Page 67 of Swim To Me

“It’s okay.” Grey smiles, although there’s something clouding his eyes. I’m guessing it’s probably concern. “There are no set rules, Delilah, and even if there were… we don’t have to follow them. We’ve already broken a few and nothing bad has happened. Okay? I never followed the rules and I’ve turned out alright, don’t you think?”

I nod my head jerkily.

“Just breathe. It’s okay to break a few rules once in a while, gorgeous.”

“I guess… It’s just—”

Grey strokes the back of his finger down my cheek at the same time my stomach gurgles again, interrupting us.

“You wanna go get some food?”

“Yes, please.”

“Come on then.” Grey throws his arm around my shoulders, placing a quick kiss to my neck. “Let’s go get some food.”

We follow the winding corridors to the café inside the museum, waiting patiently to be seated while the scent of sandwiches and warm coffee waft by.

The waitress seats us at a window seat, although with the fine mist still hanging outside there’s not much we can actually see, handing us each a menu, whilst eyeing Grey up like I’m not there.

“What can I get you?”

“Cup of tea for me,” Grey answers, not looking at her, but keeping his eyes trained on me across the table. “And a chicken sandwich.”

“I’ll have the same… with a bowl of chips to share, please.”

Orders placed, I stare out the window, noticing the people running from the relenting rain outside. Umbrellas pop up like wild, colourful mushrooms, while others cover their heads withcoats and hoods, walking purposefully as if to out stride mother nature.

“Gorgeous—”

I meet Grey’s warm gaze. “Why that nickname?”

“Because you are, Delilah. Inside and out.”

I feel a blush prickle the apples of my cheeks and the bridge of my nose, while my heart does a strange stutter in my chest cavity. What on earth is happening to me?

Grey takes my hand across the table, unaware of my murmuring heart, his thumb tracing the valley of my knuckles. “Are you enjoying yourself, other than the…”

“Spilling my guts part?” I laugh quietly at myself. “Yes Grey, I’m enjoying myself.”

“Good.” He grins. “Me too.”

Over our tea and sandwiches, I broach one of my favourite subjects again. “So, the book?”

“I haven’t managed to read as much as I’d like,” Grey admits, biting down on the edge of a salty chip. “My youngest brother has moved in with me so—”

“Which brother?”

“Hudson. The one I was supposed to meet at the speakeasy bar, but he blew me off. Kind of gotta thank him for that though, otherwise you might not have confessed your attraction to me.”

I bat his hand away when he reaches for another chip, rolling my eyes and flushing scarlet again. “Like I was the only one.”

“Oh, I’ve been attracted to you since you first walked in the pool, Delilah. I just didn’t know what I was going to do about it yet.”

I hum, taking a sip of my tea to hide my smile. “Why has he moved in with you?”

Grey blows a large breath from his lips, dislodging a strand of his fringe which had been hanging down his forehead. I, oh so desperately want to push it back with my own fingers. “Hudsonisn’t very good at sharing the details, never has been. He just said he’d been thrown out of his apartment. He didn’t really say in as many words that he needed a place to stay, but he forgets his brothers can read him like a book.”

“Is he working?”

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