Grey: The Retribution (Spectrum Series Book 3)

by Allison White

  He lifts his right wrist and checks his silver expensive watch. “Morning, now.” He flashes me his bright teeth. “It’s one a.m.”

  “How wonderful,” I say sarcastically.

  “What? Something you gotta do today?” He raises a brow.

  “Yeah, I’m picking up someone from the airport in a few hours.”

  His brows shoot up to the ceiling. “Well, then you oughta catch a few Z’s, huh?”

  “Guess so,” I reply.

  We both smile at each other and stare at each other until we crack up, laughing for whatever reason, I don’t know.

  I get up and slip under the bedsheets.

  And he does the same.

  I turn around, panicked, as he kicks off his Converse and lays a hand over his eyes, feigning exhaustion. “What do you think you are doing?” I question.

  He shifts his arm and peeks at me, a wispy smile on his pink lips. “My house is too far, and I am a little too lazy to go trekking through the night.” He reaches out and pokes me in my side, making me giggle and him to smile a bit wider. “Do you want me to be ‘napped? Because with me looking like this, there is no way I won’t be ‘napped.”

  “Stop saying ‘napped.” I snort out a laugh.

  He hums and taps his chin before grabbing mine and saying, “‘Napped.”

  “Shut up—ah!” I scream and laugh out loud when he clamps his large hands around my waist and pulls me into his chest. I throw my head back, and he moves his hands up and down my sides and stomach. I am a storm of laughter and screaming his name.

  He clamps a hand over my mouth to hush me, because of my parents and those asleep, but I lick it, and he groans and wipes it on my chest.

  “Nasty!” I slap him on his chest.

  “Yeah, right.” His laughter calms down a little, and I take in a deep breath when he brushes my hair behind my ear. “You like it…”

  I am very aware of how close I am to him and how his hands are flush around me and how his breath is warm and smells of spearmints and bubblegum and how I feel as hot as a million suns and how tiny pricks of electricity are sparking under my flesh, lighting my cheeks like glowing hotspots.

  I give him a small smile before scooting out of his hold and telling him, “Goodnight, Noah.”

  He is silent for two beats, then nods to himself and whispers back, “Goodnight, Livvy…”

  His eyes are too intense for me, so I turn around and squeeze my eyes shut.

  For the longest time in a long while…I dream an okay dream.

  ***

  Grey

  When I get home, I am sweaty, tired, and hungry as fuck. Training all day without any breaks does that to a guy. The moment I enter the beach house I’m staying in for the summer, I kick off my shoes and head straight for the kitchen. I drop my gym bag and dig through the fridge for something, anything to eat. I end up taking out a carton of milk and turkey leg from God knows where. But it’s something. And something’s any-fucking-thing. I lean on the counter and eat the leg and drink straight from the carton, washing down the meat.

  I’m putting the carton back and turning around when I find Rose walking into the kitchen from the bedroom. She’s in one of my shirts. It hangs around her thighs, and her wild red hair is curly and big and pushed back as she runs her small fingers through it. We’re not a couple or anything, so seeing her dressed up in my clothes kind of pisses me off. Partly because I see someone else in her skin…

  “You came home late,” she says, her voice raspy from sleep. I watch her walk into the living room and shut the back patio door, the thin curtains blowing from the slight wind.

  “Observant, you are,” I quip back sarcastically.

  She whips around and playfully narrows her eyes at me. “Funny, you aren’t.”

  My smile drops, and she chuckles sweetly.

  I grab an apple and watch her yawn as she walks back over to the island, then sits behind it on a stool.

  “How was training?” she asks, leaning on the cusp of her palm.

  “Do you really care?” I furrow my brows.

  “Of course, I do.” She frowns, and I nod to myself.

  “Sure. I’m going to sleep,” I announce, then take a huge chunk of the apple between my teeth.

  “M’kay.” I begin walking around the island to head into the bedroom when she grabs my hand and forces me between her legs. “No kiss goodnight?” she whispers, her voice seductive as she palms my chest with her tiny hands.

  I smile forcibly and lean down to press my lips teasingly against the corner of her lips. “Goodnight, red-haired devil.”

  “Still not funny,” she says but doesn’t push me away. Her hands glide up and cup my neck. I feel myself pulling back, and she does too, so she reaches up herself and presses her lips to mine. I let her kiss me for a few seconds and even play along for a little bit until my body feels betrayed.

  I pull back and kiss her nose, grinning from ear to ear. “Night.” I wink at her before turning on my heels and walking away. My smile fades with each step until I am in the bedroom. I press against the door, breathing hard, my heart beating too fast for me to cope. I rub my lower lip before rolling my eyes and taking off my jeans and shirt and sliding into bed.

  I lay on my back, sleep unable to come to me.

  Rose slides underneath the sheets and lays on top of my chest a few minutes later.

  When I am finally able to fall asleep, I dream a nightmare that consumes me and has me waking up the next morning in a cold sweat and a scream etched into my throat.

  Just like someone I know.

  Just like someone I loved and still love and will always love.

  Just like…Liv.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The next morning, I wake up and nearly have a heart attack. But not because of a nightmare. I actually slept nicely with little hints of distress. What shocks me to the point that I literally feel my heart take off like a firecracker are a pair of mocha-colored eyes. Bunched eyebrows and a tiny scar creased just under the hairs sets off a bell in my head, and I close my eyes and push the face away.

  “What are you doing, creep?” I groan, my voice rugged from sleep. I try to turn away from Mason, but he just flips me back to him and hardens those brown eyes of his. “What do you wa—?” I begin to question, growing annoyed since I’m trying to latch onto the one good dream I’ve had in years, but he clamps his hand over my mouth and glances at the spot next to me.

  “Shhh…” he hushes me, finger pressed to his lips. “Just follow me.”

  He doesn’t wait for my response as he takes my hand and drags me out of bed. I yawn into my hand, exhaustion still wrapped around me, and let him quietly lead me out of the room. Once I flop back onto his unmade bed and he closes the door behind him, he breaks his vow of silence.

  “What the hell did I walk into just now?” he bellows, lifting me into a seated position.

  “What are you talking about?” I yawn, and he sits next to me and forces me to face him, legs crisscrossed beneath us.

  “I’m talking about the shirtless six-foot guy next to you in your bed,” he hisses. He reaches over to me and starts pinching me all over and doesn’t stop even when I beg and slap at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you two are a thing? I thought I was your bestest friend in the whole world. That’s why we made friendship necklaces.” He shows me the braided necklace, and I can’t help but chuckle because of how ridiculous he looks and sounds.

  “We aren’t a thing, so you can chill out.” I finally slap his hands away, and he glares at me like I stole his last, favorite cookie. “And if we were a thing or even close to one, I’d tell you, dummy.” I reach out and flick him between his eyes, and he groans and slaps my hands away. I laugh, and he does too, but rolls his eyes.

  “Fine, but what is he doing in your bed if you two didn’t…you know?” He clicks his tongue and bounces his eyebrows in a playful manner that makes me burn up and tear my gaze away. “Bump parts? Do the naked grind?” He mov
es his body in a suggestive gesture, and I burst out laughing at the creepy look on his face.

  “No, none of that,” I say, “just some innocent sleeping…but—”

  “But? There’s a but?” He scoots closer and takes my hands with wide, excited eyes.

  “Yes.” I laugh, then shyly avert my eyes. “But we may have shared a moment. It was small, but still there. And—and I’m afraid I’m starting to feel something for him. It isn’t anything compared to what I felt and may still feel for Grey, but I think it can grow into something more. But…but what if—” I pause, swallowing a lump stuck in my throat. “What if it ends terribly like with Grey? What if I hurt him? What if—?”

  “Stop it,” he orders, and I do, breathless. “You will never know the future. You’ll never know if you’ll hurt him or get hurt; it’s just life. It’s twisted and cruel, but it can also be forgiving and loving. You just have to take things slow and test out how far you can go, until you’re comfortable and are ready for something more.”

  “I swear you were an owl in another life,” I joke, tears swimming in my eyes.

  He laughs, and I join him, watching the way his cheeks swell. “Maybe, but I’m glad my words can help clarify things for you.”

  “Thank you, really.” I launch my arms around him, and he squeezes me back. “You’re the best.”

  He sighs deeply and rubs my lower back soothingly. “I try.”

  Cheeky little thing.

  I retract when I feel my stomach grumble. I rub it and stand, holding out my hand for him to take.

  “Feel like some pancakes with me?” I wiggle my fingers.

  He smacks his hand onto mine and stands. “Always.” He drops a contagious smile and slings an arm around me. “So you have a thing for The Noah?” he teases and bumps into me as we walk down the stairs.

  I groan, and he laughs at my expense. “Maybe, yes? I don’t know, just don’t go babbling about it.” I tap his lips, and he nips at my fingers. I yelp and punch his shoulder, and he rolls his eyes, holding up two fingers, like a peace sign.

  “Scout’s honor,” he says.

  “Were you ever even a scout?” I raise my eyebrows.

  He shrugs. “In my heart, yeah.”

  “In reality?” I inquire.

  He hums, then lifts one side of his mouth in a cheeky smirk. “Nope.”

  “Then that means nothing!”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” he promises.

  I stare at him for a while before nodding. “Okay.” I trust him with everything I have in me. I know he won’t tell anyone, especially Noah. If he did tell anyone, especially Noah, I’d be forced to reveal to Mateo that Mason slept with a blankie named “Mr. Softie” until he was thirteen years old. And I wouldn’t feel bad, ’cause it’d level the playing field, and I’d get to test how red Mason could get.

  We enter the kitchen, and my little smile falls.

  In front of the stove is a shirtless Noah, flipping pancakes. Disheveled hair, shorts hanging off toned hips, eyes dark, and dimples in place and all.

  He catches both of our doe-eyed looks, breaks into a grin, and says with his deep, ravishing morning voice, “Morning. How do y’all take your coffee?”

  ***

  Two hours later, Noah and I are at the airport for pick-up. It’s loud and buzzing with chatter, laughter, and arguments. Mason is out with Mateo for the day, despite my begging him to come along because I’m a little nervous to be around Noah when I’m still sorting out how I feel about him. But I figure once Charlotte gets here, this weird tension between us will soften or even disappear, her presence can be…loud.

  “So, you know this Charlotte well?” Noah asks, trying to make conversation.

  I swivel my head in his direction and notice he’s playing with his black sunglasses, propping them up then letting them fall onto his straight nose.

  “Very well, actually,” I admit. “She’s like a sister. I was pretty much raised by Louise, so Charlotte was around a lot. Basically lived at our house back in New York.”

  He nods then moves his hands to tap the wheel, almost like he’s nervous. “And she’s staying with you guys for the rest of the summer?”

  “That’s the plan, yes.” I smile uncertainly, and his lips twitch a small smile, then he looks away.

  It’s very weird between us, and I know he can tell. He’s not being himself. He’s quieter and fidgety. He is usually confident and laid back and would be teasing me right about now about anything he can see.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask him, and he looks at me with an unknown emotion because of those damn glasses. “You seem a bit…off.”

  He nods, brows furrowed, tongue slipping between his lips. “I’m good.”

  “Noah…”

  He sighs, and his fingers tap against his knees, mouth corners twitching slightly. “You know me so well, buttercup.” Another sigh, then he leans a little over to me, head tilted. “I’m just a bit distracted by a girl…”

  Oh?

  “Who’s the lucky gal?” I swallow anxiously and fiddle with my charms on my wrist.

  His lips twitch just the slightest again. “Let’s just say she’s nice enough, maybe too nice for me…but boy, does she know how to…work it.”

  “And what’s the problem?” I lift an eyebrow, and his lips spread into a wide grin.

  “I like her, but I don’t know if she likes me.”

  My heart is out of control…Calm yourself, Liv.

  “Oh?” My voice shakes.

  Great, that was really calm.

  He shrugs and slides back into his seat, staring at me a little too intensely. “Can’t really read her all that well. I just hope she can read me, read how badly I want her…in so many ways.”

  How do you breathe? It has something to do with the heart and the lungs and stuff, right?

  “Olive West!” A whopping, loud scream snaps me out of my shocked, overwhelmed mind.

  I turn around and smile from ear to ear. “Charlotte!”

  I jump out of the car and meet her halfway as she pushes past a family. They curse after her, and I burst into a fit of laughter. She’s always been careless and impulsive.

  When I finally reach her, she envelops me in a hug that floods me in tears and relief. I have never felt happier. She’s always been so close to me, always willing to listen to my stressful speeches about project assignments and driving me to sales at Nordstrom on khakis and just being there as a sister I’ve never had or even knew I wanted. She never once teased me—much—about any of it. She’d take it all in stride, listen, drive me, and be at my side whenever I needed her. And I did the same in return. Only whereas she drove me to sales and debates, I drove her to rave parties and to the mall when she should have been in detention.

  “How’ve you been, Olive Bunch?” she exclaims, calling me by a nickname I’ve despised for years.

  I just shake my head and answer her with a smile. I’m too happy to be upset. “Okay, but better now that you’re here.”

  She aws and bumps my shoulder as I take one of her many bags and begin hauling it to the Porsche. “Still a dork, I see.”

  “And still insubordinate, I see.” I bump her back when I catch sight of another, but small, tattoo of a bird behind her right ear.

  She shrugs and gives me a playfully seductive look as she throws a bright red duffel bag in the open trunk. “Our body is a canvas. It’d be a waste if we didn’t paint a masterpiece before we go.”

  “Where you’re going is the question,” I mutter. She hears and flashes me her middle finger. I laugh and help her put in the rest of her stuff, then get back in the front seat, her in the back, poking her head forward between Noah and me. “Noah, this is Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Noah, a…” He lifts a brow, and I feel my skin grow hot. I clear my throat, smile forcibly, and finish, “Friend of mine.”

  “Nice to meet you, friend.” Charlotte glances at me, giving me a look that I roll my eyes to. She knows about the weirdness be
tween Noah and I from just one look at me; she knows me very well. She and Noah shake hands.

  “Pleasure to meet the legendary Charlotte.” He smiles at her, and she playfully swoons, fanning her face.

  “She’s talked about me a lot?” she asks, and I shrink in my seat as Noah pulls out of the waiting area, simultaneously shaking his head.

  “Starting about an hour ago,” he says, and I have the strongest urge to reach over and punch him. But I can’t because he’s driving, and that’d be an idiotic thing for me to do.

  Charlotte gasps dramatically and grips my shoulder. “And here I thought you’d brag about your big sister.”

  “Different mothers,” I point out, and she pinches my cheek. “Ow!” I smack her hand away, and Noah chuckles but stops a little when I shoot him a glare. His dimples indent, and he grows red. I smile to myself and look away, catching another knowing look from Charlotte.

  She smirks as she says, “Doesn’t mean I don’t know everything about you. Like when you like some—”

  I panic and make the seat go back on her legs. Then I shoot her a look in the rearview mirror of warning and pleading.

  She chuckles and looks to Noah and says, “Main thing is: I know this girl like the back of my hand.”

  “Is that so?” Noah questions.

  She and I catch eyes, and she smirks before answering in a cheery voice, “Yup.”

  Oh Lord, this girl will be the death of me.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  I help Charlotte bring everything into her room, just a few doors down from mine. When we pulled up to the house, her eyes nearly bugged out of her head. But I get why; the house is quite massive and admittedly beautifully designed. Mother put a lot of work into the house, which is actually one of her favorites. Louise was waiting at the front door, tears in her eyes and nearly bouncing on her feet from excitement. No matter how much she loves and cares for me like one of her own, the fact of the matter is that she adores Charlotte with every inch of her gigantic heart. I take forty percent while Charlotte gets the whole sixty percent of the other side. We’re like the two daughters she never expected, me being the unexpected—but loved nonetheless—one.