Page 107 of The Check Down

With a sharp intake of breath, I pull back.

He rolls his eyes. “Former best friend. And it wasn’t a one-time thing. They carried on behind my back for eight damn months.”

I rake my nails over the back of his head in a soothing pattern. “I’m sorry.”

He squeezes my hips. “Conner and I played together at Oklahoma, and when I got drafted, he moved to Nashville, too. He had a business degree, so he became my de facto manager. Around the time Kate and I met, he proposed to his girlfriend. They wanted a long engagement, and they spent all that time planning this huge-ass wedding. I was going to be his best man. But at the last minute, he called it off.” He rubs his hands up and down my thighs. “He called it off because he was fucking my girlfriend. Claimed he was in love with her.”

My heart clenches at the misery in his expression. “How’d you find out?”

“Seth.”

My brows climb to my hairline.

“He stopped by my house for a delivery, and they were going at it on the couch.” When I eye where we’re sitting, he chuckles. “Don’t worry, not this one.”

“Griff, I’m so sorry that happened. He wasn’t any kind of friend, though, if he did that to you.”

He deflates beneath me. “At the time, I kinda thought it was karma, you know? I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the women I slept with in my twenties had boyfriends or husbands I didn’t know about.”

“If you had no idea, then that’s on them, not you.”

A shoulder shrug and a sad smile. “Still. Felt like I deserved it somehow.”

I rest my hands on his neck and kiss him, basking in his warmth and scent and goodness. It’s ripped away, though, when the memory of the phone call I made earlier crashes into me. It’s time to face the consequences.

“Uh, I-I did a thing today.” My breathing increases as I brace for the fallout, but I muster every ounce of bravery I own.

We both open our mouths to speak.

“I set up an interview with that college in Florida.”

But my words collide with his: “I signed an extension with the Blues today.”

Chapter twenty-four

Griffin

Ishake my head, certain I misheard her.

“Sorry, did you say you’re interviewing in Florida?”

“What do you mean, you signed an extension?” The hurt in her eyes guts me. Almost as much as the thought of her taking this job.

She scoots back, but I cling to her. I won’t let her put space between us. “Nope. We’re having a discussion.”

She gives me a playful glare. “And I have to sit in your lap to do it?”

“Yep.”

Fuck. What a cluster. I was pumped to come home and tell her the good news, so I called Seth before the ink was dry and asked him to set up the celebratory champagne. I never thought my announcement would be met with the possibility of a long-distance situation.

She wriggles again, but I clamp my hands on her ass. “You keep that up, and we’ll need to table the discussion for later.”

“I don’t see why we have to do this with me straddling your lap.”

“Baby, you just told me that half of my heart might be moving to Florida. I’m keeping you close.”

The fire in her eyes dims. “Griff, I just thought…”

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