Six Rules: Book Two in the SIX Series (6 page)

Chapter 8

          
We finished our food and I was happy to have finished the
list on the back of my napkin.

          
“So when is the big reveal? How do you want to do this?” I
asked.

          
“Over dessert. Come with me,” Greyson said, getting up
from the table.

          
“We have to get the check first. Where is our waitress?” I
asked, looking around the restaurant.

          
“It’s already been taking care of. Let’s go,” he said
eagerly.

          
“What do you mean it’s already been taken care of? How did
that happen?” I asked, mildly amused.

          
“I knew if I had to wait for the bill you would argue with
me about paying it, right? So I’m saving you the energy,” he said with a sly
smile. “I took care of it.”

          
“Well, I don’t expect for you to just pay for things for
me,” I replied, a little annoyed.

          
“Which is exactly what I’m trying to teach you, Mallory.
Unexpected is good,” he said, leaning down towards me. He kissed me
passionately and it took my breath away. He pulled away and extended his hand
out to me, which I accepted, and we walked out of the restaurant.

          
“So, will you come with me?” he asked sweetly.

          
“Where are we going?”

          
“Do you ever just say yes to a question?” he said, poking
me. “I thought you’d be happy that I remembered to ‘ask’ you to come with me,
rather than just telling you I was taking you somewhere.”

          
“Fair enough,” I replied. “I walked here anyway, so I
suppose you could give me a lift somewhere.” I wondered what he had in mind.

          
He led me to the parking lot and into his big black
pick-up truck. It was a nice vehicle, perfectly clean as if he just had it
detailed.

          
He drove us up the mountain for about fifteen minutes,
then pulled into a small cul-de-sac area overlooking the entire downtown area
and even Lake Tahoe. He backed up the truck so the back of his pick-up faced
the view. We both climbed out of the vehicle.

          
“Wow, it’s beautiful up here,” I remarked, quite in awe of
the scenery. The pine trees looked even bigger than usual, as if they were
completely engulfing us.
 
The blue of the
lake still sparkled despite the distance, and the water looked as clear as ever.
“How did you ever find this place?”

          
“I had to come up here a couple months ago to make a
delivery to some rich lady in a giant log cabin a little further up the road. I
kind of stumbled upon this spot and I love it. I think they’re going to be
building some houses here eventually. But in the meantime, I love to just come
here and think. I’ve been up here quite a few times since that delivery,
actually.”

          
“What do you think about while you’re up here?” I
inquired. It seemed like the perfect spot for some life reflection. The
solitude of it, tucked away from the city, made it a perfect spot to disappear
from the world.

          
“Lots of stuff, I guess. Life,” he shrugged. "Too
deep for first date conversation." He opened up the back door of his
pick-up and pulled out a bunch of blankets. He threw them in the back of the
truck. The sun was setting and cast an orange-purple haze across the sky. The
lights of downtown twinkled in the distance.

          
Greyson set a small cooler in the bed of the truck before
he helped me climb up into the back of the vehicle. We spread out the blankets
and stretched our legs out on top of them.

          
“So, dessert,” he said, opening the small cooler. “Now I
know you’re a dessert expert, so cut me a break here.” He pulled out a
chocolate pie from the cooler, along with two forks.

          
“Did you make that?” I asked, noticing the silicone pie
shell around it. Pies from the store didn’t come like that.

          
“Not this particular one, but I used to make them with my
mom all the time,” he said, setting it down between us. “It’s one of her
signature items from her breakfast diner. I know, why would a breakfast diner
serve pie? But you’d be surprised how many of these she goes through in a day.”
He handed me a fork. I dug right into the middle of the pie and sampled a bite.
It was rich chocolate with real whipped cream, chocolate shavings, and a
chocolate cookie crust. I’m pretty sure I let out a small groan as I ate it.

          
“Do you approve?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

          
“Are you kidding? It’s amazing. It's one of the best
chocolate pies I’ve ever had, honestly.” I dug my fork back in for another
bite. Greyson smiled at me as I ate, and I truly felt comfortable with him in
this moment. It was a simple scene, laying in the back of a pick-up truck
overlooking the city while scarfing down pie, but it somehow felt whimsical
too. All alone in the world, eating rich chocolate as the sun dropped below the
mountains. It was one of those moments where the world seemed utterly perfect.

          
“So, should we discuss our rules?” Greyson asked, pulling
his napkin out of his pocket.

          
“I don’t know. I may have to change one of my demands. I
think I want to be fed this pie in bed every morning for breakfast,” I said,
taking another bite. I grabbed my clutch and pulled out my napkin.

          
“What if I have a rule about no food in bed?” he asked
teasingly. “It is kind of gross if you really think about it.” He set his fork
into the pie and opened up his napkin, so I did the same.

          
“So how does this work? Do you want to read them one by
one or altogether? I think you should go first,” I suggested. For some reason I
felt a little nervous about the whole thing. What if we wanted drastically
different things? This could be an awkward conversation.

          
“Always the bossy one, fine. I’ll give you my six rules
and you can tell me if there are any deal breakers,” he said clearing his
throat, almost appearing a little nervous too. "Is this weird?"

          
"Of course it is," I replied, stating the
obvious. "Unless this is just your typical first date move."

          
"No, not at all. I just thought of it this morning
after you left. You had all of these excuses so that you wouldn't have to give
me a chance. So I just thought I needed to come up with some crazy idea that
might change your mind."

          
The stars began to come out and the air was still. I
stared at him through the glow of whatever sunlight we had left. He reached
back behind him and flicked on a small lantern so he could read what he wrote.

          
“Rule number one: you have to come to family dinners with
me on Sunday night. I know you may have to work sometimes on Sundays, but you
have to at least make an effort.”

          
That didn’t seem too bad, other than the first initial
visit of having to meet his family so soon. My parents lived in Sacramento and
I didn’t see them too often, so I was at least looking forward to a nice
home-cooked family meal.

          
“Do you really want to involve family in this? What if
this doesn’t go anywhere beyond our three weeks together?” I asked curiously.

          
“Then I’ll have to make up a wild lie about you and why
you left, and then they’ll all feel sorry for me. They’ll shower my broken
heart with love and pity and my mom will probably make me ten pies for my
sadness. I can handle that,” he teased.

          
I picked up my fork and ate another bite of pie.
At
least I could look forward to pie on Sundays.
That was a dessert I didn’t often
make, and I had to admit, it tasted amazing.

          
“Rule two: on the days I get to wake up with you, I get to
cook you breakfast.” He stared at me as I swallowed my pie.

          
“What if I’m not hungry?” I asked coyly.

          
“If we’re staying the night together, I expect to make you
hungry,” he responded, winking at me.

          
“Geez, so sure of yourself,” I shot back. “What about this
morning? I did just fine without any food.”

          
“That’s because you thought you were doing the walk of
shame to get out of my apartment as fast as you could. Now that you’ve decided
you like me, it will be different.”

          
“I’m still making up my mind on that,” I said softly,
looking away from his intense gaze. I’m not sure I sounded convincing at all.
But the truth was, I still wasn’t totally sure what I was doing here. This was
a very unconventional beginning to a relationship.

          
“Moving on, rule three: every week we have an ‘us’ day. I
know we have really busy schedules, but we have to pick out just one day where
everything else gets pushed aside and we spend it together,” he said sincerely.

          
“You realize that’s my downfall, right? Clearing my
schedule?” I responded.

          
“Well that’s the beauty of all this. It’s now a rule. I
don’t care if I have to come to where you are and bake brownies all day if you
really can’t miss work, but I think it’s important. It’s just one day a week.
And at the end of all this, if you really hated having to spend an entire day
with me doing something fun, then you get to opt out,” he said with a smirk.

          
“I’ll do my best,” I answered honestly.

          
“Rule number four: you have to try every food I ask you to
try.”

          
“What if it’s something I think is gross?” I asked.

          
“Well, then I’ll sound like your mother and tell you that
you don’t know something is gross until you try it. So many people miss out on
amazing food just because they’re afraid. I’m just asking you to be a little
adventurous and try some new things. And if you hate it you don’t have to ever
try it again,” he said sincerely.

          
“Fair enough. Keep going,” I said, taking another bite of
pie.

          
“Rule number five: I want you to leave something at my
house.”

          
“What?” I asked with my mouth full of chocolate.

          
“I know, that’s kind of weird. It’s always one of those unspoken
things in a new relationship, like ‘do I get a drawer, should I leave a
toothbrush at their house’ and all that. And everyone is always uncomfortable
about that. But I actually
want
something of yours at my house.
Something left in my room or kitchen or whatever. I feel like if something of
yours is there then you’re not really going anywhere, if that makes sense. I
don’t know. It will make me smile when you’re not around, that’s all,” he said
honestly. “It’s just comforting to me. That’s what I want.”

          
“But then what happens in three weeks? Then we have the
whole awkward exchange of stuff. That part is always weird after a break-up,” I
said shaking my head.

          
“Well I don’t know why you’re so stuck on this not working
out in three weeks. But I don’t know, you can leave a postage paid box under my
bed. How about that? Then when I show up at the restaurant in three weeks and
you don’t, I can go back home, sobbing I might add, and then I can just mail
your stuff to you.” He shrugged his shoulders at me.

          
“You always have an answer for everything, don’t you,” I
said with amusement. “What am I supposed to leave there? Something functional?”

          
“I don’t care, just some part of you. Your favorite shirt
you like to wear while we’re on the couch watching movies, or a towel you like
to use or something. Or a picture frame by the bed. I would even settle for
some ugly porcelain cat figurine you women collect, whatever.”

          
“A cat figurine? Was your last girlfriend someone’s
grandma?” I said laughing. Greyson leaned over and fed me a bite of pie from
his fork, probably just to shut me up.

          
“It’s a rule, so just do it. And then you’ll get it back
from UPS in less than a month from now, how about that?” he said with a smirk.
“Last one, rule number six: no crying for no reason. I have no idea why girls
do that, but it totally freaks me out.”

          
“Crying for no reason?” I asked curiously.

          
“Yeah, like you can’t just be crying and then I ask you
what’s wrong and then you say ‘nothing’ and I’m left to figure it out. That has
to be the worst thing women do. I just don’t get it. Men are baffled by that. I
mean obviously I hope you never cry around me, that would just be better. But
if you do, it has to be because you’re sad or something. Like if someone is
dead, that's okay. Just not because the sun came up and you’re feeling
emotional.”