by Cara E Holt
I flinch. “What do you mean, the right noises?”
“I mean, I’ve made it seem like I’m willing to go along with his plan.”
Now it made sense. That is why his father has tried to buy me out. To leave the way clear for Grayson to bag the girl and thus ensuring Mr St. Clair gets the business deal.
“Say something,” he urges, searching my eyes.
“Are you attracted to her?”
He reels back. “Hell no. She’s toxic, a spoilt little rich girl with a heart of stone. I swear Everly. I’m just biding my time, making the right noises until I can walk away and stand on my own two feet.”
I nod my head, chewing on my lip.
“How far will you have to go to make him think you’re in line with his plan?”
Grayson takes my face in his hands. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll never betray you or cheat on you, ever.”
“I don’t like this,” I admit to him. “What if this comes between us?”
He pulls me down so that he can embrace me tightly. “I won’t let anything come between us. You and me, we’re strong. I just needed you to know.”
I nod and cling to him tightly, resting my head on his chest. It scares me how much I love him sometimes. He is the one person who could destroy me. His love has the power to utterly break me.
I sit up. Whilst we are being honest, I need to tell him about Tyler. “I need to tell you something too. When I went back home, we went to a party and at this party there was a guy I used to have a major thing for,” I pause and meet his eyes. “He tried to kiss me. I pushed him away and told him I wasn’t interested, but I wanted you to know.”
Grayson’s jaw tics as he wars with his emotions. His face is stoic. “You didn’t kiss him back?”
I shake my head vehemently. “No. I wouldn’t do that to you, ever.”
He nods and pulls my t-shirt, to bring me closer, so that my face is right in front of his. “I want to drive up there and break his fucking legs, Manchester. I’m not going to lie to you. You’re mine and he thought he could take what is mine.”
I sigh. “Trust me, he got the message and beside he’s miles away and he’s not any kind of threat.”
Grayson nods, his jaw still tight. He is a possessive arsehole and I know he is fighting his anger and his need to claim. He grasps my face in his hands and kisses me in a way that makes my core pulse with need. “You’re mine Manchester, now and always, and that fucker better stay away, because if he doesn’t, I will make him hurt.”
Am I twisted if I admit his possessiveness is a major turn on? I love it when he goes all caveman and more or less beats his chest. I lean in and kiss him, hungry for his taste and touch.
‘I’m going to kiss every inch of this delectable body and remind you who you belong to sweet cheeks.”
I smile, my eyes closed as I lose myself to his touch. “Well then, get on with it,” I reply, opening my eyes briefly to issue him the challenge.
For the next hour he lives up to his promise until I’m weak at the knees and wrought out from orgasm after orgasm.
THE NEXT MORNING WE drive to Grayson’s house so he can change for college and as we enter, Ems comes bounding down the stairs and throws herself at her brother.
Grayson staggers slightly as he catches her in his arms. “Hey sis, what are you doing here?”
She beams up at him in that adoring way she always does. “It’s an inset day, so I’m home for the day.”
“How did you get home though?” he asks her, puzzled as he slings his arm around her shoulder and guides her through to the kitchen.
“I got dropped off by a school friend,” she replies, brushing off his question with ease. “I was kind of hoping you could bunk off today and we could do something?” she asks, giving him her best persuasive face. Grayson is wrapped around his little sister’s finger. He adores her and doesn’t she know it.
My phone buzzes in my bag, and I reach inside and see it’s Izzy calling. “I’m just going to take this,” I tell them both, waving my phone in my hand before leaving the room and moving to the main lounge. “Hey, did you get an appointment?”
“Yeah, at one today,” she replies. Her voice is shaky.
“Will you be okay to drive?” I ask her, frustrated that I don’t have my licence yet.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I need a cover story for Dom,”
“Or you could just tell him and let him be there for you,” I reply, trying to convince her that Dom would want to know.
“Tell Dom what?” Grayson asks as he wraps his arms around my waist from behind me.
“Fuck!” Izzy exclaims, when she hears Grayson’s voice.
“What does my best friend need to know, Izz?” He commands.
“You shouldn’t listen in on other people’s conversations, St. Clare,” she growls. “I’ll see you at school Ev.”
The phone goes dead and I turn and eyeball my man.
“What?” he asks, with a brow cocked.
Shaking my head but unable to resist smiling at him, I wrap my arms around his neck. “So, are you bunking off with Ems?”
He shakes his head. “I can’t afford to bunk off right now. She said she will entertain herself and I’ve promised her we’d have a movie night in with her tonight.”
I bob my head side-to-side. “I guess I’m okay with sharing your time with your sister.”
He grins. “How very good of you.”
“I might need some persuading though,” I say with a teasing smile, and Grayson smirks as he drops me down on the console table and locks the door.
“EARTH TO LOTTIE,” I shout, waving my hand in her face. She is glued to the screen of her phone.
She looks up and gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I just needed to message someone back.”
I lean on my hands and study her face. “And who is this mysterious someone?”
She tries to act all nonchalant but fails, blushing. “No one important.”
“Uh-huh,” I grin, eyebrows arched, totally not convinced by her dismissive comment about the mystery texter. “Is it one of the tutors? Is that why you can’t tell me? Is it Mr Reynolds? I mean, I can’t blame you if it is, I mean he does look like Zac Effron.”
Lottie laughs in response. ‘Yeah, as if. I wish Mr Reynolds would look twice at me like that. Besides, I heard he’s seeing Miss Carter.”
“Really?” I ask, as I chew on my pencil. “I hope they haven’t been having a sneaky rendezvous in the school stationary closet. That’s mine and Grayson’s place.”
“Hey, are you ready to go?” Izzy asks me, coming up to our table. She anxiously clutches at her bag in her arms, like it’s a comfort blanket.
I nod. “Yep, are you ready?” My eyes search hers to make sure she is okay.
“I’m ready. Let’s get it over with.”
Lottie looks up from her phone, scrunching her brow. “Where are you two off to?”
“Bikini wax appointment,” I offer in explanation. “We’re getting Brazilians.”
“Ouch.” Lottie says, wincing. “Good luck with that.”
As we head out to the car, Izzy is super quiet. I grab her hand and pull her to a stop.
“You’re going to come away from this appointment fine, I promise you.”
She nods, blowing out a deep breath. “I know.”
I link my arm through hers. “We got this.”
We arrive at the surgery, and it is bustling and full of people. Sick people. I don’t cope well with doctors and hospitals. They remind me of unhappy times in my life when my mum and I were ill.
We sit opposite a young mum who has one screaming new born on her knee and a two-year-old who is shouting mummy every two seconds. She looks harassed, tired and defeated.
Izzy leans into my ear and whispers. “Isn’t she the best advertisement for Johnny’s?”
I nod my head, giggling. “Hell yes. Here’s to safe sex and no babies.”
“Miss Brown.” The receptionist shouts out, pull
ing us both from our whispering.
Izzy pales as she grabs her bag and stands to her feet. I squeeze her hand and follow behind her.
The doctor is a woman in her early to mid-thirties with brown hair tied in a perfect bun. She barely glances up as we enter, as she types furiously on her computer. We sit for a minute in silence while we wait for her to speak.
“So Miss Brown, what can I do for you today?” she smiles, turning and giving Izzy her full attention.
Izzy gulps. “I found a lump in my breast.”
The doctor nods, her face full of empathy. “I see and when did you first notice this lump.”
Izzy chews on her lip and she looks down at her tightly clasped hands. “About three weeks.”
The doctor nods and points over at the examination bed. “I’ll need you to take your top and bra off and hop on the bed whilst I take a look. I’ll ask the nurse to come in and be present for the examination. You just pop yourself behind that screen and give us a shout when you are ready.”
Izzy glances at me, and I give her a supportive smile. She hurries off behind the screen whilst the doctor rings through and asks the nurse to come in and supervise the examination.
WE LEAVE THE SURGERY ten minutes later with Izzy clutching the appointment letter for the local hospital. The doctor confirmed there is a lump and suggests Izzy is referred to the breast clinic to get it properly checked out.
I stop and turn when I realise Izzy isn’t beside me and I find her frozen still, clutching the letter with tears falling down her cheeks.
“Oh, Izz,” I say, rushing back to her and pulling her into my arms. “Come on. Let’s get you in the car.”
“I’m too young to die, Ev. I want to go to uni and get stupid drunk and go on crazy holiday adventures.”
“You aren’t going to die. I won’t let that happen. You heard the doctor, she thinks it’s likely a cyst, but she wants it checking out properly.”
Izzy nods, letting me guide her to the car.
“I don’t think you should drive in this state,” I tell her.
Izzy nods again and she silently slides into the passenger seat.
“I’m going to ring Grayson, okay? Or we could ring Dom?”
Izzy shakes her head firmly. “No. I don’t want Dom to know. He’ll smother me with love and care, and I can’t cope with that now.”
I want to argue with her but she pleads to me with her eyes and with a sigh; I pull out my phone and hit call on Grayson’s number.
“Hey Manchester.” His warm voice brings a smile to my face.
“Hey. I need a favour.”
“Everything okay?” he asks me.
“Can you come and get me and Izzy, but not tell Dom?”
“Hold on a sec.” I hear him say something to whoever he’s with and then a few seconds later he comes back on and the background is much quieter. “Okay, what’s going on? And why am I being asked to lie to my best friend?”
I sigh. “Gray, just come please. We’re at Drayton medical centre.”
“I’m on my way.”
TEN MINUTES LATER, Grayson’s car pulls up in the car park. I pull open the rear passenger door and guide Izzy inside before sliding in the front passenger seat. Grayson looks at me and then at a tearful Izzy in the back seat.
“Everything okay?”
I nod as I buckle in. “Can you take us back to mine?”
Grayson’s eyes meet mine and they are full of questions, but I just shake my head at him and he drops the car into first and pulls out of the car park.
I turn the radio up to drown out the silence as we drive. Grayson reaches over the centre console and takes my hand in his. I look over at him and smile. If there is one thing I love about my man, it is that he knows when not to push. The radio cuts out as Grayson’s phone rings and the screen on his car shows its Dom.
“Hey pal.” Grayson greets.
“Hey. Where are you? And also have you seen Izzy and Ev? They seem to be AWOL.”
“I don’t know, bud. I’m just heading home, Ems is at home for the day and I’m just going to nip home and check on her.”
I gesture to Grayson and point to my crotch area and mimic the movements that I hope demonstrates waxing.
Grayson cocks his brow at me and shakes his head.
“Uh, okay. You any idea where our girls are?” Dom asks him again.
I roll my eyes as I point again at my crotch and then at the hairs on my arms and make a fast motion up my arm.”
Grayson looks at me, clueless. “I uh, think they went to get pussy piercings.”
I stare open-mouthed at him. WTF?
“Really?” Dom replies, his voice hitching in interest.
“Yeah, man.”
“That’s kind of hot,” Dom says. “Okay, the bells just gone, I’ll see you later.”
“Sure,” Grayson replies, and the line goes dead.
“Seriously?” I ask him. “We went to get our pussy’s pierced. That’s what you took from my actions?”
Izzy breaks out in laughter from the back of the car, pulling both our attention. When I turn to her, she’s crying with laughter. “Oh god. Dom thinks I’m getting my vagina pierced. That’s hilarious.”
I chuckle, and Grayson joins me. “Remind me never to play charades with you, posh,” I tell him.
“What? You were pointing at your pussy, babe,” he says in defence.
“Yeah, and then I pointed at the hairs on my arm and made the motion of waxing.”
Izzy continues to belly laugh in the back.
“You know what this means?” Grayson says to me, waggling a brow with that signature sexy smirk on his face. “You’re going to have to get it pierced now.”
I scoff and shake my head. “Oh, I don’t think so, buddy.”
“You chicken, baby?”
I nod. “Damn right I am. I’ll make you a deal. You have a Prince Albert and I’ll think about it.”
Grayson cocks a brow. “What, you think I wouldn’t?”
I chuckle. “Of course you won’t. I know how precious your package is to you posh.”
He grins at me, winking. “I think it’s pretty important to you too, baby.”
“Okay,” Izzy pipes up from the back of the car, wiping her tears of laughter from her eyes. “I really don’t want to hear how precious your dick is, Grayson. This is a conversation you two need to have when I’m not around. Thank you, though, for cheering me up.”
I lean to the side in my seat and reach back and offer her my hand. “You doing okay?”
She places her hand in mine. “I’m okay and thank you, for being such a good friend. I couldn’t have done that without you today.”
“Anytime.” I tell her with a smile.
Grayson pulls up outside my house and I turn to Grayson as Izzy climbs out of the back of the car. I lean across the car and cup his neck. “Thank you for coming for us.” I drop Izzy’s keys in his hand. “Can you get Izzy’s car back to her house?”
Grayson nods and he leans in and kisses me. “Is she okay? She’s not pregnant, is she?”
I shake my head. “No, it’s not that and trust me, I’m trying to convince her to tell Dom, but she’s not having it. Can you just trust me that I’m looking out for her?”
“Of course.” He leans in and kisses me again. “I’ll see you tonight?”
“Hm-hmm.”
THREE HOURS LATER, heavy footsteps sound on the den stairs and I look up from the sofa to see Dom, closely followed by Grayson. Izzy and I have spent the afternoon binge eating chocolate and crisps and pizza and watched Netflix movies and argued whether Elordi or Centineo was hotter.
Dom throws himself down and places his arm over the back of Izzy’s seat. “Hey love.”
“Hi.” She tells him with a wide smile and she pulls him in for a kiss. Dom looks at her with a cheeky grin. “So, did it hurt?”
Izzy looks puzzled for a minute. “Oh, I chickened out. Ev was a warrior woman though and went through with it.” Izz
y turns her head to me and there’s a shit-eating grin on her face. Bitch!
I shrug. “It was nothing.”
Dom pouts at Izzy. “I was kind of excited to see it.”
“You were?” Izzy says, surprised. “You’d have liked it?”
Dom nods his head several times. “Hell, yes.”
“Looks like you have disappointed Dom,” I say with a grin. “Maybe we should get you re-booked in for tomorrow.”
Izzy gives me the finger before getting distracted with her phone buzzing. “Hey Mum. No, he’s not with me.” Izzy looks puzzled. “Oh, well, he was earlier, yeah, but then he said he had stuff to do. He’s probably at Ben’s.”
Izzy winces as she puts the phone down. “I almost dropped my brother in it then. He owes me for covering for him.”
I look at her, puzzled.
“Owen told my mum he’d be late home because he was with us guys. Liar. That twin of mine is up to something lately.”
“Hey, weren’t you supposed to be spending time with Ems today?”
Grayson shrugs his shoulders, not taking his eye off the screen as he games with Dom. “Yeah we were, but she said an old friend contacted her and they were meeting up, so I was dumped.”
Izzy throws down her phone and turns her attention back to us. “We should do something fun this weekend. Why don’t we go do an escape room or go-karting?”
Grayson grimaces. “I can’t this weekend. I have another business thing my dad is insisting I attend.”
“Will she be there?” I ask, trying not to sound paranoid.
Grayson sighs. “I think so.” He reaches out and grasps my hand in his. “Remember what I said earlier, I’m just playing the game, Manchester.”
I nod. “Yeah, I know. It still doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”
Izzy looks from me to Grayson with a puzzled look on her face. Dom shakes his head at her. “Don’t ask, honestly.”
