“You really thought I ghosted you? After everything we said? I wanted to talk. To see if this could be something in the light of day.”
Anger flares within me. “How was I supposed to know any of that?”
His voice deepens. “I told you I wanted you.”
I hop off the tailgate, a mix of frustration and disbelief taking hold. Pacing back and forth on the ground, I say, “Guys say that shit all the time. That doesn’t make it true.”
Griffin hops down too, faster than I can register the movement. He palms my hip and tugs me against him so we’re chest to chest. “I promised that wouldn’t be the end of us. I swore it on my fucking knees right before I devoured that pretty little cunt of yours. I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep, Angel.”
Suddenly, the past and present collide, and what happened in Vegas takes on new meaning in my mind, but also, impossibly, in my heart.
“Is that why you married me?” I ask airily. “To keep your promise?”
His eyes darken. “No.”
“Then why?” I ask, too stunned by the revelation to say much more than that.
“You’re not ready for that answer.” His gruff voice goes straight to my needy pussy. He takes a step back, leaving me speechless and aching for his touch.
I let the silence linger for a long while, absorbing the peace and tranquility around me.
“I won’t pretend I feel nothing. This thing between us, it’s…” Words fail me, and I take a deep inhale then blow it out. “Overwhelming. You overwhelm me.”
The quiet admission feels monumental. I’ve spent days replaying five years’ worth of memories, looking for a reason not to let myself get tangled up in this mess, but the truth is, I’m already tied up in knots.
His deep chuckle reverberates through the wide open air. “That’s an understatement.”
He advances on me again, but I hold him off with a hand to his chest. “We can’t go back and change things, and I’m not ready for this to be anything more than what it is.”
His dark eyes narrow on me. “And what is that?”
“Friends… I hope.” I rehearsed this part a million times in my head, but it feels wrong coming out of my mouth.
His nostrils flare as he pulls me against him. “Don’t you ever use that fucking word with me. There’s nothing friendly about this, Angel. Selfish? Yes. Desperate? Without a doubt. Reckless? Abso-fucking-lutely. The way I feel about you—about us isanythingbut friendly.”
I try to pull away, but he holds me steady. “I don’tkissmy friends. I don’tfuckmy friends. And I sure as shit don’tmarrymy friends.”
The declaration hangs in the air between us, this heady thing I’m not ready to acknowledge. When I don’t say anything else, he lets me go, and I turn my head to the night sky, running my hands up and down my arms as a chill settles in my bones.
Griffin silently cleans up the remains of our picnic as I head back to the stables, my mind whirring like the wings of a hummingbird. I was so convinced he was done with me, I didn’t bother to dig deeper.
When I was offered a job in Oak Ridge to be closer to Jess’s family, I resolved to keep Griffin Hayes at a distance. I failed spectacularly, and now everything I thought I knew has been flipped on its axis.
“What do I do, Sadie girl?” I whisper. “I’ve really stepped in it this time.”
Chapter 12
Cold Feet
? 6 months later - Megan Maroney
Angelina
Me: I’ll meet you at Rosie’s in an hour.
Tyler: See you then. :)
I hopeI’m not making a mistake by agreeing to see Tyler, but he’s been texting me every day asking to meet. I have no intention of taking him back. If that’s what he’s hoping for, he can put that right out of his feeble little mind. There’s no coming back from the stunt he pulled, and whatever speech he rehearsed in the mirror this morning will fall on deaf ears.
