Page 10 of Griz's Edge

“Your eyes didn’t shift one way or another. They didn’t dilate, flicker, or anything. They were still as they are now, but the difference in them now is they’ve darkened ever so slightly.”

“You’re very observant, aren’t you?” This woman is something else, and my cock is throbbing to get inside her.

“In my line of work, I’ve had to be.”

Nodding, I take another fry and grin, earning a glare from Marley.

“Now that I’ve told you something, you gonna answer my question that I asked you first, by the way?”

“I moved here ‘cause my grandma is here, and someone needed to move to be near her since she refused to move closer to my mom.”

“She didn’t want to uproot her life.” I get that. When your life is in one place, it’s hard to change things up.

Deloris comes by and drops our plates off in front of us, and shuffles away without a word. Guess she didn’t want to interrupt.

“Exactly, my grandma says she’s lived here all her life and wasn’t going to go anywhere else.” Marley glances at the plate in front of her, and her eyes widen. “Whoa, this thing looks amazing, but there’s no way I’ll be able to finish it and my fries.”

“Should’ve shared the fries.” Snorting, I pluck the pickle off the side of my plate and take a bite. Like most things in the back of the diner, my uncle makes his own pickles as well. Everything he does comes from the garden he keeps year-round.Thankfully, he’s gotten over the fact he can’t do everything by himself anymore and got some help. Some kid that he knew. He took him under his wing and has him helping on weekends and evenings.

“Don’t start.” The glare she shoots me is near comical, but it has the same effect her smile has on my cock.

“Yo, Griz,” Surge calls out from across the room.

I twist to look in his direction and see him, Scorn, and Flash getting to their feet. “What?”

“Gotta roll, Blow needs us at the clubhouse,” he grunts and waves his phone.

Fuck.

Nodding, I look down at the burger and sigh. Deloris is there a moment later.

“I’ll take care of this, Griz, I know you gotta go. Give me a minute, and I’ll get it boxed up for you.”

“Thanks, Deloris, appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem, darlin’.” She takes the plate and looks at the others. “I’ll get y’all’s orders to go as well.”

“You’re a rockstar,” Flash shouts.

“Appreciate it, Deloris,” Scorn adds in.

“Guess you have to go then,” Marley remarks.

“Yeah.” I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay right here while the two of us talked. Sliding out my side of the booth, I hold her gaze. “Any chance you want to give me your number?”

Marley looks at me closely, like she’s weighing her decision before smirking. “You found my name easily enough. I’m sure you can figure out what my number is just as well.”

Well, fuck me.

Placing a hand on the table, I lower my head until we’re nearly nose to nose. “Challenge accepted, sweets.”

CHAPTER FIVE

MARLEY

My phone pings next to my bed two days later while I’m doing my best not to throw the book I’m reading across the room. The pinging noise catches my attention as the idiot hero in my book makes a fool of himself and hurts the heroine’s feelings for the umpteenth time. I don’t know what it is about the dang thing that keeps me engrossed in it, but I keep on reading, waiting to get to the good part where the hero will get his head out of his ass.

Setting my book down next to me, I reach out and snag my phone to see who on earth would be texting me this late at night. It might be a Friday night, but still it was late. Everyone I know, knows better than to call me so late and that I really hate texting.