6. Griffin
Griffin
“Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.” – H. L. Mencken
W e barely take two steps out of our funky, craftsman style home when Mom starts showing me off.
Literally. From one neighbor to the next until we make it to the main street, and she proceeds to drag me from store to store like a show pony while her friends are cooing around me like I’m a two-year-old baby boy with chubby cheeks.
I either need to move away or at the very least get my own apartment. And seeing as I feel a strange, painful tug in my heart at the thought of leaving LC again, my own apartment it is.
First thing tomorrow morning.
“Jenny! Come meet my boy,” Mom calls out to yet another friend of hers as soon as we step out of Serendipity Groceries. “Isn’t he adorable?”
Adorable…fucking adorable… Scratch tomorrow morning…today! I’m finding my own place today and then I’m never leaving it again in the light of day. Maybe night either since in Loverly Cave there is no such thing as quiet hours between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Nope, the wild residents over sixty liked to party all night long. Retirement, what?
“He sure is handsome.” The lady—Jenny—smiles and I decide I like her better than the rest of the crazies. She must not have lived here for too long yet.
“I’m Jenny Levine. I moved here with my husband, Rick, a few years ago.” She introduces herself, her short blonde hair bouncing with each move she makes. Her smiles are broad and genuine.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Oh, aren’t you a gentleman.” She smiles coyly.
“That he is,” Mom answers proudly, still selling me as her prized possession to anyone who’s willing to bid. “Don’t you have three daughters, Jenny?”
“I do!” Jenny’s smile widens.
Okay, so maybe my assumption that she’s normal was made in too much of a haste…
“Mom,” I groan. “Can you not, please?”
“Hush, Mama knows best.” She waves me off, and from the corner of my eye I see Dad giving me a slight shake of his head. Let it go , his look says. Let the rivers flow . Don't ask how I know what he'd say…don't ask.
Before they can plan my wedding to one of Jenny’s daughters, I hear my name, and when I turn to the right, I catch Alec standing not too far away from us, his eyes as wide as is his smile.
“Oh, man, is that really you?” he asks, jogging up to us. His mop of brown, slightly curly hair dancing in the chilly wind, but despite it, he’s wearing a cut-off tank top that shows off his tattoos and shorts.
And I’ve never been happier to see him.
“Hey!” I embrace him, slapping his back a few times as soon as he gets close enough. It was nice to see him that day at the workout but it’s even better now when I can properly talk to him.
“Jesus, I didn’t think I’d see the day.” He grins and then winks at the ladies behind me. “Miss Isabella, Miss Jenny, seeing you beauties has made my day that much better.”
“What am I?” Dad throws out in mock offense. “Chopped liver?”
“Ah,” Alec clasps a hand over his heart. “Never speak like that of my favorite uncle in the whole wide world.”
“Such a sweet talker you are, Alec.” Jenny giggles. “She’ll love it,” she adds so quietly I'm not sure she meant to say it out loud at all.
“Who will?” He frowns slightly, tilting his head in question.
“Oh, your mother, of course,” she answers quickly, and when Alec naively relaxes, Jenny sends me a wink that is surely meant to be a secret.
A secret with a double meaning. Oh no…
I start shaking my head, petrified to be associated with any of their crazy love schemes but before I can say anything, my mom sends a warning jab into my side. I nearly buckle from the force, while my petite mother looks like a serene angel. Like she didn't just take out one of my lower ribs.
Yeah, I’m definitely sending her number to my captain.
And I’m definitely in on a Love Hive scheme already. Great.
Back in the day, the locals were always plotting something—usually setting two people up together—on the town-wide chat. It was absolutely crazy…and looks like the tradition is still alive.
“Yep, make sure to tell her she raised me right! She loves hearing that, especially since her other offspring didn’t turn out as great.” I’m still rubbing the side where Mom jabbed me but now I’m also rolling my lips to hide a small smile.
Man, I’d pay good money for Luke to hear this right now.
I guess Alec is still pissed at him for leaving the way he did.
“Alec,” Jenny chastises him but still with an easy expression like she had to do it one too many times already.
“I know, I know.” He raises his hands up. “No talking smack about that asshole.”
“You’re incorrigible.” she huffs out a laugh, shaking her head at the same time as Alec shifts his attention back to me.
“I can’t believe you’ve been in town for a week already and I haven’t seen you yet! What’re you up to? Wanna go grab a beer?” I’m about to weep at his feet for that suggestion and a “yes” flies out of my mouth before he can finish his question.
“Oh, okay, well you boys go have fun,” my mom says. “And you can have lots of fun, Griffin, you know!” She emphasizes for extra effect and I stifle a groan.
“What is wrong with our parents and their obsession with our sex lives?” I mutter quietly, meaning it as an internal question but Alec still catches it and laughs, throwing his head back. The sound so easy and free. Have I ever laughed like that?
Yeah…I have. A long time ago.
“Oh man, so much. So fuckin’ much. Welcome back home. It’s now ten times worse than it was at eighteen.” He claps my shoulder with a wave of goodbye to the others.
“Great.” I sigh.
At first, I move slowly down Love Street, carefully not to raise any extra attention to my persona and then I start moving as if my ass was on fire.
“Run,” I whisper to Alec. “Before my mother decides she wants a beer too.”
Alec chuckles in response but speeds up, nonetheless.
“Look at that, my wildest dreams come true.”
“What dreams?” I ask as I covertly throw glances over my shoulder to see if she’s following.
“To play with you, Callum, and Luke.”
Play…I smile to myself. Yep, that’s exactly what it looks like I’m doing.
This is utterly ridiculous behavior for a thirty-four-year-old but for some reason I’m not annoyed or angry.
I start laughing and laughing so hard I can’t stop.
Those long-forgotten muscles groaning like an old trunk that was locked away in the attic and its hinges now all rusty and squeaky.
A twin to the one where my heart resides.
God, what has my life turned into.
It’s so far off the plan I crafted for myself back when I was a na?ve child, it’s not even funny.
“You okay, Griff?” Alec looks concerned as he should be.
“Not even close,” I admit, wiping the last tear from my manic laughing fit.
“Then a beer might not be enough. Not to worry! We won’t let you drown in your sorrows.”
“We?”
“Yep, let’s go pick up the other piece of my heart.”
I frown, not understanding him at all but decide to just go with a flow this once.
We pass all of the main stores and businesses on Love Street, including Sip of Love as I pretend I don’t try and catch a sneak peak of Julie inside.
Seeing her earlier was…it was…everything.
And the more I do, the faster all the memories I’ve buried resurface and it’s a dangerous game to play.
We pass Love and Peace bar—or LPs for short—rounding the corner and coming straight to You Know You Want It tattoo shop.
The one I noted on my first outing here.
It’s a red brick building with blue accents and a huge window at the front that has a front row view of the beach and miles of the moody ocean.
There are two surfboards stacked on the side of it, a yellow and a blue one.
Alec pushes the front door, and I nearly walk into him because he suddenly stops dead.
“Man, what the fuck are you doing?” he asks someone.
Who is he talking to? I look over his shoulder and my eyes meet the unmistakable. Too short shorts—this time neon red—a tight shirt and that Viking hair in another bun as Julie’s boyfriend is crouching low on the floor while he draws something on the front of the front desk.
I send a million curses to the universe. Really? You hate me that much? Does it look like I want to spend an evening in the company of her Viking?
“Drawing,” the guy throws back without looking.
“Another duck?” Alec’s voice sounds exasperated and that’s when I notice quite a few rubber duck drawings all over the parlor. However, I must admit some of them look badass or plain hilarious like the one hugging a sexy pinup girl.
“Please tell me that’s not a permanent marker,” Alec says, and this time Jacob turns with a wicked smile on his face, giving him all the answer he needed.
“That’s it, I’m really going to kill you this time.
But later, after we save my other friend over here.
Actually, after the shit you keep pulling here, I might make him my main best friend. ” Alec stomps his foot.
Like, actually stomps his foot.
“No, you won’t.” The Viking throws him a taunting smile and all I can think about is these two are like children on a playground. Before I can get all pissy about this guy being friends with Alec—because yes, apparently I’m a child too now—he says, “Hey, Griff.”
“Um, how do you know my name?” I frown.
“Julie-bean told me the other day after you ran out of her shop like your ass was on fire,” he says calmly, finishing the drawing of a huge duck with a tattoo gun in his wing and gets up from the floor.
The dude is seriously huge, well over six feet and broad but the mention of my Julie makes that stupid feeling in my stomach stir anew.
Fucking hell…I should just go, before I get myself in trouble.
“Look at this baby and tell me you’re not in love with this piece.” He looks to Alec, who sighs.
“Fine, fine, this one is sick.”