spaces between us (grayson Dolan)

ch. 20 wait. what?

Tessa's (POV)
When I got home from school, I immediately put my backpack down and grabbed a snack.
"Hi Tessa!" Hadley said scaring me.
She looked at me with her brown eyes.
"Hey Had! What have you been doing all day?" I asked, grabbing an apple out of the fridge.
"Nothing much. Mom took me to get some new toys!" she said, while sitting at the counter.
"Well I would love to see them!" I said taking a bite out of the apple. She ran upstairs to grab her toys excitedly. Waiting for her to come back, I checked my phone. That's when I remembered that I wanted to call Jamie before my "surprising" appearance in the school play. I scrolled through my contacts and tapped her name. After a few rings, she picked up.
"Hey Tessa! Haven't talked to you since Orlando! Hope everything is going well!" Jamie blurted through the phone.
"Ya everything has been great. But yesterday I almost had a panic attack." I replied, sounding less enthusiastic towards the end of my sentence.
I explained the whole radio thing and how scared I was that my friends would find out about my secret, while walking upstairs, forgetting all about Hadley.

I had finally gotten off the phone with Jamie when it was already 4:50. Relieved that the whole situation with my song was just a mixup, I started to stress about what I was going to wear, remembering I had plans with Grayson tonight. I looked through my closet and still had no idea. That's when I just gave up and decided on leggings, hunter boots, and a plaid shirt with a Patagonia vest. I went to the bathroom and put my hair in a half up while curling the ends. While I was looking for my mascara, Nick came in my room.
"Hey do you want to order some take out tonight since mom and dad are at work?" he asked leaning against the door frame.
"Actually... I'm going over to Grayson's tonight, so I'll be eating there." I replied, while looking at the mirror to apply some light makeup.
"You two really enjoy hanging out, don't ya?" he said with a little smirk. I walked by him with a "mhhmmm." We both walked downstairs.

I was just about to leave when I heard sobbing coming from the bathroom. I turned my head so I could hear more clearly. It was Hadley. I quickly opened the door and saw her sobbing on a pile of barbies and princess clothes.
"Oh my gosh! Hadley what's wrong?" I asked while scooping her up and placing her on my lap and sitting down on the couch.
"Y-y-you didn't want to to see my t-toys!" she cried while hugging me. That's when I remembered earlier how I just went upstairs to talk to Jamie, not giving Had any attention.
Hugging her tightly, I said, "Hadley I am so sorry!! I should have never went upstairs and talked to my manager. Please forgive me. I promise that you can show me all your toys right now." She looked up with a smile.
"Okay!!!!" she said while running to the bathroom to grab her things.

*10 minutes later*
Hadley was not mad with me anymore and had totally forgot about what I had done by the time she finished showing me her dolls. Looking at the time, I mentally cursed in my head. I was supposed to be there 15 minutes ago. Getting in my car, I drove to Grayson's house, thinking of what I would say when I got there.

"Hey. I'm so sorry I'm so late! My little sister wanted to show me her new toys, and I lost track of time." I said when Grayson opened the door.
"It's not a problem. Dinner is just now ready." he said while giving me a hug and welcoming me in. We both walked to the kitchen, where his family greeted me.
"Hopefully you like tacos!" Mr. Dolan said, grabbing the lettuce out of the fridge.
"Of course I do!" I exclaimed, sitting down at the table. Grayson sat next to me, pouring me some water. Cameron and Ethan were already sitting. I greeted them with a small hi and a big smile. The rest of the dinner continued with funny and embarrassing stories of Ethan and Grayson's childhood,
and me talking about the volleyball team.

"Alright Mom, I think Tessa and I will just go downstairs." Grayson said while standing up. I quickly said thank you for the yummy dinner and followed Gray to the basement door.

"Sorry. Family dinners can be kind of weird sometimes." He said, while turning on the light and nervously chuckling. Their basement was huge!!! I've been to his house before but not in the basement. He had a ping pong table, a bar, a pool table, a giant leather couch and a flat screen.
"It wasn't weird at all." I said looking around. We headed to the couch and sat down.
"So what do you want to do?" Grayson asked, scooting closer to me.
"Hmmm. I don't know. I'm pretty good a ping pong you know?" I said giving him a challenging look. He looked me in the eyes, only a few inches from my face and said, "You're On!"
We raced to the ping pong table and started playing.
The match was actually pretty intense. After beating him 23 to 21, we decided to play some video games. This, I would probably not be as good at. He turned off the light and turned on the Xbox. He grabbed a blanket and sat down right next to me. Throughout the game, he would teach me what each button did and how to play the game. But to tell you the truth, I wasn't even paying attention. I literally was looking at his face the whole time. He must have caught me because he put down his controller and pulled me on to his lap. I was facing him, while straddling his waist.
"You know, I really like you Tessa." Grayson said looking at my lips, then at me eyes, then back at my lips. I blushed. I covered my face with my hands. He gently pulled them away from my face and held them. He started to lean in. But before his lips could touch mine, the lights came on.

"Hey guys do you want.. WOAH! WOAH!" Ethan said walking back upstairs, pretending he didn't see anything. I quickly hopped off his lap and sat next to Grayson, my face heating up with embarrassment. We both looked at each other before exploding into fits of laughter. I went to turn off the lights and sat next to Gray again. After a couple of minutes of sitting there in silence, I said...
"I like you too."