Page 45 of Griz's Edge

“Then sleep, sweets, I’ve got you.”

That he did.

We still needed to talk about the fact he called my dad without me, but that could wait. I knew his reasons. I understood them. It didn’t mean I didn’t think he should have waited for me to make that call. For Christ’s sake, it was my dad he called, damnit.

Snuggling in deeper, I allowed myself to sleep, knowing with him holding me, nothing was going to touch me.

A pounding on the door startles me awake. Who on earth is that banging on the other side of the door?

“Fuckin’ hell,” Griz grumbles. Rolling away from me, he shouts, “Yeah?”

“Got company, brother.” I want to say it was Scorn or maybe Shiner. I wasn’t exactly sure.

“Give us ten minutes,” Griz calls out and rolls back into me. “Time to get up, baby.” The gentleness of his voice touches a part of me I didn’t think possible. Touches even more when he kisses the shell of my ear.

“Ugh,” I mutter, not wanting to get up. My body was sore, more so now than it was yesterday. I guess I was hurting far more so than I thought. “I don’t want to get up.”

“Gonna have to.”Griz slowly rolls me to my back and grips my chin. “How you feeling this morning?”

“My body feels like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck,” I tell him, knowing it’s no use to lie about it.

“I knew I shouldn’t have fucked you last night,” Griz grumbles.

“I have no regrets for doing what I wanted, and you better not either.”

Just because I was hurting, didn’t mean I was going to let it hold me back from enjoying the pleasures of being in Griz’s arms or the sex the two of us have. It’s magnificent, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Marley, no way would I regret a damn thing we do together. I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“Only way you’ll hurt me is if you treat me like I’m fragile and an invalid when I’m not.”

Yesterday, after everything happened and he held me, that was perfect. He didn’t baby me. He comforted me and gave me what I needed.

“I’m not gonna do that, Marley. Remember that ‘cause I’ll fuck up plenty, but I’d never treat you that way.”

“Don’t be sweet to me now when we have to get up,” I remark snappishly. What he said was sweet. All I want to do is kiss him, which will lead to other things, and we can’t do that right now.

“We got time.” Griz smirks, slides a hand between my thighs, and immediately slips two fingers inside me. “Fuckin’ love that you wake soaked for me, sweets.”

“What can I say? You do it to me.”

Griz definitely did it for me. He does it for me in a way I didn’t think could be anything other than what it was . . . me falling for him.

Or maybe it’s that I’ve already fallen. It surely feels that way.

CHAPTER TWENTY

MARLEY

“Oh God, he brought everyone with him,” I grumble louder than I mean to.

Griz chuckles, tucks me closer to his side, and guides me into the main room of the clubhouse. Thankfully, I’d been able to dress in my own clothes. Chelsea did well to pack my favorites, and she didn’t even know it.

Dressed in a pair of boot-cut jeans, I matched a thin black oversized off-the-shoulder long-sleeve shirt. I finished the outfit off with a pair of Chucks. I had high tops and low tops, all in different colors at home, but Chelsea was smart to bring my solid black ones and two other pairs. She also packed two pairs of heeled boots and one pair of stiletto point-toe heels. They were my favorite as well.

Dad’s eyes came to us first. My mom’s follow, both Marshall and Marla look over, and Grandma Ryan grins brightly.

“Now, how did I know it was going to be Griz that you would go for,” Grandma says cheerfully, coming forward and giving me a wink.

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