Hello Stranger

Chapter 14

Despite Grayson's mood swings, he was good company. We sat in the office in silence. He continued to work on the computer while I was on my phone browsing through social media. I would occasionally look up from my phone to see Grayson look at me. I'd give him a slight smile before looking back at my phone. We'd been like this for about an hour.

I tried my hardest to resist the urge, but I found myself on Drew's Instagram anyway. The only new posts made were to his story. His page had no new posts in the last couple of months. He still had the pictures of me and him on his page. Seeing the pictures made me feel uneasy. I deleted all of those pictures. I didn't want to see them anymore. I didn't want my relationship with him to be part of my story. Ultimately, I just wanted to forget about our relationship altogether.

"What'd your phone do to you?" I look up at the sound of his to find him eyeing me carefully.

"Hmm?" I reply.

"You're looking at your phone like you want to kill it," Grayson says.

I glance down to see that Drew's page was still on the screen. But I don't think Grayson could see it around his computer. "Just saw something that I wish I didn't."

"A couple?" Grayson says raising his eyebrow.

"Kind of. Something like that," I answer. The pictures are from when we were still a couple, but we were no longer one.

Grayson leans back in his chair in curiosity. "Kind of?"

"They're not together anymore. But it's a picture from when they were," I explain.

"His page or hers?" He questions.

"His," I state.

"Show me," Grayson says casually.

I hesitated for a minute not knowing if I should. But what's the worst that could happen? I hand Grayson my phone with Drew's page still up. He examines the page with a blank expression. I watch him carefully to see if I could figure out what he was thinking. His face revealed nothing, but his body language said a lot. His body got tense and his grip on his chair got tighter.

He cleared his throat and handed me the phone back. "You dated Drew?" He almost sounded nervous to me. But Grayson and nervous don't go together. 

"Yep," I say popping the p at the end of the word.

"Why?" Grayson asked.

My eyes drop to my lap as I say "I guess I have a type."

"Which is what?" Grayson asked. I didn't have to look up to know he was staring at me. I could feel it. It felt as if he was daring me to look at him.

I slowly brought my eyes up to face his curious brown eyes. "Guys that could completely and utterly destroy me," I say with my voice at a whisper.

His gaze never falters, "Why do you do that to yourself?" 

Because I deserve it.

I tear my gaze from his and clear my throat. "Are you ever going to tell me why I have to stay here?"

"Yes," He says flatly.

I could see on his face that he had no intention of telling me right now. As much as I wanted to push, I knew it wouldn't end well. We were getting along right now, and if I was going to survive staying here, I have to try to be civil with him. I sigh, "When?"

I expected him to have some smart response to my question but was surprised by his answer. "I don't know. Soon," He says. I could see him studying my face waiting for me to argue or ask more questions.