The Perfect Fix (Perfect Kisses #5) - Miley Maine Page 0,79
anything else with my life. They kept telling me that it would pass soon and I would find a passion that could support me, but I didn’t know if I believed them.
I had no luck getting any sort of steady job. So, aside from the occasional babysitting gig that I was too old for anyways, I filled my time practicing my harp and dreaming of the day when I could join an orchestra or go on a tour. Which, based on the fact that I had been rejected from one of the best music schools in the country, was not very likely to happen.
It was the day before Thanksgiving and I was reading a book on my bed, trying to decide if another hour of practice would bother my parents too much, when there was a knock at my door.
“Come in,” I said, pushing aside my book and sitting up.
In came Sebastian, my older brother by six years. Whereas I was fair, he had inherited our father’s darker complexion. He was handsome and very nice, but tended to tease as older brothers did too often. His girlfriend had wanted him to come over to her family’s house for Thanksgiving, but he declined, telling her he needed to spend some more time with me. Of course, her response to that was he spent a lot of time with me already since I was home all the time, but I tried not to dwell on that.
“Guess what?” he said, looking a little too excited.
I edged back slightly suspicious. Was he hiding a pie somewhere? Was this another prank? “What?” I asked, trying to decide whether my book would make a good shield.
“I think I have some news that will cheer you up.”
This caught my attention and made me perk up eagerly. I really could use a pick-me-up now, so it was worth listening to whatever he had to say, pie or no pie.
“What is it?”
“Do you remember Grayson?”
“Grayson Davis?” He nodded. “Of course, I remember Grayson! How could I forget him of all people?”
Grayson had been Sebastian’s best friend for a very long time. When I was eleven, I developed a huge crush on him and would always crash in on whatever they were doing. While Sebastian usually got annoyed, Grayson was so kind and always ready to include me. This led to me confessing to him that I liked him. He was seventeen at the time, and looking back I really was a fool to think that it ever would work out. Of course he didn’t want to be with an eleven-year-old. He wouldn’t even accept the advances of the cute freshmen at his high school, much less those of a sixth grader.
Grayson did end up rejecting me, very kindly, but I was heartbroken, of course. I cried in my room for weeks, devouring all sorts of books and even composing heartbroken songs on my harp, which I had just started to learn at that point.
Then Grayson and his parents moved away suddenly, all the way to New York. I haven’t seen him since then, though I know he and Sebastian have visited each other a couple of times over the years and frequently keep in touch.
“I don’t know, you do tend to do some crazy things,” my brother said, laughing to himself.
“Well, what about Grayson?”
“He’s coming to visit us and his childhood home. He’ll be here for Thanksgiving.”
“What?” I stood up immediately. Grayson? In our house? Again? My cheeks were growing red just thinking about it. The last time I had seen him he was seventeen, but now he was thirty, as old as my brother. Would he still be as handsome? Or perhaps more? Would he still be kind, sweet?
And would he finally see me as a woman?
Apparently my childhood crush on him had never gone away, because the thought sent blood rushing to my face. Sebastian started laughing, of course. “Don’t tell me your crush is back.”
“No! Of course not!” I stammered. “I was eleven then; things are different now. I’m much more mature.”
“Uh huh, and you’re hoping he’ll see that?”
“Stop!” I stood, lunging to slam the door in my brother’s face, but he caught it with his foot and stepped inside.
“It sounds to me like you’re protesting just a little too much.”
“You know that’s not what I mean.” I hung my head, hoping that staring at my shoes would conceal my ever-deepening blush. Why did Sebastian have to know me so well?