What A Secret Looks Like | ✓

13: tessa

I should have expected that Grayson would be the type to hold up a sign, but it didn't make my smile any smaller when I saw him there, pretending to be a driver in a suit and a hand held sign. The suit is because he probably came from work, but in my book it still counts.

There's a bounce in my step even though I'm completely exhausted because we worked well into the night, and I'm just so glad to be back.

But this time instead of awkwardly saying 'hi' because I had no idea what to say, I greet him with the one thing that we always seem to do right. It's been eight days, two hours and three minutes since I've done this, but whose counting?

Grayson's hand presses against the small of my back as he smiles before pulling away, "I'm sorry miss, but are you by chance looking for a taxi?"

"Shut up and kiss me," I say, and he listens for once, pressing his lips gently against mine. I respond by deepening it, but then he pulls away resting his head against mine. "Gray," I whine, causing him to chuckle softly. He brings the hand that's not holding the sign against my back to brush over my cheek ever so gently.

"As much as I want to kiss you right now Bella, we're also in public. I'm pretty sure that old lady over there is staring at us."

I'm sure he can feel the chills that run up my spine as he calls me Bella, something I wasn't sure about at first, but I've grown to love through the use of it. The way Grayson says it makes me want to see myself the way he sees me because I don't know what he would think if he saw how I still see myself.

There's just some things you never really get over that have the ability to change your outlook on life. It's just the sad reality of it.

"You're right," I say, taking a step back even though I don't want to, but his green eyes shine brightly.

"It's not everyday I hear those words; do you think you could repeat that again so I can catch it on video?" Grayson teases, and a laugh escapes from my chest. Everything is just so much easier around him.

His hand drops from my face to thread with my hand, and we head towards the exit. "So how's Peyton doing? Did everything go okay last night?"

Grayson swings our arms a little, "She was sleeping when I left this morning, but she met Hayes yesterday."

"What?" I ask, trying to keep my voice even.

"He was at my apartment when I got back from picking her up, but she didn't say anything about us. He thought that I was seeing Peyton which we were quick to deny because of Jared, but I think I managed to convince him that I've just been busy at work."

The relief I feel is slim because we're bound to be caught at some point, but without telling people there's no one to make an opinion or assumptions. "Okay," I murmur as my mind whirls a million miles a minute.

The conversation falls silent as Grayson leads me to wherever we're going while I'm caught in my thoughts. Our interlocked hands swing from where they hang in-between us.

"Did you-uh-were you planning on staying with me, or did you have a hotel lined up to stay at?" He asks, not quite sure how to phrase the question.

"Gray you can relax, I'm not planning on moving in. I wasn't sure what you wanted to do and Aristocracy always has a room lined up for me. Except that one time the hotel got the dates wrong, and I stayed at Sephine and Hayes's."

"You know if they hadn't messed up the dates, I never would have learned your name. I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to stay with me, you could." He points out, and he's right. Before that night he was just a nameless face that I'd hooked up, and the owner of the clothes I stole.