CHAPTER SIXTEEN #3
Will finally shuts up. And Griffin must have had enough, because he surfs over to me and scoops me up into his strong arms. I shriek with laughter, clinging to him as he whisks me to the other side of the pool.
He plunks me onto the edge of the pool, his hands resting at my side as he lifts himself out of the water to meet me at eye level.
He is so water drenched and sexy right now I could perish. And the best part is that I no longer have to hear about tech career maneuvers.
“Well that only took three hours,” I tease, looking down at his hands. His thumbs are brushing the sides of my thighs. “What was that all about?”
He grunts, lowering himself back into the water. “You needed a rescue, so I thought I’d help out.”
I pretend to be shocked. “You mean rescued from Will, my good friend over there? The ultimate tech bro who can’t take a hint?”
“Not exactly your type of poolside friend.”
“You’re right. I was going to self-combust if I had to sit through that conversation even thirty seconds longer, so thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Don’t you remember I told you once I could be your creep monitor?”
I think back to those words, recalling that conversation the day I got hired at Brews. “Oh right, that day my phone called you of its own accord. Why do you remember that?”
“You told me you were catcalled, and it pisses me off that men do that to you.” Griffin’s gaze rakes over me in a possessive way. “Not gonna lie, I didn’t like how he was looking at you.” Goosebumps form on my thighs as his gaze lands there.
I scoff. “Like every woman with a set of eyes looks at you, you mean?”
He cocks a grin. “Stop it.”
“If I splashed water any time a woman made googly eyes at you, I’d spend the entire summer antagonizing the population of Bayshore. Wouldn’t want to see that water bill, either.”
“Trust me, nobody looks twice at me when you’ve got this little kelly green two-piece on,” he says.
I can’t fight the silly grin. Are we convincing people we’re only friends still? Had we ever? I couldn’t now if my life depended on it. “Were you jealous of Will?”
Griffin’s jaw flexes but he doesn’t immediately answer. I can sense there’s an internal battle going on. “No.”
“Oh.” I feign offense. “I guess I’m the only one who gets jealous from interlopers then.”
Griffin clears his throat, gripping the backs of my calves, which are still submerged in the water. His hot grip, even underwater, causes electricity to spark beneath my skin. I’m locked in now.
“I’m not jealous. I’m tired of not being able to call you mine.”
The words almost don’t make sense at first. Did he really just blow open the door, right here at the pool?
I touch his stubbly cheek. “How many drinks have you had?”
“Enough.”
I can tell he’s tipsy, if not drunk. Maybe that explains the unexpected bid for serious relationship status. I love hearing the words. I just don’t know if I should trust them.
I lower my voice to nearly a whisper, as if this will protect our conversation from the rest of the party. “Are you serious?”
Griffin seems to come to then, slipping back into the water, putting distance between us again. He doesn’t answer the question.
“Cliffhanger much?” I ask. Griffin lowers his face in the water, holding my gaze as he blows bubbles.
Julie walks up to where I’m sitting at the edge of the pool and sighs. “Will you guys just kiss already and get it over with?”
I watch Griffin to see how he responds. But he doesn’t bite. Instead, he submerges himself in the pool.
“I don’t know why you’d ask two regular friends to kiss like that,” I say loudly, hoping Griffin will overhear. “Why don’t you and Sara go kiss while you’re at it?”
Julie shrugs. “That’s fine. I’d be into it.”
“Well, good.”
Griffin breaks the surface of the water then, returning to me. He plucks me off the edge of the pool and brings me back into the water with him. This time, he doesn’t let me go. I wrap my arms around his neck, clinging to him as he floats around the pool.
“This looks very much like what normal friends do,” I tease.
“I told you I wasn’t gonna last the whole party,” he growls.
“You figure out what to tell our friends then,” I tell him. “They’ve been badgering me nonstop. Everyone knows, Griff. We’re obvious.”
“We are?” He cocks that grin again, the one that makes time slow and the rest of the world fade to a blur around us. Nothing matters except him. Us. This.
“Very.”
“Well, guess what? I don’t care what they think,” Griffin says, and then he leans in and kisses me. I smile through the kiss, both relief and a desire so deep and pure washing through me that I could cry.
The kiss grows deeper. Tongues get involved. In the background, I’m distantly aware of cheering. When we break apart, everyone around us looks thrilled.
“I fucking knew it,” Branson shouts.
“Finally,” Julie cries out.
“You’re drunk,” I say, but I can’t even be mad. He did exactly what I’d been hoping for. What I’d been craving.
But my happiness is cut off at the knees, because I know the truth nobody else knows from the outside looking in.
What I want—Griffin, all the time—I’ll never get.
This is Griff, drunk and vibing.
But when he wakes up tomorrow, we’ll have to clean up the mess.