GRAYSON

It was a calculated risk, walking up to Nessa like that.

But standing there and doing nothing hadn't been an option. Not when that guy had moved in, cornering her. Not when I could feel how uncomfortable she was.

There were other options, though, besides the whole pretending she was mine thing.

Telling that asshat off had definitely been at the top of the list. Colorful language sat on the tip of my tongue, my fists primed and ready to throw a few punches. But I had this inkling that Nessa Elez wasn't the kind of girl who wanted men to barge in and fight her fights.

I'd thought about just asking her if she needed help. Like a sensible person might. I thought about shouting over to them from my place by the door. But then what would I have done if—when—she'd said no? Walk away? Yeah, fuck that.

Striding up to Nessa and throwing her into my arms had been a calculated risk. But I'd always been a fan of the motto no risk, no rewards. And man, did it ever hold true tonight.

Fucking hell, it paid off.

Because Nessa didn't just kiss me, she kissed me. She moaned in my mouth, tugged on my hair, and did things with her tongue that had me hard within seconds.

And it pretty much solidified the idea that I needed this girl. Christ, I needed her in so many ways. I barely knew her, but we could fix that.

I was going to fix it right now.

"Grayson, give me my drink."

Well, I was going to fix it right after I dumped out her drink. Tipping it over, I ignored Nessa's outstretched hand. Her brows furrowed as she watched the whiskey mix run into the grass that lined the driveway.

"What the hell?"

We both lifted our gazes at the same time, and Nessa glared at me, crossing her arms over her chest. Already swollen lips pressed together, and I barely withheld a groan at how badly I wanted to feel them again. Taste them.

She tasted like whiskey and wildness.

"I'm going to tell Beau you dumped out his good shit," she said, pouting.

"And I'm going to tell Beau that some creepy guy followed you outside and could have put something in your drink when you weren't paying attention."

She scoffed. "You think Jack was gonna try to drug me?"

"I think I'd rather not find out. I feel like you'd be a disaster to try to get back to your room if you were drugged."

"You're so sweet," she said mockingly, pinching her face together. But then her expression softened, and she kicked at a loose rock, sending it flying across the empty street.

It was a cool evening. Perfect sweatshirt weather. Julian lived a few blocks off-campus, so it was a relatively busy area for college kids to roam about. But his house was also nestled against a dead end, and traffic was virtually nonexistent. Except for his neighbors, of course—a few elderly couples who I doubted could even hear the loud house music without their hearing aids in.

"Thank you," Nessa murmured, and I jerked out of my musings. Her head was down as she stared at the rocks in the driveway, nudging them with her foot. "He was making me nervous."

I cleared my throat, resisting the urge to pull her back into my embrace. "I could tell."

She looked up at that, eyes wide. Vulnerability leaked through them.

"I saw him follow you outside," I confessed, keeping my voice soft. At the moment, it looked like she could be easily spooked. "Decided to check on things. Only creeps follow a girl outside alone at night."

A humorless laugh bubbled up from her throat. "That's what I said."

I nodded and leaned against the side of the house, throwing one hand in my pocket. "Yeah, my moms taught me better than to do shit like that."

Her head tilted to the side. "Moms?"

"Moms," I affirmed and laughed when she still looked confused. "They're called lesbians, Nessa."

Nessa's hands flew up to cover her face, and I noticed her short, shiny black nails. They dug into her forehead a bit. "Oh my god," she groaned. "I'm sorry. That was dumb."

"Who was he?" I asked. She was embarrassed, and she didn't need to be. I wanted to distract her.

And I also wanted to know who the fuck he was.

Nessa shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "Some guy I met at a party last weekend. I ditched him after—" Her voice cut off as she glanced away. The hand in my pocket clenched back into a fist because I just knew.

"After what?"

"Doesn't matter."

I pushed off the side of the house, intending to—well, I wasn't quite sure. But before I could reach out to Nessa, she threw her hands up. "He just got a little handsy, and I wasn't feeling it, okay?"

I rocked to a halt, shoving my other hand in my pocket, too.

"Okay." No, not okay. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, and I knew that was all I was going to get from her.

Swallowing, I wished I had something to wash down the dryness in my throat. At least if I had a drink, I would have something to do except stare at Nessa and think about things I shouldn't be thinking about.

"I overheard the end of your conversation on the phone," I said after clearing my throat.

Nessa rolled her eyes, which I realized might be her favorite thing to do. That was fine with me; it was oddly hot. Well, it might just be that she was hot, but whatever.

"Yeah, that was my mom," she muttered. "My parents were supposed to come get me tomorrow. But something came up."

"Where are you from?"

"Patterson."

Hell yes.

Trying not to look too eager, I forced myself to take two steps back again. "I'm going home tomorrow. To Modesto. Patterson isn't that far out of the way. Want a ride?"

"Oh, I—" Nessa clamped her mouth shut just as quickly as she'd opened it to protest. She frowned, and indecision flickered through her eyes.

"No," she finally said, but the tiny word was drawn out as if she couldn't quite decide if it was the correct answer. "No, that's okay."

I raised a brow. "You don't really want to ride the bus."

"I barely know you."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. After they'd made it one full rotation, I fixed them on Nessa, flashing her with a look.

On the one hand, she wasn't wrong. And that was exactly why I wanted to drive her home. Over an hour of uninterrupted time with the punchy, hot Nessa Elez? Fuck yes.

But also, her tongue was just wrapped around mine. So we did know each other a little bit.

Her cheeks flamed. "Stop staring at me like that. I don't know you."

I shrugged, dropping my gaze at her request. Even though I liked the way it made her face all rosy. "You don't know the bus driver, either," I said, looking out at the empty street. "And you'd trust his ass to deliver you safely to Patterson?"

"He gets paid to do that."

A low chuckle made its way out of me as I glanced back at her. "So you're saying that you'd trust me more if you were paying me? I could get on board with that."

She rolled her eyes.

Shit. Yeah, that really did something for me.

"Well, yeah," Nessa said. "I would obviously pay you for gas."

"I was thinking of something other than money."

Nessa crossed the distance between us with one step and hit my chest. But I captured her hand before she could snatch it away. Her eyes widened as I pressed her palm to my chest and held it there. This girl must have forgotten that I was pretty good at catching things, and that went for punches, too.

"Not that," I laughed, ignoring the dirty thoughts that sprung into my head.

She tugged her hand away with more force than was really necessary. "Oh," she said, dripping with sarcasm, "I suppose now you're going to tell me that you don't need to do favors to get sex, right?"

"No." I shook my head with a laugh, and she cocked hers to the side. "I would never say anything as douchey as that," I added.

The corner of Nessa's mouth tilted up. "So it isn't true, then?"

"Didn't say that, either," I replied with a wink.

Nessa glanced away with a wry, exasperated twist of her lips. "You're the worst," she muttered.

But she definitely didn't mean it. I could tell. If I really thought she meant it, I'd walk away right now and never try to shoot my shot with her again.

"I was thinking more along the lines of coffee," I said, bringing the conversation back around.

"Coffee?"

"For payment."

"You want me to buy you coffee?"

"No, I want you to let me buy you coffee. For the ride home."

There was a long pause while she tried to make sense of that. I couldn't help but smile. I wasn't really sure why the idea of coffee popped into my head, but I'd heard girls like guys who bring them coffee. And I was a guy who liked a girl. So here we were.

"I don't get it," she finally said.

"Because then it's a date," I filled in for her. "A car date, but a date nonetheless."

Nessa's mouth popped open. Her brown eyes narrowed, and incredulity leaked into her voice. "I'm not going to start dating you just so I can get a ride home."

I chuckled. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a flair for the dramatics?"

The incredulity shifted—a jump from offense to defense. "I'm not dramatic," she snapped.

"It's alright. I dig it," I said, shrugging and trying not to laugh as her eyes narrowed even further. "Nessa, I'm not asking you to start dating me. It's just one date. Although I'd gladly drive you home and back to campus for the rest of the year. I plan to head back to my moms' for most of the breaks and a few weekends."

I paused for a moment and took a step closer to her. She didn't take a step back. She smelled flowery and sweet. Nothing like how she'd tasted.

And that combination was sinfully appealing.

"All I ask," I continued softly, "is that you let me buy you a coffee for the ride."

Nessa didn't move besides flicking her eyes up to mine. "You're serious."

I dared to inch forward once more. Another calculated risk.

Again, Nessa stayed.

Raising my hand, I brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear—touching her like I'd done a few minutes ago when I had the chance to pretend she was mine. Nessa sucked in a breath. It was quiet, but so was the night. So I heard it.

Leaning down, I breathed in her uncovered ear. "I don't know about you, but that kiss...."

I trailed off, unable to find the words to describe it. That kiss destroyed me, but I couldn't say that. So I moved closer to her instead. Close enough that my lips grazed the curve of her ear. Close enough that I could feel her breath hit the side of my neck. Close enough to drive me crazy.

"Yeah," I said eventually, my voice hoarse. "I'm serious."

"If you're just doing this because you think it'll get me into bed with you at some point, you can forget that right now," she murmured, tilting her head so that our eyes connected.

I pulled back without breaking our gaze. "I would never dream—" A smirk slipped onto my lips. "Well, that's actually a lie. But I can't help my thoughts at night."

Nessa's hand flew up again, undoubtedly intent on giving me another playful slap. But I caught her wrist. Raised a brow. Swept my gaze down. "Can you, Nessa?"

"Yes," she bit out despite the flush on her cheeks.

"Oh, yeah?" Laughing, I dropped her hand and shoved my own in the pockets of my pants. I began to back away, heading to the back door. "So you're not going to think about that kiss at all before you fall asleep tonight, right?"

"Of course not."

As Nessa would say, that was a bold-ass lie.

I smiled at her, which seemed to drive her crazy. "If you say so. How does noon sound tomorrow?"

"Hey, now." She began to trail after me, pointing an accusatory finger in my direction. "I never said yes."

Formalities. We both knew she was going to take the offer. It was me or a bus packed with creeps.

God, I hoped she picked me.

"Do you want the rides or not?" I asked, indulging her.

She didn't say anything. She nibbled on her lip and stared at a spot over my head, but she didn't say anything. So I rephrased the question. "Would eleven work better?"

Nessa gave a little sniff, refusing to meet my eyes when she replied. "Noon works just fine."

I flashed her a grin. "See you then."

"I like caramel macchiatos!" she called after me, and goddamn, I'd never been so excited about coffee.

There was definitely a possibility that I would go broke this year, buying fancy-ass coffees for this snappy brunette.

But luckily, that was a risk I was more than willing to take.

💗

This should be a fun lil ride. Right?
Thanks for reading!
xoxo amelie