The Avery Shaw Experiment - By Kelly Oram Page 0,10
I winced and Grayson laughed. “. . . headache.”
As Grayson watched me, his eyes sparkled in the dim light, making him look like he’d just stepped off the set of a Hollywood movie. Aside from his tall, broad frame and amazing body, Grayson Kennedy had the entire package where looks were concerned. He was Spanish Fork High’s golden boy: hair the color of amber, eyes so blue they looked unreal, and golden skin that didn’t have a single blemish, freckle, or scar.
His teeth were perfect, and he spent so much time smiling that the gesture on him was a work of art. He even had this one adorable dimple that only showed itself when he was really, truly happy about something. That dimple was present now.
I broke the silence with a nervous laugh. “This is awkward, isn’t it?”
Grayson pursed his lips until they turned white because he was trying so hard not to laugh at me. “Awkward? What’s awkward?”
He knew darn well what I was talking about! Grayson was always torturing me like that. I asked him why he did it once, and his answer had been because it was fun to make me blush. Well, mission accomplished, Mr. Kennedy. I was beet red. Again.
He was waiting for an answer.
“You know . . .” I squirmed in my chair. “This. Us. Being here like this.”
Grayson suppressed another laugh. “Being here like what?”
“I don’t know. This restaurant is so . . . atmospheric, and you helping me with my coat and pulling out my chair.” I was now so red that my face was going to stain permanently. “It just feels, I don’t know, sort of like . . . like a . . .”
“Like a date?” Grayson asked. He wasn’t laughing anymore. He met my eyes with a startling intensity.
I couldn’t find my voice, so I just nodded.
He gave me another heart-stopping smile. “That’s because it is a date, Avery.”
I felt my eyes grow to three times their normal size, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them to stop. “What?” I gasped. “No, it’s not!”
“Yes, it is.”
His voice left no room for argument, but that didn’t stop me. “We can’t be on a date!”
“Why?”
“Because you’re . . . you’re . . . you’re you and I’m me! We grew up together! We’re practically family!”
Grayson frowned—a real one, not his usual pout-to-get-his-way sad face. “You grew up with Aiden too.”
All the air left my lungs. “That’s different.”
“How so?”
“Because he doesn’t treat me like a sister.”
Grayson looked like he was about to argue that, but I really didn’t want to discuss Aiden, so I quickly said, “You, on the other hand, act like an annoying, gross older brother.”
“Gross?” I thought he’d be offended, but he actually laughed. “You think I’m gross?”
“Yes, I do. You are so horny it’s unhealthy. You burp in my face every time you eat onions, and you don’t bother to leave the room before you fart. This afternoon you dripped your sweat on me. On purpose!”
“Okay, okay. You’ve got me there. I will admit that our relationship has always had more of a sibling vibe. But the truth of the matter is that you gave me a total hard-on today and—”
“Oh my gosh, Grayson, shut up!” I shrieked in a whisper, burying my face in my hands. “Please don’t ever, ever say something like that again!”
“You’ve got to face the facts, Aves. If you were really my sister and we’d ended up in the shower together, I’d have puked and hired a therapist. Not stared at your chest and wondered if you’d hit me if I took your shirt off.”
“Oh my gosh!” My hands were starting to sweat because my face was so hot, but how was I supposed to remove them? That would require looking at Grayson, and there was no way I’d ever be able to do that again.
Grayson chuckled. “Aves, look at me.”
“No! You were right. You are not nice! You are cruel!”
Grayson reached over the table and peeled my hands away from my flushed face. “I’m not being cruel,” he said. I finally forced my eyes up to his.
He leaned his tall body over the tiny table so that he could look straight into my eyes. There was only a foot of space between us.
“This is most definitely a real date,” he promised so passionately it made me shiver. “I asked you out. I’m paying for your dinner. There will be dancing later, and I will be kissing you when