42. Aspen
Chapter 42
Aspen
“ T ell them I’m your boyfriend!” Grey shouts gruffly as he sprints toward where Phaedra and I are perched at the edge of the hot tub, startled from all the commotion.
“Jesus Christ!” Phaedra screams as the pool gate slams open again, men in black chasing Grey.
“He’s my boyfriend, he’s my boyfriend!” I yell at the men, not even having time to jump out of the hot tub.
Midstride, only yards away from us, Grey tenses up, his face scrunching in pain as a buzzing noise sounds.
Grey grits his teeth and he slowly sinks to his knees. “Fuck.”
Phaedra screams again, or maybe it's me, and then someone says “It’s all right, ladies, we got him. Sorry for the chaos.”
Then I come back to my senses, leaping from the hot tub and running toward Grey, who’s reaching an arm behind his back, dazed, before ripping two wire probes from his back.
I see another guard’s arm move toward his holster. “Stop!” I yell.
The guard’s arm freezes and his brows furrow. “Miss Jordan, it’s okay, you’re safe now.”
I reach Grey and fall onto the tile next to him, my heart racing. “He’s my boyfriend, I just said that. Leave him alone! Back up!”
The guards look just as shocked as I feel, taking a step back.
Once I’m satisfied they won’t tase him again, I take another look at him. He’s sitting up, eyes open, breathing. He’s okay. I let out a sigh of relief and cling to him, his head settling in the crook of my neck.
Then I focus my attention back on the guards, flattening Grey’s dark curls so I can get a good look at them. Before I can ask any questions, one of the three guards speaks up. “He sped through the gate without a pass, we didn’t know who he was or what he?—”
I hold up a hand to silence him. “Fine. And I respect that you were doing your job, but you also just tased my boyfriend, so I’d appreciate it if you left before I have the chance to say anything I’ll regret later.”
They speak over each other. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Of course.”
“Sorry to disturb.”
Then they scramble back through the gate that they came from, and I breathe another sigh of relief, my heart still trying to break through my ribcage.
“I’m going to head out too,” Phaedra says from behind me, and I feel the water splash around as she leaves the hot tub.
I wait for her to close the sliding door into the house behind her before I turn my attention back to Grey, releasing him from my iron grip.
A stupid smirk plays on his lips as he says, “You really don’t like surprise visits, do you, Jordan?”
“What the fuck were you thinking?” I ask, ignoring his joke. “You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”
“I know I put on a brave face, but I did just get tased, darling.”
As the adrenaline starts to fade, I feel the chill of the November air sinking in. Even in Los Angeles, it’s too cold to sit outside in a soaking wet bikini for long. I stand up and head back to the hot tub, muttering, “I should’ve let them tase you twice and haul you away.”
I hear Grey stand and follow me. “Clothes or no clothes?”
I face him as I sink into the hot tub, warm water thawing the chill in my bones. “What?”
“Clothes or no clothes?” he repeats.
I sigh. “Grey, seriously, what do you want?”
He shrugs and steps into the hot tub fully clothed. “I needed to tell you something and it couldn’t wait.”
I start to dissociate a little as I see him across from me, fully clothed in my hot tub, thinking this whole interaction must just be a weird dream. But then he tenderly reaches out to hold my hand, dragging me back to reality.
His eyes search mine earnestly, all pretense gone from them. “I was wrong.”
“About what?”
“About everything. About not taking you up on that coffee date at the table read?—”
“That wasn’t a date,” I interrupt.
“About the snake incident, about every single thing I did in those first few weeks to make your life harder,” he continues. “I was wrong about you , Aspen. I was wrong to think that I could fake date you without falling in love. I was even wrong about your Eldora smoothie—that shit’s delicious, bananas and all.”
I open and close my mouth a few times, struggling for words. Finally, I manage, “What are you trying to say?”
“That I’m in love with you, Aspen. Only you. And I think I have been for a while—longer than I care to admit. And I hid it, ignored it, buried my head in the sand because I thought there was no way you felt the same for me. But then I realized that maybe there is the smallest chance that you do feel the same and was trying to ignore it like I have been. So I’m here to tell you—I need to tell you—that I’m in love with you. This isn’t fake for me, and hasn’t been for a long time. And it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I don’t want to make things awkward, but I just had to say it. Because if I didn’t, I knew I’d?—”
I interrupt him by launching myself across the hot tub to him, my lips landing on his as I intertwine by arms behind his neck. Grey kisses me back like I’m the air he needs to breathe, his arms wrapping around the small of my back and pulling me impossibly close to him. His rough stubble perfectly contrasts his smooth lips, mixing rugged with sensual. I straddle him and he groans, slipping one hand down to squeeze my ass.
After a few minutes, Grey pulls back slightly. “Just to clarify, this means you feel the same?”
“Yes, you idiot. And you could’ve just asked to come over, you know.”
A smile tugs at his lips, slightly swollen from kissing. “But this way was so much more fun.”