CHAPTER 31
MAPLE
I curve my finger over the scruff on Graydon’s jaw while I rest in his lap, the lock of his arm around me keeping me close. We haven’t moved except to grab the groceries from the door.
He’s been through so much.
It’s all I keep thinking about.
I couldn’t imagine living his life with his circumstances. Losing his mom, being raised by a nanny because his father really didn’t want much to do with him. Only for the same father to turn around and stake a claim when Graydon finally made it in football.
Disgusting.
And don’t get me started on how he spends his Sundays. To even think about it makes me feel ill, sad…hopeless.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks, his hand tightening on my thigh.
“You,” I answer.
“What about me?”
“How the scruff on your jaw seems to be growing thicker by the hour,” I answer, not wanting to bring up his past again because it was clear just how much it hurts him to talk about. And that’s not what I want to do while I have this time with him.
“Curious how it feels between your legs?”
My entire body heats at the thought of it.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.”
He chuckles, and it’s such a beautiful sound. A low rumble in his chest tumbles through me, warming me up from the inside out. “Why don’t you just ask, then?”
I continue to drag my finger over his jaw as I say, “You realize that I’ve never asked for something like that, right? Completely out of my comfort zone.”
He nuzzles his nose against my neck as he whispers, “Says the girl who told me to come on her ass.”
My cheeks flame while goose bumps spread over my skin at the feel of his mouth traveling over my neck.
“Are you sure I said that?”
He chuckles again. “Positive. It’s been ingrained in my brain.”
His hand coyly slides under my shirt. “Doesn’t sound like me.”
Come on my ass, Graydon. Claim me. I’m still in shock I said that, but I’ve simply never felt so turned on, so gloriously sexy, in my life.
“Trust me, beautiful, it was you.”
With one finger, he turns my head toward his, and he kisses me, his lips parting casually, not a sense of urgency anywhere as he explores my mouth all over again.
And I sink into his touch, into the way he claims me with such a possessive hold on me. I turn toward him, straddling his lap, letting my body sink over his just as my phone starts to ring.
I pause, glancing over at the phone on the coffee table, and when I see Hank’s name flash over the screen, I know I have to answer.
“It’s Hank,” I say.
Graydon’s expression grows dark. “So?”
“So I should answer it, or he’ll keep calling.”
“Okay, so answer it and tell him he needs to get a life.”
“Graydon…”
“Fine, I can.” He reaches for the phone, but I stop him and pick up the phone myself. I climb off his lap and move toward the center of the living room with Graydon’s dark gaze on me the entire time.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Hank says. “Didn’t hear back from you when I texted, so I thought I would just give you a quick call. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything is fine,” I answer.
Graydon leans his forearms on his legs, staring at me, the calm from a few moments ago completely erased. Now he looks like he’s ready to rip someone’s head off with the way he’s flexing his hands and the deadly expression in his eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. We, um, we worked things out.”
There’s silence for a moment.
“Is he still there?”
My eyes move to Graydon, and I say, “Yes.”
More silence.
“Okay, did he pressure you? Say…say, ‘The flamingos need food,’ if you need me to come over there and help you.”
I sigh. “It’s not like that, Hank.”
Graydon runs his tongue over his teeth, clearly ready to do some damage.
“Are you sure? Because you can tell me. You can talk to me, Maple.”
“And I appreciate that. But I promise you, everything is good.”
He lets out a long breath, and I can see him in my mind, pushing up his glasses, something he tends to do when he’s thinking. “Okay, but text me or call me if anything changes. I don’t…I don’t like the anger he holds. And I don’t ever want to see that anger pushed onto you.”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“I hope not.” He clears his throat. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow.”
We both hang up, and I can practically taste the tension that has rolled into my apartment from one simple phone call.
It’s no secret that Graydon doesn’t like Hank.
I noticed that the first moment they met.
And it’s also not a secret that Hank doesn’t like Graydon.
He hasn’t been quiet about it. And right now, I feel like I’m stuck in a tough spot, trying to navigate a world where my friend believes the man who…
is interested in me is not the person I should be with.
And the man who is interested in me would pay good money to be alone in a room with my friend… with no cameras.
After a stretch of silence, Graydon asks, “What does he not have to worry about?”
“Huh?” I ask.
“You told him he doesn’t need to worry about that. What were you referring to?”
“Graydon, it doesn’t matter—”
“It matters to me.” He stands. “Because that asshole is trying to move in where he doesn’t belong and plaguing you with his negative thoughts about me.”
“Really?” I ask, setting my phone down and then crossing my arms. “You truly believe that I don’t have a mind of my own and I’m letting some man taint my thoughts about you? If that’s the case, then why are you here, in my apartment, freshly fucked, while I wear your T-shirt?”
He scrubs his hand over his face, his muscles tense as he brings his attention to me. “That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s exactly what you meant, Graydon, and it’s insulting. I make my own choices, and not a single person will convince me to do anything I don’t want to do.”
“He made it a point that he was going to try to steal you away from me.”
“Okay, so what if he did? Does that mean he gets me?”
“No,” he says, the tension rolling through his shoulders easing.
“Then give me the benefit of the doubt and understand that I have a mind of my own, and I go after what I want without being swayed by other people.”
He tugs on his hair. “And what do you want?”
Seeing the vulnerability in his eyes, I move in toward him and place my hand on his chest, looking up at him. “You, Graydon. I want you.”
His hand slides down my back, and he pulls the hem of my shirt up and then palms my bare ass, bringing me in an inch closer.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I answer.
His other hand cups my cheek. “I don’t fucking like him.”
“I know, and I’m not asking you to like him, but I’m asking you to at least trust me. Do you trust me?”
He nods. “I just don’t trust him.”
“You don’t need to trust him. You just need to trust me.”
His thumb passes over my cheek. “He wants you.”
“And I want you, so him wanting me means nothing.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, his voice more insecure than anything I’ve heard from him before. “You two have more in common, more history.”
“Are you trying to make a case for me to be with him?” I press my palm into his chest.
“No, but I don’t want you to regret this when someone clearly wants to make a case for himself to be the man at your side. A man who, I hate to fucking admit, you have so much more in common with.”
“And that’s what makes him a good friend,” I say.
“What I see in him and what I see in you is so different. Yes, I might have history with Hank, and we might be able to talk to each other about flamingos until we’re blue in the face, but that’s the extent of it.
With you, it’s different. Because we don’t have things in common, it pushes us out of our comfort zones to learn new things.
And what I do know about you, I like.” I pat his chest. “I like your heart, I like your loyalty, I like…” I smile. “Your cock.”
That makes him smile as well, the last of the tension finally extinguishing. “So this isn’t just a PR thing for you?”
I shake my head. “I think after the first thirst trap you sent, this was never going to end up being just a PR thing.”
The corner of his lips tilts up. “Still unsure why I sent that.”
“Yeah, right.” I roll my eyes. “You knew exactly what you were doing.”
“Really, I didn’t. That’s not me. Never sent one before.”
“You’ve never sent a thirst trap before me? I find that hard to believe.”
“Believe it,” he answers, his hand dragging the back of my shirt up even higher.
“Okay, and I might not like the answer to this, but then how would you contact your lady lovers to come over and play with your willy?”
“There are so many things wrong with that question.”
I chuckle. “Just answer me.”
With a growl, he bends and scoops me over his shoulder, causing a gasp to pop out of my mouth as he brings me back to the bedroom and deposits me on the bed, flinging me down.
I stare up at him as he crawls on the bed, hovering over me and dragging my shirt up and over my head, leaving me completely naked.
He takes my knees and spreads them, then pushes them down on the mattress, leaving me exposed and turned on all at the same time.
Wetting his lips, he leans close to my face and says, “I would text them.”
My breath hitches in my chest as he brings his mouth to my jaw, then down my neck, his scruff scraping against my skin, only for his lips to soothe the tender spots with kisses. “What would you say?”
His mouth skims across my skin, up to just below my ear, causing a wave of goose bumps to spread across my skin just before he says, “Let’s fuck.”
Oh God.
His hands trail over my breasts as he moves down my chest with his mouth to my stomach, then right above my pubic bone, where he swirls his tongue, teasing me.
“So…do you want to?” he asks.
“Do…do I want to…what?” I ask, my arousal thrumming with anticipation, my nipples harder than stone as he plays with them, and the heat in my body blistering into an inferno.
“Fuck,” he answers.