Page 92 of The Spotlight Effect

“Because I personally don’t want to deal with the oh my god, she has a date thing, so can we hurry,” I say, moving faster to the car.

“Slow down, I’ll get the door for you,” he says, opening the door right before I make it to the door.

“Thank you.” I slide into the passenger seat of his black Mazda.

“So where are we going?” I ask as soon as he gets into the car.

“First, the beach,” Gray answers. The beach at night? That seems like a bit of a cold activity, and I didn’t bring a jacket.

“Why?” I ask, I need clarity on this.

“To watch the sunset.” He laughs slightly and reaches over and grabs my hand.

I don’t think I’ve ever been on a date to see the sunset. Actually, I haven’t been on much of a date before. I mean, this guy in sophomore year took me out for ice cream, but then he just wanted to make out, and I went home, and in senior year, I went on another date. It turned into a relationship that lasted two months because I wasn’t into sex because of the trauma with Griffin. “This will be fun,” he follows up with.

We will definitely see. Gray flips the radio on and a song from The MorningStars pops on. I look over at him, but he just smiles. I feel like this was planned. Nonetheless, I don’t mind it’s a good song; I love this song. It’s in my top ten. It’s ‘Sink or Swim’ by them. “Not going to make a snarky comment about me playing my own song?” he asks.

“Not today,” I answer.

We listen to a playlist of their music as we make the trip to the beach. “Alright, let’s go.” Gray reaches in the back and grabs a blanket before opening his door. I wait for him to walk around and open my door for me.

“I’m going to need to take my heels off,” I say as he opens the door.

“Got it, I’ll hold them for you,” Gray says.

“I’ll wait till we get to the sand,” I tell him. He helps me out of the car, and we make our way down the boardwalk and the sunset starts to come into view. It’s all purples, oranges, and yellows. I slip my heels off and feel the wood against the bare wood. I’m not the biggest fan of the feeling but I need to get across this bridge. The sand squishes between my toes as the coolness between my toes. Gray lays out the blanket of us and we both take a seat on it. The aroma of the ocean whiffs through the air and the colors of the sky are much brighter than before.

“It’s beautiful,” I murmur. The purples, oranges, and yellows all blend together as the clouds fade and stars emerge into the sky, brightening up everything.

“You’re a prettier view,” Gray says, and I look over at him to find him looking at me.

“Charming me now?” I raise my brow.

“Always, Astréi mou.” He brushes my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. His gray eyes gleam in the night light, making them even more beautiful. The light blue rings in his eyes seem to look even more blue right now and I seem to be getting lost in them.

“What does that mean?” I ask.

“You’ll find out one day.” He leans in, his lips brushing mine.

Our lips connect, filling my body with tingles throughout, making my whole body heat up. I lean in closer, deepening the kiss, feeling like I need more. Moving closer, he grips onto my thigh, bringing me around onto his lap. Gray looks at me as we are now face to face. I give him a skeptical look, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“How do you feel about sensory play?”

“Explain.”

“Well, we can trace each other's bodies and if you want, take some water and lightly trace, feeling each other,” he explains.

“And this does what?”

“It helps with trust.”

“Fine. I agree but don’t pull anything weird.”

“Now lay down for me.”

Do I smell good? I hope I smell good enough for this. “You ready?” Gray asks, skimming up my thigh under my skirt.

“I promise not to do anything you don’t want. All you have to do is say stop,” Gray says, grabbing my thigh and I gasp a little at the sensation.

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