“Can you just listen?”
Evan
I watch Quinn shut down. It’s not the first time I’ve seen her use it as a defense mechanism. She did the same thing when he ridiculed her for her fear of flying. Something in her eyes shutters as she lowers her head and scoops up her still full plate and my empty one. “Got it.” Her chilly tone is a near perfect match to Griff’s.
The last time he did this to her, I let him, but not today. I put my hand on Quinn’s back, stilling her, then take the plates from her grasp. “You can go, I’m good.” Griff’s posture stiffens at my sudden rebuke. To Quinn, I murmur, “I’m going to talk to the kids, then let them return to their dorms with guidelines. I’d love your company.” The way the tension in her shoulders eases tells me I did the right thing.
“Do I have a few minutes to finish getting ready, or do you need to go now?”
“Take your time, they’ll hold.” I place the plates in the sink and turn on the water, then I wait until Quinn retreats to the bathroom before looking at Griff. “You are going to let her feel like shit for her family’s choices?”
“I don’t give a shit if her family is a band of rabid cannibals who string up entrails as decorations. I’m concerned with the fact that someone working with HERO could still be at the school, and Quinn has a connection to that. What if HERO was targeting her?”
I settle my ass against the counter and pinch my temples. “I’m much better with an in-your-face attack than I am with the scheming and plotting bullshit.”
“You of all people should know that once you amass a certain amount of power, the threat will rarely come for you head-on,” he retorts.
“What does any of this have to do with you being an asshole to Quinn?” I whisper harshly, remembering why I’m talking to him in the first place.
“I wasn’t trying to be an asshole,” he defends.
“I know that shit comes naturally to you, but come on.” I give him a dubious glare.
“My mind was already processing all the possibilities, deciphering threats. I’ll go apologize.”
I reach out and grab his arm before he can go. “If you go in there with some half-assed apology, you’re going to make it worse. Don’t do it because youthinkyou’re supposed to.” I stress the word, hoping he’ll get my meaning.
“I’m not a complete imbecile.” Griff straightens his coat.
“That’s debatable,” I mutter, but I know he hears me.
Quinn
“Shoot!” I curse when the light tapping on the door startles me and I poke myself in the eye with my mascara wand.
“Quinn,” Griffin calls through the door.
“You can come in,” I reply, holding a tissue to my eye to catch the leak. So much for the wasted effort on makeup.
The door opens slowly, and I turn to face him when he doesn’t speak. “Do you need the bathroom?”
Griffin has a horrified expression on his face. “Are you crying?”
“What? No.” I pull the tissue away and show him my watering eye, which probably doesn’t help my effort to convince him. “I got my eye with the wand.”
He gives me a cynical stare but acts like he believes me. “I would never judge you on your family,” he says solemnly. “I have a lot on my mind. I’m sorry if it came off that way.”
I toss the used tissue into the trash. “Frankly, I’m more concerned with how you treat me. I get hearing news like that might warrant some time, some thought, but it’s always so easy for you to talk down to me and say hurtful things. Why is that?” I cross my arms over my chest and lean against the sink.
Griffin bristles, it’s minute, but I notice in the way his shoulders pull back the tiniest bit and in the tightening around his mouth and eyes. I don’t think he was expecting me to confront him.
“I won’t insult you and tell you I’ve never said something to you that I knew was wrong. I have.” Griffin pauses, and when he speaks again, his voice is low, almost hesitant. “In my bedroom, when I asked ‘why else would Noah want you,’ I said it out of anger. I was battling with myself to do the right thing and let you go, but I couldn’t. So I would lash out at you to push you away to prove to you and myself that I didn’t deserve you.” My heart breaks a little, his words seem to be coming from the heart. “Sometimes though, I honestly just don’t think about how it’s going to sound.”
I walk over to Griffin and place my finger on his lips, stopping him from saying anything else. “Don’t do it anymore.” I examine his eyes. “I get making a mistake, no one is perfect, but that was before. You’re pretty much stuck with me at this point, but my mind can’t work around how you can be so…” I search for the right words. “Affectionate, caring, protective, and a whole list of other adjectives one minute, then the next you say something so ugly or talk to me like I’m everyone else. I don’t want to be everyone else to you.”
I lower my finger, and Griffin curls his arm around me, settling the weight of his palm on my lower back just above the curve of my bottom. “I can’t promise not to say something stupid, but I will make every effort not to.” His hand slides down, and he cups my ass. “I did offer you a very viable solution on how to shut me up if I do though.”
I give him a disgruntled expression, remembering how he suggested I should shut him up by sitting on his face. “Sex doesn’t fix everything. I doubt there’s much it can.”
