Chapter 24 #2
“I had something to do. What’s the big deal? I’m here like I said I would be,” he answers in a broody tone and heads over to the bar, pouring himself a heavy scotch. Okay, then…
I look at Grey with a questioning look as he comes to my side. But all he does is shrug, not knowing what’s wrong with him, either.
A little while later, the guys are off doing God knows what somewhere else in the house while the girls and I enjoy our drinks and food. I kiss the top of Gracie’s head while she sits on my lap, munching away on anything I give her. This girl has an appetite like her father.
We can hear the boys laughing and talking in hushed voices, but we don’t question it. We’re all used to their antics by now. A few minutes later, Greyson comes up to me, picks up Gracie from my lap, kisses my lips, and says, “Thank you,” before walking away with her.
I watch their retreating forms with confusion. Why is he thanking me? I look back to the girls, who all hold the same puzzled look.
“That was weird, right?” Ronnie finally says what we’re all thinking, and we all nod in response.
It only takes twenty minutes for our quizzical looks to come back when Gracie shrieks and giggles loudly as the men’s laughter resonates through the house as well. “What the hell are they doing?” I ask, knowing the girls won’t give me an answer.
We quickly head over to where the noises come from to see what all the commotion is about. And let’s just say, I’m not quite sure how to feel about what I find.
The boys are all in the foyer, Silas and Greyson at the top of the stairs while Clay, Gabe, and Noah are at the bottom.
But what really has me perplexed is that Gracie now has at least fifty helium balloons attached to her overalls and is slowly gliding down toward the three boys on the bottom level.
The balloons aren’t enough to keep her fully floating, but they do slow down her landing. She does seem to be enjoying herself as she laughs her head off, but this is not at all safe.
“GREYSON! What are you doing?!” I shriek, eyes wide as I watch Little Tulip land into Clay’s arms.
“Oh, shoot…” Silas looks down at us with fear in his eyes. The boys were so enraptured by what they were doing that not one of them noticed us arriving.
“It’s fine, babe. Gracie loves this. See, she’s laughing.” Grey gestures with his hand down to his daughter, who’s in fact still giggling.
“Maybe, but this is far from safe! Imagine if her overalls broke, or the balloons popped!” I flap my hands out at my sides in complete disbelief that he would do this.
“That’s why the guys are down there, to catch her if something goes wrong. They caught Dante when he fell.” His eyes grow when he realizes the mistake he just made.
“MY BABY FELL?!” Cecilia yells, rushing over to her son that sits peacefully on the floor behind the guys. She picks him up and inspects him closely, looking for any signs of his fall.
“Thanks, buddy!” Silas says through his teeth as he punches Grey in the arm.
“Ow!”
“Oh, my poor baby. Mommy’s got you. You’re safe now,” Cece coos over Dante.
“He’s fine, Minnie. He’s just too heavy for the balloons, so when we let him go, he just fell all the way down. Clay caught him,” Silas tells her as if it might make it all better. He has no idea how wrong he is.
Cecilia slowly looks up at him, venom seeping through her pores.
“You better hope the couch is comfy, because there is no way you’re sleeping in our bed tonight.
And don’t you even think about going into one of the guest rooms. I’ll know, and it will just make things much worse for you,” she tells him with rage in her voice as she stomps out of the room.
I walk over to Clay, who had already started disconnecting the balloons from Gracie. He passes her over, and once she’s secure in my arms, I look up to a terrified Greyson with a scowl.
“You’re lucky it’s my birthday, and I really want to get laid tonight. Because otherwise you’d be getting the same treatment.” I lift my head and turn, walking back to the entertainment room with the rest of the girls.
Two hours later, it’s time for cake and presents. I’m just about to blow out my candles when Aubrey stops me. “Wait! You need to make a wish.”
Normally, I wish for something stupid that I don’t really care about because I’ve never truly had something I wanted desperately enough to wish for. And as great as my life is right now, there is one thing I would want.
I look around at my friends, watching Clay hold his wife, Cecilia holding her son while her husband tries to gain forgiveness that I’m sure she will grant him shortly.
I think about the way Aubrey and Shane always look at each other, a clear destiny written amongst the stars for them.
Then I turn to Greyson, who holds the most precious little girl I’ve come to love in his arms.
That’s what I want. I want a life and a future with them. I want them to be my forever.
I close my eyes and lean in, praying for my wish to come true, then I blow out the single candle lighting the number twenty-eight. When I open my eyes, I find Greyson watching me intently, a clear message passing through our gaze. Words we haven’t dared to speak but feel deeply.
I’m in love with Greyson Ford.
Later that evening, once the kids have been put to bed, we all wander down to the basement to prevent waking them with all the noise.
The guys are playing pool in one corner while the girls and I are playing DJ with the music.
Drinks are still flowing, but I noticed Greyson and Silas stopped drinking a little while ago and are now sipping on juice and water.
I’m going through the playlist on Morgan’s tablet that’s connected to the speakers when I fall on a particular song. I hit play with a smirk on my lips and turn to Greyson as the song “Time of My Life” starts to play.
His head flips my way as I giggle but continue to feign innocence and dance to the music with the girls. Once the second chorus passes, I turn back to Greyson with an expectant look.
He stands across the room from me, shaking his head. “Bunny…”
I hold the sides of my dress and sway my hips as I nod my head at him eagerly. “I told you we were doing this.” I start to run on the spot, showing him I’m really going to do it.
“Emma, don’t!”
“Too late! Catch me, Johnny!” I sprint toward him just as the chorus hits once more. And as luck would have it, Greyson catches me and lifts me into the air at the perfect moment.
Pure laughter falls from my lips as our friends all cheer and howl. Greyson brings me back down, keeping me in his arms. “You’re absolutely crazy,” he says, laughing.
“Crazy about you, yeah,” I tell him, smiling.
“Good, because I’m crazy about you, too.” He presses his hand to the back of my puffy hair and feasts on my lips, invading my mouth with his tongue and swallowing every moan that travels up my throat as I melt into his arms.
“Okay, okay. We get it. You guys are crazy about each other.” We pull apart and look at Aubrey, who watches us with both a happy expression and a disturbed one. “I love you both, but I really don’t need to see you eat each other’s mouths like that.” We all chuckle at her comment.
The rest of the night goes on with dancing and drinking. It’s 1:00 in the morning when the mood starts to die down, which makes sense since we aren’t teenagers anymore and some of us are up with children all day.
Everyone is preparing to leave when Aubrey goes over to the piano in the corner of the room. I honestly don’t know why Morgan and Clay have one since neither plays. “How about a song to end the night, big brother?” she says, smiling sweetly at Greyson. Wait, what?
“You play?” I ask him.
“No.”
“Liar,” Aubrey answers with a wicked smirk, putting him on the spot. “Greyson was accepted at Juilliard when he was seventeen. But he chose to follow his dreams with hockey. If he hadn’t, he’d most likely be an amazing pianist today.”
I gasp and turn back to Greyson, who breathes deeply through his nose with his eyes closed. I guess this is something he doesn’t tell people. “I’m not playing.”
I grab onto his arm, desperately begging. “Oh, please! I want to hear you. Please, please, please! Just one song. It’s my birthday, and I’m your girlfriend. Don’t you want to do that for me?”
“Oh, and he sings, too,” Aubrey adds with a soft giggle that earns her a glare from Grey.
“Oh my God! Now you have to play! Please, Greyson. Pleeease!” I bounce against his arm, shaking him.
He sighs and drops his head. “Fine. One song, then we’re leaving.”
“Yay!” I clap my hands, then pepper kisses all over the side of his face.
He chuckles and grabs one of my hands, lacing our fingers together before bringing me over to the piano bench and sitting me down next to him. Ooh, backstage show. Lucky me.
The room quiets down except for the silent murmurs of our friends questioning if any of them knew about Greyson’s hidden talents. Greyson takes on a serious look as he delicately passes his fingers over the keys like he’s touching a long-lost memory.
No one talks as they all give him the time he needs to settle in.
He seems hesitant for a moment, and I instantly feel bad for forcing him to do this.
But just as I’m about to tell him he doesn’t have to, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
Then his fingers start gliding at rapid speed over the keys, muscle memory taking over.
A beautiful soft melody begins to play that I don’t recognize as he starts to sing along, taking us all by surprise at how smooth and velvety his vocal cords are despite his usual deep voice.
“There was a time when I’d look up to the sky, looking for the brightest star that shined.
Now all I do is close my eyes, because you’re the brightest thing in my mind.
There was a time when my only goal in life was to be the greatest in my new lifestyle.
Now the only goal that has meaning to me is to wake up every day to your beautiful smile. ”
I’ve never heard this song before, and I know a lot of them, certainly those about love. Wait… is this… is this an original? How is this possible? When did he write this, and why? My heart begins to flutter in my chest at the possibility that he may have written this for me.
“They always say that these kinds of things only happen once to those who are lucky enough to see it through. But I never thought, I never believed, that these kinds of things happened out of the blue. But now that I see it, now that I feel it, I think this kind of thing might just be with you.” He opens his eyes for a moment and gazes my way, bumping his shoulder against mine with a smile on his lips as he sings the words.
My throat constricts as I listen to the words pouring from his lungs. The way it feels like they come from deep within his soul. All of it feels natural, as if he’s singing from pure emotions rather than being forced to perform it.
He wrote this for me…
“I want a future, I want a life, I want the white picket fence where the kids play outside. I want a dog, I want a wife; just take my hand, and promise you’ll stay for the ride.
” He closes his eyes again and sings the chorus, his heart pouring out as his magical voice sends us all into a captivating trance.
I look up to my friends and find them all in a state of awe as they watch with admiration.
Greyson hits the bridge of the song at full force. “Through every laugh, through every cry, I promise to hold on to you every night. You are my stars, you are my sky, you make my heart beat faster than the speed of light.”
Before the song slows down and his voice drops to a soft caress, he opens his eyes once more and looks into mine as I fight the emotions threatening to break loose. “I want a future, I want a life, I want the white picket fence where the kids play outside.”
His fingers slow on the keys, his voice turning to a whispered secret. “I want a dog, I want a wife.” A single tear slips out from its cage, rolling slowly down my cheek. “Just take my hand, and promise we’ll do it side by side.”
His hand leaves the piano as he plays the last notes and comes to cradle the side of my face, wiping away my single tear as he watches me with such deep affection.
“Greyson…” I want to tell him. I want to tell him that I love him. But not here, not now with all our friends around.
“I know, Bunny.” It’s all he has to say, because at this moment, he feels it too. It’s what he was saying through his song.
That he loves me.