Chapter 22 Paige
Chapter 22
Paige
Thankfully, there were no inappropriate questions for Coach Ray. It ended up being a very standard hockey interview. We covered his experience as a coach, his thoughts on the season so far, and his plans for the playoffs. I’d actually found it really interesting, if a little less fun than my time with each of the players.
The whole thing took longer than I expected though, and it was late by the time I arrived back at the Darlings’. As I walked through the front door, I was surprised to find the house quiet. It was usually abuzz with noise, and it was rare not to hear sounds of the boys shouting, fighting, and laughing—or at the very least, the TV blaring, video games firing, and music thumping from Cammie’s room. Right now, it was so peaceful I suspected I might be alone.
“Hello?” I called out.
“In here!” Gray replied.
I took a moment to try to dislodge a flurry of nerves that erupted in my chest. I hadn’t felt quite like myself since the interview with Grayson, and I didn’t know how long I could keep acting like everything between us was normal, especially if it was just the two of us here.
I followed his voice to the kitchen. “I thought you left before me,” he said as I entered the room. “What took you so long?”
“I had to go back to...” My voice trailed off as I realized Grayson was standing by the counter with an array of ingredients laid out in front of him. “What’s going on here?”
“Dinner.” His deep voice was gruff. “Mom has a flat tire so I’m getting it ready. Want to help?”
I snorted with disbelief. “Uh, are you really ready for round two of my cooking? I may have enjoyed the process, but we both know I was a disaster.”
“Well, consider this a coaching session then. We’re making pizza.”
“You can’t cook,” I scoffed, but quickly began to doubt myself. “Can you?”
“Looks like there’s more than one thing you don’t know about me.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” I think I needed to see Grayson cooking to believe it.
“So, why did you have to go back?” he asked as he turned to take something out of the fridge.
“Oh, uh, to interview Coach Ray. Bonnie forgot to tell me she wanted him too.”
“And . . .”
“And what?”
“Are the students of Ransom going to be horrified by the details of his first kiss?”
“No.” I laughed. “His set of questions were different, thank God. No first kiss and no details about his underwear. I guess Bonnie doesn’t hate me after all.”
“I guess not.” Grayson closed the fridge and returned to his ingredients on the counter.
“So, where is everyone?”
“Dad’s still at work, Cammie’s with Mom, and Parker and Reed went to help them with the flat.”
“Not you?”
“Just how many Darlings do you think it takes to change a tire?”
“Hmm. I guess four is enough.”
“Exactly,” he replied. “Besides, Reed is the expert when it comes to cars. I think Parker went along just to watch and laugh.”
“Probably,” I agreed, before taking a closer look at the food laid out across the countertop. “When did you learn to cook? I’m guessing it wasn’t your mom who taught you. Definitely not your dad.” Danny knew his way around a barbeque, but the one time he’d tried to cook Sunday dinner in the kitchen he nearly burned the house down. He was pretty much banned from cooking anything after that—even toast.
“Uh, no.” Grayson chuckled. “Remember how I used to mow my grandma’s lawn every Sunday afternoon before family dinner?”
“Yeah . . .”
“Well, I’d help her cook dinner once I was done. I’d probably help Mom in the kitchen more often, but hockey doesn’t leave me with a lot of free time.”
“Huh.” The food at Darling family dinners had certainly gone downhill since Grayson’s grandma had moved into the nursing home and his mom took over the cooking. Gray’s training regime was pretty full-on, so it wasn’t all that surprising he didn’t have the time .
I walked over to stand at the counter beside him. “Okay, Gordon, where do we get started?”
“Gordon?”
“Yeah, Gordon Ramsay. I feel like you two have quite similar personalities. Although, I hope you’ll keep any brutal insults about my cooking skills to yourself.”
I could practically feel the heat of his scowl on me as I grinned and picked the recipe up off the table. I gave it a brief glance before dropping it back down. “This doesn’t look too hard.”
“I’m not sure you’re the best judge of that. Did you even look at the muffin recipe?”
“Of course I looked at it.”
“Did you follow it?”
“Uh, sure.” He didn’t look convinced, so I added, “Besides, this is just pizza dough and there are, like, three instructions.”
There was a pained look in his eyes that made me laugh. Gray clearly enjoyed cooking. I imagined he was going to seriously struggle with me being here to mess it all up.
“Perhaps I should be more of a quiet observer,” I suggested as he carefully measured a cup of flour and poured it into the sifter.
“Are you trying to avoid getting your hands dirty?”
“You’re sifting flour, Gray. You’re hardly getting your hands dirty. Besides, maybe I prefer watching you like this.”
“Like this?” He gave me a confused look and then glanced down at his chest and the “Kiss the Chef” apron strapped around him. “It’s the apron, isn’t it?”
I let out a giggle that was shockingly similar to my nervous laugh. I’d never seen Grayson the chef before, but I had to admit, it was a seriously good look on him. And I was way too tempted to do what it said on his apron.
“Yeah, I guess it is,” I said, causing a dazzling smile to appear on his lips.
He had absolutely no idea of the devastating effect he had on me when he smiled like that. Grayson didn’t smile often. And when he did, it was rare to see anything more than a subtle curving on his lips. But that was clearly for good reason. His unrestrained smiles made my knees go weak. They always had. Only now, I was beginning to realize that most friends didn’t make you weak at the knees. Most friends didn’t make your heart race. And most friends didn’t make your skin sizzle with a simple glance.
It seemed like my confusing feelings for Gray had appeared out of nowhere. But maybe they’d been building since the first time we met, and he stumbled over my name. I’d always cared so deeply about him, but I figured it was just part of our incredible friendship. Staring at him now, seeing that smile of his, I knew it was so much more than that.
He glanced up at me and frowned. “You okay there, Pidge?”
No wonder he was frowning, I was staring at him in wonder, like I’d just spotted a rainbow after the rain—something beautiful and unexpected that had appeared out of a storm, and I couldn’t drag my eyes away for fear it would disappear.
“Pidge?”
“Uh, yep, I’m okay.” But even the gentle way he said my nickname had my insides softening.
“You don’t look like you’re okay. I know seeing me cook is like a glitch in the matrix, but I’m not bad. I promise.”
“No, it’s not that. I’m fine.” That couldn’t have been further from the truth, and obviously I was doing an awful job of hiding it from him. He wasn’t making it easy though. I needed him to stop with the soft smiles and soothing voice. I needed him to stop looking so hot in his apron, with his sleeves rolled up above his muscular forearms. He was too much for me right now, but I couldn’t let him discover what was bubbling beneath the surface of my charged skin. I couldn’t let him discover that I’d gone and done the worst thing a friend could do. I needed a distraction.
Without another thought, I grabbed a pinch of flour and flicked it in his face.
His mouth dropped open with surprise. “What was that for?”
“I was trying to make you look more the part.”
“Really? You’re throwing flour at the guy who’s cooking your dinner?”
He looked so thoroughly unimpressed that I started to laugh. He’d finally stopped smiling, and it appeared to have broken the bubble we’d been in. Unfortunately, I’d failed to make him look any less appealing. Even with his forehead creased in a scowl, the flour caught in his hair and dusted across his cheek only made me want him more.
“You know, I never took you for the kind of girl who would attack without provocation,” he said.
“I never took you for the kind of guy who would get upset over a little flour in his hair.”
“Oh, I’m not upset,” he replied. “Doesn’t mean I’m above a little retribution though.” A devilish glint flashed in his eyes, and the next thing I knew, a handful of flour came flying at my face.
I squealed as I attempted to duck out of the way, but I wasn’t quick enough. The flour hit me and erupted, creating a thick cloud between us. It was everywhere. “Hey, that’s way more than I threw at you.”
“I never said my revenge would be fair.” He smirked, grabbing another handful from the bowl.
As I backed away, I swiped the bag of flour off the countertop and gathered the biggest handful I could.
“You know this won’t end well for either of us,” I threatened.
“You should have thought of that sooner. Never start a fight with a Darling you don’t intend to fin—”
I launched my flour at him before he could finish and raced for the other side of the kitchen counter. But Grayson was too fast, and he caught me before I could get far, wrapping his arms around me and lifting me off the ground.
“No, no, no.” I laughed as flour rained down on us.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Grayson answered with a deep chuckle as he spun me around. When my feet touched back down, I turned to face him, but he had me pinned against the kitchen counter, his strong arms gripping the marble top tightly on either side of me.
“Okay, I surrender,” I said, lifting my hands up to show him I was out of flour.
“Maybe I don’t accept.” His eyes were shimmering with delight.
My heart thundered. There was almost no space between us, and my back was pressed flat against the kitchen counter. He was leaning close, towering over me, and his dark hair fell across his forehead as he looked down. Every inch of my body felt like it was a live wire sparking, and every part of me wanted us closer still. I wanted him to take his hands off the countertop and grip my waist instead. Mine itched to reach up, touch his cheek and to draw him to me.
His smile was broad and so full of light, my breath hitched as our eyes met. I was looking at the same guy who had been my best friend for so long, but something had truly shifted. I couldn’t tell if it had happened slowly, or all at once, with just one smile, or a thousand heartbeats. But I knew everything had changed. Just when I thought I’d realized the true extent of my feelings for Grayson, I fell deeper. The way I yearned for his smiles, how I relished his scowls, how I admired his strength of heart, and how I adored his quiet kindness. It was clear I’d fallen for Grayson Darling, without even realizing it. I wasn’t confused anymore. I was in love with my best friend. And I think I had been for a long time.
As I stared at him, lost in my thoughts, Grayson’s smile dropped. His jaw seemed to tighten, and there was a tense look in his eyes as he watched me carefully. Oh god. I’d just realized I was madly in love with this guy and it was probably written all over my face. My distraction attempt had failed spectacularly.
“Paige, I—”
“Damien asked me out!” I almost shouted the words in panic.
I had shattered the moment, but at least it was a little easier to breathe as Grayson drew back from me.
“He did?”
A nod was all I could bring myself to give him in reply. My thoughts and body were in total chaos. I hadn’t intended to say that. But what else was I supposed to do? I was in love with Grayson. I loved him. And I had desperately wanted to lean in and kiss him. Even now I could feel the temptation thrumming through me. I’d been so close to sending our friendship up in flames.
Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling that, for a moment, Grayson had been looking at me like he wanted to help light the fire. That was just my love-struck mind playing tricks on me though, right?
Right?
His expression had turned heavy and he went to speak, but a gasp sounded from behind us.
“Look at this mess! What happened in here?”
Gray jumped as his mom entered the room, and my cheeks burned when I turned to see her looking around the kitchen in horror. Flour coated almost every surface and there were still some particles floating through the air around us. Gray and I were both covered in the stuff.
“First a flat tire, and now this?” Amy was shaking her head in disbelief.
“Sorry, Amy,” I said. “It’s my fault. I’ll clean it up.”
“No, it’s my fault,” Grayson added. “I’ll do it.”
Amy let out an exasperated huff. “Why don’t you both clean it up. And quick.” She sounded frustrated, but I caught her smiling as she left the room, and I thought she might not be quite as annoyed as she appeared .
Once she was gone, Grayson went to the cupboard under the sink and pulled out some cleaning supplies. “We did kind of make a mess of things, didn’t we?” he said, peering around the kitchen.
I wished the flour was the only mess I was dealing with. My thoughts were much more of a disaster than the kitchen.
He handed me a sponge and got down on his hands and knees to start cleaning. I kneeled just across from him. My mind was still whirring as I tried to figure out what to do. My plan had been to kiss Damien and hope it banished my feelings for my best friend. But that was before I realized just how strong those feelings were. How could I go through with it now?
“So, you’ve got your date with Damien, just like you wanted,” Gray said. “That’s great.”
“It is?” My heart pounded in my ears. I didn’t want him to think it was great. I wanted him to tell me to forget Damien because there was only one guy I should be with, and he was right here in front of me. I wanted to cross the line that bordered our friendship and stray into the dangerous and unknown territory of becoming something more. But I couldn’t take that risk. He was far too important to me.
“Of course it is,” he replied. “This is what we’ve been working toward, right?”
“We?”
“Yeah, I’m still your coach, aren’t I?”
“Right.” Sometimes, I really wished Grayson was a little easier to read. His face was a mask and it was impossible to know what he was thinking. Was he actually pleased for me? Did he genuinely want me to go on this date, or was his blank stare a sign of irritation? Even if he was ecstatic about something, he might still be stomping around with his resting storm face. I was usually pretty good at figuring him out, but right now I was at a complete loss .
“Then I guess you’ll still need my help,” he continued.
My stomach dipped with uncertainty. “With what?”
“I figured you’d want to practice before the big date. With me.”
“A date? With you?”
“Yep, a practice date.”
“Oh, uh, sure.” I let out a sigh. It was hard not to feel defeated. Grayson was still set on helping me get the guy. He didn’t know I’d been chasing the wrong one all along. “Sounds great,” I added. “What would we do?”
Before he could answer, more voices sounded at the front of the house. Reed and Parker had arrived home.
“I’ll figure something out,” Grayson said as he started scrubbing the kitchen floor. “Just leave it to me.”
I was in a nightmare. Grayson wanted me to go on this date with Damien, and he was even willing to help me prepare for it. At least that probably meant he hadn’t picked up on my secret feelings, but it also meant I couldn’t backtrack, because Gray would suspect something was up. I’d panicked, worked myself into a corner, and now I had two dates to worry about.
And I knew which one was making me more nervous. It might only be for practice, but the way I was feeling right now, I feared one date with Grayson might ruin me for all other guys forever .