Sugar Baby ✔️

eighth: toast

credit again to littlegardens for the graphics <3 

"Why the fuck are you asleep at this time?"

"I'm standing in front of you and not asleep, Grayson."

He sighed and shook his head. "It's eight. Harold thinks you're already over at Rosalie's."

I felt annoyed by his pestering but just shrugged in response. I made my way back inside my apartment and to my annoyance, he followed me inside and continued.

"I told you, Xavier. You need to take this seriously."

"I know, mom."

He shut up at once. Whether from anger or amusement, I wasn't sure. I knew my retort was childlike, but I was extremely irritated by his pestering. I had barely managed to wash my face and brush my teeth when my doorbell had rung and I found Grayson Shelby standing outside, his jaw set and eyes dark. Clearly on a mission. A mission to annoy me as much as he could perhaps. 

Since when was taking five-hour mid-day naps illegal? I believed in sleeping and eating whenever I needed to. But I couldn't imagine a clockwork-like him to understand the concept of spontaneity. 

"Did you plan how you are going to get the invite for the yacht event?"

He sounded calm as ever and I slumped onto my bed, placing my hands on the mattress and gazing at him. "I have decided to just go with the flow."

He pursed his lips into a thin line. I noticed the way he happened to do that whenever he disapproved of anything. I made a conscious effort to tear my gaze away from his lips he spoke, "That is prone to mistakes. It can jeopardize the mission."

"It won't. I think she likes me."

He sighed. When he spoke his voice was low, "Xavier, haven't you thought why she let you into her house so easily?"

"Because I'm secretly aphrodite," I answered and batted my eyelashes at him, smirking.

He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Don't you understand? It means she isn't afraid of you finding anything in her house. It means she isn't keeping anything in there. Not in plain sight at least."

The thought had crossed my mind before. "I know. But regardless, I have to earn her trust first."

He crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"I..." I took a deep breath, wondering if I sounded stupid. "Er...thought I might buy her some flowers."

I waited for him to burst out laughing but was pleasantly surprised when he didn't. 

"Knowing her choices, that classic act might be a good move. Although, go for something very common. Something she is likely to not have an allergic reaction to or else things would go downhill fast."

"What would you give?" I asked, the words out of my mouth before I could stop them. 

His eyes widened slightly at my words. "You mean to a date?"

"Yeah," I admitted, feeling suddenly nervous. In spite of all my ability to read people, when it came to him, I was clueless. He didn't talk much and even less about himself. Sometimes, I thought maybe it was possible that he reciprocated my feelings, but for the most part, I knew I had nothing to give him. 

He tilted his head to the side as if thinking. "Jasmine and lavender," he answered finally. "I mean, I know they're not very conventional. But I really love the fragrance. And-" he shrugged, "purple and white look great together."