Chapter 7 Grayson
Chapter 7
Grayson
An intervention? My jaw clicked as I stared at the sign in Parker’s hands. An intervention for what?
“Reed...” The displeasure in my voice was clear, but out of all of them, I trusted my twin brother could be straight with me and just explain what was happening.
Instead, he simply gestured toward one of the benches. “Why don’t you take a seat?”
“I don’t want to take a seat. What’s going on?”
They were all still huddled in the corner near my locker and eyeing me with apprehension. I must have been looking about as murderous as I felt. What did they expect? This felt like the start of a breakup conversation.
“Well?” I prompted.
“Okay,” Reed said finally. “Uh, I guess I’ll start.” He took another step closer to me and let out a breath. “We wanted to get you alone so we could talk. But with Paige at our house, it’s a little difficult...”
“Why?” I demanded.
They all shared another anxious look. Whatever they were about to tell me, it must be bad. Could this be about my knee? My stomach dipped as I wondered whether they’d noticed how much I’d been struggling with it at practice. Reed had tried to convince me to take a break from hockey the last time it had caused me issues. If he thought he’d have a better chance at convincing me to take it easy with Parker, Matt, and Owen here, he was going to be severely disappointed. I was a good player, but I wasn’t a superstar like Reed. I was certain Ryker wouldn’t hesitate to pull their scholarship offer if they found out I was damaged goods. None of that explained what Paige had to do with this though. I wanted answers, fast .
“Would someone just spit it out already?”
Reed drew in a breath. “Parker told us about Paige’s bucket list.”
I stilled. That’s what this was about? Parker never should have shared the contents of Paige’s bucket list, and I was going to kill him for that later. But first, I needed to hear why the guys thought her bucket list had anything to do with me.
“So?” My voice was like ice as I urged them to go on.
“We think it’s time you and Paige stopped dancing around each other,” Matt said.
Reed was nodding beside him. “And stop pretending that being just friends is all you want.”
“You need to man up,” Parker added.
There was a pause, and they all turned to Owen, who looked like he was doing his best not to run and hide behind his older brother.
“Oh yeah, uh, it’s time to tell her how you feel,” he finally managed to say.
I was being assaulted from all angles, and I didn’t know who to direct my counterattack at first.
“What I feel is anger,” I said. “Growing by the second.”
Owen started to edge closer to Matt. Poor kid had never been on my bad side before. I might have felt sorry for him if I wasn’t so irate.
“Come on, Gray,” Reed pleaded. “Just listen to us for a minute.”
I grabbed my bags to leave. “I’ve already heard enough.”
But Parker moved to stand in front of the exit. “We know how you feel about her.”
“It’s clear you belong together,” Matt added.
I should have left Parker behind and showered at home.
“Whatever you guys think you know, forget it. I don’t like her that way,” I said. “Paige is my friend. That’s it.”
“We all know that’s bull,” Parker said. “You’ve been in love with her for years.”
“No, we’ve been friends for years.”
“Friends?” Reed shook his head at me. “You don’t look at her like she’s just a friend.”
“Of course I do.”
“No, Grayson. You look at her like her like she’s everything.”
The other guys all nodded along.
“Couldn’t have put it better myself, Reed.” Parker seemed to be the only one who was enjoying the situation.
I stared each of them down. Did I really have to spell this out? They all looked fully committed to this “intervention”, so apparently I did. “Even if it were true. And it’s not. It wouldn’t change anything. Paige doesn’t feel that way about me.”
As far as I was concerned, that should have ended the conversation. But these guys were relentless .
“Maybe she does, but she doesn’t realize it yet,” Owen suggested.
“Or maybe she would if you gave her a chance to see you that way,” Matt added.
I let out a sigh, knowing the sooner I gave in and let them say their piece, the sooner I could leave and pretend this whole thing had never happened.
“Okay, I’ll play along,” I said. “But what exactly am I supposed to do?”
“Well, the first stage of any good intervention is admitting you have a problem,” Parker said.
This all seemed so much worse when it was coming from him.
“And then . . .” I prompted through gritted teeth.
“And then, allowing your friends to help,” Reed answered and nodded at Parker.
The smirk my younger brother had been wearing since this all started grew even wider. He practically skipped across the room to where Coach Ray’s tactics whiteboard was. He wheeled it back toward us and then flipped it over so all the plays that had been scribbled on the board disappeared and were replaced by something else. It was a list. And I stared, frozen in horror, as I read the title at the top.
“Operation Shrek?”
“We could hardly call it Operation Prince Charming...” Parker laughed.
As I scanned my gaze down the list, I realized the title was the least of my worries.
Operation Shrek
Makeover. Dress nicer and get your hair cut
Compliment her — but not too much
Flirt with her — but don’t be creepy
Show your sensitive side — if you don’t have one, fake it!
Touch her more – show her you have chemistry!
Be charming — or at least try
Take an interest in her hobbies
Be less grumpy Grayson
Don’t be too clingy or too nice
If all else fails, just tell her you have feelings
“This is how we get you out of the friend zone,” Parker said proudly. “You need to show her you can be more than just a friend.”
“Be less Grayson?” I pointed at number eight on the list.
Parker shrugged. “Grumpy, Grayson; they’re pretty much the same thing.”
My lips pressed into a firm line as I took another look at the list. I didn’t want to do any of those things—especially not number ten. That was certain to drive Paige away.
“You want me to be a completely different person? Is that honestly the only way you can see Paige being interested in me?”
“Uh . . .” Parker fumbled.
“And even if I wanted your advice, which I don’t, your little list is useless to me. If you know about Paige’s bucket list, then you know she’s looking for someone to be her first kiss. And she wants that person to be Damien Stone. ”
The guys considered my argument for a while, but then Parker started to grin. “I think we can still help. What’s the one thing you’re great at in hockey?”
“One thing?” I wondered where he was going with this. “I’m great at more than one thing.”
“Sure you are.” It felt like Parker was talking to me like I was five. “Just answer the question.”
I released a pained sigh. “I don’t know. Skating?”
“No.”
“Stickhandling?”
“Definitely not. I’ll give you a clue. What did you receive the most penalties for last year?”
“Interference?” I guessed.
“Bingo.” Parker snapped his fingers.
“That’s the one thing I’m good at? How does that help?”
“We interfere with Paige’s attempts to kiss Damien.” Parker said it so simply. Like messing with Paige’s dating life was an obvious and easy choice.
“I’m not going to purposely sabotage her,” I replied. Especially not when she’d asked me to play nice. “If she wants to go after Damien, I have to respect that.”
“What about what you want?” Owen asked.
“Don’t just give up,” Matt added. “We can help.”
A part of me wished they could, but I didn’t need to look again at their whiteboard plan to “help” to know they were in way over their heads. I was alone in my feelings, and their list wasn’t going to change that. Getting a haircut or trying to be “less Grayson” wasn’t going to make Paige suddenly see me differently .
“Thanks for the intervention, guys. But you’ve got it all wrong. I really don’t need this.” I pulled my bag onto my shoulder and headed for the exit, cursing myself for not doing so earlier. The door had just closed behind me when it swung open again and my twin brother followed me into the hallway.
“I think I’ve heard enough for one night, Reed.”
He lifted his hands as though to signal he came in peace. “I know we caught you off guard.”
“That’s an understatement.”
“But we’ve been watching the two of you for years, and I know you feel more for her than you’re letting on. It’s time you did something.”
“Maybe I like things how they are,” I said. “Maybe I don’t want things to change.”
Reed released a heavy sigh, as if dealing with me made the very act of breathing an arduous task. “You said yourself, Paige is looking for another guy to be her first kiss, right? Who knows where that might lead. And I know you’re going to Ryker next year, but Paige hasn’t made any plans. She could end up anywhere. You need to make a move now, before it’s too late.”
I didn’t want to panic, but when Reed put it that way, it felt like there was a ticking clock hanging over me. It was highly likely that Paige and I would be forced to go our separate ways next year. And if she kissed Damien, I might never get her back.
“She deserves so much better than me.” I sighed.
“You’re the only person who believes that,” Reed said. “You are good enough for her. She’d be the first one to tell you.”
I hated that Reed’s words were getting to me. Tempting me in a way I’d never let myself be tempted.
“She doesn’t want me,” I argued.
“Maybe, or maybe she’s just never entertained the thought of you.”
“And what if I go after her and I lose her forever?” I sounded so pathetic. This was exactly why I didn’t talk much. You couldn’t say anything stupid if you simply kept your mouth shut.
“I guess that’s a risk you’ve got to take,” Reed replied. “But you also need to realize that doing nothing is risky too. You could lose her either way.”
I stared at my brother, absorbing his words. Maybe I wouldn’t lose her instantly, but if Paige was with some other guy, then, day by day, I’d begin to lose the parts of our relationship that were so special. At first it might be something simple, like the texts she sent me every night. But then it could be the subtle smile she only shared with me. Or worse, the way she laughed when we teased each other, and the sparkle in her eye when she coaxed a reaction out of me.
If I revealed my true feelings for Paige, I could easily crash and burn. But if I did nothing, there was just as much risk I would lose her. If that was going to happen, it had to be better to go down fighting.
“She’s staying with us for two weeks,” Reed continued. “This might be the best chance you have to show her how great you’d be together. ”
Or I might drive her away for good. My heart desperately wanted to hope, but I’d been stuck in the friend zone with her for such a long time, I didn’t know how to contemplate escape.
“Just say you’ll think about it,” Reed said. “And know you’ve got backup if you decide you want to do something.”
“Okay,” I grumbled. “I’ll think about it.”
In truth, I was already thinking about it far more than I wanted. I should be dismissing the whole thing. Paige would never see me as anything other than her friend. But what if this was my one and only chance, and I was throwing it away? What if there was a way for her to see me in another light?
I guess I had to decide if I was finally ready to take control of my own fate. And, more importantly, whether I was selfish enough to try to make Paige mine.