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)
I turned my head and looked at him. “You? I think you killed me.”
“Was a good way to go, wasn’t it?” He cocked a grin.
“The best.”
We were sweaty, and come was all over the bed and no doubt spilling from his condom, but I didn’t care.
Josh kissed my shoulder, my cheek, buried his face in my neck. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered softly. “I’m trying.”
I rolled over and pulled him into my arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Josh
The next couple of weeks went by with Griffin in my bed every night. I fucked him and held him and laughed with him. He’d talked to Kellan about renting out the house, and his brother was supportive. Griff talked about looking for his own place, but it was something we would mention in passing, and then it never happened. All his stuff except a portion of his clothes and daily toiletries was still at his place. At some point I knew Griff would find a house and completely move out of his, but I liked him in mine. As long as he was officially still in the home he grew up in, I figured he would be spending most of his time with me.
We’d finished the model car together and started another one. He’d bring me lunch at work, or I’d call him to see what he wanted me to pick up at the store for dinner. We still told our friends we weren’t serious and that we were just having fun, but I’d uninstalled Grindr from my phone, and he’d noticed, and neither of us made a big deal about it. On the surface, things hadn’t changed, but they had. We just weren’t talking about it, and I knew that was more Griff doing that for me than anything else. Griffin was giving me the time I needed to work through my shit. I just wished I had the first idea on how to do that.
I wanted to, for him.
It was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, which we’d all be spending at Knox and Callum’s. Knox’s daughter, Charlie, would be in town. Remy’s mom and sister were away at a retreat.
I was meeting Natalie and Callum for dinner. It didn’t escape my attention that Kellan and I weren’t spending as much time together as we usually did. As much as I hated to admit it, I thought both of us were afraid I would screw up and hurt Griff, and we didn’t know how to work that out between us.
We’d invited him tonight, of course, and maybe I was overthinking things, but he’d suddenly had something important he’d had to do with Chase.
When I got to the hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant we loved, Natalie and Callum were already there, margaritas and a bowl of chips and salsa in front of them. Nat looked up at me and smiled as I slid into the booth seat beside her.
“I see you guys started without me,” I joked.
“You were late.” Callum popped a chip into his mouth.
“Five minutes.”
“It’s not often I eat like this. I was excited,” he countered, and I chuckled. The waiter approached and asked me what I wanted to drink. I ordered a beer. It was silly, but it felt weird to have margaritas in a group of three without Kell—the three musketeers.
“What’s new with you guys?” I asked as I browsed the menu.
“Charlie gets here tomorrow. We can’t wait to see her. Y’all, it’s so crazy. I never saw myself as a father, but…”
“But you love it,” I said.
“I do. And I’m good at it. We’re like, Lumberjack Daddy and Nurse Dad. Well, the kids don’t call us that. It’s a game we play in the bedroom.”
Natalie snorted margarita up her nose, and the three of us started laughing.
“Seriously, I’m happy. Life is funny, huh? The way sometimes you find happiness in the most unexpected places? Find out you fit where you didn’t think you ever would. That’s how I feel, at least. God, I’m sappy.”
Callum was right, though. Flashes of Griff’s smile filled my thoughts. The way he looked at me when I was inside him, how we laughed together, the way he trusted me, and supported me, and, yeah, I was happy too, and I’d found it in a place I never thought I would.
I cleared my throat. “What about you, Nat?”
“Nothing…well, unless you consider Miguel telling me he’s in love with me as something new. Eek!” She wiggled beside me in excitement. “He said it first, and I know it’s soon, but I really, really love him. Plus, he treats me great. I’ve never had a man treat me the way he does. When it’s right, you just know it’s right. And I feel that.”
I reached over and grabbed Nat’s margarita to take a sip, Griffin Caine taking over my damn thoughts again. Christ, it was right between us, wasn’t it? Nat was correct. When you knew, you just knew.