Page 103 of Saving You

“I think that’s because you lack emotional maturity,” Hannah says.

“Just wait, he’ll find a woman who brings him to his knees,” Caleb says, and I feel the chuckle that leaves him reverberate through my body.

Lifting his beer to his lips, Grayson shakes his head. “Nope, not going to happen.”

Thoughtfulness fills Olivia’s eyes as she looks at Grayson. “Why?” she asks in a soft voice.

The tension that fills Grayson’s shoulders fills the room too. A hardness fills his eyes as he looks at us. Every interaction I’ve had with Grayson so far, he’s been super laid back, always laughing and poking fun at his friends. This look in his eyes is one I haven’t seen before. The hardness carries a sense of detachment.

His voice is void of any emotion as he says, “I learned my lesson a long time ago.”

Confusion fills Josh’s face, and Caleb says, “Never say never.”

Grayson looks at Liv and asks, “Where are your brother and Zoey? I thought they’d be here by now.”

Reaching for Josh’s wrist that rests on her pregnant belly, she turns it and reads his watch. “I’m not sure. I thought they’d be here too.”

The front door opens, and in walk Matt and Zoey, both with flushed cheeks. Zoey seems a little out of breath as everyone stands watching them. She releases a breath, trying to blow the stray strands of hair that fell in front of her face out of the way.

“Hey,” Matt says with a smirk.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the large smile that overtakes Olivia’s face.

“Hey,” she says. “What were you two up to?”

“Nothing,” Zoey says as her cheeks turn bright pink.

Matt chuckles. “Oh, when she says nothing, she means I just caught her basically dry humping some guy outside your building.”

“Zoey!” Olivia exclaims.

Zoey punches Matt in the arm. “I told you to keep your mouth shut,” she hisses at him.

“Oh, Zo, you really think I wasn’t going to watch the look on my little sister’s face when I told her?”

A saccharine smile overtakes Zoey’s face as she bats her lashes up at him. “Just remember, as her best friend and someone who grew up around you, I know all the best stories. And I also know where she keeps those ‘in case of emergencies’ photos she has of you.”

He leans down and whispers something in her ear. The blush that was only in her cheeks has now covered her entire face and spread down her neck and chest. He pulls away, smirking at her before making his way over to us. He claps Josh on the shoulder and hugs his sister before moving to the food and making himself a plate.

We all disburse and make plates or join conversations as we wait for midnight. Caleb makes Charlie a plate, and she clings to him throughout the night. She’s either sitting right beside him with a toy in hand or in his lap.

“She really loves him,” Hannah says as she sits beside me, watching Caleb and Charlie.

“Yeah, we both do.”

She nudges my shoulder with hers. “See, I told you to go for it.”

Everyone was supportive of a relationship between Caleb and me, but I think Hannah was the one that pushed it the most, telling me it was the twenty-first century and just make a move myself.

“You were right,” I say.

She grins. “I know. I usually am.”

I watch as her eyes drift to Grayson and her look changes to one of deep concentration, like she’s trying to solve some deep puzzle. Then anger takes over her expression as she shakes her head.

I notice Charlie has fallen asleep in Caleb’s arms, so I get up and make my way over to them so I can move her into one of the spare rooms. I reach for her, but his arms tighten around her.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

---