''I'm going to kiss you,'' he whispers, and he takes my bottom lip between his. His hand grazes my throat, gentle and light.
I fist his shirt, pulling him closer so his head tilts, his tongue touching the roof of my mouth.
My hands slip under his s...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
chapter thirty-four
Clink! Clink! Clink!
I squirm under my covers, the pillowcase under my head still damp from the shower.
Clink!
I bend at the waist, blinking confusion from my eyes and rubbing away the nightmares that plagued my sleep. I don't even know what time it is. I can't see anything. When did—
Clink!
Through the mess of comforters spread out, I crawl through my bed and almost trip on my way to the window. Pulling the curtains back and lifting the pane, I expect to see Greyson across the way in his own window, but there's no one there. His window is shut. All the lights are off.
"Uh, Fluffy?"
My eyes drop downwards in the dark. "Grey?" I whisper, seeing nothing but shadows.
"They locked up the ladder," he says from somewhere below.
"What's going on?" I send out into the night. "Are you okay?"
"I can't be here anymore."
The hairs on my neck stand up. "Grey, what are you talking about?"
"My room," he says. "It's so...big. And empty. It's empty."
I run a hand over my face. "One second. I'm coming down."
Once I've thrown on a hoodie over my tank top and a pair of shorts over my underwear, I quietly head downstairs. I'm not used to sneaking around because Pat's usually working at this hour. Tonight, I can hear his soft snores behind his door as I walk down our upper hall.
Grey's standing between our houses, left arm slung across his bare chest in white plaster. I walk up, blinking as my eyes finally adjust, and see him wearing nothing but dark sweatpants.
"I'm sorry," is the first thing he says.
"What? No." I walk up and assess him. "Don't apologize. Ever." I run my eyes over his face, over the shadow on his jaw. "What's wrong, Grey?"
He shakes his head, chin-length hair swinging back and forth. "My room. I can't."
I nod slowly, brows together. "Okay...but the treehouse is gone."
"I know." He glances upwards towards my open window.
I offer a hand. "Okay, good idea. My room then."
He doesn't hesitate to accept and reaches his unbroken arm out towards me. I take his hand and we head back inside in the dark.
"Pat's sleeping," I whisper as we climb the too-creaky stairs, "so try to be quiet."
Once we make it to my room, I close the door behind us and bring Greyson to my messy bed. Fixing the sheets as best I can in the dark, I climb back in, throwing my hoodie on the floor somewhere. Eventually, he lies down on the other side. He releases a long breath once he's on his back, his entire body melting into my sheets.
