Page 42 of Grumpy Darling

The truth was, there was no way around it. I couldn’t continue to do nothing. I couldn’t let her feel this way, and I couldn’t sit by and watch her blush and flirt and nervously giggle with the next guy who caught her eye. I needed to finally take some action and accept the consequences—whatever they might be. I drew in a breath, knowing that when I finally exhaled, I was going to utter words that could shatter the foundations of our friendship for good.

“Clearly, you don’t know how perfect you really are.” My voice was deep and rumbly, and my heart ached because of just how true it was.

She turned away from the mirror to look at me. “You have to say that,” she mumbled. “You’re my best friend.”

My chest tightened. Our friendship felt like a brick wall between us, preventing her from seeing what was right in front of her. I needed to take a sledgehammer to it and smash my way through. Reed, Parker, and my friends had told me I needed to make Paige see me as more than a friend, and I cast my mind back to the intervention and their stupid list of advice. What was on it again? Compliment her. Flirt with her. Touch her. Be less Grayson. It felt like I needed to do every one of those things if she was going to believe this. If she was going to feel truly wanted.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I took a step closer to her. She edged back until she was pressed against the counter, and I placed my hands on either side of her, encasing her between them.

“I don’t have to say anything,” I whispered. “Except tell you how beautiful you look tonight.”

Her lips parted with surprise. I might have laughed at the shock so clearly etched across her features, but my heart was beating way too fast. However worried she’d been about flirting with Damien, I could almost guarantee it was a fraction of the fear and hope thrumming through me right now.

“I do?” Her breath caught in her throat as she responded, and the words came out as a small squeak.

I had no idea what I was doing. Was this flirty? Or was I just making a fool of myself? I tried to form a playful expression as I leaned in even closer to her, but the wry smile on my lips felt as foreign to me as the words I was trying to form. Somehow, I managed to keep it in place as I continued.

“You do,” I replied. “And I know you feel like you failed tonight, but you’ve got a guy standing right here who wants to listen to all your bad pickup lines and loves your nervous giggles.”

I reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. It was only now that I realized just how close we were. How much seeing her engulfed in my hoodie affected me. And how desperately I wanted to blurt out each one of my long-unrequited feelings. I was trying to play it cool, but now that I’d started talking, I couldn’t seem to hold myself back.

“But do you know what I want the most?”

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed, and her hushed reply was barely audible. “What?”

“You, Paige. I want you.”

The air around us crackled with tension, and I felt certain she could feel it too, because her eyes dipped to my lips. Trepidation and anticipation pulsed in my veins. My desire to make her feel wanted had led to me voicing my true feelings, and it was freeing to finally release the words into the world. But was it actually working? It felt like Paige might be looking at me differently. Could she be thinking about me as someone other than her best friend for the very first time? At least she wasn’t shying away. In fact, I was daring to hope that she might be feeling something too.

But then Paige laughed. Not the nervous giggle she’d uttered for Damien. A genuine, playful laugh. “Oh my gosh, Gray. You’re good.”

“What?”

“Your flirting,” she said. “You almost had me fooled there for a second.”

What was she talking about? Did she think I was just messing around? It felt like I’d had ice water thrown on me.

“Where did that come from?” she continued. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Uh, I’m not sure,” I stuttered. It had come straight from my poor, forgotten heart, but the confidence that had inspired me moments ago dissipated, and I found myself quickly backtracking. “Just a natural, I guess.”

“Well, if they ever do start teaching it in schools, you’ll have a job for life. You could be like...” She gasped before she could finish the thought. Then she reached out and grabbed my arm, her eyes practically glowing with excitement. “I’ve just had the best idea.”

Why was I suddenly worried? “You have?”

“Yes! What if you teach me?”

“Teach you what?”

“To flirt like that. The closeness, the lines, the hair tuck. It was amazing.”

I lifted my hands off the counter beside her and stepped back. I was still close, but the space between us suddenly felt vast, and that damn wall was still holding strong. I’d failed. She thought I was just her best friend, trying to make her feel better. She thought it was all for show. I guess it kind of had been. She’d never seen me act like that before. But the words I’d spoken couldn’t have been more serious.

“This is going to be great,” she continued, her expression now thoughtful, like she was coming up with a cunning plan. “Forget putting in a good word for me. This will be much more effective.”

“It will?” I felt like I was on a freight train that had lost control, and I had no idea how to slow it down. The carriages were racing ahead, plowing through stop signs and coming off the rails as they hurtled round the bends.

“Definitely. You clearly know what you’re doing. And I clearly don’t. With your help, I might actually have a chance with someone like Damien.”

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