We all sat around the living room and kitchen as it was an open floor plan and the dining table wasn't large enough to hold everyone, but I didn't mind.

The table at my parents' house was large enough to hold twenty people and you could only talk to the ones right next to you. It always felt so weird to sit there and feel like you needed binoculars just to see who was sitting at the other end. Not that we ever sat at it often, unless my parents had special guests over, and I was forced to sit there and pretend I was enjoying my time with strangers.

Sitting around the living room all spread out randomly at Grayson's parents' house was better. It was so informal, but it felt nice. The conversations, while random at times, felt genuine, and the laughs sincere. It felt like a real family enjoying their time together even if it meant sitting on the floor.

Which I was. I was sat on the floor leaned up against the couch in between Grayson's legs while I talked to Lucas who sat beside me.

He was young, but he was smart for his age. He already knew that he was going to go to college for law and judging by the way he spoke and carried himself I had no doubt he would make it into law school and become one of the best lawyers there was.

I felt stupid sitting beside this kid who already had his future planned out and I was in college with still no idea what I wanted to do with my life. When I was younger, I thought I had it planned out. I, actually, looked up to my mother when I was little. All I saw was this strong business woman who had built a wealthy company and I wanted to be just like her. From a young age she told me that when I got older, I would work alongside her and I wore such a proud smile to think about that, but then I did get older, and I realized just what kind of woman my mother is. I didn't want to be like her. I didn't want to work alongside her.

The room was loud with different conversations going on and I was trying to have a good time whether that meant just listening or joining in on certain topics, but my phone kept buzzing beside me on the floor making it hard to concentrate.

My mother was calling for the fourth time in the last ten minutes and I thought about throwing it across the room but then everyone would look at me like I'd lost my mind. I thought I was going to lose my mind if she kept calling.

I denied the call and then heard Grayson whisper in my ear, "is everything okay?"

I nodded, even though it wasn't really, and then it started to buzz again and I picked it up. "I'll be right back," I told him before standing up and walking off. I could feel his stare on me as I stepped out of the room to the place I did earlier when talking to Aaron.

"What do you want?" I asked her as I answered.

"Why are you ignoring me?" she asked and before I had the chance to answer she asked, "where are you? It's loud."

I rolled my eyes. "It doesn't matter."

"Are you at that boy's house?"

"What do you want?" I asked blankly. "I'm kind of busy right now."

"I figured I would hear from you by now." I knew what she meant. She figured as soon as she cut me off from all money, I would reach out to her begging her to change her mind and help me.

I laughed. "And why is that? Because you cut me off? I don't need your money, mother."

"Eleanor, I think we need to get together and talk."

I shook my head even though she couldn't see. "I think not."

"Honey, you're letting this boy cloud your judgement," she began and I looked up to see Grayson make his way over to me looking down at me concerned. "I don't know what you think it is you have with him, but it will pass. You already have a good thing, don't mess that up all because of that boy who will get what he wants from you and leave you."

"He hasn't gotten anything from me, nor is he clouding my judgement. I can see clearly. I've been able to see that you're a piece of shit for years, now," I told her and watched as Grayson's eyes grew wide.

"Eleanor Marie Knight," she screamed in my ear and I had to pull the phone away to make sure she didn't rupture my eardrum. "See what I mean? Look what he's turned you into."

"Grayson isn't the reason I don't like you. You're the reason I don't like you." I stood up from the step of the stairs. "I have to go." I hung up not giving her a chance to say anything else to me.

'Did you just call your mom a piece of shit?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "She was rude to you."

"What did she say?" he asked as he followed me back into the living room.

"It doesn't matter," I told him and took my spot back on the floor.

"Is everything okay, dear?" Grayson's mom asked me as she scanned my face with worry.

"It's fine," I told her.

Not long after I sat down everyone else seemed to disappear to somewhere else in the house. Then not long after that I decided to call it a night. It was still fairly early but I was tired from the long drive over here and just wanted to rest, whether that meant sleeping or lying in bed staring off in the distance at nothing in particular.

* * *

His hand trailed up my shirt tracing the curve of my body. His stare was fixed on mine as no words were spoken but none were needed. I could see it in his eyes the way he felt in that moment. I could feel it in the way his warm touch grazed me.

He leaned down letting his lips touch mine and I melted into the kiss thankful he made the move. The kisses went from soft and sweet to hot and passionate as our lips moved quicker against each other. My arms wrapped around his neck as I tried to pull him in closer though there was no gap to close.

His fingers were like a feather down my stomach before inching just into the waistband of my shorts.

My eyes shot open and I jumped to sit in bed. "Holy shit," I breathed, a little too loudly.

"Are you okay?" Grayson asked me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I turned to him trying to see him through the darkness, but even being as close to him as I was wasn't enough with how dark the room was. "Nothing." I shook my head and got out of bed, grabbing my phone before darting into the bathroom.

I shut the toilet seat lid and sat down, calling Lana. It was two in the morning, but the time wasn't important at the moment.

"Hello? Is everything okay?" Lana's panicked voice rang clear in my ear.

"Lana, I just had a dream."

She let out an irritated breath. "You called me at two in the morning to tell me you had a dream?"

"It was a sex dream," I whispered, looking to the door as if I could see Grayson.

"Oh okay. Go on," her voice was less sleepy and more alert.

"About Grayson," I told her as if this would change her tone.

"Well, obviously. How was it?" I could hear the smile in her voice.

I rolled my eyes. "What do you mean how was it?" I kept my eyes on the door like I could see through it, then lowered my voice again to make sure he couldn't hear a single word. "I just had a sex dream about Grayson while sleeping just inches away from him in the same bed. Well, we weren't having sex but it was leading to that. I woke up before it could happen."

She groaned. "You woke up before the best part? I would be pissed."

"Lana!" I declared, then realized just how loud I was and turned the volume down, again. "Lana, this is serious. I don't even know if I can go back in there with him."

"Where are you?"

"In the bathroom sitting on the toilet."

"You're hiding from him by sitting on the toilet?" I could hear the eye roll coming from her. "Get off your ass and go back in there."

"No." I shook my head. "Why did I have a dream like that?" I questioned and partly stated.

"If it isn't obvious by now."

"Don't even start."

"You two have been holding back so long there's practically sexual tension lingering in the air between you two just waiting to hit the sheets."

"Don't talk like that. That's so un-Lana like."

"Look, I'm going to go back to bed," she began, ignoring my statement, "and you go back in there and make that dream a reality."

"Okay, I'm hanging up, now," I told her and ended the call before she could say anything else that didn't sound like her.

I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror. "It was just a dream; you can do this. Just walk back in there like nothing happened," I gave myself a pep talk.

When I opened the door and stepped back into the room Grayson was sat up in the bed looking across the room at me, lit up by the lamp on the nightstand he must have turned on. "Are you okay?" he asked me, again.

Just from seeing him the images of the dream came flooding back to mind, but I tried to push them away as I got back into the bed.

"You were in there awhile. You feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. I wasn't even using the bathroom," I said and then wondered why I told him that.

His brows furrowed. "Then what were you doing?"

"On the phone with Lana."

"This late?"

"Is it late or just early in the morning?" I questioned as a sad attempt at deflecting his question, and I assume he realized what I was doing since his brows raised and he said, "Okay, that was an awful attempt at deflection, but anyway."

I tried not to look at him in fear the vivid images of his hands roaming my body and his lips glued to mine would pop back up in my mind. For a second I thought I could even hear his sped-up breaths, but when I stole a quick side glance his chest was rising and falling at a peaceful rate. Then I thought maybe it was me, but I too, was breathing normally.

My mind was playing tricks on me. I was in the beginning process of having this intense sex with Grayson in my dream, and now I was sitting within reaching distance of him and it was etching its way back into my brain.

"We should just go back to sleep," I told him and then turned over to lay on my side facing away from him, but then remembered that's exactly how my dream started. I had my back to him and his warm touch caught me by surprise.

I turned onto my back and stared up at the ceiling, and in the few seconds before I shut my eyes, I could sense he was looking at me with some intense confused stare, but I didn't blame him.

***

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