Chapter 26
GRIFFIN
As soon as I got in the car, I checked my messages. Jeremy had sent me a picture of him in his Spider-Man room with the caption I like my room at your house more.
Fuck yes. Mission accomplished. I liked having the little guy over and was hoping to convince him to spend the night at my place again soon.
Duncan was probably the one who needed convincing, though.
I didn’t really blame my brother. When Jeremy was younger, Duncan couldn’t trust me to be alone with him.
Mostly because I didn’t realize kids needed to be watched constantly.
Then I noticed another picture—Phoebe had sent me a selfie with Veronica. They were holding cocktail glasses.
Griffin: I’ll be there in twenty minutes.
I couldn’t believe how much I’d missed her. It felt bizarre. I was going to show that to her in every way possible.
During the drive, I called my CFO to discuss the details of the transaction. It was all standard, but I liked to follow those types of investments closely.
I arrived at the beach club soon enough. Music was blasting from outdoor speakers. I was about to call Phoebe when I entered to ask where exactly she was, but then I saw her and Veronica in one corner in front. They weren’t alone. There was a guy with them, and I instantly disliked him.
I walked straight to them, and when I got closer, I heard the douche ask my woman, “Tell me, Phoebe. You like to come to these places often?”
“No, it’s the first time I’ve been out in ages.”
“You should get out more often. This place could definitely use someone as hot as you.”
What the actual fuck? I’d never heard anyone sound so fucking corny. “Who the hell are you?” I asked without further ado as I joined them.
Phoebe’s mouth opened. Veronica actually started to laugh.
The guy looked at me and sneered. “I’m with the ladies tonight. Fuck off.”
I leveled him with my stare. His bravado faltered, his shoulders drooping. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but you’re definitely not.” I pointed at Phoebe. “She’s with me.”
The guy glanced from me to Phoebe, stunned.
What the hell? He thought she was available?
“I’m free for a dance if you want,” Veronica told the guy.
He still looked confused as fuck, but then he glanced at Veronica and said, “Sure, sure.”
After they left, I slowly turned to Phoebe.
“My, my,” she said through fits of laughter. “You’ve got a jealous streak. I wouldn’t have taken you for having one.”
“Why was that guy under the impression that you were single?”
“Huh?” she asked, still laughing, but the corners of her mouth turned downward.
She looked around, and I realized some people were eyeing us cautiously.
“Griffin, come on. Don’t make a scene.”
I took her hand, walking with her out of the premises and farther away from the group. The beach was deserted.
“There, now no one can hear us.”
“Okay,” she said.
“So, answer me.”
She ran a hand through her hair. I looked her up and down. She was stunning, wearing a dark green dress and high heels.
“Veronica picked him up. He was there flirting with her.”
“That’s not what it sounded like.”
“I was her wingwoman.”
“He was flirting with you.” I emphasized every word.
“I wasn’t encouraging it in any way.”
“What if I hadn’t joined you?”
She jerked her head back. “I don’t like what you’re implying.”
“Which is what?” I asked.
“You tell me.”
I stepped closer to her, putting both hands on her neck. “I don’t like what I saw. A guy who didn’t know you were taken was flirting with you.”
“Taken?” she whispered.
“Fuck yes. I don’t want anyone flirting with you. I want everyone knowing you’re fucking mine.” I tipped her head up. “I want to be the only one who gets to see you wearing that dress.”
“Now, see, that’s not going to work, Griffin. You can’t tell me what to wear.”
I kissed her before I said anything else that I’d end up regretting. Fucking hell, I knew she wasn’t flirting with that dude. He was the one who’d complimented her. It was all on him, and I was acting out.
She pulled back a bit. “Don’t think you can kiss your way out of this,” she murmured. “You can’t talk to me like that, Griffin. Or even think like that about me. I will not tolerate it.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“Just don’t do it again.”
“I can’t make any promises,” I said. “But I’ll try my best.”
I kissed her lower lip, pulling it between mine.
She cleared her throat. “Let’s go find Veronica.”
“Sure.”
We walked back to the club, carefully navigating the mass of people. But not careful enough, apparently, because only a few steps in, someone bumped into me.
Phoebe shrieked, and I instantly tensed, zeroing in on her. The woman who’d bumped into me had spilled her bright blue cocktail right on Phoebe’s dress.
“Shit! I’m so sorry.” The woman was slurring her words a bit.
Phoebe pressed her lips together, waving her hand. “Whatever.” Turning to me, she added, “I need to change out of this. But I want to tell Veronica goodbye first.”
“We’ll find her quickly.”
We walked deeper inside the club. I noticed several guys checking Phoebe out.
I took a deep breath, trying to rein myself in.
My instincts were in overdrive when I was with her.
Usually, it was so easy for me to assess a situation and react accordingly.
But not tonight. Not with her. Telling Veronica we were leaving was the polite thing to do, but all I wanted was to throw Phoebe over my shoulder and take her to the car.
In the end, my rational side won.
But if that guy flirted with her again, I wasn’t liable for my actions.
I put an arm around her shoulders and focused on her and her alone as we entered the room. We found Veronica and that guy dancing in a corner.
She stopped moving when she noticed us. “What happened to your dress?”
Phoebe sighed. “Someone spilled a drink on me. I need to go home and change.”
“Sure, you two have fun. It was great seeing you again, Griffin.”
I nodded at her. “Likewise.”
“And you totally earn points for the caveman behavior.”
Phoebe stared at her with an open mouth. I started to laugh.
The guy smiled sheepishly at Phoebe and then at me. “Sorry, dude. Didn’t mean to make things awkward. Veronica filled me in on everything.”
I nodded but wasn’t able to do more than that. For fuck’s sake, I had manners. Mom had taught me better.
“No problem” was all I said.
After waving at them both, we went outside to my car.
“I’m starting to feel cold,” Phoebe said once we were both inside.
“We’re gonna be at your place in half an hour tops, and you can change. Or… you can take it off on the ride. I definitely wouldn’t mind.”
She cocked a brow. “Really? How about all the people who would see me through the window.”
I gritted my teeth. “No!”
Phoebe burst out laughing. “Thought so.”
After a beat, I added, “I really am sorry about the way I acted back there.”
“In all fairness, if I found you at the club and some woman was all over you, I might throw a jealous fit too.”
“That does my ego good.”
She giggled, crossing her legs. I had a fantastic view of her left thigh. Clearing my throat, I focused on the drive, keeping my eyes on the road.
We arrived at her house a short while later and headed straight inside. As soon as I stepped in, something felt off. I looked around. “You’ve tidied up.” Everything was in boxes. I frowned. “Wait. You’re packing?”
“Yes! I have a bit of news, and I wanted to share it with you tonight,” she said, putting her hands together and smiling from ear to ear. “The house has an offer, and I accepted it. Marshall too. It’s going to officially go over to the new owner in three weeks.”
“That’s fantastic. When did you find out?”
“At the beginning of the week. Although, the realtor did mention that someone wanted to make an offer way back when we had our weekend with Jeremy.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Honestly, I didn’t want to jinx it. I was afraid it would fall through at some point, but it didn’t. The check cleared, and the bank approved the loan.”
Something wasn’t sitting right with me. “When did you even start packing?” Then I realized what it was. “When are you moving? And more importantly, where?”
Her smile widened even more. “I’m going to room with Veronica starting next week. Until I find a new apartment.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you have to move?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t want to burden you with all that. You have enough on your plate already.”
“You should have told me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re part of my life.” I frowned. “Am I not part of yours?”
Her smile fell. “Of course you are. Why would you think otherwise?”
I pointed at the boxes. “It doesn’t feel that way. I get you not telling me about every step in the sale of the house, but you should have told me about moving. Unless I’m misreading everything that we have?”
“No, you’re not.” Her voice was a bit high-pitched, and she looked at the boxes and then at me. “I just… didn’t think it mattered where I lived. Besides, you have enough going on, even more so now with your deal.”
“I will always be busy, Phoebe. But I still want to know everything going on in your life.”
“Why?” she murmured.
“Because I care about you so damn much.”
Her eyes widened. Honestly, the confession caught me off guard too. I hadn’t even been thinking the words. They just came out. “You look so fucking surprised. That means I haven’t done my job well enough of showing you just how much you mean to me.”
She licked her lips, running a hand through her hair and then putting both hands on my chest. “Griffin, I…” She swallowed hard. “I always figured you wouldn’t want a relationship.”
“I thought that, too, but what the fuck did I know?”
She gave me a soft smile. “I care about you too.”
“Do you mean that?” I asked her. “Because if your feelings aren’t there yet, you don’t have to… I don’t want to push you if you’re not ready.”
“Why would you think that?”
I pointed at the boxes.
She sighed loudly and rolled her shoulders. She was tense, and I didn’t want to make her feel that way, but she needed to understand what she meant to me.
“I don’t even know how to share things, Griffin.
I was in a long-term relationship that… Well, Marshall didn’t care much about me in any respect.
Most of the time, I was doing my own thing.
Even when I was doing stuff for us, I was planning everything, and he just went along with it.
It didn’t occur to me that you’d like to know what’s going on in my life, let alone the details. ”
“I so fucking would. Play by play. Everything.” I tilted her head up. “You’re not alone in this. I might not know much—or anything—about relationships, but I want to do things together. Our lives are merged now, babe. We’re together, yes?”
She closed her eyes and smiled. “Say that again.”
“Together. We’re together,” I repeated. “Are you ready for that?”
“Yes. That sounds amazing. I really was going to tell you tonight that I was moving, though.”
I started to laugh. “You didn’t think the boxes would tip me off?”
“I didn’t even think about that. Do you want something to drink?” She groaned. “Crap, I already packed the glasses. I’m sorry, I really didn’t think this through. Should have left out more things. Want us to go to your place for the night? I’ll just grab something to change into tomorrow.”
“When exactly are you moving to Veronica’s?”
“Next week.” Turning around, she headed to her bright pink suitcase, opening the top.
I gritted my teeth. “We really have to work on your communication skills.”
She looked at me over her shoulder, blushing, then closed the bag again, straightening up. “Know what? We can actually just take this huge-ass bag with us. I have most of my seasonal clothes in here.”
I narrowed my eyes and said, “Take everything you need until then.”
“Why?”
“To stay at my place.” I realized I wanted her there. “There’s no point in you staying here until next week. It’s even more depressing than before with everything in boxes.”
She smiled. “True. But are you sure? I don’t want to get in your hair.”
“I’m fucking sure. Why do you keep questioning me every time I say something?”
She shrugged. “I’m not used to this, Griffin. It’s new territory.”
I stepped closer, gently putting my hands on the sides of her neck. “For me, too, but I need you to take what I say at face value.”
Her smile was impish now. She put a finger on my chest and pushed me away. “When we were concocting stories for Jude, I remember thinking you were a great actor.”
“I’ve needed you from the very beginning, Phoebe. And I haven’t stopped needing you since.” This was another confession that came out of nowhere. I wasn’t prepared to even think these things, let alone say them.
“I need you too,” she whispered.
“And that scares you,” I concluded.
She gasped. “How can you tell?”
“Because your entire body tightened up.”
“I am afraid. I’m trying not to be, but I can’t help it.”
“Phoebe, you’ve been through a lot. That’s understandable. And as I said before”—I lowered one arm to her waist, pressing her closer to me—“I don’t want to rush you. We’ll take things as they come. Now, go change into something dry and let’s go home.”