The Rules Regarding Gray (24 page)

He sat on the side of the bathtub with her in his lap as he turned the faucet on, and he helped her unwrap her leg before he settled her into the warm water. But, just as he moved to join her, his phone rang. It was his cell phone in the kitchen, and he shook his head as he chuckled. “I’ll be right back.”

He snatched the phone up just in time. “Hello.”

“Oh… Well, there you are,” came G’s voice.

He smiled. “Good Monday afternoon to you,” he said.

She laughed quietly. “Yes. It is a good day indeed, isn’t it?”

“It is,” he agreed. It was most definitely a good day. “So, this is a surprise. A Monday phone call? And what’s this number you’re calling from? You have a boyfriend I don’t know about?” he joked with her.

She laughed again, her tone calm and serene. “No, no boyfriend for this old woman.”

“Well, what’s the occasion then?” He leaned against the kitchen counter, listening as Gray turned the faucet off in the distance.

“Oh, can’t a grandmother want to hear her grandson’s voice?” she said smartly.

“Of course.”

“How did yesterday go?” she pried.

He hummed. “Well, I’m spending time with the gal today if that’s any indication, but … it was a struggle to get to this point, and I can’t ultimately say what point we’re at.” He sighed. “But she’s here.”

“Well, I’m happy to hear that. You never did tell me this girl’s name.”

“Gracelynn. She goes by Gray.”

“Tell me about her.”

He walked to the sink, staring out the window for a moment. “She’s a dancer. Ballet. She’s incredibly talented, and she’s beautiful. She has long auburn hair, green eyes, and pale skin. She’s nothing like me.”

“Couples shouldn’t be alike, in my opinion.”

“We’re not a couple. I’m just inappropriately infatuated with her.”

She laughed. “Call it what you will. As I was saying, take your grandfather and me, for instance. He was a dyed in the wool introvert, and me, well … I’m not. Never have been. But his quietness worked with my mouth, his calmness with my nerves, his self-control with my … flighty moods. I wish you could have known him. He was very much like you.”

“Was he?”

“Yes. Tall like you and your father but austere in nature like you. Which is nothing at all like your father as you well know.”

“Oh, I don’t know. My dad could be pretty severe.”

She sighed. “Yes. But I mean austere in your grandfather’s sense of modesty and fairness. He was a good man, your grandfather. You should know that. You are too.”

He smiled. The woman had never seen anything but his goodness.

“Tell me more about her. I need to know about her.”

He laughed. “Umm… she’s innocent in many ways, but not so much in others. She’s driven and disciplined, and yet, she has passion that carries her away.” He was staring out the window again, watching a leaf float down from a tree and into the pool. It sat on the surface, being gently blown across the water as the water rippled around it. “She’s pretty sure her career is over.” His face fell as he said it.

“Oh, dear. Why is that?”

He took a deep breath. “She ruptured her Achilles tendon during a workout, and she had to have surgery a week ago. She’s recovering, but it’s going to be a long process, and she’s not the youngest dancer in her company. I think she’s afraid she’ll get left in the wings as other dancers surpass her. I hate to say it, but she may well be right.”

“You seem to know her very well.”

“It’s odd. I feel like I do, but … I’m not sure I’ve known her long enough to have any right to say that.”

She hummed. “Don’t be fooled by time. There are just those people who are easy to know. And there are just those people you’re intended to know. If she is both of those, then it’s no wonder you would feel so close to her.”

He smiled, nodding his head silently. “She is easy to know. She loves talking about things—important things, like … emotions, pasts, what drives us. She’s so … comfortable with herself and life.”

“Yes. Just as I suspected. Nothing like you.” She chuckled. “But she balances you perfectly, I bet.”

He caught himself nodding again, and he swallowed as his throat constricted. “I like myself when I’m with her, G.” His voice was a little too quiet when he said that.

“Oh … Jas.” She sounded sad for a moment. “She sounds lovely.” Her voice hitched.

“She is.”

“Do you love her?”

He shrugged, and he looked down into the sink. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He chuckled then. “I don’t know. Maybe. I certainly could fall in love with her if I knew anything at all about falling.”

“I won’t bother asking if she knows how you feel because I already know the answer to that.” She paused for a moment. “You need to tell her. She needs to know her importance to you. That’s one thing your grandfather never let me question, and I’m telling you right now, it’s the one thing a woman needs to know. She
has
to know how you feel.” Her words nearly sounded desperate.

He shook his head, the enormity of that charge a hard thing to swallow.

G took a deep slow breath, her exhalation shuddering. She sounded old and weak, and he hated the thought of it. She was pushing ninety soon, but all he could see when he closed his eyes and thought of her was his sweet little white haired grandma putzing around the kitchen doing the Charleston as she moved and cooked at the same time. That was the image that always stuck out in his mind of her, and he smiled as he closed his eyes and imagined it. Even as an unruly teenager, he’d had an odd appreciation for the woman that hadn’t been dwarfed by his bad attitude.

“You’re going to have an amazing life. Do you know that?” she said seriously.

He shook his head, swallowing his emotion as the images of her dancing in the kitchen still floated through his mind. “I know,” he said to appease her.

“Do you?”

He chuckled. “Sure.”

“Great things start from small beginnings—or so some philosopher said. I happen to believe that very much. Your trials define you. They always say that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. But it’s a misunderstood concept I think. That which doesn’t kill us makes us weaker, but it is the overcoming weakness that shows our true strength. Weakness is a given. It’s just what we do with it that truly makes us shine.”

“Beautiful,” he said. He wasn’t being sarcastic.

“Oh, you know me. The great poet laureate, G.” She chuckled softly.

He strolled back toward the bedroom. “Maybe you’ll meet her someday.”

She hummed. “Perhaps. But even if I don’t … I trust your heart. She must be amazing.”

He entered the bedroom. “She is,” he said quietly.

“I better let you go, darling.”

He entered the bathroom, and Gray looked up from the bathtub and smiled shyly at him.

“I’ll talk to you soon, G.”

“You’ve made me so happy, Jasper. I love you.” Her voice broke as she spoke, and his throat tightened.

“I love you too.”

They hung up moments later, and Gray watched him as he took a deep breath and set his phone on the counter.

“My grandmother,” he commented as he climbed behind her as she sat up.

She cocked her head over her shoulder. She was smiling. “You call her G?”

“Yes I do.”

“I like it.”

He leaned down kissing the top of her shoulder, and then he wrapped his arms around her. She eventually turned toward him, resting with her knees on the bottom of the tub between his legs, her arms crossed on his chest with her chin rested there. She studied his tattoo, and her fingers traced the letter G over his left pec. He smirked at her as he ran his hands down her back. After she finished tracing the letter, she toyed with his nipple, plucking it with her fingers before she leaned up and bit down gently on it. He moaned at the sudden intense pressure.

When she pulled back, she cocked her head to the side. “G for your grandmother?”

He studied her silently for a moment, and then he nodded.

She leaned to his nipple again; this time gently laving and sucking, letting her tongue run around and over the hard nub, and he let his head fall back as he released a deep huff of air. Fuck, her mouth was exceptional. She tormented him for a while, and as her mouth worked over his chest, her hands gripped his sides. By the time she pulled her lips from his skin, he was fully aroused again.

“I’m sorry you’re sore.” He ran his hands through her hair.

“I’m fine.”

“Well, regardless, I’ll leave your pussy alone until tomorrow.”

She struggled to swallow for a moment.

“But I intend to use your body in other ways between now and then.”

“How,” she squeaked out.

He laughed, clasping her by the back of her neck and pulling her body easily up his until he could get his mouth on hers. He kissed, slipping his tongue into her mouth but pulling back quickly. “Well, I would absolutely love to see your lips wrapped around my cock, and don’t even get me started on how much I want to eat your pussy. Of course, I want to eat your ass to, and I want to fuck it again. I think we’ll stay plenty busy.” He winked at her. “But how about a nap first?”

She nodded quickly. “Yes.”

He might have just made her nervous with that laundry list of sex play.

They ended up in bed, their bodies twined together just as lewdly and closely as her body had been wrapped up with her dance partners. She fell asleep, and he watched her. How the hell was he supposed to lay his heart out there for her? He didn’t know the first thing about this. But his ignorance aside … he couldn’t lose this.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Gray woke to the subtle movement of the mattress beside her and quiet shuddering breaths. It was confusing. But as she looked over, she saw Jasper sitting on the edge of the bed, his shoulders rolled forward, and his body slumped. His back shook as he breathed, and then she heard his breath lurch and the slightest quietist moan escape him.

“Jas?” She sat up, scooting herself over to him and clutching at his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

He shook his head subtly and stood up quickly.

“Please talk to me,” she said.

He cocked his head to the side. “My grandmother just died. She… She was at the hospital when she called me earlier. She didn’t even tell me. She had a mild heart attack, and they were keeping her there to do some tests, but then…” He shook his head. “She just… She’s gone. Why wouldn’t she tell me?” He shook his head. And then he started pacing around.

“Jasper, I’m so sorry.”

His lips trembled and pulled up slightly, but when she tried to speak to him again, he shook his head.

“What can I do for you?”

“Nothing,” he muttered, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “I have to get to San Diego as soon as possible.”

She nodded, and he dialed his phone.

“Hey, Seth. Can you find me the soonest flight to San Diego…? Yeah, today. Don’t book it yet. Just call me with the time.” He hung up without another word.

She watched him move around the bedroom then. He quickly pulled out clothes from his drawers, and he hung a suit on the back of the closet door. But after he riffled through a drawer again, he slammed it shut. “Fuck!” he snapped. “I don’t have anything I need here,” he muttered through gritted teeth.

She stared at him. She didn’t know how to deal with this. She was stuck on his bed, wanting to help but helpless to even stand up, and he was agitated. When his phone rang a couple minutes later, he snatched it up quickly.

“Yeah…” He glanced at his watch and took a deep breath. When his eyes glanced to her, he didn’t smile, he didn’t offer any kindness at all, and she just stared back, her heart pounding. “I can’t make that one… Because I’m in the country and I’m not even alone. I still have to drop someone off before I can get to the apartment and finish packing, and by the time I do all that, there’s no way I can catch an eight-fifteen. Goddamn it,” he muttered. He looked angry.

She stared at her lap, ready to crawl her ass out of his room.

“And there’s nothing later…?” He started throwing things into the suitcase and stalking around the room. “Fine. Get me the earliest flight out tomorrow morning. I’m on my way back to the city. I’ll be there soon, so I can finish packing.” He hung up again, and when he turned to her, she almost cringed. “We have to go.”

“Okay. Can I do anything to—?”

“No,” he replied quickly as he walked out of the room.

He returned moments later with her crutches and her sundress. She tossed the dress over her head, and she pushed herself up to stand. She didn’t bother sticking around in his bedroom. He was too intimidating like this. She couldn’t even say he was being rude or mean. He was hurried, he was brisk, he was just somewhere else, and she had this worry that if she said the wrong thing or did the wrong thing, he’d snap at her, and she didn’t want to give him the chance to prove her right.

“I’ll wait in the car,” she said as she left the room, and that’s exactly what she did.