"Yeah." My answer is hushed. "Way too much."
"I'd hate to see whatever took the brunt of it." He smiles softly.
"It didn't move, so I kind of lost this fight."
"But did you?" he asks, his blue eyes peering right into me. "I mean, do you feel ... any better?"
"I do." And there's more honesty in those two words than I can possibly relay. But I know he sees it in my eyes.
"Good." He shifts uncomfortably before continuing. "This could probably wait, but part of me doesn't feel like it should."
I'm silent.
"Lily and I used to date."
I lean back against the wall, needing to brace myself.
"I didn't tell you because of your rule. When you first told me about it, I wasn't sure what to do because we were still just flirting. And I really didn't know if you and Lily were friends. I mean, I knew you weren't before you came to Blackwood because I would have heard about you. So, I wasn't positive if that applied. Because you weren't friends with her when we dated." He's nervously over-explaining. It's so fricken endearing and cute. I decide to put him out of his misery, shutting his mouth with my lips.
Grant wraps his arms around me and holds me close, like he's thanking me with a hug. I pull away before the kiss can progress. "I know. Parker told me today."
He leans back a bit. "I'm trying not to be the crazed jealous guy, but can you please explain you and Harrison brothers? I spoke to Wil--"
"You what?" I interrupt.
"Yeah, the night of your birthday. He asked if he could crash at Stefan's. Said something about ..." He closes his eyes in realization. I raise my brows to encourage him to continue. He sighs. "He said it was probably safer. Just realized what that meant." I bite my lip, knowing exactly what that meant too. "Anyway, I told him I was interested in you, and that I knew the two of you had history. And I wanted to be sure it was okay, that it wouldn't affect our friendship or make it strained between him and you."
"You did that?" I ask in shock.
"Yeah, of course. I thought it was the right thing to do. And that's why I told Lily about you today. I needed her to know that ... well, how I felt. She and I dated for a long time, and I still care about her. But I needed to be honest."
"Your curse ..." I shake my head in disbelief. "And could Lily and I be any more opposite? Are you sure you're not rebounding?"
Grant laughs. "Really?" I nod. He becomes serious. "No. I'm not. We broke it off last December. And the reason we decided to end things is because she wasn't being honest with me. She was shutting me out, and I didn't know why."
"You both decided to end things, not just her?"
"We talked about it and decided together after I told her I felt disconnected. She couldn't explain what was happening with her and wasn't willing to share. I knew it had to do with her family. But it was impossible to be there for her, to be a part of her life if she couldn't confide in me. And I need that. Honesty is really important to me."
"You'd prefer full, unabridged, blatant, sometimes cruel, and always sarcastic honesty?"
"Completely," Grant says flashing me his gorgeous smile.
"You may be an idiot," I tell him, chuckling.
He laughs, hard. A deep, rumbling laughter. "I'm an idiot? So does that mean, you are too?"
I crinkle my eyes in confusion.
"The first time we spoke, you said you'd have to be an idiot to fall--"
"Oh!" I stop him. "Oh!" My lungs just collapsed. "Uh ..." I take a deep breath. "Um."
He laughs at my inability to say a single coherent word. "Lana, I'm confessing. I am an idiot."
"O-kay." My breathing is labored--my heart is constricting airflow because it's beating so fast ... in my throat. "Anyway,"--the worst segue ever after he just confessed to being in love with me--"Parker and I are close, but we're just friends. The Harrisons, the whole family, have this weird protective gene, and they look out for me, for reasons unknown. I'm kind of stuck with them."
Allowing my awkward change of subject to slide, Grant asks, "That's why Lance is your chaperone?"
"Yeah. His father--"
I'm interrupted by a loud bang on the door. "Get dressed! I need to use the bathroom," Brendan hollers from the other side.
"Hold it for one more minute!" I yell back.
"What's his story?" Grant asks, nodding toward the door.
"He's a necessary evil."
Grant chuckles. Then leans down and kisses me gently. "Let's ice your hand."
When we emerge, Ashton and Brendan look disappointed that we aren't flushed and disheveled. Lance just eyes Grant warily, like he's trying to decide if his intentions are honorable. Seriously, the overprotective brother vibe is getting worse. Although, I think he tends to forget that he's a year younger than me.
I crawl on the bed next to Ashton and she places the ice pack on my hand with a pained expression, securing it with an ace bandage. She has me take a couple ibuprofen too. "If it doesn't look better in the morning, we should go to the clinic for x-rays."
"They have an x-ray machine on campus?" I ask in surprise.
"Of course," Ashton answers. "They want to keep all medical information sealed, or as much possible. The press loves that stuff."
"And I thought Printz-Lee was big on privacy."
"Oh, you have no idea," Lance tells him, his head propped on a throw pillow with a blanket that I've never seen before covering him. "I claim the couch, by the way. No way I want to be anywhere near that bed with the four of you in it."
"Lance!" I scold. "We're not--"
"Speak for yourself," Brendan says, washing his hands at the pedestal sink.
"Keep your pants on," I tell him, my tone threatening.
"C'mon," Ashton beckons, pulling the blanket back. "I already called big spoon, so get in here, Lana."
Grant takes off his shoes and socks and crawls across to the far side against the wall in shorts and a t-shirt. Brendan turns off the lights and I slide in next to Grant, facing him, while Ashton takes her big spoon position behind me. And I don't want to think about Brendan on the other side of her. We all fit ... barely.
"Your room is pretty amazing." Grant is focused on the ceiling. I tilt my head up to see tiny lights blinking like shining stars above the bed.
"Ashton did it for me," I tell him. She squeezes me with her arm draped around my waist.
"Do you like it?" she asks, almost sounding nervous, which is so not like her. A swarm of guilt overtakes me. I should have said something to her a long time ago.
"I love it. Thank you. I still haven't seen everything, but it's incredible."
Grant sits up, as he notices the far wall. "Are those?" He doesn't finish. He sees the fireflies. Or I think that's what he's looking at. There's a lot to take in, but there's not much light to see anything else.
Ashton giggles.
"You know?" Grant asks, settling down beside me.
"I know everything. So get used to it."
Grant laughs.
"Everything?" Brendan asks anxiously, and I want to throttle him. At the same time, Lance demands, "Know what?"
"I hope so," Ashton sounds alarmed. "What don't I know?"
"What don't I know?" Lance echoes. "What the hell?"
I can't open my mouth. My silence is Brendan's assurance that I haven't told Ashton anything he and I agreed not to, so he answers, "You both know everything you're supposed to."
I hear Lance grumble, dissatisfied with that response.
"Why did Ashton redecorate your room?" Grant asks.
Now we're all silent.
"Why, what happened?" He leans up on his elbow, searching for someone to answer him.
"I'll tell you tomorrow," I assure him, setting my hand on his shoulder to coax him back down.
"There's a lot I don't know, isn't there? You four have a thing between you, like some sort of bond that connects you?" Grant questions, recognizing something I hadn't. But he's right. We are bonded by something inexplicable. M
aybe fate brought us together ... but that would mean I'd have to believe in it.
"I thought I was cursed with Perception," Brendan says.
"How do you--" but I stop myself from asking him how he knows about the curses--Ashton told him.
"Is this what girls do when they have sleepovers?" Lance asks from the couch. "Say they're going to sleep, but then talk all night?"
"Are we keeping you up past your bedtime?" Brendan mocks.
"You're still on my suspect list," Lance calls to him.
"Suspect list?" Grant asks.
We all say together, "Tomorrow." And then laugh.
Grant shifts so he's facing me and takes ahold of my uninjured hand. His eyes focus on mine, and they shine in the twinkling light. I want to lean over and kiss him, but prefer not to open that door with Ashton and Brendan behind me. So we just lay there, silently talking with subtle twitches of our lips, a quirk of a brow, and gleam in our eyes. Until one of us, I don't know who does it first, closes their eyes and drifts to sleep.
Within the protection of the big spoon, with Brendan and Lance breathing heavily in the background, and Grant's hand firmly gripping mine, I whisper, "I'm an idiot too."
I crack an eye open to see Grant's lips curve into a brilliant smile.
With the sun faintly shimmering through the windows, I squint to find Ashton staring at me. Grant has taken over the big spoon position behind me, and Brendan is a sloppy spoon with an arm around Ashton and his face planted in the pillow behind her.
She smiles brightly when I blink awake, a little freaked that she been watching us sleep.
"Sorry if I have morning breath," she whispers.
"I can't smell it, but you may want to stay where you are just in case."
As quietly as she can, she half-mouths and half-whispers, "I love this." She nods toward me and Grant cuddled together. "I'm trying really hard not to use the word together. But seriously, get over it."
I try to contain my laughter so I don't wake Grant.
I look over at her and Brendan. I adore her. Him, not so much. So I don't understand his appeal. "Pretend they're not here and answer honestly. What do you like about Brendan? Because I don't get it."
"He can be the sweetest, most thoughtful person when he's not being an egotistical asshole. And nice guys aren't my thing, remember?" Ashton makes a scrunched up face when he squeezes her waist, fighting to hold in her squeal. When she opens her eyes again, she asks, "What do you like about Grant?"
"That he's not capable of being an egotistical asshole."
I can feel his breathy laugh as his chest shakes behind me.
"What do you like about me?!" Lance shouts. Apparently everyone's awake and listening.
"Pretend you didn't hear him," Ashton whispers loudly. I smile. She raises her voice. "So Lana, what do you like about Lance?"
I speak so Lance can overhear every word. "Um... I guess that he doesn't screw over his friends, and the friends he does screw, he's super sweet to and would never do anything to hurt. Because he's noble and will do whatever he can to protect her from being hurt."
Lance groans. "Kaely knows how I feel. So butt out."
Ashton and I laugh.
"You are protective of your friends, aren't you?" Grant whispers.
"Ssshh," Ashton hisses. "You're not here."
The room fills with groggy laughter.
"We should go," Brendan announces, rolling off the bed. Ashton protests when he moves away. He leans down and kisses her cheek. "We need to be out of here before the rest of campus wakes." Then he randomly adds, "And why the hell is Lance's curse Nobility and Grant's is Integrity, while I'm stuck with Perception?" He sounds seriously upset by this.
"I don't make them up," I tell him. "You are the professional stalker after all."
"What?" Grant pokes his head around my shoulder to glare at Brendan.
"She's kidding," Brendan says in attempt to put Grant at ease.
"Not really," Lance chimes in.
"I'll explain later." I kiss Grant's hand. "But you guys really should go. I'm already in trouble."
"Why?" Grant questions with concern.
"Wow, you really don't tell him anything, do you?" Brendan accuses. I shoot him a threatening look, and he reveals his arrogant smirk.
Grant kisses my forehead and crawls out of the bed. His hair is rumpled, as is his shirt. I think he may look even more amazing first thing in the morning, all mussed up. Even more than he did in his suit. Well, maybe not.
"Are you undressing him with your mind?" Ashton asks. I reach up to cover her mouth with my hand. But because it's my left hand, I end up swatting her in the forehead.
"Ow!" she exclaims. "What was that for?"
Grant chuckles. "You guys are ... I don't even know. I'm glad I got to see it though." He directs his attention to me. "Are you working at the club this afternoon or at the event tonight?"
"Tonight," I answer, hopeful he says the same.
"Me too!" Ashton exclaims.
"I think we all are," Brendan says, but then looks to Lance. "Except pretty boy over here. How did you get out of work--" Then he shuts up, realizing we have a new person in the room who doesn't know we all have court fees or fines to work off. Blackwood's privacy policies keep the rest of the world from knowing the truth about the requirements to being accepted here. I don't think Grant does either.
Grant realizes that Brendan has stopped talking because of him. "Is this another thing you're going to explain later?" he asks me.
I look around at everyone, asking for permission.
"Only if you're a keeper," Lance stipulates.
My eyes widen. "What?"
"He doesn't get to know unless you two are serious. If he wants in on the group, and our secrets, he can't be a fling."
Everyone stares at me for the answer, including Grant.
"I'll talk to you tonight, okay?" I confirm, not agreeing to anything. He nods.
After the guys leave, I face Ashton, biting at my lip nervously. "What do I tell him?
She shrugs like it's a simple answer. "The truth."
As the beast lay dead upon the forest floor, Thaylina bent down over his body. She did not see a handsome face, or a charming smile. Only the truth of what he truly was, a horrific monster. She lowered her mouth to his deadened ear and hissed, "I wanted this."
The event at the country club is a wedding. I didn't even know they held wedding receptions here, but I've never been on the event side of the Clubhouse either.
It's the first wedding I've ever been to, and it's ... surreal. Watching the newly married couple dance, the family drink and celebrate. Everyone's so ... happy. Well, there are a few people seated at the farthest tables who are miserable ... and drunk. Which is probably why they're seated in Siberia. But for the most part, the room is filled with laughter and joy. If I were still the girl, before the magical brownies, I might go all Maleficent in here and scream that it's all a lie. That their marriage won't last longer than it takes for the bride to change her name on her credit cards.
Can't say I'm a converted believer, exactly. Yes, I kinda-sorta confessed to Grant that I was in love with him. But that doesn't mean I'm sold on happily-ever-after, or that love conquers all. I still don't trust it not to go to shit.
"Weddings turn me on, so bad," Ashton confesses as we watch the couple cut the cake and feed each other.
"Are you sure it's not the three tiers of chocolate cake?" I tease.
"Well, that too. But it's so ... romantic."
I try to hide my cringe.
"Really? I thought we conquered this phobia."
"Sorry. It's involuntary." Speaking of romantic phobias. "Where's Brendan?"
"Valeting." Her eyes brighten. "I think I need a fifteen-minute break."
This time I don't hide my cringe. "Please bring sanitizer wipes with you."
All of the servers are signaled to go back into the kitchen. "Need everyone in the kitchen for cake service," I'm told by Nancy,
the event manager.
I pass the room off the dining room where the bar is located. Stefan and Grant are behind it, serving and chatting with guests. Grant looks up just as I pass and smiles. I don't know how he knows, it's like he can sense when I'm nearby or something. I beam back at him, because ... I'm an idiot.
I can't look at Ashton too long when she returns, not without making the most revolted face ever. She's seriously glowing, and her eyes are even sparkling.
"I want to be a good friend and ask you about you and Brendan, but at the same time, I don't think my stomach can handle it."
"What's with you two, anyway? You act like children around each other."
"He's just..." I stick out my tongue in revulsion, "gross." She laughs.
Grant appears behind us. "Hey." We make room for him to stand between us, adhering to the "don't turn your back on the guests" rule that has been drilled into us all night. "So Nancy offered to cut me, and I told her I was giving you a ride back to school." I glance up at his mischievous grin. "Want to get out of here?"
"Can I?" I ask Ashton. She picks up on my concern. I don't have a chaperone, aka Lance, to do whatever he's supposed to do when he's chaperoning. Which is basically yell at me when I punch douchebags and laugh at me when I get high. So he's useless, and I'm more apt to do the right thing when I'm with Grant than any of the Harrison boys. I've basically just talked myself into leaving with Grant right now.
Ashton thinks for a minute. "I'll have Brendan text you when we leave," she tells Grant. "That way you can arrive around the same time we do. We'll just tell them you had to stay a little after to clean something. I don't know. Brendan's better at this, but we'll lie."
"Thank you." I hug her. "You're my favorite liar."
"Bring sanitizer wipes with you," she calls after me. I make a face at her and follow Grant to the computer to clock out.
"What does that mean?" he asks. "Was she making a sex comment?"
My cheeks flush. "Sort of."
"I don't really get it," he admits.
"It was a bad joke," I tell him.
"Do you want to go back to the firefly field? I still have the blanket in my car."
"Only if you let me drive."
"Uh, do you have a license?"
"No. But I know how to drive."
He hesitates. "You don't know how to swim, but you know how to drive?"