If I didn't know any better, I'd say today was "act weird around Mia" day.
Grey was acting strange, and I've tried to text him throughout the day, saying that I was just checking in. He kept giving me those one-word responses, and it was annoying the crap out of me.
I had to take a deep breath.
Not to mention, Freya was on her phone all day too. She usually left it in the office when she worked, but she kept checking it like a crazy woman today. At one point, she disappeared, and I caught her in the bathroom texting and laughing.
I quietly stepped back out, pretending I hadn't seen anything, and just got back to work.
Two hours before my shift was supposed to be over, I saw Freya packing a box of pastries, but I didn't remember us getting an order in for something like that.
When I asked her who it was for, she said she was doing a favor for a friend and needed to deliver them.
Then thirty minutes before my shift was over, Grey texted me and said that I should let him know when I was on my way home.
That was probably the longest sentence he had sent to me all day. So you could imagine how peeved I was with him.
Regardless, I tried not to be petty and texted him back.
I power-walked home in less than five minutes. Instead of knocking at the door, I pulled out my keys and let myself in.
First thing, my nose was bombarded with the smell of garlic and rosemary chicken, stuffing, yellow rice, and for whatever odd reason, I could smell the scent of vanilla as well.
The second thing, other than the sunset, there were some warm lights towards the living room at the end of the hallway.
I kicked my shoes off and hurried forward.
Grey stepped out into the hall from the kitchen, stopping me in my tracks. He grinned, "I thought I heard you come in." He placed a kiss on my forehead. He lowered his voice, "I have a surprise for you. But you have to close your eyes. Okay?"
I silently dipped my head into a nod and then closed my eyes.
I felt Grey take hold of my hands, gently tugging me along.
"Keep your eyes closed. No peeking." He warned me.
"Okay," I said softly.
I heard a few clicks somewhere off into the distance. And where I had only seen darkness behind my eyelids, I knew there was now light.
What was going on?
I felt Grey's arms wrap around my waist from behind. He kissed my cheek, "Open them," he whispered in my ear.
They fluttered open, and my jaw dropped soon after. My eyes danced around the room, not knowing what to look at first.
The wall behind our couch was covered in a curtain of strings lights. There were plants everywhere, making the room look like a botanical garden, peaceful and serene.
But the real eye-catcher was the balcony.
"You wanna take a closer look?"
I nodded and felt my legs moving before my brain could give them the signal. Grey reached out in front of me and pulled the French doors wide open.
I gasped. Some more string lights were hanging from the railing with some paper lanterns. More potted plants at the end of one side and in the middle were the cutest pieces of outdoor furniture set I'd ever seen.
They were two wicker chairs with grey cushions placed side by side, and across from them was the matching love seat with a decent-sized frosted glass square table, separating the two of them. A bouquet of tulips was resting on the table with two vanilla candles on both sides.
It took me a few seconds to notice, but both corners of the balcony had a lit candle.
This was so dreamy.
"Greyson, what is all of this?" I turned to find him, leaning against the wall with one shoulder.
Grey broke out into a handsome grin. "Our first official date, of course. I wanted to do something special for you." He stepped forward and cradled my face in his hands. I gazed into his magnetic blue eyes. "Just because we agreed to date for the summer doesn't mean I still can't try to win you over. Now that I have you, you're mine. I want to keep you. I want to do things like this for you all the time. I want to show you what you mean to me." He kissed my lips, dragging a sharp gasp from me as soon as he pulled away.
I glanced at the lights and array of candles illuminating every gorgeous and breathtaking feature of his face. "This is too much," I murmured. I was overwhelmed but in the best way.
No one had ever done anything like this for me. That much was obvious. I'd say barely dated, and the one guy I did, not only did he turn out to be a cheating scumbag, he would have never bothered to do something like this. We barely went out on dates like the movies or dinner. Most of the time, we were cooped up at his place ordering take-out and doing the whole Netflix thing but without the chilling bit.
Dropping his hands to my hips, Grey rested his forehead against mine. "You're wrong. It's not enough, but when I'm able to do more. I'm going to give you everything," he said with conviction.
I didn't need to hear anymore. I wrapped my arms around my neck and brought him down to me for a slow, toe-curling, and ultimately mind-blowing kiss.
"Thank you," I murmured breathlessly.
"You're welcome. Now, are you hungry? I made all of your favorites." The corner of his lip tips up into a smirk.
I licked my lips, thinking about the savory dishes that we were about to devour. "Of course!"
We shared out our plates of food, grabbed some drinks then ate out on the balcony. We chatted in-between bites. Everything was as delicious as it smelled, and my tummy was completely happy.
Halfway through the date, I had to apologize to Grey. He couldn't understand why in the beginning, but I was feeling like an idiot. He had been planning this whole date for us while I was getting upset about him being too busy to chat with me.
Naturally, he laughed at me. I swore you could hear it echoing through the semi noisy streets.
"I promise, I didn't mean to. I was busy shopping for everything then hauling it all upstairs." Grey shook his head. "It would have taken me a lot longer if I didn't have the guys helping me. They're lifesavers."
I smiled. "I should thank them. They're beyond awesome." I leaned forward to rest my empty plate on the table.
"I have to agree. But I probably wouldn't say that to their faces. Especially not Dean's."
We belted out with laughter.
"Oh no! The last thing he needs is another ego booster."
"Right." Grey chuckled under his breath. "I knew you would all get along." He took a sip of his cherry coke.
"Of course! I swear they're each like three different versions of your personality," I told him.
Grey lurched forward, covering his mouth with one hand, trying his best not to let the soda go spewing from his lips. I watched his shoulder tremble with the laughter he had forced to keep in. I patiently waited for him to swallow.
"I mean, it's no wonder why you all get along. I'd go as far as to say, those guys are your soulmates but in a friendly way, of course," I added.
Grey scrunched up his face like he wanted to disagree, but he knew he would only be lying to himself.
"I repeat..." I held my hands up, emphasizing for him to chill. "In a friendly way. That's not weird."
"Totally weird."
"Fine. I'll take it back," I mumbled.
Grey smiled with amusement twinkling in his eyes. He loved it when he got his way.
"Anyways, I'm glad you like them." He paused for a second, and I just knew he had something more to say. "I always feel like it's been you and me forever. Whoever I let in my life, I automatically assume they're going to be in yours, so I'm always hesitant about who I let get close to me. To us. I know that I wouldn't let anyone who didn't like you anywhere near you because I'm afraid they would try to hurt you. I guess you can say I'm a little overprotective, but I can't help it."
Grey's forearms landed on the top of his thighs. He hung his head slightly, almost as if he was trying to shield his eyes from my gaze. "Mia, you've been there before all the new people, and you've been there after they've left. It's safe to say you're one of the only constants in my life, and I never want to let anything jeopardize that. If anyone were ever to hurt you, they'd have to deal with me. "
I got up, walking around the table to sit next to him on the love seat. I took his hand in mine and squeezed it.
Grey brought my hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to my knuckles. A trail of goosebumps broke out along my arm.
"We've always been in this together." I rested my head on his shoulder. We fell into this comfortable silence.
A light breeze came and carried the delicious scent of vanilla up to my nose again.
"Hmmm. Is it possible for a candle to make you crave sweets just from the smell?"
Grey laughed. "It's a good thing that I have a box of desserts waiting for you inside."
I lifted my head. "Wait, what?"
"Yeah, I had put in an order in with Freya. She was in on this too." He gave me a smug grin.
I had a light bulb moment. This explained everything.
"OH, so you just recruited everybody."
With a firm nod, Grey said, "It was a secret mission. Needed the whole crew."
I kissed his cheek. "Thank you again. I love everything about this. Not only the fact that you did it for our first date, but I love that this was something you thoughtfully added to our home. We will be able to use this again and again. Like this might be my new fave hangout spot this summer."
"Mine too." Grey smiled.
Before we went in, we blew out the candles, grabbed the plates, trash and then flicked off the lights.
I already couldn't wait for tomorrow night when I could turn them back on and be in awe all over again.
We placed the dishes in the sink, promising to deal with them in the morning, and I rushed over to the dessert box sitting on the dining table. Eyeing the array of sweets, my hands reached for this cheery cheese Danish first, and I took a monstrous bite out of it.
"Ohmygod! It's so good," I exclaimed. My taste buds were delighted.
Greyson walked over to where I was sitting, then he leaned forward like he was going to kiss me, but last minute he diverted his head and took a huge bite of my Danish.
"Hey," I squealed, playfully shoving him away. He chuckled shamelessly. "Bold of you to assume I wanted to share with you." I teased him, taking a few more bites for myself.
Grey grabbed the front of the chair and dragged it. It screeched loudly as he pulled me right up in front of him. He leaned forward, and I leaned as far back as the chair would allow. "You know the Danish isn't the only thing I want a taste of, Mia." He winked, and I could feel my cheeks heating up.
"You're incorrigible," I muttered.
"You like it."
"I never said anything like that," I countered, narrowing my eyes at him.
"Doesn't mean it's not true. You're probably too afraid to admit it." Grey challenged.
Was I going to play this game with him right now?
Grey quirked a brow, waiting for a response. I scarfed down the rest of the Danish. "I...I... I'm going in the shower!" I announced and smoothly slid out of the seat while making a run for the bathroom.
I slammed the door shut behind me and tried to calm my rapidly beating heart. I was such a coward, but he knew that.
I was going to lose no matter what I did or said.
Twenty minutes later, I was grabbing my fluffy robe from the hook behind the bathroom door and sliding it on. I quietly peeked out the door, keeping an eye out for Grey.
With the coast clear, I hurried off to my room, where I froze in my doorway. The surprises just kept on coming. There were balloons everywhere. My favorite kind too, the big clear ones with the confetti inside them. I threw a hand over my heart when I found two glass vases filled with the most enormous bouquets of tulips, lilies, and roses.
I felt Grey's arm drape around my neck like scarf. Instinctively, I leaned into him, covering his hands with mine.
He whispered in my ear, "Do you like it?"
"I love it," I whispered back with awe.
"And today is just the beginning." Grey gave me a light squeeze. "I'm going to take a quick shower. Meet me in my room in 10?"
I nodded speechlessly, causing him to chuckle. He kissed my temple then he was gone, closing the door behind him.
I let out a soft sigh which did nothing to calm my heart.
I was in my PJs long after I heard the shower start, and then I headed over to Grey's room.
Grey's guitar was lying on the bed, and he had a notebook left open with a pencil stuck between the pages and scattered music sheets all around it.
Was he writing music?
I crawled onto the bed, examining the notebook.
Sure enough, there were song lyrics. But there wasn't only one. So this isn't something he just started doing. This book was already partially complete.
I turned to the last page and checked the date up top. There was a song he started to write today.
I read a few lines out loud.
"I think my heart always knew,
Everything in my life revolved around you.
And I've been waiting for the day when you looked at me the same way like..."
The notebook was snatched out of my hands.
"HEY!" I scrambled to my knees, reaching up to steal it back, but Grey held it up and away from me.
Damn him and his very long muscular arms.
"I was reading that!" I shouted, still trying in vain to get that book like my life depended on it.
"Too bad." Grey walked off, placing the book on his dresser.
I slumped back into bed, crossing my arms against my chest. "I didn't know you wrote songs."
"It was a secret," he mumbled.
"Since when did we keep secrets?" I shouldn't be the one to ask this kind of question, but I was anyways.
Grey smirked. "I think we've both kept our fair share of little secrets from each other."
"Like?"
"Like the fact that you were always head over heels for me, your smoking hot and wildly talented best friend." He gave me a smug grin.
I scoffed. "Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes.
I couldn't believe this guy just called himself smoking hot. I snorted.
But then my eyes drifted to his bare chest, and I bit my bottom lip. Couldn't he throw on a shirt? I wanted my eyes to look elsewhere, but instead, they made their way down to his briefs.
Grey was wearing nicely fitted boxer briefs. This was a rare occasion. From the side, his butt looked so toned and... Get your mind out of the gutter Mia! I slammed my eyes shut, cursing myself.
While I knew there was nothing wrong with checking out my boyfriend. I was still slightly embarrassed by the thoughts of him that had invaded my mind.
I opened an eye, expecting him to be enjoying the little show I was making.
With that smirk that might as well be a permanent fixture on his handsome face, Grey gathered the rest of the music sheets along with his guitar.
"Will you play it for me when it's done?" I said, putting my focus back where I wanted it.
I wanted to hear the complete song. I knew it was going to be beautiful.
I noticed the moment his body stiffened at the idea, and he hesitated with his response. "I don't know."
"I'd love to hear," I added some encouragement.
"It's probably not that good." I've never heard Grey so unsure about something.
"It sounded pretty good to me. Especially since I think you wrote it about this amazing girl." I put my face in both palms and fluttered my eyelashes.
I spotted a bit of color creeping up onto Grey's cheeks. He angled his face away from my view. He was totally blushing. Cute.
"Someone might have inspired me," he muttered like it was no big deal.
"I'll have you know that someone is extremely flattered." I smiled, fluttering my lashes.
Grey's gaze met mine as he began to take slow, purposeful strides back to me. He kneeled onto the bed, and his hands gently caressed my face. Did I mention how much I loved when he did this? He cradled my face like I was the most precious thing in his life. Silly, right?
"Mia," Grey said my name with a long exhale. Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against mine. "I promise to spend my life making sure you always feel like that." He declared.
I pressed my lips to his without warning. It wasn't a long kiss, I didn't let it escalate to all the places I wanted it to, but I did pour my heart into it. And I hoped Grey felt that too.
"Thank you," I said, pulling back slow enough to sense the electricity in the atmosphere between us.
Grey brought his lips back to mine more forcefully, and I moaned upon impact. "You're welcome," he said.
We both broke out into matching grins.
Grey climbed into bed next to me and pulled the covers back. I wiggled under it. Then when he extended his arm, an open invitation to cuddle up to him, I happily took it. He curled his arm around me. Resting his hand on my hip, he swooshed me up against him. I heard him lightly yawn before he said, "Good night," he mumbled sleepily, kissing the top of my head.
"Night, Grey."
He dozed off before I could. Planning and preparing for this day had made him exhausted.
I shifted my head on his shoulder, angling my face so I could see his.
And I mouthed the words I was too chicken to say out loud. Or even while Grey was awake.
I love you.
I gently pressed one final kiss to his lips before I felt eyelids flutter, then eventually close.