G R A Y S O N

—
S E N I O R Y E A R

"Do you think they're gossiping about us?"

Freddy's was the same as it always was on a Friday night. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors—you name it, and they were here looking for a hook-up in the last thirty minutes before closing. The dirty thirty.

Lights were low, music loud, and I was ready to get out of here. Have a dirty thirty of my own.

Alright, maybe more than thirty.

I glanced toward the bathroom where Bren and Nessa had disappeared to, strumming my finger on the bartop. On a crowded night like tonight, I usually wouldn't let Nessa out of my sight. But Bren would keep his eye on her. Just like I'd keep an eye on—

"Oh, they're definitely gossiping about us." A sharp laugh left Madie's mouth, cut short by the appearance of a drink, slid straight into her open hand by a passing bartender. Her eyes grew wide before she quickly shot a look over her shoulder.

"Shit."

Following her gaze, I searched the hallway by the bathrooms. But it was empty. Well, empty of Nessa and Bren.

"What?"

Madie was staring at her glass now, which was filled to the brim with a clear, bubbly drink. Panic painted her expression.

I frowned. "Do you...not want what Bren ordered you?"

"No, I really don't." She shook her head, eyes not moving from the drink. "I mean...I do, but—"

"He's not going to care if you don't want it, Madie."

Looking over her shoulder for the second time, Madie bit her lip before quickly looking back at the glass in her hand. Sighing, I turned around again, and sure enough, there they were.

Bren and Nessa pushed through the crush of college students trying to find a spot on the dance floor. A few of them fell back when they recognized Bren, who'd gained and maintained quite the reputation around campus after word spread of his face-off with Brodie freshman year. And at the sight of Nessa, eyes flicked around. Probably looking for me.

It was so fucking satisfying that everyone knew she was mine. And that I was hers. Her gaze sought me out in the crowd, and she gave me a tiny grin that I understood completely.

That's right. Get back over here, baby.

Madie swore, bringing my attention back around to the bar. What gave? I'd be damned if I ever saw lil Lenertz freak out at seeing her boyfriend and best friend walk up. Usually, I could see the countdown playing in her head until Bren returned to her side.

But right now, she looked about ready to take her drink and run.

"Seriously. He's not going to care," I repeated.

"No, he will," she hissed beneath her breath. Frantic. "Because if I don't drink this, he'll ask if I'm still not feeling good, and then he'll worry, and he's already been so stressed out this week with finals. And there's nothing to worry about. Nothing at all—"

"Woah, Madie." I clamped my hand on her shoulder. And I could feel how tense she was. "Slow down."

"No, you don't get it." She looked up at me beneath sooty blonde lashes. Poor girl looked tired. "I need to make it until graduation, Grayson. He already has so much on his plate this week. I just...I just need to make it to graduation. One more week. And if I don't drink this, he'll know. He'll just—"

She cut herself off, eyes lighting up, and I knew it was because Bren was coming up behind me.

So I did what anyone would when looking down at a panic-stricken face like Madie's: I grabbed that drink straight out of her hand and downed it. The sharp taste of vodka, masked only by a little bit of tonic water, hit my tongue, and I had to squeeze my eyes shut to get past the assault to my senses.

Fuck, I didn't miss the taste of liquor. The only alcohol I'd ever really enjoyed was the taste of whiskey from Nessa's lips.

Slamming it onto the counter just as Nessa sidled in next to me, I flicked the glass over a bit, so it sat in the space between Madie and me.

A second later, Bren popped up, and his brow instantly rose.

"Empty already? Damn, baby." He smacked a kiss on Madie's cheek and flashed a grin. "I'll go find a bartender for another."

"No, Bren—"

But Madie's soft plea was drowned out by the sudden roar of the drunk dancers screaming Mr. Brightside, and Bren had already started walking along the bar.

Nessa squeezed my side, and I looked down at her, smiling. Her eyes searched my face, and mine did the same to hers, landing on her full, pert lips. I wanted to kiss them. But not in a soft, gentle way. In an all-consuming way that I wouldn't be able to stop once I started.

Could we leave, darling?

Maybe if I kept looking at her like this, she would get the picture. Nessa didn't usually like staying this late at Freddy's, not when it was this packed. But she was particularly high-spirited tonight. Carefree. It probably had something to do with being a week away from finishing school, but regardless, it was a good look on her.

Although, everything looked good on her.

"I'm going to order another, too!" she said after a long pause, practically shouting to be heard. Such a goddamn tease. She knew I wanted her. And she was dragging it out on purpose.

Nessa disappeared after Bren, and I watched as she grabbed his shoulder, leaning in to tell him what she wanted. It left Madie and me alone again, and somehow the haziness of the alcohol was making everything seem...clearer. Her words from a few minutes ago repeated in my head.

I raised a brow. "He'll know?"

"You didn't have to do that," she said hurriedly under her breath, ignoring the lingering question in the air. "You don't drink, Grayson."

"Doesn't mean I can't if the occasion calls for it."

"Still, I—"

"Madie..." I cocked my head to the side as I pieced the puzzle together. "Do you not want the drink, or you can't have the drink?"

Her mouth snapped shut. I felt the bass of The Killers in my chest, saw the beat of it in her blue eyes, and I wondered for a second if maybe I'd said the wrong thing.

But then a little slip of a smile curved onto her face, and she whispered, "I can't."

A grin of my own appeared, unbidden.

Well, I'll be damned. Another lil Lenertz on the way.

The opportunity to congratulate her slipped away, though; Madie's second drink appeared, set hastily in front of her. Bren smacked another kiss on her cheek before whipping back around to pay for the vodka tonic.

Before Madie could even react, I curled my fingers around the glass and did the same thing to this drink as I did to the other one. Downed it. And then prayed to god that Bren wouldn't keep this up all night. Shit was going to take me out if I wasn't careful.

By the time Bren flicked his money across the bar top, the glass was empty. And Madie, riding the same wavelength as me, threw her arms around him the second he turned around. Behind them, Nessa smirked into her glass at the sudden display of affection and waited until Madie dragged a reluctant Bren out onto the dance floor before taking her place back at my side.

"Baby," I murmured, wrapping my hand around her waist so I could pull her in close. She snuggled into me and took a sip of her drink before blinking up. Coyly. The view from where I was standing was perfect. Nessa's top was delightfully tight. "Are you done leaving me now?"

Nessa rolled her eyes. "You're so needy sometimes."

"Yes," I agreed. "Very. And I know you like it."

She was the one who always moved my hand onto her leg beneath tables if I didn't do it fast enough. Not that I ever minded.

That naughty grin of hers grew. "Do I?"

Spinning us around, I pinned Nessa to the bartop, caging her between my arms. Pressed deliciously into my chest, just like I liked her. Leaning closer, I brushed a kiss along her jawline. And then right below her ear before murmuring lowly. "Should I remind you how much you like it?"

Letting my hands drop, I traced the hem of her skirt with my fingertips and enjoyed how she shivered when I reached the back of her bare thighs.

When I pulled back and gazed down at her, I let my eyes do the talking.

How about now, Nessa, baby? Now can we leave? I have plans for you.

Grayson had never cared much about withholding affection in public.

But in the last fifteen minutes, he'd graduated to a whole new level. His restraint was gone. Palms had settled firmly on my ass, and even though I knew no one else could see or would even notice, I was very aware that he wasn't holding back. Not with how he had me trapped between his firm chest and the bar. Not with how he was staring at me, begging to take me home with his eyes.

And as much as I wanted to get the hell out of here, I also wanted to hang onto this moment for a little longer. See where it went. 

When I didn't reply to him, he shook his head. I knew that shake, and it meant something between the lines of God, I love you and Christ, you drive me up the wall. It was our sweet spot.

Grayson tipped my chin up with a single finger and brought his head down toward mine. My heart sped up in anticipation of the kiss, but it didn't come. It lingered. Hot breath caressed my lips. I could practically taste him, and did he...was that liquor?

Before I could seal my lips over his and find out, he grabbed my waist and spun me around. God, he was annoying sometimes.

Let me kiss you, goddamnit.

One strong arm kept me secured to Grayson's chest, and I set my drink down, bracing myself against the bar to stay steady. But it was useless. Because then Grayson's huge palm came to rest on my stomach, smoothing over it in a way he'd never done before. His lips brushed the shell of my ear.

"When am I allowed to get you pregnant, huh?" he murmured, barely audible above the roar of drunk people.

I sucked in, ignoring the burst of...something in my chest as Grayson made a low growl of possession and spread his fingers over my belly.

"Where...where the hell did that come from?" I gasped, trying to look over my shoulder at him.

He kissed my neck. "Honestly, I hope we have a girl first."

"Grayson..." I didn't even know what to say. My mind was too busy imagining a little girl with Grayson's eyes, and my heart was too busy racing. I loved him so much. I wanted him forever. I wanted us forever.

"And I hope she looks just like you," he muttered, ignoring the tiny meltdown I was having. "A mini Wednesday. We'll name her Tuesday."

That got my attention. "No, we will not."

"Fine." He sounded unbothered. "You can pick the name, then."

I sighed, resigning to the fact that we were having this conversation in a packed bar. "We can pick it together."

He hummed drunkenly in the crook of my neck, swaying slightly to the music. His hand found the waistband of my skirt, and he plucked at it. "You didn't answer the question, baby."

"Have you been drinking?"

Grayson never drank, but he smelled like liquor, and he'd tasted like liquor, and for fuck's sake, he was talking about babies in a bar.

"I tried Madie's drink," he answered simply.

"Tried it? Or drank the whole thing?"

Grayson chuckled. And it was a husky chuckle that told me he wasn't going to answer my question.

"I want to do things to you, Nessa." He tipped his hips forward just enough that I could tell exactly what he wanted to do. "Things that will have consequences. Come here."

The bar spun around me as Grayson began pulling me toward the dance floor instead, leaving my body to play catch up after the words he'd said and the way he'd felt. Something thrummed within me. And it didn't want to dance. It wanted other things.

"Grayson... I'm not much of a dancer," I said breathlessly.

He flashed a knowing smile over his shoulder. "That's bullshit."

His fingers tightened around mine, tugging me along the edges of the dance floor. Circling it but not joining it. Waiting for me to relent.

"How would you know?"

He stopped. The corner of his mouth tilted up lopsidedly as he turned around to face me. One step forward. And then another. A prowl that set my skin on fire. Releasing my hand, he brought his up to tuck my hair behind my ear. His palm settled on my cheek.

With one final step, Grayson and I were touching in all the right places. His other hand pressed into the small of my back, forcing me to arch into his body. My eyes fluttered as heat worked its way through me.

Around us, people swayed to a beat. But it wasn't our beat. It wasn't this beat, the one that passed between my body and Grayson's. When he finally spoke, Grayson's voice was low. But I still heard him. "We dance all the time, Adler."

Rocking his hips forward, he showed me. He showed me how we danced.

"That's not the same," I whispered.

"Isn't it?"

"Grayson." I gasped as he rolled his body against mine a second time, his eyes flaring like they always did when I said his name.

"Dance with me," he urged. "Now."

I dropped my voice. "So demanding tonight, Wilder."

"I'm a guy who knows what he wants." He grinned wolfishly. "You know that."

"And what you want...is for me to dance with you?"

"Yes," he said, and his eyes told me that was true. "Do you want me to beg? I'll do it."

I couldn't resist a smirk. "You do look good on your knees."

His expression quickly mimicked mine. "So do you."

With a quick step forward, Grayson backed me onto the dance floor. But then he paused, waiting for me to bring us further.

Fuck it.

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, I yanked him into the crush of people. Between flashes of strobe lights, I saw his naughty grin, the one that told me what I was in for. Anticipation flared deep in my stomach. And somewhere between my legs.

The song switched. I didn't know the words, but my body knew the moves, the sway, the 4-4 timing that my feet picked up on. Grayson knew, too. He pulled my body tight into his, not wasting a single second before dragging his hands up my sides in a bold exploration that made me wish we were alone.

Soon. It was closing time, after all.

The dirty thirty.

"We could have left earlier, baby," he breathed, fingers digging into my hips as he controlled them. "But you wanted to tease me. Didn't you?"

"Yes," I confessed, spinning around to face him.

There was no use lying. He knew. He always knew.

His steely eyes danced. "You're going to pay for that."

Strangers pressed in around us, and beads of sweat gathered on my brow. But I didn't care about any of that; I only cared that Grayson didn't let go.

Flattening my hand to his chest, I trailed it down his favorite OSU football shirt and watched as a muscle in his jaw flexed.

"Adler..." he rasped.

I didn't stop, though. Two could play the game he had started. Leaning into him, I let my body drag over his as I sank all the way to the floor, lowering to my knees. And then, with my fingers hooked in the waistband of his jeans, I looked up at him. Strobe lights bounced behind his head like a kaleidoscopic halo.

His lips moved. And even though I couldn't hear what he'd said, I knew it was fuck.

Grayson wrapped his fingers around my arm, pulling me back up so he could hold me in his arms as we danced. His erection pressed into my stomach, needy and ready. Just like I felt. His lips tugged on my earlobe, and then he spoke, low and gravelly.

"You're going to revisit that position when we get home."

I would. And he knew I would. So cocky. So irritatingly hot. Nothing had changed in the past four years. And I wouldn't want it any other way.

"Let's go," I breathed. "Please."

A smirk. "Well, since you said please...."

I was surprised that Grayson didn't argue. Then again, I'd just all but begged to get on my knees for him, so it would have been ridiculous if he had.

Within seconds, Grayson had us moving back off of the dance floor, stopping only to whisper something in Madie's ear and then clapping a hand on Bren's shoulder, giving him a look that left Bren with a puzzled tilt of his head.

Chuckling, Grayson broke away, and ten minutes later, we were dropped off at home by an unlucky Uber driver that had to put up with our PDA the whole drive.

Home. Our home.

It was a tiny one-bedroom apartment just a few blocks from campus. We'd moved in at the beginning of this year, wanting a little more privacy from Grayson's teammates. We were still over at the football house all the time, but it was nice to be able to escape it at the end of the day. On nights like tonight when we wanted to be alone. And not hold back.

We stumbled inside, and Grayson scooped me up into his arms. He carried me to our bedroom as easily as if he was crossing the end zone with a football, dropping me onto our bed and tossing off my shirt—all in one fell swoop. His shirt was next, falling to the floor next to mine. But it wasn't until he began unbuckling his belt that my heart really picked up.

Grayson was usually a you first, me later kind of guy in bed.

Not tonight.

Standing before me, he unzipped his pants, tugged down his briefs, and took out his hard cock, stroking himself slowly as he looked down at me. I raised a brow, ignoring how my mouth watered at the sight of him.

"So Grayson Everett is a horny drunk, huh? Who would have thought?"

He shook his head. "I'm not drunk, Adler."

"Just horny?"

A slight smirk teased his lips. "Shut up and suck me into that pretty little mouth."

Oh, fuck. Okay.

I slid down onto the floor, getting on my knees for him. Which, based on the way he fisted his cock, he was really enjoying. But not as much as he enjoyed the moment when I took over, parting my lips and sucking his tip into my mouth.

"Oh my god," he moaned, releasing his grip and slamming his hand down on the bedside table. The stack of quarters we kept there for the laundry rattled, spilling down onto the floor.

Grinning, I took him deeper, licking down his hot, hard length and then popping him back out of my mouth.

"Like this?"

He grabbed the back of my head, guiding it back toward his erection. "Just like that, Adler."

"So needy," I hummed before letting my lips fall open again.

Grayson thrust back into my mouth with a groan. "Very."

But as much as he wanted me, and I wanted him, he didn't last very long with me sucking and licking and taking him deep. The conflict in his expression was clear as he cupped my face and brushed a thumb across my hollowed cheeks.

"Stop, darling. Not yet." It took him at least three deep breaths before he was able to say anything else, and when he could, he used those first words to mutter, "I want...you. I want to see you light up."

There he was.

"I want you, too."

And then I was back on the bed, sinking into the covers with Grayson above me. The finesse, the teasing from earlier at the bar—it was gone. Done. Over. The only thing left was desperation. And it was that desperation that had both of naked within seconds, and then Grayson was poised to take me.

"Yes," I gasped, giving him the consent he needed to just...go.

He grinned. "You're unbelievable, Adler. So gorgeous."

His eyes sparkled, a tiny bit influenced by whatever he drank of Madie's at the bar, and a lot influenced by all the good, amazing things in his heart. He entered me slowly, watching my face and drinking in my reaction. I gasped at how good, how wholesome and utterly dirty it felt all at once. My lips parted, my breath gone.

"You're always so good at taking me, baby," he murmured.

I whimpered.

A husky chuckle of appreciation. "Can you take more?"

I nodded.

"Let's hear that voice of yours. It's such a beautiful voice."

"Yes," I gasped, arching up to meet Grayson's slow thrusts.

"Yes, what?"

"Give me more," I demanded.

"More of what?"

"Of you, goddamnit."

Drunk Grayson was even more of a tease than sober Grayson, and I didn't know how to feel about it.

Oh, shit. Who was I kidding? I loved it.

Lips descended on mine, kissing me as though he were exploring my mouth for the first time. God, he was so, so good at that.

When he pulled back, he grazed my lips as he spoke. "I think what you mean is that you want more of my cock. Get it right, will you?"

"Grayson," I snapped, digging my fingers into his shoulders to keep from smacking him. "Just give it to—"

After a quick withdrawal, he slammed into me. And I—I screamed.

This was why we'd needed to move into our own place.

Grayson groaned the words so fucking good and then smirked in cocky satisfaction before giving it to me just like I'd wanted. I rocked up to meet every thrust, rolling my body with a needy desire for more.

"See, Nessa?" he breathed, sweat beginning to plaster his hair to his handsome face. "You're an excellent dancer."

So close. I was so close. Answering him right now was impossible. How was he talking? How was he even thinking? How was he so goddamn good at multitasking? How was he not drowning in heat and pleasure and everything good in the world? The only thing I could do was—

"Come, baby," Grayson rasped. "Light up for me."

Crying out, I spasmed around him, and he dipped into me one more time, letting go, too.

When I found my voice, I said, "I'm only a good dancer because I have a good partner."

He laughed before flopping onto his side and pulling me in close, muttering how much he loved me. Our chests fell and rose together, hearts beating as one.

"You never answered the question," he said, nuzzling closer to me.

"What question?"

His hand snaked around to rest on my stomach. "When am I allowed to get you pregnant, Adler?"

I laughed. How ridiculous was this man?

"We're not even engaged, Grayson."

He buried his head into the crook of my neck, pressing kisses up and down the column. There was a silence as I held my breath. It was so long and so comfortable that I nearly fell asleep, weighted down with love and sated bones. But right before I fell asleep, Grayson's sleepy voice muttered in my ear.

"I think I can fix that."

💗

just wanted to say another huge thanks for all the love since finishing the book!
xoxo amelie