red hot | grayson dolan

forty three

GRAYSON

I managed to get through the wedding in one piece, now it's time to conquer the reception.

The ceremony was beautiful and it was great to see Landon and Lily express their love for each other. However, all I thought about was Avery.

God, she looks so perfect in her dress. It's no surprise she's the most stunning woman in the room. I almost fell over when I saw her in that baby blue gown. It's been hard to keep my eyes on anything else tonight.

I try to look at the sparkling chandelier to distract myself from looking at her. The dining hall is surrounded by beautiful decorations so it's easy to focus on them. I can't be too obvious, especially with Danny on her arm.

"Ready for your best man speech?" Austin takes a seat next to me, breaking me out of my trance.

He places his hand on my shoulder in a light gesture. Ethan sits down across from us.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I let out a sigh and look back at him. "Avery's up first, though."

"Yeah, I'm sure that will be emotional." Ethan nods his head while staring at my ex girlfriend.

Raven suddenly approaches our table and sits down on Austin's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "How gorgeous was that ceremony? The vows made me tear up."

"Yeah, they were beautiful." I agree with her while glancing down at my dress shoes.

"Are you nervous for your speech?" She asks me.

"A little." I honestly admit to her. There's going to be a lot of people judging me for talking about love.

"Don't be nervous, you're performing for thousands of people tomorrow. You can get through a room of ninety wedding guests." Raven raises her eyebrow up at me.

"I won't be on stage talking about love tomorrow." I remind her.

"Speaking of love, are you ever going to tell Avery how you really feel?" This girl can clearly see right through me, and it's making me sweat.

"You mean that we're friends?" I roll my eyes and try to play it cool.

"No, that you're still in love with her." She bluntly states.

"Jesus, babe. You have no filter." Austin gasps while squeezing onto her waist.

"Nope, and I'm proud of it." She looks at him while giggling.

"Glad you finally called him out." Ethan smirks.

"I am not in love with her." My head shakes back and forth.

"You can't lie to me, Dolan. I see through your shit. You were practically drooling over her at dinner and were gawking at her from the altar."

"What? Were you staring at me the whole time?" I look back at her.

"Yeah, because you were staring at Avery. I don't know why you wouldn't say something."

"Are you kidding? She's with Danny. Why would I say something?"

"So, you are admitting that you still love her." A sly smile curves her lips.

"Damn, she got you there." My brother looks back at me and laughs.

"I'm not talking about this anymore." I exhale a nervous breath.

"Look man, I'll always be protective of Avery, but your happiness also matters. You were an asshole in the past, but you can fix it if you really wanted to." Austin shocks me by pointing out.