red hot | grayson dolan

forty four

AVERY

By the time I exit the dance floor, I'm sweaty and feeling the alcohol pumping through my veins. I've been breaking it down with Lily and Raven for the past hour. It's such a blast to jump around and be goofy with them.

With that being said, I'm in desperate need of some water. I'm dehydrated and need a break from all the dancing my girls and I have been doing.

When I approach the bar I see that Austin, Ethan, and Landon are leaning against it. My best friend is sipping on an alcohol-free shirley temple. I'm super proud of how he's handled his sobriety.

When he makes eye contact with me, he grins. "There's my best friend."

"I've been dancing with your girl all night. She's a lot of fun." I laugh and exhale a breath.

"I need to steal my wife away for a dirty dance. I'm hoping her parents turn the other way, she can get pretty crazy." Landon shakes his head and chuckles.

"Speaking of family members, is your sister single?" Ethan asks the groom.

"She is, and I knew this conversation was coming." He raises an eyebrow up.

"Would it be cool if I asked her out to dinner sometime? She's really sweet."

"Oh boy." I giggle and quickly order a glass of cold water from the bar.

"As long as you don't hurt her. Cause this nice guy won't be so nice anymore." Landon warns him.

When I look back at the three boys, I realize there's a fourth member missing. All night I've tried to push Grayson to the back of my mind, but I can't. He looks extremely hot in his tuxedo. The more I look at him, the more my knees go weak.

His speech stirred something inside of me. I've never heard him speak about love like that. It made me wonder what he was really talking about. His sweet words allowed my heart to drop to my feet.

I was also taken aback when he told me what Danny said to him. I've never heard the word 'love' slip out of Danny's mouth. We haven't been together long, only four months, so that word never crossed my mind when it came to him.

I clear my throat and look back at Landon. "Where's Grayson?"

"He left a while ago and went back to his apartment." He sighs.

"Why?" I grow confused.

"He wanted to get a good night's sleep for our big performance tomorrow." Ethan casually shrugs his shoulders.

"Oh." I nervously gulp.

"Were you looking for him?" Austin glances my way.

"No I was just..." My voice trails off as I'm unable to think of something to say.

Landon stares at me for a moment before exhaling a long breath. "Okay, I'm over this bullshit. Avery, there's something you need to know about Grayson."

"What is it?" I look back at him after taking a sip from my water.

"This is going to sound crazy, but Grayson has been hiding something from the both of you." He shifts his attention to Austin.

"From me?" My best friend's eyebrows narrow.

Landon looks directly into my eyes. "Grayson never cheated on you."

"What?" I hear his words in slow motion. My stomach feels queasy and my body is going numb.

"Did I just hear you correctly?" Austin's eyes widen.