Page 85 of All I Need

“I WANT YOU HOME NO later than eleven, Mister.” Grayson says, pointing at me.

I do my best not to roll my eyes. He’s been in an obnoxiously good mood since he talked to Harper this afternoon. I was surprised when, instead of typing away on his phone, he actually dialed her number and had an actual conversation. When I saw him sitting on a lawn chair in the back yard, phone pressed to his ear as he talked, I knew he was already in deep with this girl but the conversation we had after that call is what really set it in.

“I need a favor.”

“What’s up?”

“I need you to talk to Mom about letting me go on a date.”

I’m already shaking my head back and forth before he finishes the sentence. “No way. I’ll do just about anything for you, you know that. But this? Nope. You can’t ask me to try to convince your mom that you’re ready to date. She’s made it clear this isn’t something she’s going to budge on. No one-on-one dates until you’re sixteen, kid.”

“I know,” he looks down at his fingers and he looks so disappointed that I can’t stop the next words from coming out of my mouth. “I talked to Ellie the other night. What if we go together? Ellie and I promise not to hover. We could even sit at different tables at a restaurant. See different movies, whatever it is you’re wanting to do.”

A grin takes over his face. “You want to go on a double date with me and a woman you’re about to go on a first date with?”

I shrug. “Why not?”

“This is why you’re still single, you know that, right? Or, at least was. Until Ellie came along, that is.”

I rear back. His tone is a bit teasing however, I can hear the seriousness in the words he used. Grayson’s a deep thinker and doesn’t say anything without some truth behind it so I know this must be something that’s been rolling around in his head for a while. “What do you mean?”

He sighs and scrunches his eyebrows. “You…” he pauses for a minute before leaning over to rest his elbows on his knees. “Walker, you’re my favorite person in the world. I mean, don’t tell Mom that because she’d kill you. And don’t tell Dad because I’d feel horrible if I hurt his feelings but you know, it’s just not the same with him. I love him, I do. And I understand why he’s not here every day but you don’t miss a single thing for me. You’re so much more than just my uncle but I feel like I’ve taken over your life. It’s not fair or…”

“Stop. Whatever it is going through your head, stop it. I love you, kid. You’re more than just my nephew,” I tell him, repeating his words back to him. “Reasons why I’ve been single are none of your concern. I wouldn’t change a single thing in my life.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

His eyes bore into mine. “I don’t remember a day of my life where you weren’t there for me. You’ve put me first for fifteen years. Don’t you miss having a life of your own? Want kids? A family?”

“You’re my family. Whether you like to believe it or not, I do have a life of my own. How I spend my days, nights, and weekends is my choice. I put you first because it’s what comes natural for me. Promise me you’ll let it go, okay”

“If you promise me that you’re not lying to me and if you have the opportunity to put yourself first for once, you’ll take it. That if someone comes along who you can see a future with, you won’t hesitate.”

“And I meant what I said earlier, too. I mentioned something to Ellie about hanging out some night so you could go on a date and she said she would be okay with it.”

“You asked her this before I brought it up?”

“I knew it was coming,” I explain and he looks a little stunned, which I don’t fully understand. He should know by now how well I know him. “Trust me, okay?”

“I do.”

I hope Ellie can say that with as much confidence as Grayson just did.

“Are you going to be okay tonight? I feel bad being gone on a night your mom works.”

He groans and drops his head back. “Holy crap, Walker. Stop. It’s fine. I’m fifteen, not five. I can hang out by myself or I might have a buddy come over. I could be at home by myself, too, you know, in case you wanted the house to yourself.”

I ignore the last statement because even though I wouldn’t mind having the house to myself—well, not really myself so much as with Ellie—I want to do this thing right and take our time getting to that place. Okay that’s a lie. I’m ready to go full steam ahead and if our conversation two nights ago is anything to go by, so is she. Instead, I raise my eyebrows at him and focus on the other tidbit of information he’s thrown out there. “Buddy?”

“Yes. A buddy. A friend. A bro. A dude…”

I hold up a hand. “I get it. Just no buddies of the female variety, got it?”

“No friends with vaginas allowed,” he salutes me like the smartass he is. “No problem. What are you doing tonight? Please tell me it’s something better than making her discover what the inside of a cow feels like.”

“Shut up, she loved it. You saw her this morning. She couldn’t wait to go see that calf.”

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