Page 2 of Griffin

And Finlay wanted to touch meeverywhere,so it was easier to pretend I wasn’t interested.

I’m twenty-one now, and I still haven’t been able to hold down a relationship.

I mean … I don’t want one.

I prefer one-nighters, but that is hard in a town like Hendrix.

All the guys here I’d gone to school with.

The older guys are their fathers or brothers, and it gets complicated. We didn’t get many tourists, but they were the most fun.

My house appears in my eye line, and my body relaxes.

Finally.

Dad’s truck is absent, so I get first dibs on the parking. Closest to the door, of course.

Take that, Pops.

Sliding my key into the lock, I wonder what to make for dinner.

From memory, the fridge is bare, and I’m fucked if I’m going grocery shopping.

I can already hear my dad bitching because I work in a grocery store and didn’t pick up any food.

The problem is, when I’m there, I just want to get home and get out of these sweaty clothes.

I flick on the AC and flop onto the sofa, promising myself I’ll just have five minutes.

But as the AC kicks in, my body cools, and my eyes close, seeking the comfort of sleep.

Just five minutes.

2

GRIFFIN

“It’s too hot for takeout. We should’ve had a barbecue.”

I know I’m complaining, but it’s been a day from hell; working under the blistering sun all day long will eventually piss off a saint.

Not that I’m a saint.

“You need meat for a barbecue,” Kevin drawls, muttering when he pulls up behind Ivy’s car. “So, unless my daughter thought ahead and picked some up, a takeout will have to do.”

Stepping out of the truck, a wave of humidity hits me.

“Fuck this weather.”

“You’re so miserable, you know that?” Kevin throws over his shoulder, shaking his head at me.

I follow him inside, almost walking into him as he nods at the sofa.

“Would you look at that?”

I follow his gaze to see his daughter, Ivy, asleep on the sofa, one arm thrown back like she’s posing for a painting or some shit. She rests her head on her other hand, her lips parting as she exhales.

Goddamn, she’s a pretty thing.

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