Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
He laughed. “Bossy-ass Griff is back.”
I turned out the lights, and the two of us climbed into bed. We weren’t touching, but I was distinctly aware of him beside me.
We lay there for who knew how long before I said, “Joshy?” Well, shit. I hadn’t meant to call him that.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks…for this.”
“Anytime, man.”
His breathing evened out not long after, but I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t dare move, though what I thought would happen if I did, I wasn’t sure. I focused on the soft scent of cedar and vanilla drifting from the other side of the bed. It was Josh, I realized, and that I’d already known that was what he smelled like. I didn’t know if it was aftershave, cologne, deodorant, or what, but it was him, and I’d recognized it.
It was strangely comforting, so I focused on that as I breathed it in and drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Josh
I woke up to an empty bed and felt a stab of disappointment I had no business feeling, and quite frankly, didn’t know why in the fuck I was.
I climbed out of bed, took a quick leak, and washed my hands. It was early, the sun just beginning to rise. I went to the back door and opened it. That’s when I saw Griff, sitting on a blanket on the deck, his profile my way. He had his legs crossed, his hands palms up on his thighs, and his eyes closed.
He looked…fuck, he looked really fucking good. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that. Griff was sexy and had a great body, with muscular arms and a tight six-pack. He had a light dusting of dark hair on his pecs, and a tattoo of what looked like hanging paper cranes vertically on his right side.
The sun was behind him, glinting off the water, and damned if my breath didn’t catch for a moment. It wasn’t just because, as I’d said, he was fucking gorgeous, but Griff looked…he looked peaceful, relaxed, and I suddenly really wanted a part of that with him.
It was clear he was meditating. I didn’t want to interrupt him, so I began to close the door quietly, when he turned and looked at me.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I didn’t see you at first.”
“It’s fine. This is just something new I started doing with Remy, and I’ve realized it helps.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t quite sure what my oh meant, and also maybe hoping he’d invite me to join him. “I don’t want to interrupt,” I said again.
“You’re not. You can join me if you want. If it’s not your thing, that’s cool.”
“I’d like that,” I replied, heading out. That was when I noticed the soft music playing from his phone. I sat across from him on the blanket. “What do I do?”
“Absolutely nothing. I do it because it helps clear my head. It helps Remy with his anxiety. Just, well, for lack of a better term, be, and see what happens.”
Just be, huh? Well, let’s see if I could do that. “Okay.”
Griff closed his eyes again, but I was watching him. Watched as he took deep breaths, as he relaxed and let himself go. A few minutes later, I closed my eyes too, tried to clear my mind of…him, to be honest. Griff was throwing me for a loop, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I felt this connection to him lately that took me by surprise. It happened gradually. When it came to Kell, I knew the day I met him that he would be important to me, that he would become my best friend, but it was like a slow dance with Griff, the feelings growing steadily, sneaking up on me.
My body began to relax, my thoughts clearing in a weirdly measured way. I didn’t know how long we sat there, until I noticed the music had cut off. When I opened my eyes, Griff was sitting across from me, only now he was looking at me, his nose slightly wrinkled up in that way it got. He shook it off, like he hadn’t been watching, but somehow, I still felt his gaze on me, which yeah, didn’t make sense, but Griff was messing with me and he didn’t even see it.
“I didn’t expect you to get into that,” Griff said.
“Honestly? I didn’t either. We should keep it up, though. I mean, not when we get home, if it’s your thing with Remy.”
“Not consistently. It’s not even something I do every day. Just when I feel like I need it.”
“It’s a date, then. I’m also going to make you go jogging with me.”
He scoffed. “You think so, huh?” He stood, his muscles tightening and moving as he did so, and fuck, I needed to get my thoughts out of the goddamn gutter when it came to Griffin Caine. I wanted to do bad, dirty things to him. I needed to nip that shit in the bud.