The Gray Family: Let The Games Begin✔️(Wattpad version)

New tactic

Payton

I thought about what everyone said and refuse to give up on a challenge such as Josie. She may think this is over, but it's not. I've never had a girl refuse to date me ever. I would not sit back and watch it happened.

I found Josie in a bookstore. I strolled over to her casually and saw her looking at a book. I picked up a book, opened it, and bumped into her "accidentally."

"Oh, excuse me," I said as she looked at me with an unamused look.

She closed the book, then walked away. I followed her as I bumped into her again.

"I'm sorry. I'm such a klutz," I apologized.

She rolled her eyes as she turned and walked away. I followed her and did it again. This time I pissed her off.

"Do you mind?" She asked me with irritation.

"I have no idea what you mean. I'm too engrossed with my book to realize someone is standing here," I said, acting casual.

She clamped her lips as she left the bookstore. I finished phase one, now onto stage two. I ran after her and caught up to her as she walked.

"Don't you have some brainless girl to flirt with now?" She asked me.

"Nope, I'm free for the day and wanting to hang out with someone," I answered.

"And you chose me? Should I feel flattered that you took time from your precious toolish ways to make me that girl?" She asked sarcastically.

I stopped her. "Give me a break. I'm trying here," I told her as she looked at me.

"A little too late," she replied as she walked away. That left me frustrated.

I walked back to the house. When I went inside, I saw Grammy and Grampa waiting with Parker.

"Grammy? Grampa? What are you doing here?" I asked them.

"We came to visit the other boys and thought we would stop by to see how you and Parker are doing," Grammy answered as I walked over and hugged her. She looked at me. "You don't look happy?"

"Girl problems," I said.

"Ones that he created," Parker mentioned as he hugged her.

"I see. Let me guess; you took after your grandpa," she said to me.

I looked at her, and Grampa said, "She means Nash, not me."

"Will you go sit down, Nate," she ordered him. He shrugged and walked over to the couch to sit down. "I swear, sometimes I wonder about him."

"Hey, you married me!" He yelled from the couch.

"Only because I didn't want your mom to kill you," she yelled back. He rolled his eyes as she whispered, "And she would have if she had a chance."

Grammy Gray was batshit crazy.

"So tell me about this girl," Grammy said.

"I'll go make coffee. We're going to be here a while," Park said as he went into the kitchen. Grammy and I sat down at the table. I explained everything to her as she listened.

"I see," she said as I finished. Parker brought cups of coffee to the table, then joined us. "Let me get this straight. You ignored the poor girl and treated her like nothing. She changed her look. Now you're interested?"

"Well, when you put it that way," I said.

"That you're a king-size tool?" She asked as I looked at her strangely. "Payton Nashville Gray, get your head out of your ass and grow up. You twenty years old and act like you're two," she yelled at me.

"Grammy!" I exclaimed.

"She's right," Grampa yelled from the couch.

Parker was laughing.

"Listen, Payton; I watched your grandparents do this. I watched how Nash treated your nana. She didn't deserve how he treated her, but she had a big heart. He almost lost her because of it," she told me as I looked at her. "This girl deserves better than you're willing to offer or give her."

I sat there as Parker stopped laughing and looked at me.

"I've never had a girl tell me no," I shrugged.

Grammy looked at me, "Now you have. Payton, not every girl will fall at your feet because your last name is Gray. People have feelings. Do you know why I fell in love with your Grampa?"

"No," I answered.

"Because we were friends first. When I was little, I had a crush on him, and we developed a friendship," she explained.

"When you weren't mooning over Bryan," Grampa yelled.

"Don't forget you were a tool to me, too," she yelled back.

"I learned the error of my ways," he yelled back.

I chuckled. Grammy shook her head and said, "Your Grampa may have been a tool at one point, but he showed me the love I deserved."

I watched as Grampa got up and walked over to her. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

"And I don't regret one minute of it, Patty," he said to her.

I watched them and knew I wanted to have what they have. Our great-grandparents had the love you want. They love their family, but they love each other more. I decided I wouldn't bother Josie anymore. Maybe one day we could be friends.

Our grandparents visited for a while, then left to see our cousins. I sat on the couch as Parker sat down next to me.

"It sucks, doesn't it?" He asked me.

"What does?" I asked him.

"That you have a chance with someone who would care about you only to blow it because you thought you were better than them," he answered.

I looked at Parker, who looked back at me. Karma bit me in the ass for how I treated girls. Sure, I dated, but I lead them to believe there was more than what there was between us. It's the one time I didn't live up to what a Gray meant.

I went for a walk to clear my head. I found a creek with a bench and sat down alone. I felt lonely. My parents were so busy asking me about my future, and my brothers were busy getting into trouble that the one thing I always felt is solitary.

I sat there and stared at the water as it ran along the bank. Maybe one day, I wouldn't feel lonely.