Page 55 of Holding Out

“Did you hear that?”she whispered.

“What?”

She ran to the stairs and found Alia retreating up them, trying to be silent.Her sister’s pained expression told Becca everything she needed to know.

“I’m sorry,” Becca whispered.

She wasn’t even sure what she was apologizing for.Misusing her sister’s couch?Not telling her sister what was going on?Screwing around with a guy that Nate and Alia had warned her about?

“We’ll talk in the morning,” Alia said grimly, and she turned away, climbed the rest of the stairs, and disappeared.

Becca turned and slowly made her way back to the couch.Griff had zipped and was leaning back nonchalantly, doing his best to look innocent, but she could still see the deep flush in his cheeks, and he didn’t seem able to hold back his blissed-out grin.

“I think the cat’s out of the bag,” she told him.

Griff’s grin got even bigger.“Oh, baby.That pussy hasn’t evenbegunto free itself yet.”

26

Becca wrapped her hands around a cup of coffee while Alia spooned breakfast into the baby.Robbie had just started rice cereal, and it was not a clean process.More rice cereal was coating Robbie’s chin than was going down his throat.

“I’m not mad,” Alia said.“You don’t need my permission.I’m just worried about you.”

“That’s why I didn’t tell you.Because I knew you’d be worried about me.And you don’t need to be.I’m a big girl.”

Alia scraped rice cereal off Robbie’s chin and recycled it into his little rosebud mouth.“Are you sure about that?”

“That I’m a big girl?”Becca said, trying to lighten the mood.

“That I don’t need to be worried?”

“Positive.”

“I don’t want him taking advantage of you.”

“He’s—” For a second, she couldn’t even finish the sentence because what Griff was doing with her was so far from taking advantage that there just weren’t words.Not to mention that the whole thing had been her idea.“—not,” she managed.

Alia looked unconvinced.“I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I know what I’m doing.It’s just a casual thing.”

Alia’s eyebrows scrunched together in the middle.

“I swear, Alia.We’re just both, um, blowing off steam.”

“Someone’s blowing off something,” Alia muttered.

Becca rolled her eyes.“Seriously?”

“Cut me some slack.I can never unsee what I saw.And I didn’t even see that much.Just the gist.But ack.”Alia’s face twisted.“Just tell me he reciprocates and it’s not always you down on your knees.”

“God, Alia!”Becca’s face flamed.“Don’t do the mom routine on me right now.He reciprocates, okay?”She took a deep breath.“I’m getting mine.”And wasn’tthatan understatement.She shivered, thinking of how easily she’d gotten off last night, straddling him like a horny teenager.Or rather, like the horny teenager she would have been if Stupid Todd hadn’t asked her to wait for a promise that had never materialized.She was making up for lost time and the experiences she’d been robbed of.“Jondalar’s got nothing on Griff,” she told Alia.

Alia’s eyes got wide.“Are youhaving sex with him?”

“I had sex with him, yeah.”

It was impossible to keep the smile off her face.The best she could do was try not to betray her giddiness.

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