My eyes widened in the darkness. “So, her solution was to break into your apartment?”
“Yep. She took some of my things. Demanded to know why I didn’t message her back. She was pretty, and it’s not like Iwasdatinganyone, so there was no excuse, in her mind, that I couldn’t dateher.”
“What the hell? She thought that’d work?”
Grey gave a short laugh. “I think she was suffering from a severe mental break. But still…” He didn’t finish his sentence.
In the lingering silence, I could feel that he was downplaying just how traumatic it had been to have a crazed fangirl break into his apartment.
“Sounds awful,” I said. “I’d probably be weird around people too.”
“It wasn’t the first time things got weird,” Grey said. “Lots of people after concerts just want to get a handful of you. To touch you no matter how much you don’t want to be touched.”
“Jesus, does that still happen?” I’d never been backstage at one of his shows. He’d only ever caught up to me afterward. There could have been plenty of time for harassment in the interim. I wondered how much I’d missed.
“Not so much anymore,” Grey said. “Things calmed way down once Carina and I started dating. I guess, when I was single, everyone thought they had a chance with me. But once I was taken, people realized I wouldn’t suddenly fall in love with one of them.”
Ouch.I hadn’t expected anything he told me to hurt, but that last sentence did.I wouldn’t suddenly fall in love with one of them.I wasn’t just some random person to him. I knew that. He likely wasn’t even talking about me.But why does my heart ache like he just said that he would never fall in love with me?
Grey yawned loudly. “I’m getting sleepy,” he said, rolling onto his side.
In the dark, I couldn’t tell which way he was facing, but I assumed it was away from me.
“Good night, Ethan.”
“Good night,” I whispered back. “See you in the morning.”
I rolled onto my side, facing away from Grey. For some reason, tears welled in my eyes once again. Even though Grey had acknowledged that we weren’t just friends, he’d basically just said that he was staying with Carina.Oh, I guess that’s the reason I’m crying.Sleep was nowhere in sight. Thankfully, I didn’t have to hide the tears from anyone this time. I just let them slide quietly onto my pillow. Time passed, but I had no way of knowing how long I cried. My phone was on the other side of the room.
Then I felt a movement behind me—then across my chest.
I froze for a second before realizing that Grey had wrapped an arm around me. And just like that, I melted into him. Tears dried as quickly as they’d formed. I didn’t think about the implications of him holding me in that bed. I didn’t think about much of anything. My brain was tired, and my body relaxed.
Before I knew it, I’d fallen asleep in Grey’s arms.
Chapter 18
Too Close to the Sun
Iwoke up certain the previous night had been a dream. There was no way I’d danced with Grey and certainly no possibility he’d held me as I fell asleep. I kept my eyes closed, remembering how Grey’s arms had felt in my dreams—so strong, so safe. So real.
The memories of my dream were comforting and warm in my bed. I didn’t want to open my eyes and force myself to face reality. A reality where Grey would never hold me like that. But I was awake, and I had to get up eventually. After a while, I decided that it might as well be now.
When I opened my eyes, it was to see Grey lying across from me in bed, and I realized everything I’d remembered about last night had actually happened. Elation rushed through my veins, only to be quickly tamped down by the reality of the situation. Sure, he’d danced with me and held me as we’d drifted off to sleep, but the fact still stood that he would choose Carina.
I thought about waking Grey, but I couldn’t help but take a selfish moment to watch him sleep. His mouth was open, his shoulders moving with his slow breathing. He looked so peaceful like that, curled up with his hair a mess and his lips forming anO. There were no airs put about him, nothing to measure up to. Just a guy innocently sleeping.
He stirred, cracking his eyes open at me.
“Mornin’,” he mumbled, his hair falling across his face. “Did you sleep okay?”
My mouth tugged upward of its own accord. “Like a baby.” Which was a small miracle considering how the night had been going before he’d held me.
“I’m glad.” Grey reached up to touch my hair. The moment he made contact, he froze. As if his brain had just caught up to what his body was doing. Clearing his throat, he took his hand back and sat up. “We should get going,” he said, checking his phone. “Checkout’s in an hour.”
I frowned, hating how he’d pulled away so quickly. But I had to remind myself of our reality. Sighing, I got out of bed. “Dibs on the bathroom first.”
Before he could protest, I’d locked myself in the restroom.
