Page 32 of Supernova

He mimicked my movement but leaned his cheek on one of his hands instead. The other extended out towards my face where he carefully wiped some eyeshadow off my cheek. He looked at me with a soft, almost-pleased smile that seemed quite foreign on him. No cheekiness, no humour. Just affable. Maybe even happy. I’d only seen it a few times before but every time it caught me off guard.

Seconds later we were interrupted. My eyes shot up behind him to the guy I’d been dancing with, now holding two drinks. I witnessed the instantaneous change of Griffin’s facial expression, his smile turning into an annoyed scowl, his brows bunching together in frustration. He turned hastily towards the other guy and I could only assume he was giving him a very unpleasant look.

“I have your drink, want to get back out there?” The guy had balls, completely ignoring an agitated Griffin who moved so his body was shielding mine.

Griff shot up, pulling me up with him. His hand curved around my waist, bringing me into his side possessively. “She’s dancing with me.” Griff all but growled at the guy. His voice low and rumbly. I looked at Griffin with sheer surprise as the other guy stepped back. His hands, that still held the glasses, shot up in surrender. It seemed humans knew when they were outpowered, even if it was subconsciously.

As Griffin led me back to the dancefloor, I turned to the blonde and gave him an apologetic shrug. “I’m sorry! Maybe later. Thank you for the drink though.”

I was yanked harder in response.

When we reached our little circle of friends, Griff swung me into his body, gripping my hips. He began swaying, moving my body to the beat. Once the initial shock left my system, he no longer needed to guide me. I moved against him willingly, wrapping my arms around his neck. He brought my body even closer, his hand dipping slightly down my back. His touch branded my bare skin. The fingers of his other hand began to explore further down the side of my hip, towards my leg. They dipped slightly under the slit of my dress where they stayed—another point of contact anchoring me to him. His face was so close to mine that his nose rested on my forehead as our bodies flowed to the beat of the music in sync. I was so lost in the moment, I forgot we were surrounded by people, including our friends, who were probably wondering what the hell had gotten into us. Honestly, they wouldn’t be alone; I was wondering what the hell had gotten into us.

I guessed it was the alcohol. But I did say I was going to have fun tonight and this was definitely fun. Heated, sexy and fun.

We stayed like that for the remainder of the night. Lost in some sort of trance. There were variations in how we held each other but that was about it.

Finally, when the last song ended, we snapped out of it. I looked up at him, wondering what was going on in that pretty head of his.

“Now I’m sure you had the most fun you’ve ever had,” he drawled in his sexy voice. His eyes blazed into me, seemingly waiting for some sort of response. I had no idea how to reply to him. His face was undecipherable as he stepped away when it was clear I wasn’t going to respond, nonchalantly re-joining the rest of the group—minus Carter who was already heading out the door with his three new friends—as if nothing had happened.

It hit me then, that I just danced quite inappropriately with Griffin, and only two weeks after I had just broken up with the guy I thought was the love of my life. What the hell was wrong with me?

Griffin was electrifying. And I got carried away. It was scary how easily he distracted me. How easily he took over all my senses.

The girls chatted excitedly about how epic the night had been and I pretended that I was not lost in my overthinking mind, replaying every trivial and minor detail of the interactions between us.

We kept our space as we journeyed back to the compound. And when we got back and said our goodnights, we acted like nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Which was probably for the best. I was going to attempt to forget about it. I was going to chalk it up to the copious amount of alcohol we consumed, and not that we were actually into each other. Although at this point, it was getting pretty clear there was this undisputable chemistry between us.

I didn’t want to be a traitor. I didn’t want to move on too quickly. But Griffin was getting to me. Seeing him every day, all the banter and frisky teasing, it was seeping into my brain, taking over my thoughts and dominating my body like a parasite to its host.

CHAPTER 22

By the next morning, I had almost forgotten our steamy dance sesh. Almost. Or at least tried to. Let’s be honest, it was pretty hard to forget. I mostly hung out with the girls while the boys were off doing their own thing for most of the day, which gave me some much needed reprieve. I didn’t want to address the whole thing and I wasn’t sure if we’d pretend it never happened. Based on his initial reaction, and how we basically ignored each immediately after, I thought that might be the case. Thought there was a chance that our friendship could potentially be ruined as a result of our slight lapse in control.

When we all eventually crossed paths around dinner time, my heart basically leapt out of my chest in fear when I spied his recognizable form heading towards us. I hated that his form had become so recognisable to me. I could probably spot it a mile away. But Griffin acted like his normal self around me. Although, he definitely had not forgotten, making casual remarks about it at every opportunity he got in typical Griffin style. I was just grateful he wasn’t being weird anymore. It helped set the tone for our ongoing interactions. If he treated me differently, weirdly, I wouldn’t know what I’d do; he’d become such a vital part of my life in the short time I’d been here.

As usual though, I still had no idea what exactly he wanted from me. I couldn’t really blame him though since I also didn’t know what I wanted from him. But where did that leave us?

???

A few days later, I got up before dawn for our regular Tuesday morning one-on-one session. We had created a bit of a schedule, doing our extra sessions every Tuesday and Thursday morning before everyone else woke up. If I had the time, I’d also add in an extra solo training or gym session throughout the week, sometimes staying up later to catch the gym when it was empty. Sleep seemed to be scarce these days, which was highly unusual for me.

He wasn’t in the bathroom when I got ready which was a relief but as I got to the gym he was already warming up on the boxing bag. I may have ogled as his tight muscles rippled across his body with each contact his fist made with the bag. I knew he would have sensed my presence but he didn’t stop until he got a few more punches in, likely so I had no choice but to watch.

He turned to face me, his hair falling in front of his glistening eyes. When he saw me his mouth twitched. I strode towards him.

“Morning, Supernova.”

“Morning, Griff.” My reply was tired. I was still feeling the effects from all the alcohol, combined with the lack of sleep from the weekend and the intense training. It’s not like we could rest and recover, even if we wanted to. Training stopped for no man here—or woman.

“Sleep well?” He asked while unstrapping his gloves.

“Yeah, slept fine I guess.”

“You’d sleep better after a night with me.”

I rolled my eyes and mimicked him in what I thought was my best male voice. It was pathetic. And his boisterous laugh proved it, if I wasn’t already aware.

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