“Wait. What’s in there?”
I open my mouth and then close it, because I don’t really know what to say. “Actually,” I finally say, “I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never been inside.”
“Well, let’s take a look,” Daphne suggests, moving toward the door.
Even though I would love nothing more than to do just that, I follow her and stop her before she has a chance to turn the knob and open the door. “No. There’s probably a reason that Greyston hasn’t shown me this room. I think it’s his and Toby’s special place or something.” I eye the door, my curiosity growing. Would it really be so bad to take one tiny little peek?
Daphne turns the knob and pushes the door open before I can stop her—or maybe I could have, I just didn’t want to. Her hands fly to her mouth and her bright eyes widen in fake shock. “Oops.”
Chapter 14
Once the door hits the wall behind it, I lean forward to see what it was hiding.
I’m…confused, and that confusion wraps itself around me and pulls me forward until I am standing in the center of the room. I turn in slow, calculating circles as I take in the contents of the room. “It’s…it’s not what I imagined,” I say aloud as Daphne joins me.
“What did you think was in here?”
I blush and look at her through the corner of my eye. “Whips and chains and stuff.”
Daphne’s laughter fills the room, echoing off the walls and sleek furniture. There’s a flat screen TV mounted on the wall, several gaming systems in the cabinet below it, and a couch several feet back. Along the other walls, various action figures and comic book memorabilia is displayed. Maybe Greyston kept this room from me because he’s afraid I’ll label him a nerd.
While my vision of the room may have been entirely wrong, I still know what I heard that night.
“Come on,” I say, grabbing Daphne’s wrist and dragging her from the room. “We shouldn’t be in here. I feel weird about it.”
“Juliette, it’s just a game room. What’s to feel weird about? Look!” Daphne exclaims, pointing toward the television. “He’s got Kinect! Can’t we please play?”
I shake my head. “No way. Not without asking permission first.”
“Then call him!”
“No, he’s working. Come on.” I’m finally able to get her out of the room and down into the kitchen. I pour us each a glass of lemonade and prepare a little fruit tray for us to snack on while we relax outside.
As I wash the last sprig of grapes, I hear Daphne rifling through papers behind me. “Who is this incredible specimen?”
I turn to see what it is she’s looking at, assuming maybe it’s one of the magazines Callie was looking at on the weekend. It’s not. I place the grapes on the plate and move around the island to peer over her shoulder, and I recognize the papers immediately. “Oh, Greyston must have forgotten those this morning. That’s the baseball player he’s trying to sign. Um…” I glance down under the photo and read his name. “Xander Richland. He’s from Houston.”
“Well, he’s delicious!” She’s not wrong. His longer wavy brown hair and golden brown eyes only add to his chiseled jawline, and his wide smile showcases shallow dimples that make him seem approachable.
It takes some doing, but I’m finally able to pull her away from Xander’s profile and out to the pool. We’re out there for a little over an hour, just floating on our inflatable rafts, before I hear the house phone ringing.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, hopping out of the pool and walking toward the house. The phone is on its cradle near the patio door, so I pick it up, smiling when I see it’s Greyston.
“Hey, you.”
His warm chuckle greets me before he speaks. “Good evening. How was class?”
I lean against the doorframe, looking out at Daphne lounging on one of the floatation devices. “Really good. How’s Houston?”
“Warm…and kind of lonely.”
“Awww. Don’t say that. I’m sure Toby’s keeping you all kinds of company,” I say, knowing that their time away will probably be good for them if they’re experiencing some kind of strain in their relationship.
“He does what he can, but he’s down at the gym right now.” Greyston pauses briefly before continuing on. “And I just wanted to call and check in with you. See how things are going.”
“Everything’s great here. Daphne and I are just out floating in the pool, having a light dinner and a glass of wine,” I explain to him. “Then, I think we’re going to head upstairs and do homework. All-in-all, we’re a couple of party animals.”