Page 50 of Unrivaled

Autumn makes a funny squeally noise next to me. When everyone turns to look at her, she shakes her head and waves her hands. “Sorry. It’s just … I know things were, ah, awkward to start. I’m glad you guys are finding your way. I’ve been pulling for you.”

Ellie’s hand slaps the table. “That’swhat all that was about?” She points a finger at me. “Them? They’re the ones—”

“Yup,” Autumn interrupts, glaring at her roommate. “Yes. Now hush.” She looks around on either side of her, then looks at Simon. “Why don’t you go get drinks. And the rest of us will … come with you. Yes. Let’s all pick out something new to drink. We always only ever get the same things here. It’s time for a change.” She claps her hands imperiously, like that should be enough to get everyone to follow her orders.

I glance at Grayson and he shrugs, an amused smile tugging at his lips. When he moves to get up, Autumn puts out a quelling hand. “No, no. You two stay here. We’ll surprise you.” She gives us a look, examining us, then nods. “Yes. I think I know just the thing.” To the others, “Come on. Move around. Let’s go, let’s go.”

“I don’t understand what’s happening right now,” Piper mutters as she obediently scoots all the way around the table.

Leaning over, Ellie whispers something I can’t catch, but whatever she says seems to mollify Piper. Or maybe it’s the way her boyfriend is also following along with this.

But it’s pretty clear to me what’s happening. Autumn thinks that Grayson and I should be a couple, and she’s giving us some time alone. It’s not exactly rocket science.

Once they’ve all wandered toward the bar, Grayson turns to look at me. Even though there’s plenty of room for me to scoot over now, I don’t. I like the way his thigh feels pressed against mine, the way his shoulder is right there, the way I could just lean into him if I really wanted to.

And I kinda do.

But I won’t.

Because I shouldn’t. Though for the life of me, I can’t remember why right now.

Grayson clears his throat, drawing my attention to his eyes. “So …”

He lets the word hang, and I raise my eyebrows, silently prompting him to continue.

Adorably, his cheeks turn pink, and he looks down at the table where he fiddles with one of the empty coasters. “We haven’t really talked about what happened this weekend. At my place.”

I hum, wishing I had a drink already. Because then I could stall for time by taking a sip. But sadly, all I have is my coat to fiddle with, which doesn’t help at all. “No. We haven’t.” I clear my throat. “Is there something specific we need to talk about?”

“We kissed.”

“Mmhmm.” I still can’t bring myself to look at him.

But his fingers trace along my jaw, tipping my face up, and after blinking and looking at his lips and nose, I finally raise my eyes to his.

“I want to do it again,” he whispers. “Can I? Please?”

Oh, dear sweet baby Jesus. Has anyone ever asked to kiss me like that? He sounds like he’s pleading, like if I say no it will have a serious negative impact on the course of his life.

And the truth is, I want him to kiss me again. Right now. More than I want anything else.

I give the barest nod, and his lips brush mine. Soft and gentle, just like on Saturday. But he doesn’t try to pull away or end it too soon like he did then. Instead his fingers trail down to the back of my neck, tipping my head back a little more, giving him full access to brush soft, sweet kisses across my mouth.

And once again, just when we get to the good part, when the tip of his tongue teases the seam of my lips, we’re interrupted.

A hand slapping the table makes us jump apart, and we both turn to face a furious Piper. “You have a kid?” She’s loud enough that people around us turn to see what the commotion is.

Grayson holds up a hand. “Piper, please.”

“I don’t care, Gray. I don’t care if I’m making a scene. I will abso-fucking-lutely make a scene when it turns out everyone in the whole goddamn universe seems to know that you have a kid and I don’t!”

He sighs, frustrated. “And when was I supposed to tell you, huh? You haven’t talked to me in months. You send me to voicemail if I call, and if I’m lucky you’ll text a response. You don’t want to forgive me? Fine. Don’t. But you don’t get to butt in to my business and demand to be involved if you’re going to freeze me out the rest of the time. That’s not the way things work, Piper.”

Her cheeks turn red, and I half expect to see steam rising from the top of her head. Cal reaches for her, placing a hand on her back. She reaches back and holds his wrist, but doesn’t back down from her confrontation with her brother.

“He’s my nephew,” she spits, almost too quiet to hear. “I deserve to know.”

Grayson rubs a hand over his face like this confrontation is too exhausting to continue. “I really don’t want to get into this with you right now, Piper.”

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