Chapter 18 Griffin
GRIFFIN
“I come with supplies,” I said, heading toward the front door with the bottles of wine and the bowl.
“You want to get me good and drunk, huh?” she asked, looking at the bottles.
I laughed. “We’re just tasting them. We don’t have to drink everything.”
“Oh, good. You’re tasting them with me. I was feeling a bit weird about drinking on my own.”
“I won’t leave you in the lurch.”
“Come on in.” She smiled but averted her gaze. Before she turned around, I realized she was blushing a little bit. My imagination spiraled out of control again.
I should have turned on the lights during our night together so I could see her. Was she blushing like this when I was inside her? When she came? I needed to find out.
“This place is a bit of a mess.” She looked over her shoulder, smiling sheepishly. “I didn’t have time to put things back in order after I unpacked everything, and today was crazy.”
It looked like someone had dropped a container of clothes in the middle of the room. “I was about to reassure you that it’s fine, but I’m taking that all back.”
She laughed. “Sorry you get to see me in all my messy glory.”
“But I like that,” I said before I could stop myself. “You don’t have to pretend for me. Never, Phoebe.”
Her smile deepened, as did her blush. I fucking loved it. I put the wine bottles and the bag with the bowl on the table.
Phoebe immediately took the bowl out and dug into the food with the wooden fork strapped to the container.
“This is delicious. I was starving.”
“Where’s your bottle opener?” I asked. One of the things we liked about the existing design of the bottle was that it wasn’t a screw cap. You actually needed to uncork it. Some people hated the idea of it, but I liked it. It was classy.
She headed to the counter, opening a drawer. “Here it is.”
I remembered the cabinet where she took the glasses from last time and opened it. The door promptly fell to the floor.
Phoebe shrieked, putting the bottle opener on the counter. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I assured her. “I have good instincts and jumped back quickly. It seems to have fallen off the hinges.”
She grimaced. “Sorry about that. I realized last week that it was a bit loose, so I was being careful about opening it. I didn’t have time to fix it.”
“Never mind,” I said, picking it up. I was determined not to make another comment, though I was tempted to buy her a brand-new kitchen. Wait a second, there was something I could do. “I can fix it for you later if you have the right tools.”
“I do,” she explained. “I bought everything last week. I just didn’t get to do it, as I said. You know how to use tools?”
I nodded. “Yes, I do. After my parents divorced, my brothers and I fought for the title of ‘man of the house.’ There’s not much I can’t do.”
“Oh! Okay. I’ll file that here,” she said, tapping her temple. “But let’s leave that for later. Wine first.”
I left the cabinet door on the kitchen counter and took out the glasses as she finished eating her bowl. I uncorked all of the bottles before bringing more glasses. “We’re going to taste each one in a different glass.”
“That’s smart.”
I poured two fingers of each one. It was enough to taste but not so much that we’d get drunk. “We also need water.”
“I’ll go get it.” She dashed to the counter, filled two glasses from her filter, and put them on the table. “All right, which one are we tasting first?”
“The chardonnay because it’s the easiest one.”
“Mm-hmm.” She nodded. “And a crowd pleaser.”
“You do know your wines.”
“We did so many tastings for Marshall’s birthday party last year—” She froze with a look on her face I couldn’t describe. “Never mind.”
“You can talk about him if you want to. You guys were together for six years, so I’m sure it’s hard not to.”
“Actually, it’s the last thing I want to even think about.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “I’m here to provide distraction on demand, as always.”
“You’re very generous, aren’t you?” She wiggled her eyebrows right back, taking me by surprise. I never knew when she’d have a funny reply or when she’d get shy on me. I hadn’t yet learned where that fine line was. But I was happy to do whatever it took to discover it.
“This is a good chardonnay,” she said.
“I agree. Sometimes they can be too watery.”
“Exactly! But this one’s good.” She took a sip of water, and we moved on to the next one.
“Is this a sauvignon blanc?” She pointed at the second set of glasses. Then she glanced at the bottle. “Oh, it’s a pinot grigio. Nice.”
We both took a sip. “All right, this wins hands down over the chardonnay.”
“I thought you might say that.” I didn’t tell her what my favorite was because I wanted her to be as unbiased as possible.
She took another sip. “Hmm, I might ask for a refill of this one later, but not before I try the last one.”
We both took a swig of water, and then we moved on to the Riesling. Her eyes widened from the second she smelled it. Then she took a sip and immediately closed her eyes, humming. “Tell me the truth. This is your favorite, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” I said.
She opened her eyes and sighed. “You should have led with that. I think this is one of the best Rieslings I’ve ever had. I mean, the pinot grigio is very good as well, but if you want to fast-track one, I’d suggest this.”
“Yes, exactly. That’s my opinion too.”
“May I have some more?”
I stood up, pouring it in her glass.
“Won’t you have more?” she asked.
“I’m going to fix your door first. I can hold my liquor, but I prefer to be in charge of all my faculties when I handle tools.”
“So very responsible,” she murmured.
“You sound like you’re having a hard time believing it.”
“I’ll bring the toolbox right away.” She blushed, then scurried off.
I went to the counter, looking at the cupboard’s hinges. It wasn’t a difficult fix. She came back with the toolbox a few minutes later, setting it on the counter.
“I bought this too.”
“You know your stuff.”
“Yes. That’s why I wanted to flip this place myself. I’m very good at it.”
“How come?” I said, then got to work.
“My parents flipped houses on the side, and I helped all the time. They insisted on paying me, but I mostly did it because I liked hanging around with them. Wait, I can help you.”
“No, you go enjoy your wine. Since I’m here, I can make myself useful. You helped pick a wine, so I’ll help fix your door. What was our catchphrase? ‘You scratch my back, I scratch yours’?”
“We’re good at that, aren’t we? Looking out for each other.”
I swallowed hard, then looked at the door. If only she knew how much I’d like to take care of her.
I got to work, hurrying to finish the cupboard so I could focus on the person who’d captured my attention.
Phoebe
I stood right next to him as he fixed the door.
When he finished and turned to face me, I realized I was closer than I’d thought.
Feeling the heat of his body against mine reminded me of our night together.
We’d agreed that it was a onetime thing, so I wasn’t really sure what this was.
Were we friends? He’d refused to even entertain the idea when I’d brought it up, and I totally understood why.
Being friends with this hot-as-hell hunk was asking for trouble.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked. “You tensed up.”
I took another sip of my wine, laughing nervously. The alcohol wasn’t helping. “Griffin, I, erm… I’m not sure what this is or why…”
“Why I’m here,” he finished for me.
I nodded feverishly, thankful that he’d been the one to phrase it that way.
“I don’t know either,” he replied.
I looked up at him in surprise. His eyes were a bit darker. He leaned forward, touching my jawline with the backs of his fingers. I didn’t pull away. In fact, I did quite the opposite. I leaned into his touch, closing my eyes briefly.
I’d missed him. How was this even happening?
“I know what we agreed on,” I said, “but we didn’t say anything about staying away from each other.”
“Which is good because I can’t seem to be able to do that. All day I’ve been thinking about you. About if they treat you right at your job, or if something else broke in this place.”
“You missed me that much?” I sucked in a breath.
Griffin shook his head. His eyes were darker still. “Forget I said that. I remember our conversation. It’s just that fighting my instincts is harder than I anticipated.”
“For me too,” I confessed.
He closed his eyes. I shouldn’t have said that; it just made things more difficult.
“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed, but I didn’t move away because I needed the heat of him, the strength of him, to continue.
“All my life, I felt like I knew exactly where I was headed and what was next. Now everything’s wide open.
I’m battling multiple fronts, and I’m barely able to keep afloat.
The one thing I know for sure is that I’m not ready for another relationship. ”
“I know, Phoebe. And even if you were, I’m the last guy you should start one with.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“This whole thing started because I’m not a relationship type of guy.”
I licked my lips. “That’s right.”
An idea was forming in my mind. I smiled.
“Why are you so happy about that?”
“Because if neither of us wants a relationship,” I said, choosing my words carefully, “then that would mean that we’re just… er, what’s the word? Casual. Yeah, I could do casual.”
His mouth was on mine the next second. The kiss was unexpected, but I opened up to it immediately because I needed it more than anything else—even air. Griffin kissed and kissed, and I didn’t want him to stop. I felt the edge of the table poke into my ass, but I couldn’t care less.
His hands went from my face down to my shoulders and then my elbows before resting on my waist, his thumbs pressing into my rib cage.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and stood on my toes.
I was at the same level with him, yet it still wasn’t enough.
Even though I was kissing him with all I had, I wanted to have his hands all over me.