Laughing, I tell her, “I’m good, it was great, and work was exhausting but never boring as per usual.” I look at Levi through the review mirror. “Are you going to drive or what?”
He apologizes to Stevie and throws a wink at me as his way of apologizing.
Well, it’s better than nothing.
“Was Grayson able to get anything out of Jake?” Levi turns onto the highway.
I’d pushed Grayson to try to get some information from Jake discreetly, but men are useless when it comes to that kind of shit. He tried to ask, then some guyish subject came up, and they got drunk. Needless to say, it wasn’t even worth trying.
“I got nothing. I barely know what they spoke about.” I rest my head against the window.
“He’ll tell us when he’s ready,” Levi says, lacking the usual confidence in his voice.
It’s been a while since Jake got back from Aspen, and he hasn’t told us much, only about how much he skied. When we asked about the girl he was pictured with more than once, he kept changing the subject. The three of us talked afterward, knowing something was up and that there was more to the story. Whether it’s about his parents, the mystery girl, or something else, we don’t know, but we’ll find out…somehow.
“Yeah, he will.”
“So,Grayson told me his new restaurant in Driscoll will be up and running in a month or so.” Jake lifts his third neat whiskey and downs it, already sounding a little tipsy.
My eyes narrow toward Kami, who looks at me questioningly as well. Jake doesn’t usually get drunk unless we’re at a party, and we’re currently in an extremely nice restaurant on theUpper West Side. It seems, though, like he and Grayson got along well last night, as both of them reassured me dozens of times before we sat down to eat. Then I saw it happen in real time while we ordered food and received our appetizers. They have inside jokes and everything.
The rest of my friends have already gotten to know Grayson. It reminds me a bit of when we met Cameron and how, after a few hangouts, he fit right in.
“How the hell did you pull that off?” Cam asks from next to Kami, where the seven of us are seated at a round table.
Grayson grabs my hand under the table and intertwines our fingers, then picks up his fork with his left hand. “The place was already a restaurant. I’m just changing a few things, and I knew some people who could expedite the permits.”
That’s when I realize he didn’t notice what he did with our hands. We’re officially at the point in our relationship where we’re so used to each other’s mannerisms and the way we touch in public that it’s instinctual.
I look up at him as he talks, and when he’s finished, Grayson’s blue-green eyes meet mine and soften, with crinkles forming at the corners.
“Hi, love,” he whispers. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”
Shrugging, I decide not to tell him my realization.
“Just that I love you.”
Grayson raises an eyebrow. “I love you too, but I know that’s not it.”
Lifting my fork and popping a cherry tomato in my mouth, I smile innocently. “That is all, I swear.”
After I finish chewing, with Grayson’s stare still fixed on me, he lifts the napkin from my lap and gently wipes the side of my mouth. The intimate gesture already has me ready for him, and he knows it.
A small smirk plays on his lips before he smoothly places the cloth napkin back on my legs, then gives me a swift kiss on thelips, followed by one on my forehead, and finally one on my nose.
My heart swells twice as big as I giggle at his playfulness, and my friends “aww” at our interaction. At that, I flip them off, hearing the mockery in their tone.
Grayson leans in again as we share dessert. “I’m so lucky that you’re mine.”
It catches me off guard, not the statement itself, but that he said it in front of my friends, even if it was quiet. Kamila, who’s next to me, hears it. She pretends not to, but I can tell by her expression.
Turning my face, I grin, and the hummingbirds find their way in. The flap of their wings is always there in my stomach when he’s near me or when I think about him. Other times, they’re not as strong; however, now, they’re as powerful as ever.
His eyes examine every detail of my face, and he continues to stroke my thumb with the hand that’s been intertwined with mine for the past forty minutes. “I decided on the name of the restaurant,” he casually says.
“Yeah?”
Grayson nods. “But I need your permission to use it.”
