Page 121 of What If I See You

When did she become so insightful?

“How did you know that?”

She swallows back a heavy sip of her margarita and then lifts her brow. “Because it’s written all over your face.”

“But—”

“No.” She waves her finger back and forth. “Fix your face, Layken. You have zero reason to be thinking that way. Griffin loves the fuck out of you.”

“Quite literally,” I chuckle, causing the girls to giggle at my response. “I mean T-M-I, but the man likes to fuck. A lot.”

“Meh. I think it’s a hockey thing,” Ella says, laughing. “August is all over me all the time.”

“Same with Bodhi, but I think he’s just trying to make up for all those years he spent not having sex.”

“Yeah it’s definitely a thing with all of them, I imagine,” Scarlett says. “It’s their way of letting off steam. And honestly…” She winks. “I can’t say I hate it.”

“Same,” we all say in tandem.

“Miami, Florida?”The expression on Griffin’s face is making me wish I would have just kept my mouth shut and never told him about the job offer. We could be sliding into bed right now ready for another mind-blowing romp in the sheets, but I had to go and ruin the mood with my news. The devastation in his eyes when I told him about this job in Florida is a look I won’t soon forget.

It’s heartbreaking.

I can see he’s trying to remain upbeat but what his voice doesn’t say, his face always does. “That’s uh…” He nods, taking it all in. “That’s pretty far.”

“I know.” My shoulders fall but I try to give him a tiny nugget of positivity. “But it’s also just a plane ride away if it’s something we want to talk about, you know, later.”

He cocks his head, his brows pinched as he hastily pulls off his shirt, all evidence of his bruised ribs gone. “Do you think I won’t want to talk about it?” Irritation stirs in his voice and a strong sense of guilt rips through my chest. Like nothing I’m saying is coming across the way I want it to and I’m just upsetting him.

An emptiness in the pit of my stomach, I shake my head. “No, that’s not what I?—”

“Do you think I don’t care what you do?”

“No, Griffin, I?—”

“Have I given you that indication? Because last time I checked, I told you I loved you and didn’t want to spend my life without you, but here you are a few weeks later ready to jet off to Florida for a job interview whether I like it or not.”

“Okay.” I nod, trying to understand. “So, then I won’t?—”

“If you want to talk about it now, then let’s talk about it now.” He unzips his shorts and kicks them off. “I mean, how do you really see this all going if you get the job, Layken? Do you think you’ll just fly back here on the weekends? Every other month? What? We’ll see each other a few times a year?” He shrugs his shoulders, his arms lifting at his sides. “I mean what kind of marriage is that?”

“Okay!” I raise my voice to match his so he won’t talk over me again. “Then I’ll cancel. I won’t go.”

“But you can’t not go, Lake!” he shouts back, clearly irritated. “This could be a great opportunity and you already told her you would show up and if you don’t show up you risk her bad-mouthing you to other potential organizations.”

“I don’t think she’d ever do that, Griffin.”

“But do you know she wouldn’t or just think she wouldn’t?”

“I…”

“I’m just saying,” he counters, moving to the bathroom door, “sometimes people will love you and talk highly of you and offer you every opportunity until they don’t get their way and then it’s a whole other ballgame.”

“You mean like right now?” I spit back. “Are you telling me that’s how you feel about me?”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Layken. You know that’s not what I’m saying.” He scoffs, shaking his head and then murmurs something about needing a shower before the bathroom door closes behind him and I’m left standing in his bedroom all alone.

Tears prick my eyes as a tingling pressure builds in my chest. Not knowing where to put my focus, my eyes dart around the room as I try to figure out what the hell just happened. I didn’t imagine this conversation unfolding quite the way it did and I have no idea what to do about it.

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