Page 111 of Magical Academy for Delinquents
I grinned and dusted my shoulder off. “When you know a hacker, it’s not too hard.”
Z shook his head. “Get outta here. Go get hot for Gray.”
“You gonna practice with your cousin?” I asked Z, heading toward the door.
He held up my panties, one side of the thong ripped where he’d apparently torn it off my body. “Already done practicing.”
I shook my head as I yanked down on my skirt. “Bastard!”
But I left with a smile on my face.
Chapter 42
Grayson pickedme up in a stretch limo. I'd ridden in limos before. But I'd never had a guy step out of one, holding a dozen roses for me.
There are some things in life that every girl wants even if she doesn't know she wants them. The sight of him in a tux, staring up at me slack-jawed was one of those things.
A nightingale warbled in my chest and then flew around, tickling my rib cage with the brush of its happy, soft little feathers.
I took a step down the stairs and that broke Gray out of his trance. He hurried up to grab my hand.
"You look amazing, nemesis," Gray breathed. His dark eyes became hooded as he glanced over my black silk dress.
The dress was a floor length gown with an asymmetrical top. Part of the collar jutted upward and came to a point near my shoulder. The gown then hugged my figure until it reached my hips. It flared out and fell to the ground. A liberal slit on the left side showcased my legs and the tall, rhinestone encrusted stilettos I wore. The back of the dress had an asymmetrical slash through the middle, so that most of my back was exposed. I held a silver and rhinestone encrusted clutch in my hands.
Gray handed me the blooms, which were an array of colors. "Your power is kind of multi-colored, so I thought maybe a variety--"
I smiled and smelled them. "They're beautiful. Thank you!"
I turned back to see my mother peeking out the door, spying on us, a tearful grin on her face. I rolled my eyes. "Mom, would you like an excuse to come out here and meet Grayson instead of spying on us? I have these flowers you could put away."
Immediately, Mom straightened and pulled the door open. "Why, Grayson, so good to meet a guy who can tolerate Hayley's serrated tongue."
He laughed. "I can see where she gets her wit. And her beauty. Nice to meet you."
My mother shook Gray's hand. For once, I didn't see her shaking. She must have recently had her hit. I smacked that sarcastic thought away and tried to just enjoy the moment. I took a mental snapshot of the two of them together, halfway wishing that this was just a normal night and just a normal ball. But it wasn't.
Mom took the flowers from me and winked. "You kids run along and have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"One Mars heir coming up!" I joked.
Grayson's face paled. I grabbed his hand. "Calm down dude. You know we don't have time for that." "How could you--" "Mom got pregnant with Matthew when she was hardly older than me. It's been a running joke for years."
Grayson helped me into the car, shaking his head even after he sat. "You're crazy."
I shrugged. "You're the one who agreed to help me. Wanna back out?"
He leaned his head back against the headrest saying, "I'm crazy for not wanting to."
I giggled and tossed his arm around my shoulder, hugging his side. "Too bad we can't do some Bubble before we pull this job off."
He snorted. "That might actually help me lift your fat asses off the ground."
"Yeah but think of that fire tube. Not so good once we're in there." I glanced at my phone. "Almost time to do a check in with Malcolm. Did his delivery truck get off okay earlier?" I ran through the mental checklist of the hundreds of things we had to get right to pull this job off.
"Yeah, he's good." Gray leaned forward and opened the minibar in the limo. "We can't do Bubble tonight. But we can have a quick drink." He pulled out two mini shot bottles of scotch and untwisted the lids. He handed me one. "To pulling off the craziest shit the Pinnacle has ever seen."
We clinked our bottles.
