Chapter 27 Grayson
Chapter 27
Grayson
As I drove Paige to the second part of our date, I was more nervous than I’d ever felt, even before big hockey games. Everything had been going well so far, but we were only partway through the evening, and there was still plenty of time for me to crash and burn.
After the restaurant, we stopped at our favorite ice-cream parlor and picked up two hot chocolates before I drove Paige out of town. A few minutes after we left Ransom, I turned off the main road onto a snow-covered dirt track.
“Where are we going?” Paige looked out the window with curiosity, but it was almost pitch-black and you could barely make out the tall trees that bordered the narrow road and towered overhead.
“You’ll see.”
Paige may have lived almost her whole life in Ransom, but I knew she’d never been out this way before. I’d only come here a few times myself with some of the guys. Matt’s grandfather owned the land, and he surrounded the whole place with large “No Trespassing” signs, but we knew it was all for show. Besides, his farm was so big there was no way he’d know we were here.
The track ended just past the edge of the woods, and a wide-open field lay before us. I pulled the truck to a stop beyond the trees, and a faint gasp escaped Paige’s lips when she saw the view. We were high up on a hill overlooking Ransom. The sun had already set, and the night sky was a deep shade of velvet blue. From our perch up high on the hillside, we could see the twinkling lights of the town below, all backlit by the moon’s subtle reflection over the fresh snow .
“It’s gorgeous,” Paige whispered, admiring the view. “How do you even know about this place?”
“Been up here a few times with Matt and the guys in the summer,” I said.
“And you never brought me?”
“It was team bonding time.”
“You hate team bonding time.”
“True.” I chuckled. “I much prefer being here with you.”
The smile that lit her face made my heartbeat pick up a gear.
She turned to look out the window once more. “Pretty good for a first date, Gray.”
I figured if I only got one chance to take Paige on a date, then I was going to do it right.
“Well, don’t speak too soon, because that’s not the view we came for. Come on.” I grabbed the hot chocolates and climbed out of the truck. Paige followed, somewhat cautiously.
“There’s a better view out here than that?” she asked as she came around the side of the vehicle.
“Yep.” I was busy pulling the cover off the truck bed. “But you’re going to have to hop up here first.”
Paige gave me a confused look and glanced over her shoulder, scanning the field behind her through the darkness.
“No, I didn’t bring you here to look at an empty field,” I said. “Just get up there, Pidge.”
Paige hesitated, but I didn’t give her more than a moment before I gently placed my hands on her waist and lifted her off the ground.
She gave a sharp intake of breath, and when I lowered her onto the tailgate she was staring directly into my eyes. For several breaths we both remained still, and every ounce of my skin vibrated at her nearness. All I could think was how close her lips were to mine.
She cleared her throat but didn’t take her eyes off me. “So, uh, what am I supposed to be looking at?”
As much as it pained me to move from my spot in front of her, I smiled and climbed up beside her. “Let me show you.”
I’d set up a camping mattress with pillows and blankets in the truck bed behind her, and I climbed onto it. I beckoned for her to join me. She lifted one eyebrow but followed. When she was sitting next to me, I wrapped one of the blankets gently around our shoulders and layered several others over our laps. Given the time of year, it was a mild night, but I still didn’t want her to get cold.
I settled back on the cushions, which were resting against the back of the cab, and looked up. When Paige did the same, she went completely still. The night sky, clear and vast above us, was covered with stars, glittering brightly, as though they were putting on a show just for us.
“You told me that people don’t spend enough time looking at the stars. Well, tonight, we have all the time in the world.”
She turned to face me. “We’re stargazing?”
“For as long as you want.”
I’d witnessed Paige’s smile thousands of times before, each one more beautiful than the last. But the one that graced her features now outdid them all, as she released a breath, tucked her head against my shoulder, and gazed up at the stars .
I lost track of time as we lay in contented silence. It could have been forever, and it wouldn’t have been long enough. Lying here with Paige in my arms, everything in the world felt peaceful and perfect. Even the nerves caused by my still secret feelings had briefly subsided.
She suddenly pointed upward. “Look, a shooting star.”
I watched as her eyes sparkled more brilliantly than anything in the sky. Staring at her now, my thumping heartbeat suddenly returned, and I knew I couldn’t spend another moment pretending she didn’t mean more to me than all the stars above us.
She turned to me, a hopeful look in her eyes. “Did you see it?”
I shook my head, nerves building. I’d been far too busy looking at her to worry about what the stars were up to.
“You missed it? How? It streaked across the whole sky. Now you don’t get to make a wish.”
I drew in a breath. This was it. Time to fly or fall. “I don’t need a wish. Everything I’ve ever wanted is already right here.”
“Everything you...” Realization slowly dawned in her eyes.
“You’re everything, Pidge.” My speeding heart had moved from my chest to my throat as I took her hands in mine. There was no going back now. I couldn’t afford to hesitate or let any doubt set in.
“I’m sorry I’ve taken so long to tell you this,” I continued. “But somewhere along the way, you became much more to me than just my best friend. I get butterflies when you enter a room and sparks on my skin when we touch. I’m happiest when I’m with you, and when I’m sad, you’re the person I want by my side. I know you deserve so much better than me. And I don’t want to mess up what we have, but I’ve always believed our friendship can survive anything—including the fact I’ve...” I paused, but only for a moment. I refused to let fear take hold of me again. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Paige.”
It was both freeing and terrifying to release those words out into the open. I could feel them lingering in the air between us, and the part of me that worried I’d never be good enough for Paige wanted to reach out and steal them back. But I couldn’t keep this bottled up any longer. I’d done my best over the last couple of weeks to try to get Paige to see me differently; it had either worked, or it hadn’t. There was nothing more I could do now.
“Crap,” she murmured.
My heart started to sink. “You don’t feel the same...”
“It’s not that,” she said. “I think I might have wasted my wish.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, either I wasted my wish, or the stars work really fast,” she replied with a cautious smile. “I wished for you, Gray. I wished that this date was real. I wished that one day you’d see me as more than a friend. And I wished that you, no one else, would be my first kiss. Because I’m in love with you too, Grayson. I think I always have been. I just didn’t realize it was love. I thought it was just... us. ”
“You really wished for all of that?”
“Yes.” Her eyes were big and bright, and her smile so pure. The sight of her looking at me that way was more than I could have ever hoped for. It chipped away at my nerves and insecurities. It lifted the heavy weight of doubt on my heart, and my own smile started to grow in return.
“It seems like a lot to wish on one star,” I replied. “Sounds a little greedy.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but I leaned in, placing my hand on her cheek as I stared into her eyes. “I would have wished for all of that too.”
I closed those last few inches between us and our lips finally met. I’d spent a long time imagining what it would feel like to kiss Paige, but my dreams were nothing compared to the real thing. One touch from her lips, and it was like we’d taken a torch to our friendship, burning it down and building something new in its place.
She tasted just liked she smelled, sweet and fruity. And while we were both tentative at first, when I felt the soft stroke of her tongue against mine, I lost all self-control. My hands tangled in her hair, and she gripped my jacket to pull me closer. My whole body came alight, and my heart was so full I thought it might burst. This wasn’t just a kiss. I felt it everywhere, from my lips to the depths of my soul. Her kiss marked me in a permanent way, like she’d tattooed her name across my heart.
When she drew back there was a shy look in her eyes, and she bit her lower lip. “Was that okay?”
“Was that okay ?” I shook my head in disbelief. How could she think that was anything less than earth-shattering?
“I don’t have anything to compare it to, so you’ll have to tell me if it was good or not.” She was rambling a little, and I quickly answered to put her mind at ease.
“Trust me, that was the best kiss I’ve ever had.”
“It was?” She perked up. “Because I thought it was pretty amazing too.”
“Though, you should probably take my opinion with a grain of salt, because I don’t have anything to compare it to either...”
She blinked slowly as though trying to understand. “You don’t?”
“No, Pidge. That was my first kiss too.”
“But... What? Who?” She blinked. “How is that possible?”
“Why would I kiss someone else, when I was waiting for you?”
Her cheeks turned pink as she smiled. But then her expression flipped, and she thumped me. “I hired you as my dating coach, even though you hadn’t been kissed either?”
“Uh, firstly, ouch . And secondly, what do you mean hired ? I don’t remember being paid.”
“Still, it’s practically fraud! I should sue.”
“Can you really blame me?” I asked. “I’d do anything for you.”
She looked like she couldn’t decide whether to kiss or thump me again. If I was at risk of receiving another punch, I might as well get another awkward conversation out of the way .
“Uh, also, while we’re on the subject of coaching, you’re going to need to cancel your date with Damien. I don’t want to be a possessive boyfriend, but I can’t exactly let you go out with somebody else now, can I?”
I tensed as I waited to see if her fist would go flying at me again. But instead, she started to smile. “Are you calling me your girlfriend, Grayson Darling?”
“If you’ll let me.”
“Then I better cancel my other date.”
I released a low, satisfied growl in response, and she grinned as she pulled me back to her for another kiss. I wasn’t sure if it was fate, luck, or destiny. But it felt as if the stars had granted me a whole sky full of wishes, because Paige was finally mine.