“You got the pepper spray I told you to get?”
Goodness, I already have a father… “Yeeesss, Liam.”
“Sorry. I’m just—I just want you to be safe…” he dragged on. “Last night—”
Didn’t want to hear, thank you.“Let’s not go there, please,” I interrupted him.
“Fuck,” he exhaled. “All right.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, staring at the granite counterpane, wondering how his night went. If he went further than wine and dine… well, I couldn’t handle it.
“Liv…” he whispered, wretchedly.
I swallowed, aching from his tone of voice. “Yeah?”
“I love you,” he said succulently. “Very much.”
Tears were starting to form in my eyes when something made me look up. For the first time, my gaze locked into his hazel ones, drowning me in them. Without breaking eye contact with him, I responded to Liam, “I love you, too. I’ll speak to you soon.” I hung up, looking away while Grey remained frozen a few feet away. My emotions were all over the place, from Liam’s call, Greyson and now I had to get ready for my date with Gavin.
Talking to Liam every other day wasn’t working out. Maybe emails would suffice for the time being. It would save us both the pain and, not to mention, much easier for the both of us.
“Do you need me to help you with anything for your party tonight? I have an hour to spare before I get ready to go out with Gavin,” I offered, shyly glancing at him.
For some reason, he looked like he was staring at my neck… which in turn, only made me hyper conscious of everything I did. Tiger. He had eyes like a tiger. When he lifted those eyes to meet mine, I felt bereft. Scared and petrified…electrified.
“There’s no one around. There’s no need to be polite,” he rasped out, eyes intense, body on defense.
Douche to the highest order! I was trying to be nice!“Want me to be a bitch? Okay. You have it!” My pent-up emotions from the past few days and this recent call from Liam had me going. “You’re nothing, but—”
“What?” he threw out. “I’m exactly what, Olivia?” He looked fierce, wild even, as he came closer, a mere foot away. “That I’m a worthless waste of space? A dick machine with no future going for me?A bastard?”
Okay, fuck… he heard me say those things about him. When I said that he was a bastard, I meant that he was a douche—not meaning it in a literal sense, but I guess explaining that to him would be pointless now.
He taunted, nostrils flaring. “Have nothing to say, have you? Where’d the bitchy Olivia go?” he pressed on, grating.
Staring into his eyes was such a dumb, wrong move. I was tongue-tied, parched and exhilarated all at once. Oh God, he looked livid and yet, all I could see was how captivating he was. My quick-witted brain had nothing to quip back.
“Grey,” I managed to say, but had no clue what to say next. Maybesorrywould do? He wouldn’t take it though, no, especially after years of shitting on each other. It was too late for words, for anything really.
“Knock, knock.”
We both glanced at the intruder in that a second. Edith, with her three inch heels, skimpy skirt and bikini top trotted towards Grey, grasped his face with her red lacquered nails and kissed him, full on the lips, tongue and all, while I stood there staring speechless at the audacity of this bitch. Eyes wide as saucers, I watched as they both kissed while Grey kept his eyes glued to me, taking in my reaction. When their kiss deepened, I snapped out of my trance and immediately ran upstairs to my bedroom.
My body shook with rage. With anger that wanted to cause pain. With endless loathing. And with jealousy…
Grey meant nothing to me and yet, for some strange reason, I was jealous. Maybe it was just all the tension and stress from it all that I might be imagining it … yeah, that was probably it.
Holding myself together, I pushed the thoughts of Grey and Liam out of my mind and focused on getting ready for tonight.
No matter what happened, I was going to have fun. All men be damned.
CHAPTER8
Grey
“You better not do anything stupidwith Tiffany, Grey. Tonight’s mine.”
Claws, I hated it when these things were latched on me. “I get to decide that, Edith. If you’re not happy with it, you know where to go.”