Chapter 26 #3
I didn’t need to look up to know it was Griff, to confirm that the sense of rightness I was feeling came from him entering the room.
That sense of rightness I didn’t have with anyone else.
Not even Finn. I liked and trusted Finn, and there was a comfort with him.
But Griff… I’d stopped lying to myself about what I felt, even if I had no idea if he felt even remotely the same.
Every time I thought he might, he pulled away—just as he had earlier today—or I would remember how he had told Finn we were just friends.
And I still wasn’t willing to risk finding out if he meant it.
I met his eyes as he came through the door, holding a bottle of wine, and saw him pause, eyes flickering over me as he did every time he saw me, as though he needed to reassure himself that his charge was unchanged.
A warmth briefly flashed through his eyes, and I offered him a shy smile as he slid into his usual seat beside me.
He poured the Aurantian wine and clinked his glass with mine.
A rich, deep flavor coated my tongue with notes of cherries.
“So Finn.” Freya turned her attention to him, watching as he took a sip of wine. “Will we be seeing Nuala at the Blathaine ball?”
Finn spluttered the wine all over the table. Without missing a beat, Freya handed him a napkin, an innocent look on her face.
I shoved aside the memories that her casual mention of that night brought up.
Griff covered my knee with his hand under the table and gently squeezed.
I bumped his leg with mine, a silent thanks and reassurance that I was alright.
He left his hand on my thigh, and I took a large sip in an attempt to ignore the flutters that came with his touch.
“Whyever would you bring her up?” Finn managed to choke out.
Freya shrugged. “She seemed like she was very interested in you when we went to the tavern. And I still remember when you came back for a visit right after you met her.” She turned to me, her eyes twinkling. “He was infatuated.” She stressed the last word.
“I was not!” Finn protested.
“She was very pretty,” I added. “And seemed enamored of you. Well,” I amended, “certainly a few parts of you.”
Griff and Freya roared with laughter. Finn was turning all sorts of colors and making strangled noises. As much fun as this was, I decided to take pity on him.
“But are you telling me there’s another ball I’m expected to attend?” Everyone heard the dismay in my voice.
“There’s one for every High Day!” Freya exclaimed.
“There are four of those damn things?” The thought was out of my mouth before I could think of better phrasing.
Griff laughed again, finally moving his hand. I’d noticed that he was laughing more these days. As though in here he could relax from the duties the outside world put on him.
Finn chuckled too, clearly glad the attention was no longer on him. “The irony of our queen-to-be hating public events.”
Talk moved on from the next ball with Finn regaling us with various stories from their childhood, probably to keep the attention from going back to whatever was happening with Nuala.
Laughing, I rested my head back and brushed Griff’s muscular arm, stretched out in its usual position along the bench.
A decent amount of wine had been consumed, and it was the most natural thing in the world to rest against him, as the now-common jolt flowed through me.
I saw him start out of the corner of my eye, as though he felt the same thing.
As his hand curved around my shoulder, tilting me into him, I stopped fighting the distance and leaned against him.
There was a momentary hitch in his breath, and then he relaxed against me too.
This was nice. Friends. Wine. Whatever Griff was to me. Good food. This was what I’d longed for while I was crawling through mud and practicing the sword in a blacksmith shop.
This was family.
Griff left when the other two did, but I knew he’d be back.
I was feeling nicely buzzed, both from the wine and also from the feel of his body pressed against mine at dinner.
And that confused me even more. I ran a hand through my hair as I cleaned up the remains of our dinner.
He had pulled away earlier today, which made me think he wasn’t interested, and yet drew me closer to him this evening so that our bodies were flush together.
Did he want me or not?
I headed into my bedroom, thoughts of Griff warring with those of the Veil. Despite my best efforts, I’d made zero progress on either subject today.
The walking contradiction returned when I was already in bed, climbing in behind me.
I flopped onto my side just as his arm came around my waist. We were closer than usual tonight, my ass firmly nestled against him.
Was he—
I shifted in the bed in such a way that put me even more solidly in contact with him, causing him to take a sharp breath.
He was hard.
Grinning to myself, I closed my eyes. He wasn’t nearly as unaffected by me as he tried to appear.
Take that, Champion.