Heart of Glass// Ethan Dolan✅

Chapter 17

You know that feeling you get right before you have to stand up and give a class presentation, hoping that the teacher won't call on you? Or the feeling you get when someone texts you and asks if they can ask you a question? Or that feeling you get when Grayson Dolan asks you to have dinner with his mother, his twin, and Aaron? Don't worry, because I know how that feels too.

"Cara... wow," Grayson comments at the front door. I don't even process that he's complimenting me. All I can think about is how elegant I have to act because I'll probably screw up one thing or another. "You look amazing."

"Thanks," I say with no emotion behind it. How can he be acting so casual? How?

I mean, I'm not even wearing anything too fancy: just a pair of blue jeans and some random white shirt that stood out in my closet. I was in panic mode all this morning without Hannah there to help me pick a decent looking outfit.

Grayson laughs, "You're going to be fine, Cara. It's just dinner."

"This might be one of the most important dinners of my life," I remind Grayson. "This is me meeting your mother. Do you know what that means? It's a life or death situation."

"Okay, you might be over exaggerating a little bit there," Grayson laughs. This is no laughing matter!

"I'm not kidding, Gray," I tell him. "She's your mom. She's the most important woman in your life, so she has to like me. It's like rule number one in dating."

"Isn't rule number one that you both like each other?" Grayson asks.

"Same thing basically!" I exclaim. Grayson chuckles, shaking his head.

"Come on. We have to go. Mom is making hamburgers, so they should be done soon," Grayson says. "Besides, Aaron is dying for this play out, so you have to prove him wrong."

"Oh God. If I screw up, Aaron is never going to let me live this down," I groan.

"Listen," Grayson whispers, taking my face in both of his hands, forcing me to look him in the eyes. "You're going to be okay. It's all going to be okay."

"Thanks Gray," I whisper back and he kisses my forehead.

He smiles and grabs my hand. "Now, let's go eat some sick nasty hamburgers!"

I raise an eyebrow. "Is that some way of telling me that these things are going to taste bad?"

"No, my mom can actually cook," Grayson laughs. "That's just another way of saying something that is really good. Oh, and I do have to tell you something once we get in the car."

"You can't just tell me now?" I ask.

Grayson shakes his head no and leads me to the car. He waits until we get off of my road to actually tell me what he wanted to tell me.

"Ethan is in a really pissy mood today," Grayson warns me.

"Isn't that fantastic?" I ask him. "Why?"

"I don't know. But he's in an extremely pissed off mood right now. So I would be sure to not make any sudden movements. He might rip off a limb or something," Grayson jokes. I roll my eyes.

"I've actually never seen Ethan in an extremely pissed off mood, so this might be interesting," I tell Grayson. "I just hope that it doesn't ruin our dinner."

"It probably will," Grayson shrugs, causing to face plant into the window. Thanks for the encouragement, Gray!

The rest of the ride, we sit there while we talk about random things. Well, Grayson talks about random things and I try to listen, but all I can think about is how this dinner is going to turn out. With everyone in town hating the Dolans, how is it possible to have a mom that isn't as defensive as Ethan is?