Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
He swallows hard, his eyes glued to the hem as I tease it up and down. His relentless attention twists me in knots. What will he do next? Kiss me? My lips part in anticipation.
He runs his hand over his chin. “No. You can keep it.” His voice drops to a deeper-than-usual rumble as he slowly drags his gaze to my face again. “I like how you look in my sweatshirt.”
“You do?” I release the fabric and curl my fingers around the ends of the ties at my neck, pulling them from side to side.
“Yeah.” A slow and utterly cocky grin lights his face as he seems to emerge from his trance. “Why do you think I let you steal so many of my hoodies?”
“Steal?” I widen my eyes with fake outrage. “How dare you. I borrow.”
“And never return.” His teasing expression fades. “It doesn’t matter, Molly. You can have anything of mine you want.”
Even you?
If only I were brave enough to ask that question. Instead, I voice a different one. “Does that include Black Beauty?”
Shock widens his eyes for a second, then his expression turns thoughtful. “Yeah. If you really want her, I’ll give her to you for graduation.”
For a second, I can’t breathe. And it’s not from choking on cookie crumbs this time. Griff loves that car. He restored it himself. He jokes that I helped him do the rebuild, but he’s being kind. All I did was watch and drool over how hot he looks working with his hands.
“I…I could never take your car, Griff. I was only kidding.” I can’t believe he said that. He barely hesitated too.
“Who said take? I said I’d give her to you.”
“You love that car.”
“I…” A thousand years seem to pass while I wait for him to finish the thought. “…know you’d take good care of her.”
“It doesn’t matter. I still don’t have my license.” I shrug, then slant a look his way. “If I’m ever able to afford a car, I was thinking…” I bite my lip. Will he think this is dumb?
“What?” he prompts.
“I’d like to restore a ’71 Malibu Coupe.” I shrug and lower my voice. “With you.”
“Yeah? So, a fancier version of my car?” A teasing smile slips over his face. “I’d love to work on that project together. Then we’d have a matching set.”
Yes, that’s the point.
“I’ll keep an eye out. See if I can get my hands on one in decent shape.”
More time in the garage with Griff.
Don’t faint. Be cool.
“Thanks. I’d like that.” I finish my milk and set my glass in the sink.
“Why weren’t you having fun at Hayden’s?” he asks.
Ugh. This isn’t a conversation I want to have. It’s a waste of our precious minutes alone. Especially when my brother could walk in the front door at any minute and chase Griff away. “Why’d you leave your party early?”
“To see you.” He jams his hands in his pockets.
I’m going to faint. Deep breath. I tilt my head toward the living room. “Mind if we sit out there instead?”
“Not at all.”
In the living room, I plop down in my favorite corner of the couch and turn on the television. The home screen bathes the room in a soft whitish-blue glow. Griff drops onto the other end of the couch—about as far away from me as he can get.
“Why are you all the way down there?” I scoot closer and lean up against him.
A long moment of silence stretches between us. Griff’s body remains rigid as if he’s thinking through a range of actions.
“I missed you tonight.” He flexes his hand, opening and closing it into a fist. “You really could’ve come with us. I don’t know why your brother’s so damn stubborn.”
I can think of a few reasons why. “I wish I had.”
Finally, he relaxes, sinking against the back of the couch. He stretches his arm up and over my head, curling it around my shoulders and pulling me more firmly against him. “You gonna tell me what happened at Hayden’s?”
Hell no.
“Nothing bad.” I cough and glance away, grabbing the old afghan I keep thrown over the back of the couch and dragging it down over my legs. A chill always lingers in the air of this house. “I thought it was only going to be a few of us hanging out. But it turned into way more people.”
“What about that guy Hayden’s so hot to set you up with? Wesley? Was he there?” he asks in a hard voice.
“I saw him, yeah.” My lips quirk with annoyance to hide the unease that followed me home and only melted when Griff walked in the door. “He’s kind of a jerk, though.”
He frowns. “How?”
“I don’t want to talk about him.” It feels so good being pressed up against Griff. Too good to talk about bad things.