8. Griffin
EIGHT
Griffin
I thought I was into Blue before we had sex. Turns out...I was wrong. It's so much more than that. I'm...fucking obsessed with her.
She's this perfect combination of sweet and sexy, like a perfectly balanced snack I'd happily eat the rest of my days.
All too quickly, she's moving from a vacation fling to someone I want to keep seeing. Indefinitely. Maybe even forever.
Slow the hell down dude, I chide myself, stepping back into our room.
The bed's a mess of rumpled sheets and the scent of our sex hangs in the air. In short, this room is officially my own personal paradise.
I'm about to order room service when the sound of my phone ringing gets my attention. I've had it on do not disturb since my plane landed, which means whoever's calling has called more than twice for the call to push through.
"Fuck, I hope my gym is okay," I mutter as I fish my phone out of Blue's beach bag.
Concern and confusion battle for dominance as my cousin's name flashes on the screen. "What's up? Is everything oh?—"
My words dry up as his rabid yelling registers in my brain.
"She's there? You're really there with her? With my fucking fiancé?"
"Your what?" I ask, my voice like stone.
"You heard me. My fiancé."
"You must be thinking of someone else," I say as Blue steps out of the bathroom, as naked as ever. And despite the insane situation we've somehow landed ourselves in, I take the time to appreciate every inch of her.
"Are you listening to me? Blue is mine! I won't let you steal her!"
I clench my jaw at the asinine bullshit he's spewing, talking about her as if she's a possession to own and not a woman worthy of worship.
"Is everything okay?" Blue whispers, concern evident in her tone.
"Baby doll." I pull the phone away from my ear and approach her slowly. "I'm gonna ask you a question, and I want you to know there's no wrong answer."
"Oh-okay." She's nervous now, and I hate the way this is dulling her shine.
"What's your ex's name?"
Her eyes widen and she grabs her robe off the back of the desk chair, slipping it on before asking, "My ex?"
I wince. "Just humor me."
"Blake."
Swallowing roughly, I bring the phone back to my ear. "I told you! I told you she was mine."
"She's not though, is she? Not really."
"I swear to God, Griffin... If you touch her, I'll?—"
"You'll what?" I ask, calling his bluff.
"Does family mean nothing to you?" He scoffs and I can practically see the spit flying from his lips in my head. "You'd really cross me for that...that whore?"
"Call her that again, disrespect her in any way again, and family or not, you'll be taking your meals through a straw."
He starts to pop off with some other bullshit, but I pull the phone away from my ear at the sound of Blue softly calling my name. "Can I talk to him?"
"You sure?"
She nods and I pass the phone to her.
Immediately, she puts it on speaker.
"If you're desperate enough to go after your own cousin's sloppy seconds, that says more about you than it does me. She's a slut anyway. And boring as hell in the sack."
"Excuse me?" she asks, her voice shockingly steady.
"Blue!" Blake's voice cracks, either in surprise or shame.
Or maybe anger, since the next words out of his mouth are enough to have me planning his funeral.
"What in the hell are you thinking whoring it up with my cousin?
Do you realize he was supposed to be the best man in our wedding? You're sleeping with our best man!"
"Stop." While her voice is soft, her eyes are hard, with twin flames of anger burning brightly within them.
Like the idiot he is, Blake starts to go off again, but she speaks over him, never once raising her voice. "You lost the right to have an opinion on my life, on what I do, and who I do it with the second you decided to stick your dick in someone else."
I inhale sharply. He cheated on her? My dickweasel of a cousin landed a legit ten, with the brains and heart to back it, and he cheated? What an idiot.
"You don't understand!"
"Enlighten me," she deadpans and I have to slap my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing.
"I've had so much pressure on me with work and?—"
Blue barks out a humorless laugh in the middle of his half-assed excuse. "You're damn right I don't understand. There's nothing you can say to justify what you did. I meant it when I said we were through. I want nothing to do with you. Not now, not ever."
"And fucking my cousin has nothing to do with me?"
She looks to me and rolls her eyes. I return the gesture before plopping down into one the over-stuffed chairs, patting my thigh in invitation. She hesitates for only a second before crossing to me and perching herself on my lap.
"First of all, I didn't know y'all were related until about five minutes ago. Secondly, I don't want revenge on your Blake. I just want you to go away and to leave me alone." Another dry laugh escapes her. "If anything, maybe I should thank you."
"Thank me?" the idiot asks with a noticeable pep to his voice.
"Sure," she drawls. "You showed me exactly what I don't want in a partner and, icing on the cake here, you inadvertently led me to, hands down, the best orgasms of my life. So, yeah, thanks."
"You stupid bitch!" Blake starts, but I pluck the phone out of her hands and take the call off of speaker.
"Listen now and listen well, lose Blue's number.
Lose mine too. I'll never know how you convinced Blue to give you the time of day, but you screwed up and your loss.
.. well, it's damn sure my gain." I end the call and power down my phone before tossing it onto the desk and wrapping Blue in my arms. "I'm sorry about him. He sucks."
"Understatement of the year." She nestles into me. "But, it's not your fault. You can't choose your family."
"Talk about a small world," I murmur, trying to lighten the mood, or at least break the awkward silence.
She snorts. "Talk about a mood killer."
I shift my hips a little, pressing my semi into her ass. She whips around to look at me, raising one perfectly arched brow in question.
I shrug. "What can I say? You telling him off was hot."
"Horndog."
"For you? Hell yeah." I pull her closer and press my lips against her neck, peppering it with kisses as we both fall silent.
Finally, I can't take it anymore and decide to rip the proverbial Band-Aid off. Only, before I can get a single word out, Blue speaks up.
"It's okay, you know, if you're having second thoughts. And I totally appreciate you having my back there, but I'm sure you're not looking for these kinds of complications. And yeah, it's cool. You know, if you're having second thoughts."
She tries to wiggle off of my lap, but I band my arms around her, holding her to me. "I'm not."
"Not what?"
"Having second thoughts."
"It's fine though, if you are." The tremor in her voice pierces my heart in a way I didn't expect. I've only known her for days, and yet, her pain is my pain too.
I loosen my hold on her and pivot her so she's straddling my lap. "Look at me."
She shakes her head and tries to hide her eyes from mine so I don't see the tears gathering along her lashes.
"Blue, shit. No, don't cry."
Somehow, my words only make her tears fall faster.
"Baby doll, listen please? You're killing me."
She mumbles out an apology, but I'm not having it.
"You have nothing to say sorry for. It's not your fault my dick-weasel cousin did you wrong."
Sniffling, she balls her fists and rubs at her eyes. "I knew this was too good to be true."
"That's one way to look at it. Or..."
"Or what?" she asks, hope painting her voice.
"Or, it could be fate. Seriously, what are the chances that right as I move to where you live my dipshit cousin cheats on you and we end up here together..." He leaps up from the bed. "Holy shit! Was this supposed to be your honeymoon?"
She nods, and despite her tears, her lips twitch like she's fighting a laugh.
"Stupid motherfucker," I mutter to myself before sliding my palms beneath her ass and standing. She wraps her legs around my waist and I walk us to the bed, keeping her pinned to my chest as I recline back against the headboard. "You really wanna know what I'm thinking?"
She says yes, but shakes her head no, finally settling on, “Maybe.”
So damn cute it hurts. “I’m going to tell you anyway.” I slide her off of me and wrap my arm around her, holding her to my side. “And I’m going to be honest.”
“Sounds ominous.”
“I think…with us especially…transparency is key. So, let me be really fucking clear. I like you, Blue. A hell of a lot. I like you and I want to see where this thing goes between us.”
“Really? You do?”
I lean in and kiss her, slow and soft and long, letting my lips show her just how much I want her.
We’re both breathless by the time we break apart. “Yeah, Blue, I really do. I think you very well could be the best thing to ever happen to me. And, sure this seems fast, but I think…I think this, us, you and me, it could be the start of something real Blue.”
“You mean that?”
“I do, but I need to know where your head’s at too baby doll.”
Her cheeks bloom pink. “I like you. A lot.” She rolls her lips inward and then licks them before continuing.
“It’s almost insane how strongly I feel about you.
And sure, once we get home, we could totally fizzle out.
This whole thing could end in heartbreak.
But Griff, we’ll never know if we don’t try. ”
“So, we’re doing this?” I ask, hoping like hell we’re on the same page.
“Yeah.” She grins. “We are.”
“Good, because baby doll, I really do believe that this is the start of something exceptional.”