The Rules Regarding Gray (4 page)

“You realize I’m known for being brutally honest, and you should understand this is a two-way street.”

She nodded.

He looked toward the hallway that led to the other side of the house and the bedrooms, and then he took a deep breath. “He said you’re incredible.”

Her cheeks instantly flushed, and she smiled but said nothing. He studied her some more, knowing full well that flush would intensify ten-fold with his next words, but knowing he’d be saying those words regardless.

“He said your pussy is tight as hell, and you like to fuck.” He held his focus calmly on her.

She gasped.

“I’m sorry, did I say fuck? I meant dance,” he said sarcastically.

Her eyes shifted to the floor between them for a moment, but then she looked back up, her cheeks now a deep crimson red. “Same difference, remember?” she said softly.

“I do. Now it’s your turn.”

She cleared her throat. “Well, he didn’t say anything at all about
your
genitals.”

He laughed. “Nice recovery. I like that. Now go on. You’re running out of time.”

She gnawed on the inside of her lip for a moment, and she rolled her eyes nervously as she released a shaky breath. “He said… He said I didn’t need to worry about you hitting on me because I’m not your type.” She glanced away as her jaw tightened, but she looked back at him, waiting to see how he’d respond, if he were guessing.

“And why would you be concerned I’d hit on my best friend’s girlfriend?” He cocked his brow as he waited for an answer.

“Well … he’s also told me…” She glanced away for a second. “…that such things as propriety weren’t always a concern between you two in the past.”

“I see.” He held his focus on her as her cheeks reddened again. “Out of curiosity, what did he say my type was?” He crossed his arms on his chest and his ankles too, casually leaning against the counter and abandoning the opened bottle of wine for a moment.

“Blonde.”

He hummed but remained quiet.

“Big…” She threw down the universal hand gesture for tits, holding imaginary cantaloupe in front of her own small breasts.

He hummed again letting his eyes wander to the small but round mounds of flesh just beyond her cupped hands that she still held in front of her chest.

“You guys talking about me?” Ian suddenly rounded the corner.

Gray instantly dropped her hands to her sides, her lips pursing.

“We were just talking about how small your cock is,” Jasper commented sarcastically as he reached for the bottle of wine and a wine glass. His best friend deserved that one for taking it upon himself to announce his
type
to her.

But in true Ian form, he scoffed dismissively and fired right back. “We can’t all have the dick of a stallion like you, now can we?” He clapped Jas on the shoulder, nearly making him spill the wine he was pouring for Gray.

When Jas turned to her, her eyes were wide, and she was staring at his chest, shaking her head subtly in shock. Nothing like Ian and his impenetrable ego to dis his own dick size and compliment Jas at the same time while remaining the most confident man in the room.

Jasper cleared his throat, ignoring Ian and walking up behind Gray as she turned to the sink again. He reached around her body and set the glass beside her as she glanced at him nervously.

“Thanks.” Her voice was quiet, and he winked at her in a gesture he thought was supposed to put her at ease, but when her cheeks blushed, he stepped away quickly.

“Please tell me you’re not making something vegetarian again?” Ian took Jasper’s place behind her body, gripping her hips in his hands and pulling her bottom to his groin. Jas watched them casually, his own groin throbbing.

Jasper had a few regular fucks who kept him satisfied, but as he watched Ian touch Gray’s body, he suddenly felt like he hadn’t gotten laid in a year, and he was dying to stick his cock in something—preferably the petite young woman standing in front of him who wasn’t his
type
.

“It’s not vegetarian at all. In fact, I need you to start the grill.”

Ian sighed dramatically but eventually pecked her on the side of the neck and left for the large expansive back patio. Ian’s home was a two-story concrete contemporary structure in the West Lake Hills area of Austin. It was a cool house, but it wasn’t really Jasper’s style. The house was built in an L-shape with a glass single story breezeway that connected one leg of the L to the other. In the crook of the L was a large rectangular pool, surrounded by a smooth expansive concrete patio. The trees surrounding the property kept it secluded, but there was little that was secluded in the interior of the house. The kitchen was open to the great room that looked out to the patio through a large wall of windows.

And, as he glanced toward those windows, his eyes caught on Gray. She was just shaking the last of the water off a bunch of fresh herbs, but her concentration wasn’t on the herbs. It was on Ian. She was watching him, and from his sidewise vantage point, Jasper studied her. She shook off the last of the excess water, depositing the parsley and basil on a cutting board that sat right next to the sink, and she took a deep breath that looked more troubled than relaxed.

He stepped up beside her, careful to keep an appropriate amount of space between them, lest he give her more reason to feel uncomfortable. She glanced at him, and her troubled, forced smile pulled up into a genuine one.

“You okay?” he asked her.

“Yes.” Her lips pursed.

“Well, then, put me to work.”

“Really?” She seemed nearly shocked.

“Of course. I told you I know my way around a kitchen. Don’t let my devilish good looks fool you.”

She laughed. “Okay then. Cutting or crushing?”

“I’m a man. I crush things.” He shrugged. “It’s just the way it is.”

She turned from him, pulling the mortar and pestle from the upper cupboard behind them and returning to him. She set the rough granite in front of him.

“So, what are we making?”

“Chimichurri to go with the steaks and salad as a side. The steaks are just flank steaks, so they won’t take long to cook once we have this done, and the salad is already finished and in the fridge. I thought we could eat outside on the patio.”

“I like how you entertain,” he commented as he looked down at her.

“I like how you help in the kitchen.” She glanced up at him, smiling.

They worked side by side—she finely cutting up the herbs, peppers, and garlic and handing them off to him, and he crushing and mixing it all together. They spent that time silently working. He couldn’t stop waiting for the subtle scent of her perfume, and every time she leaned close to him to scrape something into the mortar, he’d inhale deeply.

She occasionally glanced out to the patio where Ian was lounging poolside on the large rattan sectional sofa with its white cushions. Jasper could tell she was annoyed by her pursed lips, flared nostrils, and the slight shake of her head when her focus would land on him. But she said nothing about it, and when they carried the mortar out and the plate with the steaks, she still said nothing, but she glared at Ian. Ian shrugged his shoulders, dismissing her veiled irritation.

“How about you get your lazy ass inside and grab the plates and silverware.” Jasper nudged Ian’s leg, and then he carried the plate of meat to the grill and helped Gray get the steaks on. Within ten minutes, they were seated around the large rectangular table with Ian at the end and Jasper across from Gray. It was small talk while they ate.

“Do you have a girlfriend, Jasper?” She took a sip of her wine while she waited for him to answer.

He glanced at Ian, and they exchanged a look that more or less meant the question was ridiculous. Of course, Gray wouldn’t know that, and he chuckled quietly, contemplating how exactly he wanted to broach this subject with her to avoid looking like an asshole.

“Jas isn’t really the dating sort,” Ian stepped in. “Don’t get me wrong, he likes fucking just fine, but relationships are overrated in his mind.”

She turned to him with an amused expression on her face. “Is that so?”

He hummed, but it was more a nervous response than anything, and if he were pale enough to blush he was quite certain he would. “Just seems to work better for me to keep things casual.”

“Why is that, may I ask?” She leaned forward, eager to perpetuate this even though he was desperate to change the topic.

He shrugged, but of course that didn’t satisfy Ian who didn’t understand the meaning of the verbal filter.

“Probably has to do with his shit childhood and his even shittier parents. Can anyone say abandonment complex?” Ian commented sarcastically.

When Jas looked up to see concern in Gray’s eyes, he looked away. He didn’t like this kind of attention being focused on him, and when his eyes returned to the table, he glared at Ian.

“What?” Ian snapped defensively. “It’s true.”

Gray scoffed in annoyance and pinned Ian to his seat with her glare. “That doesn’t mean it’s for you to say. If he’d have wanted me to know that, he’d have told me himself.” Her words were pointed as she stared at Ian, and the defense in his expression finally calmed, and he smiled at her sweetly. She did have an interesting way with him.

Gray’s gaze eventually returned to Jas. “I’m sorry.” She smiled. “You’ll have to excuse your best friend. I’ve come to understand he can be a bit of an ass.”

He laughed at that one. “No need to apologize. I’ve been dealing with his assness most of my life.” He studied her, contemplating whether he wanted to delve into this or not. For some reason he wanted to. He eventually took a deep breath, and when he spoke it was directly to her, and he leaned in toward her in the same way she was leaning toward him. “It’s not that I’m opposed to relationships. It’s just… I guess, I don’t understand that level of … emotional closeness.” At least he’d been told as much by a few women.

“You don’t desire closeness?” Her eyes were narrow as she studied him, but it wasn’t judgment—just curiosity.

“No, I do. But what it looks like in my mind doesn’t seem the least bit possible, let alone sustainable. Not from my experience anyway.” He took a drink of wine, feeling it burn down his throat and warm his stomach. It was an oddly intimate conversation, and perhaps it was the wine or perhaps it was just her interest, but he wanted to have this conversation.

When he glanced to the head of the table, Ian was lounged back in his chair with his hands on the back of his head, watching them. He was smiling subtly as his eyes moved back and forth. Jasper’s attention shifted back to Gray quickly.

She bit her lip, not seductively, but as though she were contemplating saying something more. And then she did. “What does it look like in your mind—this closeness?”

He took a big drink of wine then, and he let his attention wander to the lit up water in the pool beyond Gray. By the time he looked back to her, he was committed to responding honestly, even though he wasn’t at all sure it would make sense.

“I guess real closeness comes when you find that person that can…” He shook his head, trying to figure out a way to explain it. “…break the hold your darkness sometimes has on you. They liberate you. I don’t know if that makes sense.”

She nodded. “It makes perfect sense. They erase the ugly or maybe they just make you feel okay about the ugly.” She smiled.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Okay, what about you?”

Now it was her turn to think, and she did. Her expression was nearly whimsical—like life and this topic intrigued her more than terrified her. He wished he could say the same. She was enjoying this … delving, and he was enjoying how open it left him feeling—comfortable in his own skin even.

“Do you ever feel like there are pieces of you missing? Or your life is just unsatisfying, empty, boring even.” Her voice was quiet, but she still had that light in her eyes. She wasn’t afraid of this, and that kind of amazed him.

“Yes,” he said quietly. He absolutely understood that feeling.

“I guess I imagine real closeness is what happens when you meet someone who can … fill in the missing pieces and make you feel whole and satiated. They make you a solid thing, rather than a fading ghost of a person. They make you feel at peace as opposed to always feeling like you’re searching for something to fill the void.”

He nodded. It was suddenly silent. The candle on the table flickered as a breeze blew through the patio, and he just watched her. Her focus became distant, and as she stared at the table between them, she seemed lost in her own thoughts. Her lips were a tight line and her brow wrinkled. Was it worry?

“Well, that was just fucking beautiful. Couple of poets right here,” Ian commented sarcastically as he sat up to the table. “How about I get another bottle of wine, so the two of you can get even more buzzed? I would love to see you both in drunk tears by the end of the night.”

“Oh, shut up,” she muttered. “It’s called cerebral adult conversation. You’re just too immature to keep up.” Gray looked at Ian and winked, and he reached over, covering her hand with his and squeezing.

Ian stood then. “I wasn’t kidding about more wine. And I think I’ll grab a deck of cards. You two stay put.”