Page 30 of To Teleport, or Not to Teleport?
I’d been left alone with Grayson again. He played with the ends of my hair, studying me as I wrung my hands in my lap.
“Why are you so nervous?” he asked.
I shrugged, unsure of what to say.
Grayson pinched my chin between two fingers and gently turned my face toward his. “DoImake you nervous?”
Biting down on my lower lip, I took him in. Physically, he was an older, more-attractive version of the boy I remembered. Logically, I knew I had no reason to be nervous, yet, my heart beat erratically against my sternum.
“You know I’d never do anything to hurt you—”
“Of course I know that,” I hissed.
“When I left, the hardest part of it all was leaving you behind. You were my best friend and the girl I was head over heels for. You never judged me for anything.”
I laughed. “That’s not true. I definitely judged you when you jumped from the tree and shifted into your panther.”
His eyes lit up at the memory. “Goddess, I thought you’d never speak to me again after that.”
Smacking his thigh, I snapped, “Because I thought you’d break your neck!”
His grin faded. “Let me take you out on a proper date and prove to you that I won’t leave you ever again. I want to show you how good we are together.”
I gasped. My mouth opened for me to argue against it, but nothing came out. He needed my support and friendship in assimilating back into our community, not potential complications of a romantic relationship.
The corner of his mouth quirked upward. “Give it to me. What excuse are you coming up with right now?”
“I don’t want to lose our friendship now that I got it back. We risk messing things up.”
He nodded. “Or the foundation of that same friendship will make for an amazing relationship.”
“Just say yes!” Cami shouted from the kitchen.
Grayson chuckled, the sound causing goose bumps to cover my skin. “I’d listen to Cam.”
“You suck!” I shouted back at my cousin.
“And so will you,” Rita said from somewhere in the corner of the room.
I turned fifty shades of red and covered my face. “Oh my Goddess, Rita!”
A round of giggles filled the air as somethingthunked onto the table before me. Peeking past two fingers, I spotted a bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream with a donut sticking out of it.
“Eat up!”
“That’s what she said,” Kaleb muttered around a bite of food.
“Do y’all still play games?” Grayson asked as he squeezed my arm.
“She has some old ones, but with just the two of us, it’s not nearly as fun,” Cami said around a bite of ice cream.
“Pictionary?” Bear asked with a boyish grin.
“It might be missing some cards, but yeah, I have it.”
* * *
“Are you sure about this?” I asked the moment I opened the door. I’d been waiting for Grayson longer than I cared to admit, but after last time, I didn’t want to chance standing him up by mistake.
