CHAPTER 10
Griffin
I don’t know what time it is. The house above us is quiet, and Peyton is sleeping peacefully in my arms. We kissed for hours. So long that I lost track of time. My lips are sore, and hers are red and swollen. We talked some more about life, and dreams, and family. You name it, we’ve talked about it.
The more I get to know her, the more this idea takes root inside my chest.
I know that we can do this.
It’s going to suck hairy monkey balls. Being without her and not having nights like last night will be hard when all I want is to be near her. I’m already running through my schedule in my mind and calculating the first chance I might have to go to Tennessee to see her.
She leaves tomorrow, and if you would have told me I’d be torn up about that after only knowing her a handful of days, I’d tell you that you’d lost your damn mind, but here we are. Emotion wells in my throat just thinking about her stepping onto the plane and flying home.
I sent my dad a text and told him she was staying and that we were down here. He asked me if I needed protection. Peyton and I laughed about that, considering her sister asked us the same thing. It’s not that I don’t want to, but we have a hard road ahead of us. We need to build more trust. I need to be able to prove to her that this is going to work before we go there.
I’m tired as hell. I’ve barely slept since I met her. We napped earlier, but I can’t seem to fall asleep. Not when I know it’s going to be a long damn time before I’m back in this place with her.
“Why are you awake?” her sleep-laced voice asks.
I hold her a little tighter and press my lips to her forehead. “Just thinking.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”
“This is going to be hard, Griffin.”
“Nothing worth having comes easy. It’s going to be more than hard. It’s going to suck. I’m afraid to close my eyes and miss a single second of time with you.”
“You can’t be sleep-deprived. Tomorrow is my last day. I need you rested.”
“Oh, yeah? What are we going to do exactly?”
“I want to go back to the beach. It’s my last day here. I’d like to soak up some sun.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
She snuggles a little closer. “I’ll be here when you wake up, Griff. I promise.”
My heart hammers in my chest. “Okay.”
“Please get some rest. I’m right here,” she says, placing a kiss on my chest.
“Where you belong,” I say, closing my eyes. Maybe I just needed her reassurance that she’d still be here because it doesn’t take long for sleep to finally claim me.
“Hello?” I hear the sweetest voice say. “No, I’m at Griffin’s.” She pauses. “I stayed here last night.” Another pause. “No, we didn’t do that,” she says, her voice a rushed whisper. “It was nice.” Another pause. “Yeah, I told Griffin that I want to go to the beach today. He’s still sleeping. I’ll text you when we’re up and moving.” Another shorter pause. “We can talk about this later,” she says, her voice low. “I’ll text you. Bye,” she says, ending the call.
“Karina?” I ask, making her jump.
“You scared me.” She places her phone back on the floor and rolls over to snuggle into me. Sometime during the night, one of us must have pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and covered us. “Yeah, that was Karina. She wanted to know what we were doing today.”
“You and me? Or you and her?”
“All of us, if that’s okay.”
“I don’t care who is there as long as I’m with you.”
“You’re sweet in the mornings.”
“I’m always sweet,” I counter, tugging the cover over us.
“Yeah, you kind of are.”
“Only with you, though.”
“I don’t know. I saw you with your mom.”
“Yeah, the two most important women in my life.” As soon as she agreed to see where this goes, even after she leaves tomorrow, I decided I was no longer going to hide how I felt about her. Hell, I haven’t really been hiding it at all. But communication will be the key to making this work, and I never want to doubt for a second that she’s all that I can see. It took one look to know she was special, but after spending time with her, I know without a shadow of a doubt that she’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. There will only ever be one Peyton Monroe.
“Those are big words, Griffin Anthony.”
“These are big feelings, Peyton Monroe.”
“Go shower, so you can take me to my hotel, and I can do the same. The beach and sunshine are calling my name.”
“So bossy,” I tease. Leaning in, I press my lips to hers. When I slide my tongue across her lips, she refuses to open it. I pull back and study her. “What’s wrong?”
She places her hand over her mouth. “I need to brush my teeth.”
“Baby, that’s not going to stop me. I have less than twenty-four hours left with you.” I lean in and kiss her again, but she still refuses to open. This won’t do. Climbing over her, I stand from the couch, stretch and lift her into my arms, bridal style.
“What are you doing?” She laughs.
“I want my good morning kiss.” That’s the only explanation I give her as I carry her upstairs and then up another flight to my room.
“Your parents,” she hisses.
“They’ve both gone to work. It’s just you and me,” I say, swatting her ass lightly. She giggles, and my smile widens. She’s happy. Now all I have to do is figure out how to keep that up while we’re hundreds of miles away from each other.
Once in my room, I carry her to my attached bathroom and set her on the counter. Reaching under the cabinet, I pull out a new toothbrush and hand it to her. “Chop chop,” I say, reaching for my own toothbrush and the tube of toothpaste that’s on the counter.
“Now, who’s bossy?” she asks.
“I’m going to brush my teeth, and as soon as I’m done, I’m claiming my good morning kiss. You better get to it,” I say, placing a glob of toothpaste onto my brush, running it under some water, and sticking it in my mouth. I watch her as she giggles but does the same thing.
I spit, and use my hand like a cup and rinse my mouth. She does the same, and I don’t even let her wipe her mouth off with the towel before my lips crash against hers. This time, she opens for me. She moans as she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.
My cock is nestled between her thighs, and I can’t help but notice that this is the perfect angle and position. If we were naked, I could slide into her heat and feel her warmth on my cock. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about sex. A few girls have had me so worked up that I contemplated maybe taking things further, but I always backed off. That trust just wasn’t there.
With Peyton, I wouldn’t have an ounce of hesitation. If she was ready, if we were ready, I would make her mine. My cock twitches just thinking about it.