27. Grimm
27
GRIMM
My childhood home should bring fun and nostalgic memories. Instead I think of every bad moment I’ve experienced within those walls.
When I was five, my older brothers were teaching me how to swim. I had gotten out of the water to use the bathroom and left my floaties by the pool. When I came back, my floaties were gone. I don’t know how, but I slipped and fell into the pool and couldn’t find my way to the surface. My brother Griffin yanked me out and gave me CPR. If it wasn’t for him, my life would have ended right then and there.
Would’ve saved me a whole lot of fucking trouble, too.
But then you wouldn’t have met Verena, dingbat. And she would’ve been stuck with Leo. You know how that would’ve turned out.
I turn the car off and pull out another preroll to delay the inevitable. V senses my hesitation and brings it to light. “Does your leg always bounce when you’re nervous?”
She’s the first to notice. The first to care. I’ve never spoken about my anxiety and the feelings that override my golden retriever personality most days. My spark was lit when Verena came into my life for good. The anxiety has been almost non- existent. At first, I didn’t think it was possible for another person to do a better job of ridding the anxiety better than good old Mary-Jane, but she continues to prove me wrong.
I don’t want to spill out my whole life’s trauma so I settle on a simple answer for now. “My siblings and I, we don’t really get along the best. I’m sure you’ll see it firsthand tonight, so if that happens, I’m sorry. Greer is the worst one so just stay away from him. Gracie isn’t all that bad and she’s the only girl, so I’m sure your presence will excite her.”
She places her hand over mine and squeezes. “What I’m sure of is you. You’re a great person. Whatever sibling feud you have doesn’t define who you are. I’m pretty certain siblings are supposed to hate each other.” She says with a small laugh.
“What about you and Ronnie?” I ask. “Did you guys ever go at each other?”
Her smile softens and she’s quiet for a moment. “She did steal a few pairs of shoes from me without asking,” she chuckles, “but other than that, no. We didn’t have time to fight about regular sibling things. I was too busy making sure every moment we spent together was centered around things that brought her joy. I wanted her to think of our time together as an escape from all the scary stuff. So I did whatever I could to make that possible.”
Her smile grows as she turns the conversation back towards me. “Anyways, this dinner is going to be great. Your asshole brother will eat the Leosagna and we’ll get a good laugh out of it. Then we’ll be on our merry way, hopefully back to your place, and we’ll get stoned off our asses.” She nudges me and winks, “Before the night ends, you can fuck me while you still have that pretty little earring on.”
How can I not get a fucking boner when she says shit like that?
I spark the roll and we smoke to calm my nerves before heading inside.
“My boy!” Dad shouts, rounding the kitchen. He beelines to Verena and I, sweeping me into a bearhug. “Is this your someone special?” He whispers before pulling back.
With a tight-lipped smile, I nod. “Dad, this is Verena. Verena, this is my dad, Greg.”
Her smile brightens the entire house and my nerves relax. “It’s so lovely to meet you, Greg. Your home is beautiful.”
“Thank you! We’re excited to have you for dinner tonight. Grimm, your siblings are in the den. Go introduce her while Graciela and I finish setting the table. We’ll let you know when we’re ready for you all!”
Nodding, I grab V’s hand and lead her to the den. “There’s a lot of us, seven to be exact. We’ve all got names that start with Gr, so if it takes you a while to commit all the names and faces to memory, just know we won’t judge you. Well, I won’t.” I say with a shrug.
We round the corner and walk down the hall. Laughter and chatter echoes throughout the hallway. My stomach churns and I pray to whoever is controlling our simulation that the night goes smoothly and Verena doesn’t backtrack on her feelings toward me, or us.
Stopping at the door frame, all eyes turn in our direction and there’s not a friendly face in sight. Each one of my brothers are scattered around the room. Griffin, the oldest, sits on a leather couch, a glass of whiskey already in hand.
The twins, Graylin and Grayson, wrestle each other across the rug like football pricks at a highschool house party. Graham is nowhere to be seen, which irritates me because he’s the only one besides Gracie that I can tolerate being in the same room with.
My eyes sweep across the room and spot him in a lone chair, with his ankle propped on his knee. Greer stares at us, more specifically, Verena. My little monster.
I’ll make a nice fat burger and grill this motherfucker if he so much as breathes in her direction.
“Gracie’s in the kitchen with Dad so you’ll meet her in a bit. These are my brothers.” I point to each one and give her their names. “Graham is somewhere nearby, hopefully.”
No one has noticed our presence besides Greer. His voice booms throughout the den, quieting everyone and turning their focus towards us. “Hey, lookie here! Little Grimmy brought home some fresh meat. It’s a lot more exciting to see you when you come home with presents.”
The twins cackle and it amazes me that there’s a six year difference between myself and them. You’d think I’m twenty years older with the way they behave and bicker with one another. As much as they butt heads, they’re inseparable. They live together, play on the same hockey team, professionally, and even shared the same girl for a hot minute.
Griffin stands and strides over to us. He scoops up Verena’s hand and introduces himself. “Griffin, nice to meet you. Your name?”
Verena smiles and replies, “Verena.”
Griffin’s lips tip into a smile. I’ve literally never seen him smile before.
“Verena. Beautiful. A respectful name.” He compliments.
What the fuck is going on? He isn’t nice to anyone but his own reflection. He admitted to me that he saved my life out of obligation, not want or love.
“Thank you, Griffin.” Verena says with a friendly smile that subtly lets him know he’s not getting any further than this no matter how hard he tries.
Griffin kisses her knuckles softly and backs away, grabbing his drink and leaving the room. Presumably for a refill.
“Hey! Grimmeister!” A palm comes down on my shoulder and I turn to face Graham.
I nod in his direction and give him a curt hello before introducing him and Verena. Gracie calls from down the hall that the table is ready so everyone stands and walks down to the dining room together.
A large table sits in the middle of the room with just enough chairs for everyone to sit down. My dad and Griffin sit at the heads of the table. I sit on the corner next to Griffin and Verena sits to my left.
Gracie’s eyes widen when she sees Verena enter the room and beelines to introduce herself. “Hi, I’m Graciela. Gracie or Grace is fine. Slim Grimm over here literally never brings anyone over and the rest of the guys are too full of themselves to have a full-time partner. It’ll be fun to have another girl around.”
V looks at me with a gentle smile and falls into easy conversation with Gracie, and invites her to sit next to her. The twins and Greer sit on the opposite side of the table.
One chair remains empty, Luna’s. Their mother. My step-mother and one of the first mortal enemies I created.
Appetizers are displayed along the dining table and my stomach growls. I’ve hardly eaten in days due to my assistance in Emmett’s “Prince Charming” escapades. The sight of ground meat has also made me a bit queasy as of late, but Dad uncovers two trays filled with nachos and empanadas and I’m done for.
Verena’s eyes light up at the food, excited to dig in. Gracie helps uncover a few more platters and Verena’s eyes continue to widen and her mouth falls slack, drool practically dripping from the corner of her mouth.
“Escalivada, artichoke chips, and espinacas a la catalana!” Gracie beams,” So Verena, Escalivada is-“
“I know what it is.” She says with a smile. “I’m so sorry to cut you off.”
It’s Gracie’s turn to widen her eyes. “You do? None of our guests know Catalan dishes. Is your family from Catalan also?” She questions.
Verena shakes her head,”My family is Puerto Rican, but there’s a restaurant near campus that makes the most mouth-watering Escalivada.”
Gracie’s smiles grow wide. “?Tu eres Boricua?” She asks Verena and she responds with a head nod.
Gracie lets out a squeal as she sits back in her seat,“Okay assholes, dig in!” Then she leans over to V and lowers her voice. “We’re going to make really good friends.” She wraps her arm around Verena and gives her a light squeeze before sitting upright and eating her food.
So far, so good. No one’s flipped over a table, myself included, so I’d say it’s going pretty well. V hasn’t run out the door in a fit of tears, either.
A win is a fucking win.
What doesn’t make me feel so hot, is my fuckwad older brother making shifty eyes towards Verena all throughout dinner. Even as he’s involved in other conversations, his eyes stay glued to Verena–more like her chest–as he eats. Greer has always gone out of his way to get under my skin. This is exactly what I didn’t want.
Another fucking bozo thinking they could get close to Verena and rile me up. Newsflash assholes! I’m a cold-blooded killer and I’ll do anything to make sure my woman remains protected, guarded.
We ground up her ex and made him into lasagna for crying out loud. I look at Greer, attempting to send him mind messages that scream, “You won’t wake up with those eyes tomorrow if you look her way again. You won’t wake up at all .”
My jaw tightens in anger and my breathing gets heavier. But all the tension is released from my body when the feeling of her delicate fingers landing on my thigh has me instantly going half mast in my pants.
My eyes drag over to hers and a smirk creeps on her face. She bats her eyelashes in my direction and my cock jumps at the sight of her.
She trails her fingers further up my thigh until the tips lightly brush along the side of my dick. The feather light touch makes me ache for more. More of her attention. More of her touch. More of her . Her nails drag against my jeans and send shivers down my shaft.
She applies more pressure as her fingers continue their path along the side of my cock, before they journey along the crown. I jerk in response, my dick trying to burst free from its confines and settle between her lusciously thick thighs.
Attempting, and failing, to distract myself from the vixen, and from any prying eyes, I reach out and grab my drink. My hand has a slight shake to it as I bring the glass to my lips. She swirls her finger in a circle along the crown of my dick before flattening her hand and fully cupping me.
Her hold on me through my jeans has me choking on the whiskey and sputtering. She takes that distraction as her excuse to start rubbing me. Her hand rubs along my thick erection through my jeans. “You good?” Griffin asks, his eyes narrowing at me.
“Yeah, I’m good.” The words come out raspy, both from the whiskey I just choked on and the death grip Verena has my cock in. She jerks her hand faster, rubbing me through the layers of clothes. I look over at her as she takes a spoonful of rice in her mouth.
I look around the table and fuckwad finally peeled his eyes off of her. When I get back around the table and look at V, her eyes lock on mine as she slowly pulls the spoon out, making a show of licking her lips seductively before giving me a smile, all while continuing her torment on my dick. The sight has my balls drawing up and cum spurting from my cock as it twitches.
“Fuck,” I grunt in my blissful high, my eyes closing as hot cum fills my pants.
A throat clears and my eyes snap back open realizing that I cussed out loud. “I gotta go. Room-bath. Fuck. I mean bathroom,” I stand up quickly, my chair tumbling to the ground as Verena pulls her arm back. I try my best to hide the wetness with my half erect cock as I stumble from my seat and over to the restroom.
“I’m going to make sure he’s okay,” I hear Verena tell them as her chair squeaks against the tiled floor. Her steps sound behind me until she reaches my side. I'm already pushing the bathroom door open before grabbing her arm and yanking her inside.
I shut and lock the door behind me before spinning around. V’s devilish smile illuminates the room as she leans back against the sink, her arms behind her on the counter making her breasts jut out.
“Such a dirty fucking girl you are.” I press my body against hers, my cock already growing hard again just from her touch. “You made such a mess,” I say, unbuttoning my pants and pulling down the zipper. “Why don’t you be a good little slut and clean it up.”
I yank down my pants and boxers, my heavy cock springing free. White cum covers my shaft and drips from the crown. She drops to her knees without hesitation and leans forward, sticking her tongue out and dragging it from the base of my dick all the way to the dripping tip.
“That’s it. Good little sluts always clean up their messes, don’t they?” Her tongue drags down my shaft, collecting the cum that's stained me. Her lips wrap around the crown before sucking hard. She hollows her cheeks and peers up at me, those amber eyes locking on mine. The sight has cum leaking from me as she drinks it down, moaning around me.
“Fuck, I want to feel you wrapped around this dick.” I bring my hand to the base of her head, gripping the hair and tugging her back to standing. She releases me with a pop and my mouth is immediately on hers. “I love the taste of me on your lips.” I mumble into her mouth.
My lips trace a path to her jaw, then down to her neck. I bite on the soft skin as nails scrap against my scalp before gripping the curls that dance along my shoulders. The soft touch turns rough as fingers yank my head back by my hair. Opening my eyes, I see Verena with that same devilish smile on her face.
“I need you, Grimm. I can’t wait any longer.”