Page 90 of Lessons In Grey
Jordan: You’ll never be free of me
My smile fell, that fear growing in the pit of my stomach. No, he didn’t know where I lived, I’d be okay. I was safe. I was out. I had gotten out.
I shook my head and grabbed my purse and keys before heading for the elevator. I braced myself for the horrendous task of opening it only for it to slide far easier than it had yesterday.
Grey must have fixed it before leaving this morning.
I stepped in, hitting the ground floor button before calling him.
He picked up on the third ring.
“Emily,” he greeted.
My face burned bright, a smile fighting to break free. “Hey,” I responded, looking up, wondering how long this elevator would last before it crashed to the ground floor far below. “Thank you for fixing the gate.”
“Of course. How did you sleep?”
“Good, um…” I tugged at the hem of my sweater. “How did…how did you sleep?”
He was quiet a moment. “You’ve never had anyone spend the night before, have you?”
My face was far too hot. Shit. “No,” I mumbled. “No, that was a first, sorry. I was…” I released a nervous laugh. “Before a year ago, I was…it was better to just leave.”
“Have you ever had a real relationship before?”
I thought about it. “Um…I had a boyfriend in High School for three weeks,” I confessed. “He was just trying to get to Charlie though, so…I dumped him.” I covered my face. “God, not what you want to be talking about now, right? It’s not important. How is the drug thing going?” I winced at how strange that sounded coming from my lips. I hated it.
“Fuck,” he half-growled. “I don’t know why it turns me on knowing that I’m going to be your first real relationship, but it does.”
My heart fluttered, liquid heat pooling in my stomach at his deep voice. “Relationship?” I breathed.
“Absolutely. You’re mine, Emily, end of story.”
“End of story,” I repeated quietly. “I know where that one would go.” I cleared my throat and straightened. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”
He chuckled. “I told you I would always pick up. You’re going Christmas shopping today, right?”
My smile widened “Um, yeah. Yes. I’m going to that place on Scarlet,” I went on when the doors finally opened. I pushed the gate open and waved to Jerry as I stepped out, heading for the doors. “The place they built just for this time of year. It has all of the best decorations, but do you know where I could get a good tree? Mom was always in charge of that.”
He thought about it a moment. “Briarbridge Park,” he answered. “On the far side, they should have some trees that’ll fit your place.”
My place.
I waved a cab. “Thank you. You should get back to class.” I wanted to talk to him all day. I wanted him to be here, with me. I wanted to stitch him into my very soul so that we would never be apart.
“Be a good girl for me and have fun today. I’m proud of you.”
My heart warmed at the sentiment. “Thank you,” I said again as a cab pulled up in front of me. “I will.”
“I’ll be by as soon as I can, okay?”
“Yeah, see you then.” I hung up and slid into the cab. Today was a good day. If I could just hang onto this feeling, the entire day could be good. I could make it good.
~~~
I had a handful of people deliver everything I had bought, and they even set up the tree, despite how difficult it had been for them to get it up. In fact, I was still shocked the tree hadn’t snapped being stuffed into the elevator like it had been. The elevator was large, more of a freight elevator than anything else, but the tree? It was enormous.
I put on Hallmark movies and started decorating, focusing on the tasks at hand and nothing else.