Page 108 of Fighting the Forbidden

“No,” Griff rumbles. “But don’t let that stop you.”

Remy scowls at us. “I thought you wanted us to see the car?” he says to Griff.

Something about his tone and the question feel off. He almost seems sincere, but not quite.

“Nooo,” Griff says slowly. “I said I was bringing Molly to see the car.”

Vapor and Eraser turn and frown at Remy. Juliet rolls her eyes. Ella mouths sorry at me.

“Everything okay, Griff?” Eraser flashes a cocky grin over my head. “Why’re you using Molly as a human shield?”

Griff lets out an annoyed rumble and tightens his hold on me.

“This it?” Remy asks, gesturing to the car.

“You see any other ’71 Malibus in here?” Griff asks with a snarky edge.

The guys crowd around the car, peering inside, opening the doors, giving it a much more thorough examination than I did.

Griff squeezes the top of my arm and releases me. “Thank you,” he whispers in my ear before joining the guys to show off my gift.

Juliet shakes her head, but her lips are pressed so tight together, I think she’s fighting off laughter. “I’m so sorry,” she whispers. “Remy said we were supposed to stop by and see the car.”

I shoot a glare at my brother, but he’s not paying attention.

Ella reaches for me and smooths the back of my hair down. “Did we interrupt anything good?”

“Yeah, kinda.” I lift my eyebrows to punctuate my annoyance but they both laugh.

“Poor Molly,” Ella whispers. “Remy’s gonna cockblock her until she’s thirty.”

I snort and glance down at my dress. “I’m divine,” I mutter. “Griff’s the one who’s going to be hurting.”

Juliet holds up her hand in a please stop gesture.

“He’ll live,” Ella assures me.

“Hey, Molly!” Vapor shouts. “You have quite a few choices in colors to go with here. Any idea what you want?”

I walk over to meet him by the trunk. “I told Griff I wanted red, but now I’m thinking purple with big red stripes up the front of the hood.” I sweep my hand through the air, even though Vapor knows what I mean.

Vapor side-eyes Griff, who returns the look with a warning scowl. “Whatever she wants,” Griff says.

“Unless that offends the rules of classic restoration colors or something?” I tease, not really caring if purple and red weren’t official production colors.

“Your car. Your colors.” Vapor taps the hood. “Besides, it’s just paint.” His mouth slides into a smirk, and he glances at Griff. “I’ll add little black pinstripes, then when your cars are side by side, they’ll be perfectly color coordinated.”

“That sounds lovely.” Juliet elbows her husband in the side.

“It looks good,” Remy says to Griff. “I was worried but you’re right. It’s not in bad shape from what I can see.”

“Gee, thanks,” Griff says with a healthy dose of sarcasm. “It’s almost like I know what I’m talking about.”

We spend a few more minutes talking about the car.

“All right. It’s late,” Remy announces. “Let’s go.” His gaze lands on me. “Truck’s out front.”

“But…” I glance at Griff, but he’s staring at the ceiling with his jaw clenched tight.

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