Finding Gray: A Colloway Brothers Prequel (.5) (The Colloway Brothers Book 1) by K.L. Kreig Page B

building low in my core. And it doesn’t squash these feelings I have for a man I’ve gotten to know only through brief two-minute conversations over the course of a week.
    He’s smart. Driven. Loyal. Tenacious. Has this confidence that borders on arrogance, but falls just short of it. He has another few months of college left before he graduates. He plans to take over his father’s consulting company one day, along with his two brothers, Asher and Connelly, who were in with him on the first night.
    Which means he’ll be moving back to Detroit.
    Which means maybe I could take a chance.
    Just one date.
    What can one date hurt?
    I stand and scoop up a menu and start toward him, ignoring Christa when she tells me to get laid already . His grin gets wider and more hypnotic the closer I get. Butterflies leap in my belly and I work hard to contain the excitement that’s building, threatening to burn me like a backdraft.
    But all that effort goes up in a plume of smoke when I stop in front of him. I know as I set the menu down tonight, his patience has finally paid off.
    He’s worn me down.
    “Aren’t you getting sick of pizza yet?” I let a small smile play at the corners of my lips.
    His face lights up. “To tell you the truth, I’m really starting to fucking hate it.”
    I laugh. So does he. Seconds crawl. We hold each other’s gaze, neither of us wanting to look away. Sweet lord, I am in trouble.
    “Then why do you keep coming back?”
    “You.” The way he says it could be taken as cheesy, but it’s not. It’s said with sweet intensity and that cocky conviction he wears like a second skin. It’s honest and absolute.
    It’s working.
    I sigh, wondering if I’m really about to do this. No one has pursued me this way before. It’s intoxicating and scary at the same time. “What are you really after, Gray?”
    “You.” Again with the sincerity. It floors me.
    My head starts to shake, truly not understanding. “You’re a good looking guy. You could have anyone you want. Why me?”
    His brows wag. That grin turns smug. Wow, his teeth are really white. “You think I’m good looking?”
    I want to keep this banter going. It’s been escalating each time he comes in and I’ve come to love the way he flirts, how at ease he is with himself and with me. But I need an answer, not deflection. I set my hand on my hip, cock it and wait.
    He blows out a breath and leans back. He crosses his arms almost as if he’s incensed I asked. Then he pins me with this look I will remember for the rest of my life.
    Pure, utter resolve.
    I crumble right on the spot.
    “Why not you, Livvy? I find you extremely attractive, but there’s something more about you, unique, different. And I have this visceral need to figure it out. There’s white hot chemistry between us and I know you feel it too.”
    Jesus, do I. “You’re going back to school soon.”
    One corner of his mouth ticks down. “What are you really afraid of, angel?”
    Everything.
    I can’t hold his penetrating stare for a second longer. I feel as if he sees straight through me, into part of me where the fear I’m not good enough hides. I drop my attention to the floor, then back up. “We’re very different, you and I.”
    He hesitates, as if he’s thoroughly thinking through how he’ll convince me to say yes. But all I want is the truth. “I’ve heard opposites attract.”
    “I don’t sleep with a guy on the first date, so if that’s what you’re after then you might as well not come back.”
    He grins. I melt. “Good. Neither do I.”
    An eyebrow lifts and I tease, “You don’t sleep with a guy on the first date, either? Good to know.”
    Laughing, he says, “Guess I should choose my words more carefully next time, huh?”
    I narrow my eyes, trying to vet out the lies, but I don’t see them. All I see are silent pleas to give him a chance. That he’s different. Safe.
    Give him a chance, Livia.
    One chance. One date.
    I take in a long breath, and