Page 23

Lilly

“Lilly?” Greyson’s knuckles tap against the bathroom door softly.

“Yes?” I call out, grabbing the large blue towel from the rack a nd tightening it around my body.

“I got you some clothes.”

Clothes, duh! While I wouldn’t have minded wearing the clothes I wore yesterday. I did however fall asleep in them. So, a fresh pair of clothes—even if they’re not mine—sounded far better.

Walking over to the door, I unlock it and peek my head out to see Greyson pulling a pair of sweats up his legs and I gulp when he adjusts his cock.

Fuck.

Stop looking, stop looking …

No doubt feeling my stare, his head snaps up and he smiles. Walking over to the bed, he picks up a pile of clothes. “The sweats might be a little big, but they have a string that you can tighten.”

Holy fuck. He’s shirtless too, and he has a silver chain hanging from his ne ck…why is that so hot? And why is my mind telling me to rake my nails along his defined chest.

And why am I still staring?

Smiling, I keep one hand enclosed around the towel so I don’t accidentally scar him for life, while extending the other to grab the clothes. “Thank you, I won’t be long.”

“Take your time.” I watch the muscles on his back tighten as he turns and walks away.

Oh my god.

Closing the door, I lean my back against it and inhale a sharp breath. The room suddenly feels ten times warmer than it was before, and my heart beats hard against my chest, hard enough to leave a bruise.

No fantasizing about your fake boyfriend Lilly! I have to repeat this several times in my mind as I dry myself off and put the clothes he’d given me on.

But he’s hot, and his body …no! Shaking my head from all the thoughts circulating, I tie a knot into the sweatpants and give myself a mental pep talk before opening the bathroom door with my old clothes in hand.

Greyson stands near his dresser, now fully clothed, much to my disappointment. Omg, stop! Scolding myself again, I walk over to my bag and place my clothes inside, just as he comes to stand beside me.

“Ready to go?” He asks.

Not trusting myself to speak without fumbling over my words, I nod my head and rake a hand through my wet hair.

Following him down the stairs, we hear various voices coming from the kitchen which has Greyson stopping at the bottom of the stairs. Spinning to look at me, he g ives me a questionable look like I know what’s going on.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he takes hold of my hand and walks in the direction of the kitchen. And once we walk past the threshold, the first thing I see is Chase by the stove, with Theo peering over his shoulder.

“Fuck off, Jenkins.” Chase growls.

“But it smells soooo nice.” Theo groans.

The smell of chocolate chip pancakes travels through the air, and my stomach grumbles loudly making Greyson chuckle.

“Are my eyes deceiving me, or are you making breakfast—pancakes nonetheless.” Greyson speaks, which causes all eyes to trail to us.

“Oh, look what the cat dragged in.” Theo smirks in our direction as he walks around the island.

The same island Hunter and Nina are currently sitting at.

Oh fuck , Nina.

“Hey,” she smiles, looking at me confused. “What are you doing here?”

“Greyson was helping me with something, and we fell asleep.” I say at the same time Greyson says. “She was helping me with something, and we fell asleep.”

Laughing awkwardly, I scratch my neck. “We were collectively helping each other.”

“Well, come sit.” She smiles, tapping the empty chair beside her.

Walking toward her, I take a seat in the same chair I was in last night when I kissed Greyson. Lifting a finger to my lip, remembering the feeling of his lips on mine, my eyes trail over to him as he stands with his back facing me, making a coffee and talking with Chase.

“So, the real reason you’r e here?” Resting her elbows on the counter, Nina turns toward me and smirks.

Starting “phase one” of our agreement, but I can’t exactly tell her that.

“We needed to set some ground rules for this fake dating thing,” I shrug. “And we were both free yesterday, so he invited me over.”

“Here,” Greyson places a steaming mug of coffee before me. “I added the same creamer you had last night, is that okay?”

He remembered?

Smiling, I grab the mug and lift it to my lips. “Yes, thank you.”

“Pancakes?” Chase asks, placing some down on top of the stack that’s already in the middle of the counter.

“If there’s enough,” I say. “I don’t want—”

“More than enough,” he cuts me off, pushing an empty plate toward me. “Help yourself to as many as you want.”

“Thank you.”

“Honestly, take as many as you can,” Theo jumps into the chair beside Hunter and begins filling his plate high. “Because Chase never cooks breakfast, he’s only making it because Nova is here.”

Is that the girl he was with last night? Is she his girlfriend?

“I second that!” Hunter mumbles over a mouthful of pancakes.

“Gross!” Nina giggles, smacking his arm.

A smile forms on my lips as I watch the two of them interact. Seeing one of your best friends loved up—even if she can’t see it herself—is a feeling I can’t even describe. And if anyone deserved love in this world, it was her.

“Ugh, I’m never drinking again.” A female voice sounds from behind us.

Spinning a round, a girl—I’m guessing Nova—walks into the room wearing Chase’s jersey, with her brown hair tied up in a messy bun. Rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands, she walks closer and pulls the chair out beside Greyson, slumps down, and slams her head against the marble counter.

“I’m dying,” she cries out. “Actually, I think death would be less painful.”

“Drama queen as always,” Chase rolls his eyes as he places a cold glass of water in front of her and two pills. “Serves you right.”

Lifting her head up, she points a finger at him. “You’re meant to be giving me sympathy, not scolding me.”

Snickering under my breath, I grab two pancakes from the pile and place them onto the plate. Pursing my lips, I look around the counter for some syrup because you can’t have pancakes without syrup, that’s the one rule my dad always told me.

“Eat.” Chase demands, pushing a plate stacked with about five pancakes toward Nova.

“Woof, woof.” She barks, shoving one into her mouth.

Holding in a laugh, I lean forward and search the counter for the syrup. Locating it in front of Theo, I ask Nina to grab it. Passing it to me, I thank her and pour a generous amount onto the pancakes before digging in.

As we begin eating, conversations are thrown in here and there, but for the most part, it’s silent. Demolishing the last pancake, I slump back into the chair and place a hand over my stomach, letting out a satisfied sigh.

“Holy fuck.” Nova gasps loudly, making me jump.

“Nova, inside voice.” Chase grumbles.

My head snaps in her direction, and I see her already looking this way with her mouth gaped open. “You girls are fucking gorgeous.”

Pushing a strand of hair behind my ear, not believing her, I smile as Nina says. “Thank you, so are you.”

“Sorry,” she winces. “I’m not usually this rude…I honestly didn’t notice you both sitting there otherwise I would’ve said hi sooner.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I wave her off.

I know what it’s like to be hungover and not take in your surroundings, your mind is focused more on getting rid of the banging headache than anyone sitting around you.

“I’m Nova.” She smiles, leaning over the counter to get a better view of us.

“Lilly.” I smile back.

“Nina.”

“So…are you girls dating any of these losers? Omg ,“ looking in Chase’s direction, she gags. “Don’t tell me one of you is dating him .”

So, she’s not dating him?

Theo laughs from further down the island. “Nina and Hunter are fucking—ow dude, what the fuck?” He hisses as Hunter smacks the back of his head. “It’s not my fault I almost walked in on you, again .”

“Theo, shut up.” Hunter growls.

“Fine, I’ll shut up,” rolling his eyes, he grins. “Oh, Lilly and Greyson are also fake dating.”

Looking between Greyson and me with an amused look on her face, she says. “Fake dating?”

“Yeah…it’s a long story.” I reply, awkwardly scratchi ng my ear.

“In other words, they don’t want to talk about it,” Chase stands and starts collecting the plates and turns his attention toward Nova. “Anyway, didn’t you tell mom you was gonna be home before lunch?”

Mom?

Glancing between them, the puzzle connects. How didn’t I realize? They’re literally identical with their green eyes and dark hair.

“I’m meeting a friend for lunch before driving home,” she grins at him. “Mom already knows, I texted her before I came down.”

“You have friends?” He gasps sarcastically.

“Har, Har.”

“Who are you meeting?”

“C—what the fuck, you dick!” She cuts herself off when Chase accidently knocks a mug of coffee, which is thankfully cold, over her lap. “You’re lucky I was just about to shower.”

“Should’ve done it before you came down, you smell.”

Shoving his shoulder, she stands from the chair and turns to look at Nina and me. “It was nice meeting you girls.”

“You too.” I smile.

“And you.” Nina beams.

“Lilly, maybe we’ll see more of each other in the future.” Winking, she spins on her heel and runs out of the kitchen, giggling to herself.

What the fuck does that mean?

Scrunching my eyebrows, I look at Greyson. “Ignore her,” he laughs, resting his hand on my thigh. My body erupts in goosebumps, and I gulp. “She’s a weird girl.”

“Weird is an understatement.” Chase snorts.

Okay…but why do I feel like I’m mis sing something.