MADELINE POV

I had never seen Grayson as a man. He was extremely attractive, but I only ever saw him as the boy who bullied me in elementary school and the one who hated me with every breathing fiber in his body.

But as soon as he touched me it felt like my whole body was on fire. It felt good being in his arms and the way he kissed me was hard to resist. It was my first kiss and I hated that
I loved it.

Although the thought of being attracted to Grayson frightened me. This all felt very wrong.

I changed into some decent clothes and dried my hair. Then I laid down on my bed as I stared at the ceiling.

As I analyzed all of my interactions with Grayson I could not manage to find any moment in my life that he showed attraction or kindness towards me. Ever since the accident I had in sixth grade he stopped bullying me and his cruel behavior towards me stopped. But he did pretend as if I didn't exist. He had avoided me at all cost.

This made it even weirder to have him kiss me. Finally we were interacting and truly looking at each other for the first time. Not quite the way I planned to get to know him but I certainly got to see the real him.

Although I did recall him coming to my bedroom as children to keep me company after my night terrors. I always had bad dreams of my father beating my mother and then trying to drown me. The dreams always felt so vivid but luckily Grayson always came to my room to wake me up and calm me down.

He laid on the bed next to me and held my hand like my mother used to. I guess that's the only time I recall having romantic feelings for him. I did have a crush on him once as a child but as soon as I stopped having nightmares Grayson no longer showed me affection and the feelings I had for him vanished.

As the years went by we drifted apart. Now we weren't the small fragile kids from before anymore.

Grayson had a girlfriend and he needed to respect her. Whether he had feelings for me or not it just wasn't going to happen.

As soon as I looked presentable I decided to head out. If Grayson wanted to talk then we would talk. I was going to reject him. There was no way we could date, it just didn't seem like a possibility.

I knocked on his bedroom door to see if he was there. After a good minute I realized no one was going to open the door. I decided to walk in and to my surprise Grayson wasn't inside.

"Where could he have gone?" I whispered to myself.

I decided to look for him downstairs. As I walked down, a delicious smell overfilled my nostrils. Someone was cooking in the kitchen.

The chef had left yesterday afternoon so it couldn't be him. Unless it was Grayson that was cooking.

Sure enough as soon as I entered the kitchen there he was making an amazing dinner. He moved around the kitchen so swiftly you would think he cooked all the time.

The way he garnished the platter of food with so much precision and dedication was astonishing. He had made ratatouille and the presentation was beautiful.

The colorful array of vegetables all pressed against each other to make such a perfect piece of ratatouille made my mouth watery. It's exactly what I pictured as a child when I saw the movie.

I could still remember the day I had begged Grace to help me make the dish after watching the Pixar film by the same name. We had gone to the grocery store to buy the ingredients and as soon as we got home we began to prepare the dish. This intense passion to cook inspired me to become a chef and live in Paris.

The real chef in our house tried to help us but I pushed him away. I wanted to do it myself just like the little rat Remy, although in the end it turned out pretty bad. The taste was horrendous and we had left it in the oven too long that it burned. I cried that day in Ian's arms and my dreams of becoming a chef were shattered.

Grayson certainly didn't help that day
with his unsupportive and rude remarks. He claimed I would never be a good chef and how he would rather die than try my food.

He finally noticed I was standing there and began to stare at me and smiled in delight.

"I was about to head upstairs and tell you that dinner was ready. But seeing as you're already here, how about you wait for me in the living room while I bring our plates."

I was in complete and utter shock. What had they done with the real Grayson? This guy in front of me was actually kind and sweet nothing like the man I knew.

"I can help bring the plates if you want. You did more than enough by making us dinner."

He gave me a tender smile.

"That would be great! I guess I will bring the drinks then." He gladly agreed to my request.

I grabbed the plates along with the silverware and headed to the living room. I placed them one across from the other so that we wouldn't have to sit next to each other.

I then began to dig in. The splendid taste of seasonings and herbs along with the soft vegetables that melted in my mouth was phenomenal. I couldn't help but close my eyes as I engrossed myself in the nostalgic experience.

As I opened my eyes I caught Grayson staring at me lovingly.

"I'm glad your enjoying the food so much."

He began to chuckle.

I probably looked stupid closing my eyes as I ate. I couldn't help but feel embarrassed and I knew at this point my cheeks were red.

"The food's amazing, thank you for making ratatouille. It's my favorite dish."

"I know, that's why I made it."

I couldn't help but internally smile at his kind gesture. But I wondered what his intentions were in doing this?

"I didn't know you could cook so well."

"Well now you've learned something new about me. Although it's not the first time you have tasted my cooking. Guess who helps make your breakfast every day."

"You're the one who makes breakfast? I thought it was Grace who did it?"

I was genuinely surprised.

"She helps me out sometimes but I usually do it."

Wow, this man was full of surprises. So I guess he didn't just leave the house early and go to school. He woke up early to help his mom make breakfast for all of us and then made his way out of the house for school.

"Why don't you ever stay and eat with us? If you work so hard to make all of us breakfast everyday why not indulge in it yourself?"

I knew what he was going to say. He preferred to leave early so he wouldn't have to see me.

"I usually don't have time to eat in the morning since I have early football practice everyday. You know how the school always has a football game for the seniors. We've been working hard to prepare for it."

Did I misunderstand him the entire time? He wasn't lying about preparing for the football game. It was school tradition to have one last football game as an event for the seniors. He was team captain so missing any of them was not a possibility.

"Oh, I see."

"What's wrong? You seem a bit worried." He genuinely looked concerned for me.

"What is all of this? Why are you being kind to me all of a sudden? I thought you hated me? You're always trying to avoid me, in fact no one at school even knows we're living together. We are like siblings or childhood friends and we act like we barely know each other. Every time we talk you have something negative to say about me and are extremely rude. So please just tell me why you're acting nice to me all of a sudden!"

I hadn't realized I was standing up. My heart was beating fast from how upset I was. My hands were formed in tight fists and I realized I was crying. I always cried when I was mad.

Grayson looked truly worried about me. He began to walk towards me and I moved away.

"Don't touch me! Just answer me please."

"I will tell you but please don't cry. I can't stand seeing you cry." I could see how desperate he was to touch me but I didn't want him near.

"Let me hold you in my arms and I promise I will answer any question you may have."

Like hell I would let him do that.

"I am not crying anymore so just tell me why you're acting so different? What game are you playing?"

I wiped away my tears with my shirt and faced him.

'This must all be a joke.' I thought to myself. Maybe him and Annabelle had planned this and were trying to make fun of me.

"I can assure you I am not playing any games. Please sit down and let's talk."

I decided to agree with his request. That's exactly what I wanted to do since the beginning.

He pulled up a chair for me. I thanked him and then he sat next to me.

"I have always had romantic feelings for you Madeline. But I was afraid that you would reject me and feel disgusted by my feelings. I know you have always seen me as a brother so I knew being in a relationship was not a possibility. I did avoid you at all cost in order to forget you. I know I have been an asshole with you my entire life. But it was just my immature way of trying to forget you and keep my feelings a secret from you and my family. I am truly sorry for what I have done. I love you Madeline and the last thing I want to do is hurt you."

If he was telling the truth then it all made sense. Although I still wondered why he had bullied me so violently when we were kids. For now this was enough.

"I accept your apology but I don't think I can reciprocate your feelings. This wasn't at all what I expected to hear from you. For the longest time I have thought you hate me and it's not easy to think otherwise. I'm sorry Grayson."

I wasn't in love with Grayson. This man standing before me was not the one I knew. He had turned into such a sweet and lovable person you wouldn't think he could be capable of hurting anyone. This all felt like I was in a dream and I just couldn't make sense of it all.

There was pain in his eyes and I knew it hurt him that I didn't feel the same way.

"I know you don't harbor the same strong feelings I have for you. But I can't help but think you're also attracted to me. When we kissed earlier you didn't push me away, well at least not immediately."

He moved closer towards me observing me almost as if he were trying to figure me out.

I couldn't help but feel intimidated by him. He was right about it all. After our kiss last time I hadn't pushed him away. It felt good having his arms around me as he kissed me passionately. There was this strong attraction I felt for Grayson that I feared could turn into something more.

"I was just surprised at first. I am not attracted to you in the slightest."

I tried to say it with a strong voice but I knew it didn't sound convincing enough.

"Oh really, then how about we kiss again? If after you've kissed me you feel nothing at all for me, no attraction, no longing for me, then you won't ever have to worry about me kissing you ever again."

This was a bad idea and I knew it. But there was something within me that made me agree to this stupid idea.

"Very well then, I agree."

Grayson smiled and I knew he was happy I agreed. But he wouldn't be smiling for long, since there was no way I could feel such strong feelings or attraction towards him. I never have and I never will.

"Then you won't mind if I place you on my lap."

Before I could respond he easily picked me up and sat me on his lap. My legs dropped towards the side of the chair as I held onto Grayson's neck for support.

I couldn't help but look into those beautiful hazel eyes I had looked into before. His right hand wrapped around my waist tightly as he pulled me closer. My chest pressed against his and every time we inhaled the closer we got.

He gently brushed my hair behind my ear and stared at me endearingly. My heart was raising from how he looked at me. I was anticipating this kiss that would reveal to me how I felt about Grayson.

"I love you Madeline. With every burning fiber in my body." He whispered these words with so much emotion.

He placed a warm kiss on my forehead and then moved back to face me.

His large hands were now towards the back of my neck and he leaned in to kiss me. I immediately closed my eyes and felt his warm and tender lips press against mine.

I could feel the warmth of his body heat and it somehow felt comforting. It started off as a small peck and slowly turned into a heated kiss.

The way I pulled him towards me and how he gently embraced me in his arms felt like we had done this many times before. It almost felt natural.

He played with my tongue as we shared a passionate kiss. Our heads moved side to side as we got into a rhythm. My entire being wanted him and I couldn't understand where this sudden longing for him came from.

He pulled away and I slowly opened my eyes. I had gotten so engrossed in the kiss I had completely forgotten the reason why we did it in the first place.

I finally came to my senses and found the answer I was looking for. I was very attracted to Grayson Lockwood.

END OF CHAPTER 4

(Wow, two kiss scenes in one chapter!😆 I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I can't wait to see how the story develops and how Madeline falls in love. I guess you will all just have to keep reading.😁 Until next time my lovelies don't forget to VOTE if you enjoyed!)