Chapter 16 Georgia
When the door opens, I glance up from the bed and my breath catches.
Griffin stands there, one hand still on the knob, his broad frame filling the doorway.
His eyes lock on me, and for a long, heavy moment, he doesn’t move.
The air shifts. It feels thick, charged.
He doesn’t say a word—just watches me. It unnerves me.
I don’t know what to make of his intensity.
I sit up a little, tugging nervously at the hem of the T-shirt I stole from his closet.
It hangs halfway down my thighs, swallowing me whole.
“Uh,” I begin, my voice too soft, too unsure.
“Nana didn’t pack anything but underwear and a toothbrush.
” I’m kind of lying. There’s no way I’m going to tell him that Nana packed a cherry flavored edible bra and panty set to sleep in.
The outfit for tomorrow was the skirt my mom left and the see-through shirt I put the brakes on before.
“Um, so, I got in your closet and found one of your shirts. It kind of swallowed me, so I figured I could sleep in it, but if you’d rather I—”
“You have no idea how much I love seeing you in my shirt, baby,” he interrupts, his voice dark and hungry.
I blink, heat creeping up my neck. “I wasn’t sure, because you just kept staring at me and not talking.”
“That’s because you took my breath away,” he murmurs. “I couldn’t talk if I tried. I’m currently trying to figure out how to fix it so that you only wear my clothes from here out.”
I laugh, blushing even more. “That might get a little embarrassing when I’m climbing ladders and painting—not to mention when I go to church.”
He grins then, the tension between us softening as he crosses the room. He flops down on the bed beside me, using his toes to kick his boots off, then slides an arm around my waist and pulls me against him.
“God, I missed you, sweetheart,” he says, his breath warm against my temple.
“Did everything go okay?” I ask, resting a hand on his chest. The heat from his skin warms me all over.
“Yeah, it’s fine,” he says, though his tone tells me he’s thinking about something else. “But I’m going to have a talk with Alex tomorrow.”
I freeze. My whole body goes still against his. “You… you know about Alex?”
“Yeah.” His thumb strokes my hip gently. “One of the men told me all about him taking bets on getting you in his bed—and how you called him on his shit in public.”
I sigh, my stomach tightening. “It’ll be for the best if you just let it go, Griffin. It’s like Nana’s always told me. If you don’t let sleeping dogs lie, you’re just going to wind up with fleas.”
“Hell no,” he says, voice like gravel. “I’m not letting this go, Georgie. I’m going to make sure that bastard knows you’re off-limits. I won’t stand for him even looking your way. You’re under my protection now, sweetheart, and I’m not allowing his stupidity to touch you again.”
My throat feels tight. No one besides Nana has ever taken up for me before.
Watching Griffin do it so vehemently has my heart running away with me.
“You know about my dreams,” I whisper. I hate that my voice sounds ashamed.
I’m not ashamed. Not really, but I’m tired of the way people look at me.
“We’ve yet to talk about those.” Griffin shifts so he’s mostly on his side and cups the side of my face, forcing me to meet his eyes.
His touch is steady, grounding. His thumb brushes my cheek, as I let his gentleness soothe me.
“Baby, I know this town makes you feel like shit, but you won’t find that with me. If anything, your dreams are just one more remarkable thing about you. You keep blowing me away.”
I frown a little, trying to understand. His reaction is so different from anyone else’s that I’m not sure what to think. “You don’t think I’m a witch?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
Griffin tilts his head, a crooked grin pulling at his lips. “I don’t know about that. I mean, you have cast a spell on me. In fact, I think you’ve hypnotized me with your hoo-hah,” he says with a wink.
My jaw drops. Then, I burst into laughter, heat rushing up my face. “You’re nuts!”
Griffin smirks. “Completely crazy over you, Georgia.” He gives me a quick kiss, the kind that lingers just long enough to leave me dizzy. “Why don’t you get Netflix going and find us a movie while I get ready for hugging up to my woman all night?”
“What kind of movies do you like?” I ask, still smiling like a silly fool.
“I’m going to spend the night looking at you and thanking my lucky stars you’re in my bed,” he says, standing up and heading for the adjoining bathroom. “I couldn’t care less what’s playing on the TV.”
I watch him disappear behind the door, feeling like my heart might burst. He’s sweet—so unexpectedly sweet.
I’ve never felt pretty in my whole life and this man makes me feel special and beautiful all at the same time.
He knows about my dreams, about the whispers that follow me around town, and yet, he still looks at me like I’m something precious, not cursed.
For the first time in my life, I feel normal.
Wanted. A smile spreads across my face before I even realize it.
I scroll through Netflix and land on Speed.
It’s got action, a good story—and, okay, Keanu Reeves isn’t hard to look at either.
The bathroom door opens, and I forget how to breathe.
Griffin steps out wearing gray joggers and nothing else.
The light catches on his sun-bronzed skin, highlighting the faint trail of salt-and-pepper hair dusting his chest. He’s solid muscle, an eight-pack cut like stone, not to mention that V-shaped line on his hips.
Until this moment, I thought that only existed in movies—a trick formed in film editing or something.
Griffin catches me staring, and the corner of his mouth lifts. “What’d you pick?”
“Speed,” I manage.
“Really?” he questions.
“Well, yeah. What’s wrong? Don’t you like action movies?”
“I don’t watch much of anything,” he says, grabbing a blanket off a chair, then sliding into bed beside me, before covering both of us with it. “But yeah, it’s the genre I’d pick. I guess I just figured you were the Hallmark Christmas movie type. It is that time of year.”
I laugh. “Nah. All those movies are the same and they’re not my type of Christmas movie at all.”
Grifter chuckles, the sound deep and warm. “So, what’s your favorite Christmas movie ever?”
I grin. “You’ll never guess it,” I say with a giggle.
“Um … Bad Santa?”
“Ew, no,” I reply scrunching my face up in distaste.
“It’s a Wonderful Life?” he guesses.
I frown. “Okay so that’s a good one. It’s right up there with Susan Slept Here, but it’s not my favorite.”
“Susan what?” he asks, completely lost.
“It’s an old black and white movie starring Debbie Reynolds. Me and Nana watch it every year.”
“Okay, then. It’s time to spill. What’s your favorite Christmas movie?”
“Die Hard.” I cackle.
“You’re shittin’ me,” he laughs.
“Heck, no. That movie is epic and it’s one that you can watch over and over without getting tired of it.”
“I was wrong, Georgie. You are a witch, one who is casting a love spell on me.”
“That was so lame, Griffin,” I laugh, and wondering how it’s possible I can laugh about something that hurt me for years.
“I’m almost afraid to ask now, but what’s your favorite movie ever?”
“Oh, that’s easy. Princess Bride.”
He frowns like I just confessed to murder. “I had such high hopes for you after your Christmas movie. Now, we’ve crashed back to reality. That’s one I’ve never seen, but it definitely sounds like a chick flick.”
I look at him like he just kicked my puppy. “It’s epic!”
“Sure, baby.”
“I’m serious, Griffin. You have to watch it. It’s hilarious!”
“Is it the kind that’ll zap all the testosterone from my body?”
“Maybe just half,” I tease.
He shakes his head at me. “For you, I’ll watch it. But you can’t tell anyone.”
I raise my hand solemnly. “I promise. Witch’s honor.”
“I see what you did there, you little minx.”
“You know, the rumors in town really are absurd,” I confess. “If I really were a witch, I’d wiggle my nose and clean up this nasty room.”
He looks around, studying the room. “Is that why you didn’t turn the bed down?”
“Well, duh,” I say with mock seriousness. “Even now, I’m fearing for my life because I’m lying on this comforter with only a blanket between me and the unknown.”
“Point made. Do you know anyone that does cleaning?”
“Not really, why?”
“Because it’s not my thing, and I want you to stay here with me. That means it needs to be clean.”
Something tender stirs in my chest. “Griffin, I really had fun tonight.”
“After I stopped being an idiot, you mean.”
I groan. “I’m trying to forget the disaster that was the first part of our date. It’d be nice if you stopped reminding me.”
He leans closer, voice low. “I’ll remind you how good it is when we kiss instead.”
“Um, that’s dangerous considering we’re lying in bed together. How about we play five questions instead?”
“Five questions?” he repeats. “I thought it was twenty.”
“I have a short attention span,” I tease, making him laugh again.
We take turns asking funny, harmless questions that slowly turn into something softer.
He asks about my favorite food, my first car, the worst lie I’ve ever told.
I ask about his first tattoo, his favorite ride, the moment he knew he wanted to lead this club.
Each answer makes me feel closer to him, like the walls between us are slowly falling away.
On the fourth question, he says my name. “Georgia.”
“Yeah?”
He pauses, his voice suddenly lower, thicker. “I don’t really want to ask you another question. I mostly just want to kiss you.”
“Griffin…” I whisper.
“Just a kiss, baby. Before I can respond, he’s kissing me—slow, sweet, unhurried. The kind of kiss that melts your bones and makes you forget to breathe. The kind that I never imagined existed before Griffin entered my life. When we finally break apart, I can barely think straight.
Griffin leans in to whisper against my lips, “We better watch that movie before I forget my promise to only cuddle and not do anything else.”
I giggle—something I do a lot around him.
Come to think of it, both of us seem to laugh a lot together.
That thought makes me happy as I settle against him, snuggling into Griffin’s warmth.
The movie plays in the background, but all I can feel is his heartbeat steady under my cheek, his hand tracing lazy circles on my arm. After a while, I whisper, “Griffin?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful night. I had a really great time.”
He tightens his arm around me and kisses my forehead. “Trust me, baby, I’m having a much better one.”
“Not possible.”
“Maybe we’ll just agree we’re both having the best date of our lives.”
I turn my head, teasing. “But you said you don’t date, remember?”
“I don’t. You’re my first—and you’ll be my last. You can’t top perfection, and that’s exactly what this night’s been,” he jokes—although it doesn’t feel like a joke. It feels like he’s being honest.
I lift my head so I can see his face. “Stop being so amazing. I can’t keep my defenses up against you.”
He looks at me like I’m the only thing in the world. “Sorry, Georgie. You’re out of luck. I’m going to devote my life to spoiling you. My life’s mission has now become showing you how you deserve to be treated.”
My throat tightens again, but this time it’s from something tender, not fear. “I don’t know if I’m strong enough to handle that,” I whisper. “I’ve never had it from anyone but Nana.”
He brushes a strand of hair from my face. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll make you like it.”
Griffin kisses me again, slow and deep. As I melt into him, one truth settles in my heart like it’s always been there—I’m falling in love with him.
I also realize there’s no stopping it and even if I should be scared, I’m not.
He makes me feel safe. So, instead of panicking, I just snuggle closer, letting myself get lost in the steady beat of Griffin’s heart and the security of his arms.
For the first time in my life, everything feels right.