Page 65 of When Darkness Calls

I didn’t mean it like that…

Grayson’s head flops onto his shoulder, peering at me down the line of his arm across the back of the couch. He pauses at his hand. I can faintly feel him clenching and unclenching it behind me. Then he’s arching one dark brow, before his gaze lands on mine and something flashes within it.

“I’m not touching you.”

Nevermind, I meant it like that.

I stared at him blankly. The TV screen illuminates him in a ghostly, bluish hue, thanks to the horror movie I turned on and have not been able to pay attention to at all. I have no idea what has even happened, and that makes me even more annoyed because I really wanted to watch the ones I rented.

My eyes narrow. “You’re pretty fucking close to it. Please, move. It tickles and you’re giving me goosebumps.”

A wry chuckle pushes past his lips as he shifts back. His arm is still lying on the couch, but there’s a few inches of space that wasn’t there before.

“Better?” He presses, sarcasm dripping from his deep voice.

No.

I swallow. “Yes, thank you.”

Forcing myself to watch the screen instead of him is a testament to my determination. For the most part.

From the edges of my vision, I can still see him watching me. The feeling of his eyes deepens the blush across my cheeks I’m praying isn’t noticeable in the dim room. But I can’t be so sure of that, especially once the corner of his lips begins to tilt upward.

And I can feel the faint caress of his gentle fingers against my hair.

twenty-one

Grayson

Ilied. I lied so hard. I can’t stop thinking about her. That goddamn girl. I’m as angry as I am infatuated with her apparently.

Dani.

Fucking Danielle Beckett.

Who else in their right mind would do a fucking strip tease for the random guy watching them through a window?

But no. She just had to go and do it. And it had me harder than fucking steel.

Maybe that’s why I lost all good judgment and took her note. I didn’t even fucking need it to send that text, but I had to see for myself if it was even real. Not just a hallucination my brain conjured up to fucking torture me. As if I wasn’t already confused as hell and frustrated and—and fucking addicted to her.

But no. It was real. And I really did send that text without even a second of hesitation. A bold fucking move on both of our parts. I swear it’s like she is begging for trouble. No self-preservation. Running headfirst into terrible ideas.

But God. I can’t complain. Her little show was like sinking into a wet dream. And she was soaked.

A perfect, round, plump ass in the air just waiting for my hand to paint it red. Her thighs, so smooth, thick, fleshy. I want nothing more than to be smothered between them. And all of it was on display, just for me.

But it wasn’t you though, was it?

It was the mask. The protector. The shadow.

Not me. Not Grayson. Not her brother’s asshole best friend, who inadvertently caused not one, but two of the worst nights of her life. Dani would probably kill me if she knew the truth—knew it was me.

Well, actually…

After that little once over she gave me after Cay and I were sparring in the garage, and then the nervous way she was acting when we were watching movies last night? It was a lot like the way she used to act when she was younger, and the guys would tease her about having a crush on me. So…perhaps she wouldn’t be too opposed to find out it’s me.

I could feel the heat in her eyes as she looked over my chest and down my torso the other day.