CHAPTER 36
GRAYDON
Maple sits right next to me, curled into my side. My arm is wrapped around her, and my other hand is gripping the steering wheel. Alex Warren is playing in the background, and we are rounding the corner, about to turn onto my street.
After we got off the boat, it took a second for Maple to balance herself, but then we thanked the staff, and I brought her to the back of my truck, where I lowered the tailgate and parted her legs just enough for my body.
She wrapped herself around me, and we made out.
I know it was risky because it was in the middle of a parking lot and anyone could take a picture of us, but I didn’t care. I needed her mouth on mine.
I needed to taste her.
I needed to let her know that this was only the beginning of the night.
And now that we’re closing in on my apartment, anticipation is clawing up my spine as her hand moves over my thigh, making me grow hard in my goddamn pants just from the placement of her palm against my leg.
Pathetic.
That’s me.
I’m fucking pathetic.
I allowed myself to give in, to open up to her, to let her see the man I really am, and now I feel like I have to cling to her. I have to hold her, make her mine, because by telling her about my life, I let her take me as hers.
“You know, you’re the first woman I’ve brought back to my place.”
“Really?” she asks.
I glance at her quickly. “Yeah. Haven’t trusted anyone enough to bring them here.”
Her thumb smooths over my thigh. “Well, I’m honored.”
“It’s not much but—” My brow creases as I catch a human sitting on the steps of my place, dressed in a sweatsuit, their hood pulled up, hiding their face.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
I pull into the short driveway but don’t open my garage door just yet as the figure stands.
“Wait here.”
She grabs my hand before I can leave.
“Who is that?”
“I don’t know, but lock the doors when I leave.”
“Graydon, no. You have no idea if they’re armed or if they’re high. It’s not safe. Just go back to my place.”
“No, I don’t want this fuck on my steps. I can handle it.”
“Graydon—”
“Lock the doors.”
I slip from her grasp and shut the door, her worried expression nearly making me stop, but I’m not going to let some asshole scare me from my place. He needs to know not to fuck with this house.
“Hey,” I say, their head snapping in my direction. “Get the fuck off—”
“You’re home!” The person’s hood is lowered, and OC’s face comes into view. “Dude, I didn’t think you would ever come home.”
I pause midstride to blast my fist through this stranger’s face, as I take in OC’s disheveled appearance.
“Don’t call me ‘dude,’ and what the hell are you doing here?”
“I need a hug.”
My shoulders drop, the tension in them sagging as I say, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Du—uh, I mean…Graydon, I’m having a rough night, and Bennett isn’t available. My teammates don’t know me. My former teammates are in Vancouver. My family is nowhere near me. You’re my only other friend, and I’m in need of some TLC.”
“No,” I say as I roll my eyes and head back to the truck, where I open my door and get in.
“Is everything okay?” Maple asks.
“Yeah, it was fucking—”
Bang.
OC splatters himself against the passenger-side window, causing Maple to scream bloody murder as he yells, “Wait!”
“Jesus fucking Christ!”
Hand on her heart, Maple takes in OC and says, “Oh my God, is that OC?” She rolls down the window, but I stop her when it’s a few inches from the top.
“Do not roll down your window for him.”
“Maple, please,” OC pleads. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in here, and I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m in dire need of some help, and Graydon is the only one I know who I can talk to about this.”
“He needs your help,” Maple says, her empathy shining through.
“Listen to her, Graydon. I need your help.”
This motherfucker is about to learn what my kind of help delivers—a steady kick up the ass.
“Please,” he pleads. And here I thought I was the pathetic one. “It won’t be long, I just need to talk something out.”
I don’t care if it’s five minutes. The moment I walk into my house, I have plans of taking Maple up against every fucking surface I can, and having an audience is out of the question.
“Of course we can spare some time for you,” Maple says, brightening the stupid look on OC’s face. “Can’t we, Graydon?”
“No.”
“Graydon,” Maple chastises. “Don’t be rude.”
“He’s the one being rude. He came over uninvited without any indication he needed help in a text before he headed over, and he’s ruining my plans for us.”
“Oof, were you planning on having the sex?” OC asks.
“Don’t fucking phrase it like that.”
“Well, I don’t want to step on toes.”
“It’s okay,” Maple says. “We’re more than happy to help you. Graydon is going to park his truck, and then we can sit down and have a chat.”
“Thank you,” OC says, and then Maple rolls up the window and turns toward me.
“Let him get whatever he needs off his chest, and then we can have our night.”
“You don’t know him the way I do. This is not going to be simple. Why can’t I just talk to him next week?”
“Next week? Graydon, are you really that heartless?”
“No, I’m really that horny.”
That pulls a smile from her. “Okay, but I promise you, the moment he leaves, I’m all yours, and you can do whatever you want to me.”
“Whatever I want?” I raise a brow.
“I’m yours.”
“And what if I say no?”
“Then I’ll take him back to my place where we can chat.”
Fury rages through me. “The fuck you will.”
She chuckles. “Then make this easy on everyone and just get it over with. Then spend the rest of the night making me come.”
I wet my lips. The prospect of what’s to happen after he leaves helps me put the stupid truck in drive, open my garage door, and pull into the tight space. OC meets us in the garage, and together we head up into my place.
This is not how I envisioned Maple seeing my house for the first time, with a sullen teenager walking behind us with his hood up, sulking the entire time.
“Doesn’t he have a nice place?” OC asks.
Maple glances around, a smile tugging on her lips as she nods. “He does, and it smells like him.”
OC lifts his head and sniffs the air. “You know, I don’t smell him enough to recognize his signature scent, but if this is what he smells like, you are one lucky girl.”
“Can we get on with whatever insane shit you came here to talk to me about?” I flop onto the couch and line my arm across the back of it, irritation pumping through me as my eyes fall on Maple and those shorts she’s wearing.
“I can really feel your compassion. Thanks for making this easy, man,” OC says as he takes a seat across from me in one of my chairs.
I’m shocked he didn’t come over here and snuggle into my chest.
I wouldn’t put it past him.
“I’ll, uh, I’ll give you guys some space,” Maple says.
“No, stay,” OC calls out. “You might be able to help as well.”
“Are you sure?”
“He is,” I say and then pat my lap.
She rolls her eyes and takes the seat next to me, causing me to grumble in disapproval.
“I’m not going to sit on your lap in front of your friend.”
“For one, he’s not my friend—”
“That hurts,” OC scoffs, his hand to his heart.
“And two, I don’t care about who is with us, I want you on my lap.”
“Now, now, demanding will get you nowhere, just like the Beast,” OC says.
“Who the fuck is the Beast?”
“From Beauty and the Beast?” OC rolls his eyes. “Come on, man, do you not pay attention to anything? The snarly monster tried to force Belle to do his will, but she wouldn’t budge. It was only once he started being nice that she started to bend.”
“Jesus…Christ.” I carve my hand over my face, begging the universe to let this end.
Maple smooths her palm over my thigh and leans into me, temporarily easing some of my irritation as I lower my arm around her and rest my hand on her side as her legs curl up on the couch.
“Why don’t you just tell us what’s bothering you, OC?”
He dramatically flops back in his chair, arms draped over each armrest, legs spread. “It’s Grace.”
“Who’s Grace?” Maple asks.
“The girl he likes,” I answer.
“You remember?” OC asks, looking like I just patted him on the head and told him he was a good boy.
“I will never forget what you did in that coffeehouse while talking about her.”
The tonguing of the muffins. It will never, ever leave me.
A core memory developed, one I wish I could shake off.
“What happened with Grace?” Maple asks.
“Long story short. We were once a thing, I thought she was the love of my life, then we parted ways—my fault, don’t need to get into it—and I was traded to the Agitators, where she was also working.
I thought the stars were aligning and we were going to be able to rekindle what we had, but then I was sent down here and she stayed up in Vancouver.
I never got a chance to fix things, so I started planning on doing so, coming up with a scenario where I could show her how much she means to me, only to find out she’s with someone else now. ”
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry.”
“How is this different from what you said at the coffeehouse?”
“I was just catching your girl up,” he says, and I appreciate that he called Maple my girl. Maybe I’ll give him a little bit of a break for that.
“Okay, so what happened now?” Maple asks.
OC lets out a pain-filled sigh. “My boy Posey just called. Grace is engaged.”
Oh shit.
Maple lightly gasps next to me as if she’s watching a storyline from a soap opera unfold. “Oh no, that’s…that’s terrible.”
“I know.” He throws up his arms. “It’s really fucking terrible, because what am I supposed to do with that?”
“Nothing,” I answer.
“What?” OC asks. “What do you mean, ‘nothing’? I know we’re all in shock here and we need to catch our breath and face the facts that she is engaged, but that doesn’t mean we just throw the towel in immediately.”