A Scenic Connection (BoyxBoy)

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

"What!?" My dad said incredulously, his face twisting in surprise. "Are you okay!? Are you alright? Do you need to see a doctor?" He asked a million questions and my head started to spin.

"Dad! Dad! No. I'm okay," I repeated until he began to calm down slightly. Then I broke the rest of the news. "I was already in the hospital and I'm totally fine," I explained.

"Griffin!! Why didn't you tell us! It was that serious!? You could've died and we wouldn't have known!?" He said, pacing back and forth before coming to a stop and sitting on the edge of my bed.

"There was no reason to get you all worried once I knew everything would be okay. I'm fine," I said calmly. "Dad. I'm fine," I looked into his eyes and kept my voice as even as I could. He returned my gaze and we stayed in silence for a moment. He reached over and wrapped his arms around me, giving me a warm hug. 

"I guess I have nothing to worry about knowing that everything turned out okay, but I can still be upset with you for not telling us. We're your parents Griffin," he said sternly, pulling back to look at my face. I nodded. 

"I know. I guess I just wanted to be strong in front of my friends and I knew that telling you while I was in the hospital would've made me cry," I said as sincerely as I could. It was only partially the truth. The other part was the fact that I felt safe as long as Tyce was there with me, but of course, they knew nothing of him at the moment. This also reminded me that I hadn't heard from Tyce since I last saw him earlier today, which made me a little disappointed but I tried to shrug it off. 

"I can understand that, but please Griffin, in the future be honest with us. Especially with something as serious as that," my Dad said. 

"I will Dad, I promise," I told him honestly. A twinge of guilt gnawed at the back of my mind though, knowing that I still was keeping secrets from him. I put on a fake smile anyway. He hugged me again and lingered for a bit with a look of uncertainty on his face before finally leaving the room. 

A couple of hours later, when it was just after 10, I decided since I wasn't do anything I might as well get in bed. I pulled up my shirt and slipped it off over my head, then pulled down the shorts I had been wearing and stepped out of them, standing there in nothing but my blue boxer briefs. I threw my clothes in the laundry hamper I kept in my closet and then dove under the blankets in bed. It sure was the best feeling ever to be back in my own bed after spending several days away from it, but I couldn't help but remember Tyce, and how nice it had been to have him beside me. I frowned a little as the realization that he wouldn't be joining hit me. I let out a deep breath, laying on my back and looking up and the ceiling. My TV was on but I really wasn't paying attention or watching anything interesting. 

I reached over for my phone that I had set on my bedside table, quickly finding Tyce's contact. I composed a message to him and my finger hovered over the word 'send' unsure of whether or not I should send it. I tapped on the word and sent the text, figuring it had been long enough since we had talked. The last thing I wanted was to come across as needy or desperate. 

He didn't respond right away so I set my phone beside me on the bed and settled in, picking up my remote and flipping through the channels absentmindedly. Normally I would be texting Hadley, but since things had gotten weird between us lately I decided against it. My phone beeped beside me, returning me to reality. I excitedly picked it up.

Hey Grif! I was wondering when you were gonna text me ;) Tyce's message read. I smiled to myself at the winky face he placed at the end. 

Haha how's it going? Just had an awkward family dinner here. I texted back. I wanted to FaceTime him or something, just to see his face and hear his voice. In fact, I wanted to tell him that I missed him already like crazy, but that would probably seem weird since our relationship wasn't on that level. 

It's going alright. I just ordered a pizza for dinner haha. Why was it awkward? I didn't know why but this guy just gave me butterflies without even saying or doing anything. It was crazy. I pictured him eating a pizza next to me on the couch while we watched TV, and I couldn't help but smile from ear to ear at my phone as I read his words.

Oh you know, just fun family times. My little sister had her bf over. Ooh pizza sounds good. I said, quickly tapping send. 

Haha that makes sense. Family dinners are always a fun time ;) Yeah it was good, pepperoni is the best! He replied. I chuckled to myself. 

I love pepperoni! It's my favorite! I'm just glad to be in my bed now though lol. What are you doing? I asked. 

I love it too. We'll definitely have to get pizza sometime then! I'm in bed too. Look at us being all lazy. Lol. He put a laughing emoji at the end. I kinda got a semi hard on thinking about him being half naked or even possibly completely naked in bed, I won't lie. I started wishing I could feel his warm, soft, gentle lips against mine and that feeling of sparks shooting around inside my body that came with it. 

We sure do! I'd love that. I wrote, referring to getting pizza with him. Wanna FaceTime? I asked him. I eagerly and maybe a little anxiously awaited his response. I suppose talking to guys wasn't exactly one of my strengths, even if I did know them fairly well.

I got my answer though in the form of a FaceTime call popping up on my phone from Tyce. I smiled as I tapped the green answer icon. Tyce's face appeared on the screen, looking as sexy as ever of course. He smiled at me.

"Hey there!" He greeted, giving me a small wink. 

"Hi," I replied. 

"So how's it going now that you're home? Aside from the awkward family dinner?" He asked. I watched as he turned over in his bed so that he was laying on his back, giving me a nice view of his perfect pecs. I could only hope I wasn't literally drooling because damn this man. 

"Oh it's been nice I guess. Kind of boring. I did tell my dad about nearly drowning though," I told him. I briefly looked at the little square in the bottom corner of my screen that showed what I looked like to him, making sure I didn't look completely ridiculous. 

"You did? How did he take it?" Tyce asked curiously. I pulled a face. 

"Well he was upset at first, wanted to make sure I was okay, but he calmed down after," I said, still trying not to stare at Tyce's chest. 

"That's good though. I mean his reaction was probably to be expected, but that's good you told them and got that off your chest. They needed to know," Tyce said. I nodded. 

"I'm sure he'll tell my mom so I don't have to," I said. "Have you talked to Jordan or any of those guys?" I asked carefully. Tyce's face tightened briefly. 

"Er, no I haven't. I figure if they want to talk, they know how to get in touch with me. I don't really have anything to say," he shrugged. 

"I'm sorry," I said earnestly. He gave me a small smile.

"Don't be. I'm glad I met you," he said, causing me to blush. I could feel the heat rush to my face. Hopefully the lighting in my room would cover some of it. 

"I'm glad I met you too," I told him. 

"We need to hang out now that we're home," Tyce said. "Wanna do something tomorrow?" He asked. I was taken aback a little but delighted that he wanted to. 

"U-um sure," I stammered. "I'd like that."

"Good," he grinned. "Me too. I'll text you my address so you can meet me and we can grab lunch or something." 

"That sounds great! I'd love to see your place too," I replied. I wondered what his apartment looked like. 

Tyce and I ended up talking for several hours and we were both close to falling asleep by the time we said goodnight and ended our FaceTime chat. I looked at my alarm clock as I set my phone on the table. 12:15 it read. I yawned and pulled the covers up, settling in to my warm bed with a smile playing at my lips as I drifted off to sleep thinking of Tyce.