“I am so sorry about this.” I look at him with an embarrassed smile. “I’m sorry about them.” I turn my narrowed eyes to each of my friends, who are now wearing innocent puppy dog eyes.
Grayson smirks. “I’m assuming they know?” I nod. “If that’s the case, then we should all have lunch or dinner sometime soon.”
The hummingbirds flutter back into my stomach as all my friends make some sort of shocked noise, then try to mask it and agree to meet up sometime soon.
“Once Emma has her schedule sorted out for the spring semester, we can do it then.”
I’m still smiling like an idiot at the guy I’m falling for—a little too quickly—when Levi bumps my shoulder. “Right, sorry.” Grayson bites his lip at my reaction. “We’re not talking to any of the higher-ups until January, when we come back, since my article is coming out tomorrow. It’s a decision on both of our ends. For his work and mine.”
All of them nod in understanding.
“Keeping secrets is this group’s specialty,” Jake says proudly, although it doesn’t sound great if you’re not in on the joke.
Grayson examines him skeptically. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Kamila shoots the group a look. “We’ll leave you two lovebirds alone. Bye, Ems, and bye, Professor.”
He bristles. “Please, call me Grayson.”
“Yeah, calling him ‘Professor’ is my thing.” I wink at him, and for the first time ever, he looks a little sheepish at my flirting, clearing his throat as he says bye to the group.
Jake leans down, and whispers, “I hope he’s as good as the guys in your books.”
“Better. Much, much better,” I reply, remembering the last time we were together in bed, with me on top while he ate me out and I blew him.
My friend grins broadly and walks away.
Sighing and focusing on Grayson, I apologize yet again.
“Come here.” He opens his arms and gives me a slow, lingering kiss.
I smile against his lips. “You invited my friends to come out with us.”
His eyes soften as they have been doing for a while now. I have a feeling I know what he’s trying to convey, but until he says the words, I won’t get my hopes up. “You have a tight-knit group there. Something tells me that I need in.”
Wrapping my hands around his neck, I stand on the tiptoesof my five-inch heels. “Even if they are all in their early twenties?”
He shrugs. “You’re in your early twenties. They’re nice people and part of your life. Besides, I’ve already started getting to know them at the soup kitchen, and they’re like a mix of my siblings and my best friend. Chaotic, fun, and sweet.”
The hummingbirds’ wings keep on flapping. “That about sums it up.”
We kiss one last time. “So…about that whipped cream?”
I nod enthusiastically. “Let’s go do that.”
He chuckles and helps me into his truck.
Oh yeah, I’m falling for him. Hard and way too fast.
Chapter Thirty-Six
EMMA
Iflip through the pages of my article in theDriscoll Wolf Weeklyas I drink my latte at The Howler. Thank God this place is open on Saturdays.
When I saw the large title on the front cover:The Unconventional Cook: A Look at the Person Behind the Professorship, I sent a picture to my family and to Grayson, who’s helping out at his friend’s restaurant in Poughkeepsie today. He told me he’d go online to read it as soon as he’s on break, which should be in about an hour. As I look at the pictures from the photo shoot—one in the lab, and one of him and Marina talking to a group of people in the soup kitchen—I grin.
Not only is this article something I’ve been working on for months, but it also reflects our journey of getting to know one another. Although the piece reads like a professional article, it is a feature, meaning I am telling a story—his story. The one the world has never heard but is very much needed.
