looks so fucking uncomfortable.
Grayson opens his eyes and looks up at me.
"Sorry," I bite my lip and set my phone down.
"What's funny?" He blinks. He looks so tired still.
"Someone took a picture of us last night on my phone and my neck is bent all funny," I giggle and hand him my phone.
"Does your neck hurt?" He turns to look at me, his voice laced with concern.
"No," I lie.
He sees right through the lie and looks like he wants to argue, so I press my lips to his nose. "I'm fine, Gray. I'm okay," I smile.
"I asked Devyn if I could take you to New York with me," he says suddenly.
"Yeah?" I giggle. "What'd he say?"
"He said no," Grayson frowns. "He said we already bought the plane tickets, so I told him that I would just put you in my suitcase, but he said I'd get arrested for smuggling you onto a plane."
"Sounds like Devyn," I laugh.
My bedroom door opens and Aria comes in.
"Oh, good," she smiles. "You're up this time. Emery, you need to get up. We're going to a party."
"What the fuck makes you think I want to go to a fucking party?" I snort.
"Because I'm going. Rebekah and Joslyn can't miss school because of volleyball and cheer. Leia's going to school and Devyn's pouting about it," Aria says as she walks over to my closet and grabs a small dress. "So now you get to go with me."
"Can—"
"Just you. Not your boyfriend," she cuts me off, knowing exactly what I was going to ask.
"That's not fair," I frown.
"Yes, it is," Aria laughs. "Get ready. We're leaving in ten minutes." She walks out and shuts the door.
"Will you be here when I get back?" I look down at Grayson, knowing there's no point in arguing with Aria.
"I'm not going anywhere," he kisses my fingers softly. I get up and grab my dress. Grayson looks away from me so that I can change.
"Do you think this is too revealing?" I ask after I get it on. Grayson turns to look at me but doesn't say anything. His eyes roam over my body and his throat works.
"I think it's fine if you're comfortable in it," he says after a couple more seconds.
I don't know if I'll be comfortable in it. I mean, I am now because Grayson is the only one looking at me right now, but what if I can't handle it when I'm out and he's not there?
Aria comes in and grabs my hand, pulling me towards the door. "Let's go," she says.
I look back at Grayson and he tosses me my phone.
"Thanks," I murmur as I let Aria pull me to her car. "Where is this party at?"
"Stella's house," Aria says as she starts driving.
"How do you know where Stella's house is?" I narrow my eyes at her. We've never been there and she isn't using the GPS.
"I'm going to tell you something, and you can't tell anyone else," she says hesitantly.
"Okay," I turn to face her.
"We're dating," she blurts.
What? "What?" My eyes go wide. "Since when?"
"A few weeks ago," Aria smiles softly.
A few weeks ago. That's fucking crazy.
"Why are you just now telling me?" I frown.
"We haven't told anyone," she shakes her head. "We wanted it to be a private thing, you know? When people know about relationships it just becomes a huge thing and there are always rumors going around. It was just easier for us both this way."
"Wow," I mumble.
"We're here," she says after a couple of seconds.
I look up at the house and can already tell I'm going to regret coming here. Fuck, there are a lot of people.
أنت تقرأ
Forever And Ever
العاطفيةGrayson Woods and I have been enemies since the first day we met, partly because he's my brother's best friend, partly because he's a complete asshole. But when he agrees to pretend to be my boyfriend to stop rumors, he makes hating him a hell of a...
