Page 34 of The Spotlight Effect

“Are any of the boys looking?” Nevea asks, leaning over to me. I don’t want to be a part of this.

“I need to ask Grayson something,” I state, getting up and going down the little steps and making my way over to where Grayson is. I make slight eye contact with Scarlett and wave to her to be nice which I’m regretting because she’s walking to me, so I stop.

“I can keep Beatrix distracted so you can talk to Gray,” Scarlett says to me. That’s really sweet.

“Oh, thanks,” I reply.

“Hey, Bea, we are almost done!” she calls out and Grayson looks over and tells Beatrix something. She says something back and walks off toward the house.

Okay, that was easy.

“Good luck.” She winks at me before walking away. What does she think will happen? I ignore that and I walk over to Grayson.

“Yes, Alexia?” he asks. His accent gives my name the perfect essence. His accent isn’t too strong, but it’s there, and I love the way it says my name.

“Nothing, I just needed to be away from Nevea,” I say, crossing my arms.

“Did you find anything out?” he asks.

“Yeah, she’s after you, I’m guessing,” I tell him.

“Yes, I know that captain obvious,” Grayson says.

“Fuck you and your sarcasm,” I reply.

“I bet you’d love to,” Grayson replies.

“Only in your dreams,” I tell him, rolling my eyes and then turning away. I feel a tight pull on my ponytail.

“You shouldn’t roll your eyes, it's rude,” I hear Grayson whisper in my ear before my ponytail is loosened again.

If I wasn’t so startled, I'd probably find that hot.

MALIBU NIGHTS

GRAYSON

She is hot, and it’s making me uncomfortable in the most turned-on way possible.

Not just that, but I liked seeing her smile as we played our songs and the way she looked in my shirt; I could just die right here because, God, she looked so good.

I'm not completely focused on her body. I love hearing her talk, so I keep asking her questions. I strangely like her personality. She's a sassy one, and it makes me want to choke her, but I’m growing to love being around her, and it’s only been four days!

Then her eyes, they are the most beautiful shade of golden brown I have ever seen. They look almost transparent in the Malibu sun.

I have aseriousproblem.

At this point, I’m completely fully obsessed.

We are all now sitting around the firepit as we wait for Bea to finish packing and talking to Mom. I’m sitting by Charlie, waiting. “Where’s Lexi?” Charlie asks.

“She’s right there,” Raven says, pointing to where Alexia is walking from the pool house. I’m guessing she went to the restroom. She takes a seat in the chair next to me and my stomach does a little flip.

I hate to admit that, even in my head.

Her ponytail is so mesmerizing; I really want to pull it again. It’s so curly and bouncy. I force myself to look away, snapping out of the trance.

“So, Alexia, what do you do back home? Like hobbies? Sports? Anything?” Scarlett asks.

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