“He was. Is, I guess. But you’re my best friend too. They’re just… different. The way I feel about you is so much—” Griffin scrubs a hand through his golden hair, messing it up so the long strands stick up at all angles. Hazel eyes pin me in place. “How I feel about you is something else. Something more. Does that make sense?”
Does it?
Yeah, it does. And that scares the shit out of me, because, once again, it reinforces that if this marriage implodes, like I’m sure it will, losing him will hurt.
Badly.
Still, I can’t leave him hanging when he’s looking at me so earnestly. So I nod. “Yeah. That makes sense.”
“I want to tell everyone about us,” he says after a moment’s pause. “I hate lying to your brother.”
Panic hits me hard, making my stomach flip. But this is a different kind of panic. This isn’t the theoretical panic of loss; this is the sure knowledge that my brother will kick his friend’s ass and look at me with those disappointed eyes only an older, protective brother can manage. The kind of look that makes you feel ten inches tall because you know you could have done better.Shouldhave done better.
I don’t want him to be disappointed in me. And I really don’t want to be the reason his friendship with Griffin is ruined.
“I don’t think…” My words trail off as I shift in our bed, my lower lip rolling between my teeth. “It’s just that Maddox will…”
The sigh that puffs out between Griffin’s lips cuts me to my core, but I don’t finish my thought or take the words back.
“It’s okay, sunshine. Forget I said anything. We’ll give it some more time.” He sounds so disappointed, but he doesn’t press me further. We’re both quiet for a minute before he changes the subject and says, “Oh, I almost forgot. I ran into someone today. My former college coach was at the game. We got to talking, and he was telling me all about how the team’s doing. How they’ve been winning up a storm, and he got the go-ahead to revamp their website and marketing material so they could recruit better players to their program.”
My heart does a little pitter-patter as Griffin’s multi-hued eyes connect with mine.
“I told him about you. Showed him the work you’ve done for me and some of the other guys. Told him about the site you’re building for that baseball team. He asked for your contact information and if I thought you’d be interested in flying out to Michigan for a meeting to discuss their needs.”
Speechless. I’m stunned speechless. I gape at Griffin, thinking I must have misheard him. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. I thought maybe I could go with you, show you around, introduce you to the coach, and we could make a fun weekend of it.” The man staring out at me through my phone screen is full of vulnerability as he waits for my response. He searches my eyes, as if he may be able to discern my thoughts and see into my soul. Maybe he can, at least a little.
“Griffin, I don’t know what to say. That’s incredible. It would be huge to redo a college team’s online presence like that.”
“Maybe the football team too,” he says with a smile.
“Oh my god.” I fan my face, suddenly feeling hot and more than a little overwhelmed. “Yes, I would love to go with you.It would be fun, and having you there would help me not be nervous. The last thing I want to do is ramble and screw up this opportunity. Although people may talk if we take a trip together.”
“You could never screw this up. You’re Mira fucking Wright. You’re a badass. And we’ll find something to tell people so they don’t think twice about us going together.”
I roll my eyes. “For the hundredth time, I’m not changing my last name to Wright.”
My accidental husband shrugs, unbothered. “That’s fine. I’ve been looking into what it would take to change my last name to Graves. It would be a lot of work, but I’m up for it.”
Unable to hold it in, I giggle. “You’re an idiot.”
Griffin smiles brightly. “You don’t really think that. You think I’m awesome.”
I do, he’s right.
I really do.
twenty-two
MIRA
“Hey, Ed.”I give the security guard a friendly little wave as I stop in front of his desk. He called up to the apartment, letting me know the shop delivered my car.
Delivered. Griffin spent extra money just to have someone bring the hunk of rust back when I could have gone and gotten it. Now I’m going to owe him more money, even though I know he’ll try to get out of letting me pay him back. He keeps acting dodgy when I ask how much everything cost.
“Miss Mira, how are you today?” The older man smiles brightly at me with what I imagine is a fatherly expression. Not that I’d really know, because my sperm donor is an absent piece of shit.
