Finding Gray: A Colloway Brothers Prequel (.5) (The Colloway Brothers Book 1) Read Free

one last glance thrown Gray’s way, Graham grumbles and walks to the front, me following behind.
    “You have my number if you need anything.” He doesn’t even bother keeping his voice low or non-accusatory.
    “I do,” I reply on a sigh, just wanting him gone so I can spend some alone with Gray. A couple seconds of slight hesitation and then he nods. When he leaves, I rebolt the door and turn around, leaning against the freezing glass. It’s bitterly cold outside tonight and a few flakes are starting to fall.
    “What’s that asshole’s problem?” Gray grits through his teeth. Yep. He’s pissed.
    “He’s just protective.” I try to soothe, removing my stained apron. “He usually walks me to my car since there’s a light out in the lot.”
    “Mmm. He likes you.”
    I start to smile, wadding up my dirty garment in one hand as I walk toward him. I like jealous. I like it a lot. “We’ve worked together for two years. He just worries.”
    When I stop in front of him, I drop the apron to the countertop. His hands find my hips and he draws me between his spread legs.
    My heart starts to pound. The way he looks at me makes it hard to catch my breath sometimes. It’s been just one week since I said yes, a mere seven days, but we’ve hardly spent a second apart. Already he feels so much a part of my life I don’t know what I’ll do when he’s gone for the next few months.
    “He likes you,” he repeats again, still irritable. “I don’t like it.”
    “Well…” I put my hands on his shoulders and snake them up his neck, winding them through his hair. “Even if he does, it doesn’t matter. I like you .”
    “Yeah?” He grins. It’s cute and boyish and I feel as though I’m already lost in Gray Colloway’s labyrinth. The exit is around here somewhere, I’m sure of it, but I’m not looking for it anytime soon.
    He pulls me closer and I breathe deep. The scent of him and his spicy cologne is making me dizzy. And needy. So fucking needy. “Say it again,” he demands, going serious.
    Racing. My heart is literally racing. God, it’s fast.
    “I like you, Gray,” I breathe, telling him again.
    His eyes go dark. One hand comes up and he fits it around my head, his strong thumb hooking under my jaw. He holds me steady. I need it when he announces, “I like you, too, Livia Kingsley. Christ, I’ve never met anyone like you.”
    Should I smile? I want to smile. Should I kiss him? I want to do that, too. Should I drop my clothes into a pile at my feet and beg him to take me? I’m thinking about it. Seriously, thinking about it.
    But he’s the one who makes the move, so I don’t have to decide. His eyes are trained on my lips the entire way down. His head dips slow. It’s agonizing, the wait. Then they’re there. On mine. And they’re soft, but firm. Gentle, but demanding. Warm and wet and so damn perfect, I’m positive he’s made for me.
    His kiss is tender, but exacting, as if he’s trying to absorb every ridge and dip and exhale.
    It’s the most intimate kiss I’ve ever had.
    It’s a kiss that means you belong to me .
    “Gray,” I let slip when he releases me. I want him to continue, but I need him to stop before I can’t. My god, I want him. But as much as I want him, I know I’m not ready to sleep with him yet. This guy means something to me. And jumping into bed within the first week of dating seems as though I would be trivializing what this is blossoming into. And I don’t want to do that.
    But Gray is intuitive. Eerily so. His teeth find my jaw and he nips playfully, husking, “Want to play a game?”
    Oh, I want to play a game, all right. Simon Says. Strip poker, maybe.
    “What did you have in mind?” I whisper instead, gripping his strands tighter to keep my hands from wandering.
    He nibbles his way to my ear, clamping down on my lobe until I gasp. “I like to call this game: This or That.”
    I feel like mush. I can’t answer because he’s sucking on that sensitive spot