The One Who Ran Away

Chapter Twenty-Five

"You have lipstick on your cheek," Jo said dryly. Greyson wiped the red smudge off with the back of his hand, embarrassed.

"It was incredibly kind of you to console Addie like that after her breakup. She sure looked devastated," Jo said saucily. She eyed him with an eyebrow raised. Greyson blushed. He actually turned a shade of pink.

"She kissed me! I didn't do anything," he tried.

"You weren't trying to push her away either," Jo shot back. Greyson smirked.

"Do I hear a hint of jealousy?"

"Hah! Absolutely not," Jo laughed. She felt something tug at her insides and she immediately cursed under her breath.

"Anyways," Jo maneuvered the conversation, "what do you want?"

"I've been meaning to ask you about my brother," Greyson started to say. He stopped himself short however, leaving Jo to wonder what he could possibly say next. When he didn't speak for a few hesitant seconds, Jo prompted him to speak. 

"Spit it out, Michaels," Jo heavily exhaled. She had really hoped the rest of the night would be drama free. 

"Why has Zach been so mopey? He acts like he's missing an arm." 

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since you guys went on that date he has been depressed and annoying as fuck. I don't what you did to him but-"

"Whoa there, Michaels. First of all, Zach fucked up our date. He lied to me and took me to a second rate Mexican place and a grinding club. So I don't really give a shit about Zach Michaels' heart right now," Jo snapped. She turned away from Greyson to watch the dance floor. She could see Spook and Scarlett jumping wildly to the blasting music. A few feet away from them, Luke and his new date were blissfully slow dancing despite the energetic beat. 

"Did he really?" Greyson started to laugh. Jo didn't see the humor in the situation and watched him disdainfully rather than join him. 

"He used to do that with all the girls he wanted to fuck. You must be special because he's really broken up about you." Greyson settled down enough to steal a cheese cube off Jo's plate. Jo let him with no qualms; she hadn't really been eating anyway. 

"Awesome," Jo muttered more to herself than Greyson. She hadn't anticipated that Zach would actually have feelings for her if he was ungentlemanly enough to take her to a grind club. 

"So why are you sitting here on your own? Did your friends ditch you?" Greyson snidely asked as he stole yet another cheese cube off her plate. 

"Thanks for your vote of confidence, asshole. They're either dancing or - well, yeah. They're all dancing," Jo finished lamely. She stared down at her plate in amusement as she realized all the cheese cubes were gone. She pushed the plate away from her, not remotely interested in eating the remaining unappetizing scraps of lunch meat. 

"So, let's go dance."

"What?" Jo eyed Greyson suspiciously, unsure of what his angle was. She had a feeling he was up to something, she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. 

"You heard me, Hall. That wasn't a request either." There was a hard glint in his eye. His voice was too stiff, too rigid. Jo had a feeling he was pissed about something and wasn't yet ready to explain what was eating away at him. 

Not really seeing why she shouldn't go dance with him but not wanting to relent so easily, Jo argued. 

"Why should I go grind with you when I wouldn't grind with your brother?"