And fuck, how am I supposed to say no to that? To him?
“Okay,” I breathe.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, of course.”
His smile lights up the room. Like, actually. I swear I feel warmer just looking at him. He’s so fucking handsome and soft in this way that guts me.
He leans in again and kisses me, slow and indulgent. My toes curl in my sneakers. I make a stupid noise in the back of my throat that I immediately pretend didn’t happen.
“Perfect,” he whispers, pulling back just enough to smile. “I can’t wait.”
We walkinto Griffin’s house together after practice. This isn’t the first time that I have been here but it’s the first time that I have come here because Griff invited me. Back freshman year, Hugh used to drag me here so that he wouldn’t have to come to parties alone. That had felt really fucking different from this.
Hughie is at my side wearing sweats and a scowl. He was…suspicious of the fact that I wanted to come. Well, maybe not suspicious but definitely nervous. He still isn’t on board with whatever it is I am doing with Griff. I think maybe he will come around some day but I don’t know. Maybe he just needs to know that this isn’t one sided.
Terry and Mack are standing near the kitchen, cracking up at something stupid Mack said and when I step in, I feel this tiny shift in the room’s energy. That or maybe I’m paranoid but I think that Mack is smirking at me like he knows.
Again, I must be fucking paranoid.
Terry spots us and grins wide and before either of us can say anything, he says, “Ya’ll want a beer? I can order pizza if you guys want.”
“That sounds great,” I tell him. I don’t know why this entire situation feels so comfortable. I want to fucking belong here so that someday my situation with Griffin could be open and the first step would be his friends accepting it.
Griffin comes down the stares already holding a bottle and nods at me with a blinding smile. I have to look away before anyone can see the stars in my eyes just looking at him.
I grab a beer from Terry and smile. Mack chuckles and slings an arm over my shoulders, “Dude, love that you came to hang out. You’re so much better than Lauren.”
I snort out a laugh and roll my eyes because that isn’t saying much.
Hughie laughs too and surprisingly, grabs a beer from Terry, “Anyone would be better than her.”
I’m not sure what I expected from being here but this is calm. They don’t have girls slung over their laps or beer bottles scattered around. It’s surprisingly homey honestly.
I move to the living room with the guys and plop down on the couch. Griffin sidles up next to me on the couch, picking up anempty spot like it was always meant for him, and every once in a while his eyes flick toward me just long enough that I feel heat rise under my skin.
“Pizza’s on me,” Terry says with that laid back charm.
Connelly isn’t present and I’m kind of grateful. I haven’t really focused on my knowledge of him and Sabrina. I try to push that shit way back in my mind.
And as I settle back against the couch with my beer in hand and Griffin beside me, and the familiar cadence of the guys’ voices around us, I realize this is exactly the kind of night I didn’t know I needed but am suddenly very glad exists.
Terry and Mack start up the video games and Hughie makes jokes that are so unlike him in front of anyone but me. It feels good. I like knowing that I can come here and hang out and be around Griffin without any pressure.
I am, however, very aware of him. The way his thigh is pressed against mine and his laugh is so close that it vibrates through me. Honestly, I am have this ridiculous hope that when this little get together dies down I can grab some time with him. I want…well, I really need…to feel him against me. Pushing into my body, preferably. I have to shake that thought off before I get hard and make a fool of myself.
I’m watching them banter back and forth, feeling this easy pull of contentment in my chest, when there’s a knock on the door. Just that one sharp tap at the door, quick and unexpected.
Griffin jerks his head up and he says, “Who the hell? That was the fastest pizza delivery ev-”
Before he even finishes, the door swings open and Sabrina strides in like she owns the place. She is immaculately dressed with tight jeans and a tighter shirt that in no way hides her massive tits. Her hair is curled and her make up is painted perfectly.
My stomach drops into that weird place it goes when someone you didn’t expect shows up and your body forgets how to function normally.
Griffin freezes mid sentence, jaw basically unhinging, and the air in the room suddenly feels like static. I don’t feel like I belong here anymore because why the fuck is she walking in here so comfortable when they broke up? Because they did right?
Terry leans back in his seat with this delighted grin plastered on his face and says, “Damn, you deliver pizza now?”
