“In all fairness, if I found you at the club and some woman was all over you, I might throw a jealous fit too.”
“That does my ego good.”
She giggled, crossing her legs. I had a fantastic view of her left thigh. Clearing my throat, I focused on the drive, keeping my eyes on the road.
We arrived at her house a short while later and headed straight inside. As soon as I stepped in, something felt off. I looked around. “You’ve tidied up.” Everything was in boxes. I frowned. “Wait. You’re packing?”
“Yes! I have a bit of news, and I wanted to share it with you tonight,” she said, putting her hands together and smiling from ear to ear. “The house has an offer, and I accepted it. Marshall too. It’s going to officially go over to the new owner in three weeks.”
“That’s fantastic. When did you find out?”
“At the beginning of the week. Although, the realtor didmention that someone wanted to make an offer way back when we had our weekend with Jeremy.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Honestly, I didn’t want to jinx it. I was afraid it would fall through at some point, but it didn’t. The check cleared, and the bank approved the loan.”
Something wasn’t sitting right with me. “When did you even start packing?” Then I realized what it was. “When are you moving? And more importantly, where?”
Her smile widened even more. “I’m going to room with Veronica starting next week. Until I find a new apartment.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you have to move?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t want to burden you with all that. You have enough on your plate already.”
“You should have told me.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re part of my life.” I frowned. “Am I not part of yours?”
Her smile fell. “Of course you are. Why would you think otherwise?”
I pointed at the boxes. “It doesn’t feel that way. I get you not telling me about every step in the sale of the house, but you should have told me about moving. Unless I’m misreading everything that we have?”
“No, you’re not.” Her voice was a bit high-pitched, and she looked at the boxes and then at me. “I just… didn’t think it mattered where I lived. Besides, you have enough going on, even more so now with your deal.”
“I will always be busy, Phoebe. But I still want to know everything going on in your life.”
“Why?” she murmured.
“Because I care about you so damn much.”
Her eyes widened. Honestly, the confession caught me off guard too. I hadn’t even been thinking the words. They just came out. “You look so fucking surprised. That means I haven’t donemy job well enough of showing you just how much you mean to me.”
She licked her lips, running a hand through her hair and then putting both hands on my chest. “Griffin, I…” She swallowed hard. “I always figured you wouldn’t want a relationship.”
“I thought that, too, but what the fuck did I know?”
She gave me a soft smile. “I care about you too.”
“Do you mean that?” I asked her. “Because if your feelings aren’t there yet, you don’t have to… I don’t want to push you if you’re not ready.”
“Why would you think that?”
I pointed at the boxes.
She sighed loudly and rolled her shoulders. She was tense, and I didn’t want to make her feel that way, but she needed to understand what she meant to me.
