Page 15

Nope. Rewind. That was creepy, Jess.

We gathered our things, walked out to the parking lot, and hopped inside his car. Excuse me, hopped inside ofLady.

Was it weird to be jealous of a car? Probably. But I wasn’t jealous because I wanted to drive a car like her, even though that was a thought too. I was jealous because I wished I held the spot in Greyson’s life that Lady did. The slot ofhis girl,which it was clear Lady was.

We peeled out of the parking lot, and Greyson threw his arm up to rest on the center console, pressing it fully against the length of mine. I was sure he’d move it, but he never did, only leaving for brief intervals to shift gears before putting it back.

When I finally managed to look up at him, there was a sly smirk on his face. So, he was doing it on purpose. If he wasn’t careful, I was going to fling myself across his car and kiss that smirk right off his mouth. He seemed to register that thought as soon as it drifted through my mind and moved away, but not without shaking his head and smiling while doing so.

It was only then that I realized the direction we were heading in. And the farther we drove, the more I was sure Greyson was playing some sort of joke on me. We were getting closer and closer to my dad’s house on the opposite side of town. Had he figured out where I lived, and this was some twisted way of throwing it in my face?

I was well aware of the difference between mine and my friends’ living situations. But I didn’t consider any of it mine. I was like them. Used to the barely scraping by, welfare check to welfare check kind of life. It was why I’d never told any of my friends the truth. But I was starting to think I’d been found out, until Greyson pulled into a long driveway five estates down from my dad’s.

Turned out, Greyson lived right down the street from me.

Turned out, his family was just as rich as mine.

Fourteen Before

“NOBODY’S HOME, IFyou want to come in for a sec.”

I stared at him like an idiot. But was it just me, or did that sentence have layered meaning? Clearly, I wantedit to have layered meaning, but the sincerity of his expression told me that it was all in my head.

I cleared my throat. “Um, sure, yeah, sounds good.”

And then he got the door for me. It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but he hadn’t done that since I’d stupidly become “off limits” in his mind. And I was probably reading too much into every little thing he was doing, but it sort of felt like things were shifting. Sliding back to the way they were before.

It was confusing; he was confusing.

Or maybe it was just me and my hormones desperately wanting to make something out of nothing.

We quietly made our way up the long pathway and few short sets of stairs that led to his front doors. I didn’t know why my heart was pounding so hard. But I could feel it in my throat, and in the tips of my fingers.This doesn’t mean anything. We’re just grabbing something from his house real quick. Get it together.

But when we stepped inside his house, I just sort of…froze.

Because his house was insane.

Black and white on white and black; and marbled floors; and sparkling, ornate glass fixtures; and smooth, sharp, geometric lines; and a huge, open space that directed my attention straight to the floor-to-ceiling windows that lined the entire back wall of his house, showcasing a gigantic pool as big as a freaking lake—that overlooked green hills and an actual lake down below.

I’d thought my dad had money. This was on a whole other level.

“Jess?” Greyson was stopped halfway up his dramatically curved staircase.

“Sorry.” I moved my feet, belatedly following him. “Your house is stupid beautiful,” I admitted.

“Thanks,” he replied with a forced smile, seemingly out of habit—an automatic response.Interesting.I took note and quickly filed it away.

As I made my way up the stairs, my eyes were drawn to the picture frames that lined the walls of his staircase. Professionally taken black-and-whites of France, Italy, Greece, Morocco, Brazil…

“Does Jaymes know you live here?” I wondered out loud. I was surprised Jaymes wouldn’t have given him shit for it—or have said anything about it at all. The fact that he even liked Greyson in spite of it was kind of a shock in itself.

He laughed. “Yeah, he knows.” And I could tell he knew exactly why I’d asked.

We reached the top of the stairs, and my heart was still pounding. I couldn’t help it. But weirder than that, I felt kind of hollow all of a sudden. Because I was there, in Greyson’s house, and it felt like it should mean something, except that it didn’t. It didn’t mean anything at all.

There was no buzz of anticipation. He wasn’t holding my hand and sharing secret looks with me. I wasn’t there because his parents weren’t home and he wanted to sneak me into his room and have his way with me. He wasn’t going to lead me in there and push me onto his bed, and he wasn’t going to climb on top of me and kiss me speechless.

But I wanted that. I wanted it desperately. And it killed me that he didn’t.