Then
Grayson
Happy sweet sixteen, Angel
I know it’s early, and you probably won’t see this for a few more hours, but I couldn’t help myself.
I also know you hate birthdays because you believe they’re superficial and everything, but I don’t care.
I will send you a happy birthday text every goddamn year until you get absolutely sick of them.
I’m so lucky to have you in my life. You seriously have no idea.
I know I’m rambling, but it’s hard not to when it comes to you.
I’ve never felt this way about anybody before.
Not until I met you. All I think about is your smile, your laugh, and your beautiful blue eyes
And yes, I’m text bombing you. I’m not even sorry for it. I can’t wait to see you at your party tonight. Again, I know you hate birthdays. I find it ironic since your parents love to throw extravagant parties, which works in my favor these days. Okay, I’m done. I love you
Me
I love you more, Gray. I’m so lucky to have you in my life!
What were you doing up so early?
Grayson
Um, I couldn’t sleep
Me
Why couldn’t you sleep?
Grayson
I was too excited for your birthday
Me
Awe, you’re so cute. Aren’t you tired though?
Grayson
I mean, yeah, but I’m running on adrenaline and a lot of caffeine
Me
Isn’t that unhealthy for you?
Grayson
Probably
Hey, is Blake home?
Me
No, he’s out with his friends
Grayson
Are your parents home?
Me
No, they’re at work. Why are you asking me all these questions?
Grayson
No particular reason
My phone rings, the screen lighting up with a photo of Grayson’s face on it. I pick it up. “Well good morning to you, sir.”
“Good morning, birthday girl.”
I giggle. “Was texting not sufficient enough for you?”
“No, it wasn’t. I needed to hear your voice. Honestly, calling isn’t working well enough for me either.”
“Why?”
A loud banging noise on my bedroom window causes me to jump. Rushing over to the windows, I slide open the curtains. Sticking my face close against the window, I see Grayson throwing pebbles. After I open my window, I smile at him, and he meets my gaze.
“My princess, please let down your hair!” He yells, grinning up a storm.
“I can’t. My hair isn’t long enough.”
“It was a joke, Vi.”
“I know.” I laugh so hard that it's a possibility my face could freeze like this forever, and I wouldn’t be mad if it happens.
“Are you going to let me in? Or am I going to have to climb my way into your bedroom?” He raises his eyebrows, smirking at me.
“Meet me at the front door.”
He horizontally flattens his hand and lightly places it against his forehead, removing it quickly to salute me.
Closing my eyes for a few seconds, I run out of my room to go to the front door. When I unlock it, I see Grayson with his hands on his knees. He stands up when he sees me standing in front of him. He has a present in his hand wrapped in baby pink wrapping paper.
I tilt my head to one side, smiling brightly. “Hi.”
“Happy birthday, Angel.”
Biting down on my bottom lip, I scan him from head to toe. He’s wearing a white button-down shirt, dark blue jeans, and white sneakers.
“Happy birthday to me, indeed.”
“Don’t look at me like that.” He points his index finger at me.
“Like what?” I smirk, winking at him.
He shakes his head, rushing over to me and cupping my face. His lips meet mine, and I feel like I’m floating on my back in the ocean. When he releases them, he grabs my hand and takes me to my bedroom.
He boxes me in front of my bedroom door, staring deep into my eyes. I’m analyzing all of his facial features. His dark brown eyes, thick eyebrows, and kissable lips are hard not to be hypnotized by.
He’s so painfully beautiful, and I don’t think he realizes how beautiful he actually is.
“You’re beautiful,” I babble.
“Not as beautiful as you.”
He leans into me, capturing my lips in a passionate kiss. We end up inside my bedroom. He shuts the door, locking it behind us.
I wrap my arms around his neck. He lifts me up by placing the palms of his hands on my butt, throwing me down on my bed. I’m able to scoot back into my pillow and sit criss-cross applesauce.
He crawls his way over to me, making my lips tremble. Gently grabbing my neck with his hand and his thumb settling in the center of it, he tilts my head up and kisses me softly.
He runs his tongue over his lips as he sits down next to me. “Ready for your present?”
I violently nod as my eyes widen.
He reaches over to my bedside table, grabbing a rectangular shaped present. I admire the baby pink wrapping paper and look up at him, a breathy laugh escaping my mouth.
“What?” he asks, slightly pursing his lips out.
“For some reason, I thought you were my present.”
He clears his throat, telling me I caught him off guard. “Not this time, Angel.” He notices how quiet I am and speaks up. “Go on, open it.”
“Okay.” I tear open the paper to reveal a paperback copy of Ignite Me by Tahareh Mafi.
He looks at me with his dark brown eyes. “Do you hate it?”
“No, I wasn’t expecting to get a present from you. I told you I didn’t need anything. And I already have a copy of this book. It’s one of my favorite dystopian romance books ever.”
“I know you did, but I didn’t listen. Yeah, a little birdy told me around a hundred times about how it’s one of your favorites.”
“And what birdy is that?”
“You.”
Opening the book, I see a note written on the cover page in what appears to be a pink Sharpie marker.
Happy sweet sixteen, Angel. I know this book is one of your favorite books of all time because you talk about it non-stop. I hope you love my version of this book more than the original. I love you so much.
Gray
I flip to the next page, containing the title, author name, and some information about the publisher. There’s a color coded system laid out with tabs and names. Everything is incredibly organized and aesthetically pleasing.
I cannot believe he annotated a book for me. I think I just fell in love with this boy even more.
I look deep into his eyes, my lips spreading into a huge smile. “You annotated the book for me?”
“Yeah, I did. I don’t know how you do it. It’s so hard matching the colors to the cover and figuring out what quotes to highlight. It took me several days to finish it, even with Lizzie Kaplan’s help. I would’ve been in deep shit without her.”
I can’t help but admire him and watch every part of his face move.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I love you.” Wrapping my arms around his torso, I pull him in for a hug.
“Thank you for doing this for me. This is the best birthday present I’ve ever gotten.
And it’s not just because it’s from you.
It’s because you put so much thought into it and went out of your way to do something special for me. ”
“I love you more, Violet. How could I not do something special for you? I will remind you how special you are every single day for the rest of our lives.”
He sits next to me again, putting his arm around me. He proceeds to kiss my forehead.
I glance up at him. “You know, it’s funny.
My mother loves to throw me a birthday party every year because she loves being the center of attention.
It’s not because she wants to celebrate me or anything like that.
Ugh, I wish I didn’t have to go to my own party tonight. I just want to stay here with you.”
“As much as I’d love to stay here with you forever, I really want to see what you have up your sleeve for tonight.”
Shaking my head, I giggle. “What would I have up my sleeve?”
“I don’t know,” he says before he interlocks his fingers into mine. He proceeds to flip my arm to run the pad of his thumb up my arm and finds a home underneath the strap of my tank top.
I gulp, a faint moan escaping my mouth. “Gray.”
“Yeah?”
“When is it going to be the right time for me to unwrap you?”
He gives me the side-eye. “You’ll find out eventually.”
When I hear the sound of our front door opening and closing, panic sets in.
“Hey, dipshit! Are you up yet?” My brother shouts from a distance.
Shit, shit, shit.
“I’ll see you tonight.” He gets off my bed, tilting my head up with his thumb to kiss me. “Wait, how am I going to sneak out of here?”
I suck my lips in, pointing to the window with my index finger.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not.” Walking over to the window next to my bed, I slide it up. “Your chariot awaits you.”
“Vi, seriously, we’re two stories up. I could hurt myself. This is why I didn’t climb the window to come inside.”
“It’ll be fine,” I say calmly.
“How do you know that?”
Cupping his face with my hands, I kiss the top of his nose. “You can scale buildings and shoot webs out of your hands. You’re my superhero.”
He bites his lip and plants an unbelievable kiss on my lips, leaving me breathless when he pulls away.
Every time he kisses me, I feel like I’m living inside one of my romance books. None of this feels real, even though we’ve been secretly dating for a year now.
I’m amazed that Blake hasn’t found out about us. It’s only a matter of time before he does.
The thing is, I’ve never been so happy, and it’s all because of Grayson. I’m the luckiest girl in the entire world.
“Why the hell are you looking at me like that?” He licks his lips, smiling.
“I’m grateful the universe brought you into my life, Grayson. I love you.”
“I love you more, Violet.”
I turn around, seeing the doorknob shake. There’s a knock at the door, and I can only assume that it’s Blake.
“Violet, why the hell is your door locked?” Blake asks. “What are you hiding in there?”
Yeah, big surprise. I knew it was him.
I guide him closer to the window, leaping and sitting inside of it. “Grayson, seriously, you need to go!”
“I’m not leaving without a kiss.”
“Are you serious? We kissed a couple of minutes ago.”
“I don’t care. Come over here and kiss me goodbye.”
Rolling my eyes, I walk closer to him and grab his hand. I lean my head into his, allowing our lips to gently brush against one another. This changes quickly when he kisses me hard and deep. It feels like he’s swallowing me whole.
When his lips release mine, it takes me a minute to catch my breath. “Grayson Becker, I cannot believe you just did that.”
“And I’ll do it again. Come here.”
“No, seriously, you need to go, so my brother doesn’t find out about us.”
“Fine. I’ll see you tonight.”
“See you tonight,” I say as I give him a small push out the window.
There’s a decently long vine that goes all the way down to the ground. Grayson tugs on it to make sure it’s secure.
He climbs down with his feet, hanging onto the vine. “I can feel you watching me.”
“I can’t help it.”
“You’re making me nervous, Vi.”
“No, you’re making me nervous, Gray.”
“You’re not helping, you know.”
“Sorry.”
Several minutes pass by, and Grayson makes it halfway down the side of the house. I’m okay until I hear him mutter curse words under his breath. “Oh, shit.”
Oh, no. That didn’t sound good. Why did I suggest doing this?
My anxiety bubbles, rising to the surface. My heart is beating fast.
“Gray, what’s going on?”
“The vine is about to break. I knew something like this was going to happen.”
My heart is about to burst out of my chest. “Can you hold on for a few more seconds?”
“I don’t know. I guess I can try.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there.”
Unlocking the door, I come face to face with Blake.
“What’s wrong with you? And why was the door locked?”
“Don’t pretend that you care about me, and I wanted privacy from you. That’s why the door was locked, asshole.” I push him out of my way and run out of my room like my life depends on it. My chest is heaving due to the nerves radiating through my bloodstream.
I can’t breathe or feel my fingers.
Booking it like a marathon runner, I make it to the side of the house. Grayson’s hanging there by a thread, more specifically his hands. He’s closer to the ground, but not close enough to land well.
“Gray.”
“I can’t hold on much longer.” Placing my hands on my cheeks, I brace myself for what’s about to happen. The vine snaps, leaving Grayson to fall onto the ground with a combination of grunting noises coming from his mouth. He ends up on the grass directly on his back.
I sprint over to him, inspecting every inch of his face and body. “Are you okay?”
“And you thought this was a good idea.”
“I’m sorry.” I look away, tears falling out of my eyes. “I shouldn’t have told you to go out the window. I don’t know what I was thinking. I—”
He cuts me off. “Hey, look at me.” The palm of his hand lands on my cheek, turning my face in his direction. “Violet.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to worry about me. I’m okay.”
“I beg to differ.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look at your arm.”
He scans over his arm, noticing a thin line of blood gushing out of his skin. “Goddammit.”