Secrets, Lies, and Summer Skies

Chapter Two

Grayson raised a hand to sweep his sodden hair back out of his eyes and raised a brow. "Chaise? What're you doing here?"

"I... live here?" I didn't know why I'd posed it as a question. Of course, I lived there. It was my house. Well, Dad's house. I'd grown up in it. "What are you doing here?" I countered. "And... and why are you...?" I gestured at his body and did everything I could to not look directly at his bare chest or the towel.

If Grayson felt any shame at his state of dress, he didn't show it. He folded his arms over his chest, which only made his pecs look more inviting. Casually, he leaned against the doorframe. "House sitting."

"What?"

"House. Sitting." Grayson repeated the words slowly, like I was an idiot. "For the summer. Your Dad's out of the country."

I gaped. "My what is out of the what?"

"Isn't college meant to make kids smarter?" he asked. "What did they do at that place, give you a lobotomy?"

After seeing Anna bouncing on Trey's dick, I wouldn't have minded a lobotomy. If it would wipe that image from my mind, I'd have taken just about anything on offer. Why hadn't someone invented those mind wipe stick things from the Men in Black movies? That would've done the trick. I was fully convinced that would be the last image to flash before my eyes when I died. I'd be haunted by it forever, and the knowledge that Anna had a way better body than I did. I didn't hate my body or anything, I just would have killed for some of her curves.

Maybe that's why Trey had liked her more than me.

Grayson flicked my forehead. "You in there, Kitten?"

I slapped his hand away. "I'm thinking."

"Careful, you might hurt yourself."

"What do you mean he's out of the country?" I demanded angrily. "He didn't tell me he was going anywhere!"

"He's a conducting summer classes as a guest lecturer in England. He didn't want to leave the house empty that long."

"Okay, well, I'm here, so..."

I let the implication hang in the air. Grayson wasn't an idiot. I mean, he went to college with my dad, so I had to assume they were at least as smart as each other. If he wasn't, he'd never have made it in business. His parents owned an advertising company and they had adopted Grayson in as a manager shortly after he'd graduated. Rather than resting on his laurels like some playboy heir, he took his role seriously. Well, more seriously than some. He still had way more time off than he ought, and he spent most of that time hanging around with my dad. Still, not everyone was so fortunate to find a job right away. Most of the kids in my classes would pay off their debts for the rest of their lives.

"No."

"You have your own place!" I shot back.

"That I'm renting out for the summer. It's fully booked until your dad gets back."

"Can't you get a hotel or something?" I pressed.

"For ten weeks?" Grayson scoffed. "No. And I've gotta go to work. Forget it, Kitten. I'm staying put."

Look, there were worse things than putting up with Grayson for a few weeks. Things like finding your roommate fucking your boyfriend came to mind. But, if Dad wasn't around, then I didn't want his friends hanging out in the house unsupervised. It didn't help that Grayson was criminally attractive, and I knew he had a habit of bringing women around. If he wanted to do that in his own place then it was none of my business, but after he'd invited Kelly into our house for their little pool table interlude, I didn't trust that he'd behave even though I was home.