9. Grayson
Grayson
Rae is acting weird.
I don’t know what it is. She’s being more quiet than usual and she won’t look at me. If she does, she looks away quickly.
Maybe I took it too far giving her my jersey to wear. Especially if she’s talking to some other guy. She wouldn’t, right? She’s wearing it and the sight has me struggling to focus on anything else. Including the road.
Once we get to her house, she’s still acting off, and doesn’t get out of my car right away. She sends a quick text and looks almost nervous. My mind immediately goes to if she’s talking to another guy, if he’s supposed to be here with her.
She just looks out the window at her house, and I don’t know what she’s thinking but I do want to figure out why she’s acting like this.
So I ask if she wants to hang out.
It’s not out of the ordinary, we’ve always hung out either with our brothers, cousins or alone. It’s not a big deal. Yet, right now it feels different, but I’m blaming it on how she’s acting.
We go inside; I walk ahead of her to turn on the lights because I can’t tell if she’s scared of what’s going on. But I’m going to find out.
Especially since she’s still standing near the entryway of her house looking at me and twisting her hands together.
“What’s going on?” I finally ask.
“Hm? Nothing,” she lies, badly I might add.
I drop myself onto her couch and pat the cushion next to me. “Bullshit, try again.”
She sighs, walking over and sitting on the other end of the couch. “Nothing is wrong. I think your exhaustion rubbed off on me.”
“Want me to leave so you can go to sleep?”
Rae shakes her head. “No, I’m okay.”
“Okay, well then you can actually tell me what’s going on.”
“Nothing,” she groans. “Why do you think something is wrong?”
“You’re being quiet and refuse to look at me.”
Her eyes shoot up to mine as if to make a point. “Am not.”
“Are you seeing someone?” I ask, needing to make sure. She’s never mentioned anyone, and I know she would.
“No, you’d know if I was.”
“Mhm,” I hum, then look down at the jersey she’s still wearing and pride blooms in my chest. “You look good in that, you know?”
Her cheeks flush, but she looks away trying to hide it again, and I want to pull her chin back to keep her looking at me, blush and all.
“Why’re you acting weird?” I ask again.
“I’m really not,” she insists. “I’m just tired. I should change and go to bed.”
Instead of doing that, she doesn’t move. “Or you could lay down here and we could watch a movie.”
Rae beams because I know a movie is one of the surefire ways to get her to relax. Movies and music always manage to calm her.
“Can we watch the new Lyvia Wolf one? I’ve wanted to see it, but never had time.”
“Anything you want.”
I grab the remote and open my arms, welcoming her to lay down like I know she wants to. And for the first time tonight things feel normal. She scoots over, laying her head in my lap, stretching her legs out on the couch while I search for the movie she wants.
Looking down to see her head resting on my lap, I smile at the sight. She sinks into me, her red hair is spread out and it seems so soft I just want to run my fingers through it.
She twists to look up at me. “Are you going to start it?”
I realize I’ve just been looking at her, and fumble with the remote to press play.
I don’t miss the small smile on her lips before she turns back to watch the screen.
I try to pay attention, but it’s really hard because all I can focus on is the weight of Rae’s head in my lap.
My fingers itch to brush through her hair. To hold her hand. To feel more of her.
Rae’s breathing slows down as she falls asleep and I finally give into the urge to run my fingers through the red strands. I was right about how soft they are. She lets out a small, sleepy moan, shifting and I freeze. Instead of her moving away from me, she snuggles closer and I relax again.
This feels so natural. Just like most everything between us, this isn’t the first time she’s fallen asleep on my lap. It wouldn’t even be the first time we’ve spent the night together. The only things we haven’t done are crossing the line into more.
The movie ends, and I still don’t move, I don’t want to. I will stay here like this all night just so I don’t have to disturb her. When I try to move to get slightly more comfortable, Rae mumbles, and rolls onto her back, opening her sleepy eyes to look up at me.
“How was the movie?” she asks.
I huff out a small laugh. “You missed a good one.”
I think it was good, I wasn’t paying attention for more than a few seconds.
“Damn, I guess I’ll have to watch it again.” She sits up, stretching her arms and I take in the fact that she’s wearing my jersey. There’s a weird wave of possession at the sight. “What’re you looking at?”
“You.” Always you.
“Your mom gave me some shit about trading out my Colver jersey for a Wheeler one.” She smiles. “But don’t worry, I didn’t tell her that I’m probably one of many.”
I tilt my head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“Gray, do you realize how many women wear your jerseys to your games?”
“I guess fans do.” I shrug. I never really think about that. It doesn’t matter to me, she’s the only one I’ve given a jersey to.
“Come on, we both know you’re not a saint, especially on your road trips.”
I’m so confused on where this is coming from, especially from her. She twists her hands in front of her, one of the only tells she has that she’s nervous.
“Sunshine, are you calling me a slut?” I jokingly gasp.
She smiles, looking down at her hands, then stops twisting them. “I just know how you athletes can be. The teams aren’t the only ones with a roster.”
“I think you’re confusing me for our brothers. Easton and Nash are the sluts around here.”
“Oh come on.” She rolls her eyes. “You know you can have any woman you want. The guys in my band are the same way.”
“I’m not your band.” I chuckle.
“Maybe I have a roster too,” she announces.
The thought sends a pang through my chest. I clear my throat. “Do you?”
She stands up with a mischievous look on her face, but doesn’t answer.
I stand up as well, not leaving a lot of space between our chests.
Her blue eyes look up into mine, much brighter than they were when she first opened them.
They’re focused on me, and then they trail from my eyes down to my mouth.
My heart rate increases and my skin feels hot.
“Maybe,” she repeats softly, looking back up into my eyes.
“Well, I don’t,” I affirm, reaching out to move the piece of hair that’s fallen in front of her eyes, obscuring my view.
I want her to know that, and I may regret this for years to come. I may want to kick myself in thirty seconds from now but after seeing her at my game, wearing my jersey. Looking at me like this.
Reaching up, I cup her cheek, forcing her to look into my eyes. “There’s only one woman I’d want on my roster.”
Her breath catches, eyes volleying between mine, and leans into my touch. “Who?”
I smile. “The only woman I think about as soon as I wake up and before I go to bed. The only woman who has been there for me my entire life. My favorite person in the entire world.”
Before I can overthink anything else, I lean forward, pressing my lips against hers for the first time. I don’t think anything has ever felt as good as this moment does. It takes me a second to register that this is even really happening.
Rae reaches up, gripping my shirt and pulling me into her, and I slide my hand back into her hair, to hold the back of her head and tease the seam of her lips with my tongue.
She opens for me easily, and I deepen the kiss, tightening my grip on her hair as she slides her hands up my chest and around the back of my neck.
I pull back, needing to look at her, gauge her reaction, and when I see her wide eyes staring at me it all hits me at once. I kissed Rae. My best friend. And she kissed me back.
“You’re my favorite person too,” she practically whispers, and I can’t help but crash my mouth onto hers once again.
Everything may have just changed, but I can only hope that it’s changing for the better and maybe ruining the friendship will be the best thing I’ve ever done. I never want to stop kissing her. My hands sink deeper into her hair and she sighs against my lips.
I’m the one to end it, dropping our foreheads against each other. “You should go to bed,” I tell her softly.
Rae lets out a gentle whine. “Stay with me.”
I smile, wanting to kiss her again, wanting to do more than just kiss her. “If I stay I have a feeling neither of us will sleep.”
“Mm, that’s okay,” she hums.
I shake my head before lifting it. “Come on, Sunshine, I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
She relents. Once we’re in her room, it takes all my restraint not to take her into my arms and kiss her again. Or to fall onto the bed with her, tasting her entire body, and spending the rest of the night with my face buried in her pussy.
Instead, we climb into her bed, and I hold her body tightly against mine while she quickly drifts off to sleep. I’m wide awake thinking about what just happened and what just changed. My worry is that she’ll end up regretting it. I know that I never will.