I handed him my phone with my free hand, our fingers curling around each other as he took it out of my grasp. I didn’t want to let go of the hand I held. Of him. I watched while he punched in a few numbers and then handed it back to me with a smile.
“In case of law school emergency,” he joked.
Oh god, now I had his number.
He smiled at me. “You going to be okay?”
I’d almost forgotten what we’d been talking about in the first place. He had a way of doing that.
“Yeah.”
“How about this? No more worrying about other people’s problems until you’re done with exams. Just focus on yourself for the next month. With all you have going on, you don’t need the extra pressure.”
“I’ll try.”
He smiled. “Good. And Blair?”
“Yeah?”
“You can call anytime.”
Chapter Sixteen
Rumors are floating around regarding potential misconduct on the Senate Intelligence Committee . . .
—Capital Confessions blog
Blair
I closed my phone’s browser, shoving the cell into the pocket of my jeans, pushing the blog post out of my mind. The election had passed, and still, not a day went by that my father wasn’t mentioned in Capital Confessions.
I almost wondered if it was a coordinated effort to take him down, because their focus on him was just too bizarre. He was a big deal in the Senate, and he was definitely the type of man who collected enemies like some people collected stamps, but still. He was a politician. His dickishness wasn’t exactly breaking news.
I turned to Caitlin—
“Holy mother of god,” Caitlin screeched, her body coming to a halt at the gym’s entrance so we nearly crashed into each other.
We were at Greenwood Middle School volunteering with the eighth graders as part of our 1L mentoring program. Caitlin and I were supposed to hang out with a group of girls today, and they’d wanted to come to the gym to play basketball.
I hadn’t realized what I was getting myself into.
Judging by the looks on their faces, and the show in front of us, their desire to come to the gym had less to do with their interest in playing basketball, and everything to do with who was playing basketball.
Holy mother of god, indeed.
A group of boys were playing an intense game on the gym’s basketball court. I knew nothing about the sport, but judging from the yells and elbow jabbing, the competition was fierce. That barely registered as my gaze joined that of every single female in the gym and settled on Gray.
He wore a black T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, a pair of black basketball shorts that hit him right above the knee, and a pair of worn sneakers that looked like they’d seen their fair share of time on the court.
Holy fuckballs.
And then I saw it.
Some sort of tribal ink covered his right bicep, black swirls that made me want to suck on his skin and sent a hum of awareness between my thighs. I never imagined that was hiding beneath his suit.
Sweat ran down his face, his entire body gleaming as he dribbled the ball down the court, positioned his body, took a shot, and the ball arced through the net.
I had to remind myself to breathe.
A kid reached out and gave him a complicated-looking high-five and a grin, and then they took off running down the court.
Oh my god.
I didn’t know what was hotter: that he was spending his free time hanging out with a bunch of kids who probably didn’t have a lot of male role models in their lives; or the way his muscles rippled with each movement, the dripping sweat, the utter maleness of his body. And then his head turned and he caught sight of me standing with the group of girls, and he lifted his hand in a friendly wave, a smile on his face that was younger and happier than any I’d seen on him.
Gah.
I thought I waved back, but with all of the emotions running through me, and the whole remembering to breathe thing, I wasn’t convinced I had control over my motor skills.
“I’m volunteering every week,” Caitlin vowed from her spot standing next to me.
I choked back a laugh.
“Did you know he was going to be here?” she asked, her voice incredulous.
I shook my head, still not trusting my words. Gray hadn’t mentioned anything about volunteering at the school; I’d figured he was going to take a more hands-off supervisory role.
“He’s been coming down here a couple times a week,” Anna, the girl nearest us, commented with a mischievous grin.
I reddened, mortified to be caught perving on my law school professor by an eighth grader, the sight of Gray momentarily distracting me from the fact that I wasn’t alone. Then again, no one was exactly looking at me. I nudged Caitlin again, but she definitely wasn’t paying me attention, her focus solely on the basketball court.
“Caitlin!”
Her head jerked away from the court. “What?”
“We should probably go take the girls to do something.” Besides ogle our professor.
Caitlin groaned. “Do I have to, Mom?”
I laughed in spite of myself. “Come on. The view will still be there,” I teased.
I led the girls over to the far side of the gym. Caitlin finally snapped out of it and showed the girls gymnastics moves that they soon began emulating while we waited for the game to end and the courts to become available.
I’d never tumbled, but ballet had left me with a few moves. I was in the middle of demonstrating how to do a split when I heard a flurry of giggles and all attention suddenly focused on a point behind me.
I knew he was behind me without even having to look. I didn’t know if it was the scent of his cologne, or the cat-and-mouse game we played—and in this case I was beginning to think I was the cat—but either way, I’d become remarkably attuned to all things Graydon Canter.
I turned and was treated to the sight of Gray walking toward me.
His smile deepened as our gazes locked.
“Hey.”
I smiled back, trying to look nonchalant, like I hadn’t been drooling over him for the last hour. I most likely failed.
“Hey.”
Gray flashed that same smile at the girls.
“Do you guys want to play basketball? Sorry we’ve been hogging the court. Some of the guys still want to play if you’re interested.”
Anna, who was clearly the ringleader, spoke for the group. “Yeah. That’d be cool.”
I watched as the other five girls followed her like a row of ducks to the middle of the court where a group of guys stood waiting for them, dribbling the ball. I grinned. There were definitely some romantic sparks going off in the group.
Caitlin hovered near us for a moment, as if she wanted to speak, but I watched in amazement as her cheeks flushed and instead she just nodded her head and took off, following the girls. I’d gotten so used to the side of Gray that I knew—the side that could be playful when he wanted to be—that I’d forgotten everyone else still saw him as utterly terrifying.
Although, to be fair, he could definitely be that as well.
Gray grinned at me. “I take it my reputation is still intact? My name continues to strike fear in the hearts of 1Ls everywhere.”
I bit back a laugh.
“Basically. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Caitlin be so quiet.”
“What can I say? It’s a gift.”
I jerked my head toward the group of boys chatting with the girls on the court. “I’m surprised you stopped playing. You looked like you were having fun.”
He shot me an amused look, dipping his head so we stood closer together. He was still a little sweaty—not in a gross way, but in a, I want to lick your abs, sort of way. I bit down on my lip.