Technically, all of them died at some point. “Honestly, I don’t think so?”
Luan leans in a little closer, his lips brush mine when he says, “We’ll just write our own story then, but with a happy ending. We don’t die.”
“We will at some point in life,” I point out only to see Luan’s annoyed face again. He’s so cute when he’s trying to look mad.
“No, we won’t. We will live forever. Together. Even if it’s just in a book.”
Chapter 2
“I need you in my life, you’re my necessity”—All I Ever Need by Austin Mahone
February 2026
I finish lookingthrough the scratch book, closing it quietly so Grey wouldn’t notice I’m done here. He’s sitting by his desk, either looking out of the window or at anything that might interest him. I think he’s stuck in his head, worried about what’s to come, and I wish I could tell him everything will be alright, but I suppose we all know that after today, nothing will be the same as it was. For Grey.
Wanting to give Grey another few minutes to himself, I allow myself to look around his room. Genuinelylook, take every inch in like a stupid bedroom is as valuable as a museum. But in some ways, it is. This is where Grey grew up, where he spent most of his days at. This room is personal and gives so much away while also only bringing up more questions.
His walls are plain, there’s only one bulletin board ononewall with a couple of pictures, all ice hockey related. The only other very unlike-this-house kind of things are his hockey sticks leaning against a wall and the pucks lying on his dresser. Other than that, it’s all veryplainin here. His apartment in New York doesn’t look much different, though back there, there is at leastsomecharacter. This room is just… blank.
“Grey Davis?” I sit up, stretching. “Did you ever consider painting these walls… I don’t know, black? I think you would’ve liked black in here. Honestly, I kind of expected it to be all black, like your apartment, but nope, it’s so…white. So totally not you.”
He spins around on his chair, slightly cocking his head while offering me a somewhat confused, yet also mad frown. “First you complain about my life being too dark, and now this room is too light?”
“I’venevercomplained about your life beingtoo dark,” I say as a matter of fact. “I happen to like your darkness, actually. It allows me to brighten up those dark corners you never show anyone, then I can tell people that I know so much more about you and that they’ll never figure you out because, boy, it took meagesto even find those nasty little dark as fuck corners.”
Grey slowly lifts his head in a nod. “Yeah? Which ones did you find already?”
Probably none, really. Maybe the one about church camp and his father, but I think that’s about it. Grey Davis would never make it easy for me to find them. “Like…” I look around myself, taking in this room one last time. Then suddenly something Grey has told me a while ago makes it back to me. My head snaps toward my boyfriend, and I grin. “Like that you have never had sex with anyone in this bedroom.”
“That’s not a secret,” he argues.
“But it is, Grey Davis.” My grin widens. “Name one person, other than me and you, who knows this.”
“Doesn’t make it a secret. I’m not actively trying tohidethat information from people. It just happens to be something nobody asks about because it’s weird. I don’t go around asking Miles if he fucked someone in his childhood bedroom, which, he most definitely did because he’s been dating Em—doesn’t matter, actually. It’s not something people usuallyaskabout, let alone want to know of.”
Alright, he might have a point there. To make my loss forgotten, I change the topic. “Why did your parents name you Grey? I mean, with your siblings’ names, they should’ve thought of something that would’vefitwith theirs.” Technically, they should’ve just given Sun a different name to miss-match it as well, since she’s the youngest.
Grey rolls his eyes. “Grey’s a whole lot better than the alternative. Imagine they named me Star or Cloud or anything like that.”
“Milky Way has a nice ring to it.” I shrug.
He snorts and gets up, making his way over to me. “What elsehas a nice ringto it?” Grey lifts my face up to his with just two fingers, forcing us to lock our gazes. I don’t mind, I would die a happy death looking at him.
“Rain,” I answer. “They’d have Moon, Rain, and Sun. Everything they need to build an ecosystem, I guess?” I honestly don’t know if that’s true, I didn’t really pay much attention in biology.
“I don’t think Moon, Rain, and Sun make anecosystem, they do make for some weather changes though, which are somewhat essential, so I’ll give you a D for effort.”
“A D?!” I cross my arms over my chest. “That’s rude, Grey Davis.”
“I might know of a way that you can up your grade, if you’re interested.” He smirks, and holy shit that smirk… I’ve seen him smirk before, but none of them come close to the sight of lust-filled eyes and a somewhat smile on Grey’s face.
Grey leans down until his lips are only a breath away from mine. “But I don’t think you’re that kind of student, are you?”
So we’re talking about a whole other D, all right.
Oh, for him I’ll beanything. “Good thing I’m not a student anymore at all, huh?” I close the gap between our lips, only stealing a quick kiss from my boyfriend. “So, tell me, Grey Davis,” I reach my hands to his pants, unbuttoning his oh so beloved black cargo pants. I still don’t know who’s crazy enough to wear cargo pants near a beach, but I love this idiot either way. He’s lucky it’s February, so not allthatwarm. “What does it take for me to get an A in biology?”
His breath comes out a little shakier this time, fanning over my skin. “You’re off to a good start.”
