Chapter 14 Grady
grady
. . .
“Why’re you still down there? I told you it was safe.” Cleo stared down at me from her treehouse, trying and failing not to laugh at my hesitancy. She may have thought she was slick, but I saw the twinkle in her eye. She was getting way too much pleasure from this.
I eyed the rickety ladder skeptically. “For you maybe, but we’re not exactly the same size.” Each rung on that deathtrap had groaned when she’d climbed up. I had an easy fifty pounds on her, and that was being modest. There was no way my ass wouldn’t break it.
There was also the issue of being deathly afraid of heights, but telling her I had concerns about my safety seemed like a better reason to keep both feet planted on the ground.
She laughed. “Oh, come on. Stop being such a scaredy cat. Dad has climbed up here a million times. You’ll be fine.”
Well, that made me feel a little bit better, but I still wasn’t convinced. She’d been trying to get me up this damn tree for about six months now. I’d always been able to navigate around it before, but I had a feeling my luck was running out.
“Okay. Say I got up there. What happens if it breaks on the way down? Then I’m supposed to—what? Live in a tree for the rest of my life?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
Her giggle was infectious. It was almost enough for me to throw caution to the wind and climb up, the prospect of a horrible death be damned. “Only for a year or two. Nothing long-term.”
“Uh-huh. Makes sense. Is there food up there, or will I be forced to eat leaves and twigs?”
“No. I’ll throw bags of Doritos up here so you don’t starve. Maybe a Dr. Pepper or two if you’re lucky.” She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Grady. Just get up here or else I’ll call Bishop and tell him to bring the tractor with a lift.”
“Yup! Coming.” That wasn’t a threat I wanted to mess with. I didn’t know Bishop well, but I’d never seen someone so young with such a permanent scowl. The dude always looked like he was ready to fight someone.
“Thought so!” she called, scooting back. “Now, hurry up!”
“The things I do for you,” I mumbled, blowing out a breath. I climbed slowly, testing out each rung. Every time something made a noise, I cringed. It didn’t even matter if it was from this stupid ladder or not. I didn’t want anything to send me crashing back down.
“Just keep your eyes on me, baby,” Cleo cooed, blowing me a kiss. “And how I’ll reward you once you make it.”
I paused, raising a brow in question. “A reward, huh?”
Her nod was the only answer I needed. Only a few feet separated, so I hurried up the final rungs and hopped inside.
She squealed as I grabbed her waist, hauling her into my arms. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I peppered kisses along her cheek and neck.
“Well, shit. Why didn’t you say so earlier?
” I asked, setting her on her feet. “I’d have jumped right up here. ”
Cleo swatted at my chest. “You’re the worst. I don’t understand why you threw a fit to begin with.”
“Uh, because I value my life. I’m far too young and handsome to die at the hands—or rather, trunk—of your childhood treehouse,” I said, taking a seat against the wall.
The space was exactly as I had always expected it. Dark wood and dusty floors with the occasional spider web in the corner. But there were also so many little pieces of her scattered around. Old pictures lined the faded blue walls, and handmade vases with fake flowers sat on the shelves.
Cleo sat down in front of me, bracing her hands on my thighs. “You’re definitely too handsome to die. Not to mention how hard it’d be for me.”
“Oh yeah?” I tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Would you miss me?”
She looked down and bit her lip. “So much. And then I’d have to go through the trouble of finding another super-hot boyfriend who plays guitar and knows how to ride horses. It’d be a whole thing.”
“Damn, that’d suck. Maybe you shouldn’t make the one you have risk his life to climb a freaking tree.”
Cleo laughed as I kissed her again. I meant for it to be quick—nothing more than a peck I’d steal from her when we were around our parents or between classes at school—but goddammit, I couldn’t tear myself away.
Kissing Cleo was like finally nailing the hardest part of a song after months of practice.
It was a rush, a high like no other. Except I think I loved it more than music or the thought of getting out of this small town for good.
I loved it so much I often dreamed about it every night.
Which, admittedly, made for an awkward morning sometimes when my mom came in to wake me up.
I didn’t know what it was about her that made it so different. I’d dated other girls before her, but they didn’t compare. Not by a long shot. I think part of me had known that since our first date.
The two of us had fallen hard and fast for one another, and there was no sign of slowing down.
Without realizing, we’d planned our lives together.
It wasn’t intentional; it just kind of happened.
From conversations about which colleges we were looking at and what jobs we wanted to do afterward as we drove to school, to asking the big questions about marriage and babies when we were curled up in the bed of my truck.
All of a sudden, I had a future I was looking forward to.
Even if none of it happened, even if all our plans went up in flames tomorrow, I knew I wanted her by my side.
But there was one line we hadn’t crossed. One that was getting harder to ignore with each press of her lips against mine and stolen moment alone.
Cleo and I agreed to hold off on the whole sex thing until college. Some of it was out of respect for our parents, considering we spent most of our time together at her house or mine. It felt weird thinking our first time could be on a twin-sized bed that used to have Power Ranger sheets.
It wasn’t as if we didn’t know what could happen.
Both of our parents had given us the rundown when they realized Cleo and I were serious about one another.
They said they’d rather us be informed and intelligent than ignorant and stupid, which was more than I could say for some of my friends.
When I asked my best friend Cooper about it, he said his mom had turned bright red, and his dad had pulled him off to the side and given him a condom.
All things considered, we got pretty lucky.
Some part of me was still nervous, though. What if we did it and then things changed? What if we finally took that step and she realized she didn’t like me the way she thought and ended it?
Cleo climbed forward, setting herself on my lap as she threaded her fingers into my hair. Each kiss was greedier than the last, and I was trying like hell not to add to it. The last thing I needed was to embarrass myself.
“Cleo,” I said, pulling back with a groan. “You’re not playing fair.”
She giggled. “I told you there’d be a reward.”
This girl was trying to kill me. “Time with you is reward enough,” I said through gritted teeth.
I tried to think of everything I could that would prevent my body from reacting. Sports teams. Grandpa Gary’s dentures. An ice bath in the middle of winter.
Cleo leaned back. “Am I doing something wrong?”
“God, no,” I breathed. “Uh, it’s… Well, it’s the opposite.”
Her brows knitted together as she studied my face. It wasn’t until I shifted beneath her that she understood, lips parting as she looked down. “Oh.”
My chuckle turned into a groan. “Yeah. Oh.” I brought my hand up, running it through my hair. “I promise it’s not you. It’s just…”
“No, I get it,” she said, biting down on her lip. “I guess I just wasn’t thinking about that.”
“Lucky you,” I mumbled jokingly. “Sometimes I feel like it’s all I think about.”
“Really?” I nodded. “Like… in general?”
I shrugged. “Yes and no. I think about you, too.”
Her cheeks flushed, hot and pink and oh so sweet. It wasn’t hard to bring color to her face. I leaned in to kiss her again, unable to help myself when I heard something that caught my attention. “What’s that noise?” I asked.
“What noise?” she asked, pressing her lips to the corner of my mouth.
“I dunno. Chirping?”
“Well, we are in a tree,” she deadpanned, pulling back. “Birds do live in those.”
“Thank you, smartass,” I said, tickling her until she squirmed. Honestly, it wasn’t the best idea with her still on top of me. “Doesn’t it sound close to you?”
Cleo sighed, dropping her head against mine before standing and making her way toward the window. “There’s noth—” she paused, narrowing her eyes. “Oh my gosh, come look!”
I pushed to my feet and followed suit, standing behind her and caging her in against the window. “Where?”
“There!” she said, pointing to the small planter box just below where we stood.
Peering over her shoulder, I noticed the small, empty nest tucked away in the corner. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s home.”
Her elbow connected with my stomach. “Now who’s the smartass?” she muttered. “Do you think it’s being used? Maybe we scared them away.”
I didn’t know a damn thing about birds, but the thing looked old. “I dunno, honestly. Maybe?”
Cleo’s bottom lip stuck out in a pout. “That’d be cool. I hope they come back. That way, when you get stuck up here, you’ll have a friend or two to keep you company.”
I moved my hands to her hips, slipping beneath the fabric of her shirt and tickling her softly. “Oh, you got jokes, huh?”
“I didn’t want you to be worried about being alone,” she squealed, dancing out of my hold. “You seemed so worried earlier. I thought it might make you feel better.”
“The only thing that’s gonna make me feel better is getting my ass outta this tree.”
Cleo put her hands on her hips. “You hate heights that much, huh?”
“What gave it away? Was it the months of excuses or the thirty-minute pep talk you just had to give?” I teased.
She tilted her head from one side to the other. “Maybe a bit of both.”
“Well, now you know my fatal flaw. My biggest secret.”
“Oh yeah,” she deadpanned. “I’m sure it would make the front page of the Ashwood Gazette if I sent in an anonymous tip.” Her hands came up dramatically, framing the fake headline in the air. “Treehouses: Grady Wilde’s Mortal Enemy.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, especially as I saw her own lips twitch in amusement. “Listen, it’s a real fear. Just because you were a bird in your past life—”
“A bird?”
“—Doesn’t mean tree life is for me.”
“I don’t know about this past life stuff, but…” Cleo shook her head and stepped closer, intertwining our fingers before bringing them to her mouth for a kiss. “I could be your bird right now.”
My brows furrowed. “Is this supposed to be where I say something about being a bird if you’re a bird? Because I need to be honest, I don’t think I want to be.”
She groaned, dropping my hand to cover her face with her own. God, she was so damn adorable. “No, you idiot. Nevermind. I was trying to be cute, but it was stupid.”
“Oh, no, you don’t,” I grabbed her wrist and tugged her closer.
She came without effort, wrapping her arms around my waist. Her nose was pressed into my chest as she sucked in a breath.
“Lemme try that again…” I cleared my throat and felt her lips twitch through the thin cotton fabric of my T-shirt.
“If you really wanna be a bird, then I’ll—ow! ”
I looked down at the spot Cleo still had pinched between her fingers. “Don’t be a jackass.”
“I was gonna say I could be your tree, but whatever, but fine. I’ll keep the declaration to myself.”
She quirked a brow. “You know, for someone who is supposed to write music, you seem to be lacking some originality.”
I gasped in fake shock, looking down at her bemused expression. “You take that back right now, bluebird.”
I didn’t know where the name had come from, but it just rolled right off my tongue and into the open like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Bluebird?” she asked, pulling back.
I shrugged. “You like birds and the color blue, it seemed fitting.”
Her smile was soft. “I think I like that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, but there aren’t any cute tree names I could use for you, so I guess I’ll just have to call you baby.”
I pressed a kiss to her temple. “I think I can live with that.”