The Switch Read Free Page A

some… some kind of
godonlyknowswhat…”
    “And what’s with the hair?” Peter added.
    “Bettie Page,” Grayson croaked. He licked
his lips as those jade-colored eyes finally met his, peering out at
him from beneath an unmistakable fringe of thick, glossy bangs.
    “Who?” Peter, Corbin, and Rose spoke in
unison.
    “Oh, that’s right! Bettie Page! She was a
classic pinup model and film star from the fifties,” Chloe piped
up. “Of course, her works were… uhm, not exactly mainstream…” she
faded off, realizing she evidently knew far more on the matter than
was acceptable in their whitebread group.
    Grayson didn’t hear their response. He was
too busy trying to tame the situation forming in his pants. It’s
a coincidence, that’s all, he told himself. This was exactly
the sort of thing Marion would pull, after all - dressing as
something controversial solely to raise eyebrows and make waves in
their little country club world. No way in hell she could know
about his… his thing.
    His weakness. ‘Tastes.’
    “… fetish, ” Corbin drawled, elbowing
Gray, hard.
    Grayson laughed along with him, even though
he had no clue what the hell Corbin had said. At the same time, he
threw another surreptitious glance in Marion’s direction, only to
find her gone. Again.
    Damn it.
    He wanted to hunt her down, wrap his arms
around her, inhale her familiar scent. He wanted to hear her laugh
and snark at him. Most of all, he wanted to demand where the fuck
she’d been these past months and why the hell she’d dropped out of
his life like their friendship meant nothing.
    It was one stupid, drunken night, after all,
just some harmless rolling around on a couch.
    Bullshit.
    It had meant everything, or at least enough
to terrify him into figuring out what he really needed in a
relationship. Because nothing with Marion would ever be harmless or
meaningless. He wanted her, had wanted her for years. But he also
loved her too much as a friend to blithely toss that friendship
away. Too much to risk on the chance that she’d run screaming or
keel over laughing at his kink.
    But now - now, he wanted nothing more than
to throw himself at her feet and find out how far she was willing
to take the Bettie Page act.
    Of course, he didn’t. Because he was too
arrogant a bastard to make the first move. And because, before he
could extract his head from his own ass, a pair of hands covered
his eyes from behind.
    They could have belonged to anyone, being
that they were feminine hands. But the spark of recognition was
instant, even before she said, “Guess who?”
    Panic and joy clashed inside him, deeper
than his own soul. It didn’t matter that they never got along, that
they were polar opposites in nearly all respects. He would always
know her, by touch, sound, or mere proximity.
    “Olivia?” Grayson choked, whirling around to
face his twin sister. “What the hell are you doing here?”
    “Happy birthday, man,” Corbin said with a
satisfied grin.
    Olivia looked uncomfortable but tolerant.
“He asked me to come,” she answered stiffly, nodding to Corbin.
    “Why?” Grayson blurted without thinking. To
be fair, he and Olivia hadn’t spoken in years. He hadn’t spoken to
his parents in longer.
    Hazel eyes that matched his own turned
shuttered and cool before sliding over to Corbin.
    “Hey,” Corbin said with a tense laugh. “I’m
running out of surprises, here. I mean, what do you give the guy
who can afford any damn thing he likes? Plus, I promised Rose I’d
behave this year,” he added, fidgeting with the lapel of his frock
coat.
    Grayson recalled Corbin’s nervous fit a few
minutes prior. Something wasn’t right.
    “Exactly,” Rose chimed in. “You’re coming up
on thirty, Gray. You boys don’t need to prove yourselves with any
more juvenile pranks and nonsense. It’s time to grow up and start
acting your age, right, ‘Liv?”
    Olivia pressed her lips together and gave
Grayson that look. He would have laughed