Page 10 of Grayson

“Ruin other men?” Why do I keep feeding this conversation? I should just shut up but my brain to mouth function has taken a nap.

“Yep, because after a night with Gray I’m not sure there is another man out there that would be able to top his skills.”

I only stare at her.

“I’ve heard that the man’s tongue is lethal,” she adds and Scarlett chokes on a chip.

Thankfully Tori had left the kitchen texting on her phone prior to this new topic.

“Okay, there is only so much I can stomach about the details of my cousin and best friend’s skills.” Scarlett shivers. “Honestly, he plays it off like he doesn’t feel a thing but I can assure you it’s all an act. The guy has the biggest heart and he loves loyally. The problem is he doesn’t give that love easily. His mom hurt both him and Uncle Griffin when Gray was only five. It’s his story to tell, but let’s just say he has a hard time believing in forever so instead he tends to just focus on the now.”

7

Grayson Hawk

Walking up to the house I’m met with Hayes and Fed who seem to be having some kind of debate over the best kind of donut, jelly filled or not. This place is always full of crazy topics, wild pranks, and chaos.

Just as we reach the entrance to the station the door opens and out steps Rose.

She’s already smiling I’m sure because of the guys inside, but when she sees the three of us, it only grows wider.

“My sweet boys.” She reaches out to hug each of us. She is so small that we practically have to go to our knees to do so, but for Rose we’d each do about anything. She is always taking care of us in one sense or another.

“I brought fresh, sweet, and warm Cinnabons,” she announces.

“Rose I thought we had a talk about your obsession with my buns?” I say it low but not so low that everyone around me can’t hear. I pretend to shy away from her, making Rose laugh.

“Oh boy.” She pokes my side. Then in true Rose fashion she adds, “It’s not only your buns that keep me hanging around the house.” Then she winks and moves around us.

“By the way, I made some homemade doggie treats too, for our Oscar. Don’t give him more than a couple a shift. I wrote that on the bag.”

And with that she offers us a wave as she continues down the drive and across the street to her sweet little house with the rocking chairs on her front porch. There were still two chairs there, she never removed her husband’s after he passed. There are times I’ve seen her sitting outside, talking away like he was still beside her.

Hayes pulls open the door and the three of us step inside, offer side hugs to those men that were on shift before us and who are now heading home.

The closer we get to the kitchen the louder those familiar voices get. My brothers, the ones I serve with on every call, are gathered around the island in the middle. There in the center is not one but three tin pans of Cinnabons. Rose never shorts us, because with these guys she knows nothing goes to waste.

“Rose,” Hollywood says around a mouth full as he points to the yummy goodness in the pans. “If she was forty years younger, I think I’d marry the woman.”

There isn’t a man in this place that doesn’t love Rose. Hell, Cap even gives her a portion of our monthly allowance for food to go toward the abundant amounts she supplies us. She never asks, in fact sometimes she tries to decline. But the truth is she has become a big part of Station 47. She even has an honorary badge we all went in together to have made.

I don’t have any living grandparents but the moment I met Rose I felt a connection.

I bypass the counter and go straight for the coffee pot as a yawn hits me. Usually, I spend the prior night before shift sleeping solidly, but last night I couldn’t sleep for shit.

“Late night?” Atta asks and I turn around leaning my back to the edge of the countertop and take a moment to breathe in the coffee aroma. Sipping the hot liquid I glance over and offer a nod.

“Yep, but not for the reason you are thinking.”

It’s no secret around the place that I’ve lived a life of variety. Most of them have witnessed my wild nights and sometimes even wilder mornings.

I made the mistake of calling Fed one morning because I had a major clinger and I needed an escape plan. Silas used that shit against me for days, weeks even. Hell to this day the assholes drag in Missy the Home-taker into every single situation they can.

But come on, I woke up after a random hookup to the smell of coffee and bacon filtrating throughout my apartment. I thought to myself, okay I can eat breakfast with her, I mean it’s my place after all and the food was right there. But breakfast led to lunch and a fucking pie being baked. She started cleaning my apartment and throwing out shit she didn’t think I needed. I was in panic mode, because she wasn’t fucking leaving. Then she started talking about what she should make us for dinner before we settled in for a movie before bed and I hit the panic button.

Twenty minutes later, Fed showed up at my door with Marchy and Brax. Of course they played it out for about an hour. Missy thought she was being introduced to a couple of my friends and was over the moon. Had no idea I’d brought home a nutcase. Who thinks that going home with a guy from the bar means you are moving into his place by morning?

Right when I thought I was seconds from moving my shit there was a knock on the door, and Missy was up before I had the chance to move. Three women entered, all wearing lingerie and I’d recognized them immediately.

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