Page 46 of Holding Out

JoJo’s eyes got big.“Is she your girlfriend?Is this your baby?”

“No,” Griff and Becca said at the same time, then looked at each other and laughed.At least it wasn’t going to be awkward between them, which was pretty damn cool.

“What are you working on?”Becca asked JoJo.

“Math.I hate it.”

Becca smiled at her.“Yeah?I liked math okay.I was better at it than some other stuff.Writing gave me the worst time.”

Jed’s head came up.

“I suck at writing.”

Griff froze.Jed barely ever spoke.And when he did, it was barbed.Stupid fucking teachers, stupid fucking homework, stupid fucking school.His commentI suck at writingwasn’t exactly drenched in positivity, sure, but—

It was an opening, that’s what it was.Take it, take it, take it, he willed Becca.

“Yeah?”Becca said.“You probably don’t suck as much as you think.”

“Yeah, that’s what teachers always say.”

“I’m not a teacher,” Becca said.“I could never be a teacher.School was too hard for me.”She bit her lip, shot an apologetic look at Griff, then turned her attention back to Jed.“I know what you’re going through is all I meant.Maybe you just need to focus on something you care about?”

He shrugged, and for a moment she thought he wasn’t going to answer.Then he said, “I never know what to say.And if I have an idea, I don’t know how to say it.”

“Do you bring your assignments here?”

He shook his head.

“You should.I bet if you brought a writing assignment to Griff, he could help you.”

“Or Becca could,” Griff said.The words just popped out of his mouth.It was something about the way she’d described herself.Could never.Too hard.

She gave him awhat-the-fucklook.“I’m not a tutor.”

“Yeah,” said JoJo to Griff.“If she did bad in high school, she’s not going to be tutoring people to do better in high school.”

“Right,” said Becca firmly.“Okay.You guys need to get back to work, and I need to get Robbie home.You coming to Friday Night Dinner?”she asked Griff.

You’ll be there?I’ll be there.

But all he said was, “Yeah.”Just like every week.Only, having seen her again, he was suddenly craving something he was sure wasn’t on the menu.

22

Griff pulled up in front of Nate and Alia’s house behind Becca’s seafoam blue Toyota Prius, and just that was enough to make him half-hard.

For a moment, Griff let himself imagine that Becca’s reason for choosing to spend her two weeks down here instead of in Seattle was because she wanted a second—make that third—helping of him.And wasn’tthata nice thought?

Maybe her right hand was worn out, too.

Oh,wow, that was an appealing visual: Becca in bed, fingers working between her thighs, recalling Operation V-Card and—Griff allowed himself to believe—his cock.

And now she washere,which meant that their plan to leave Operation V-Card behind them was going to be harder to accomplish.

He wasn’t nearly as upset about that as he should be.

The truth was, he wanted more.He wanted more of what they’d done the other night in the hotel.Lots more.

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