Page 54 of Sinful Little Lies

His hand rests on my head. He doesn’t yank or pull. No, he pets me. Fucking pets me. Grimm caresses my head and even twirls my strands around his finger. Immediately, I feel that pulse again between my thighs and I throw all caution to the wind.

“Be a good boy, Grimm. Give your pretty lady what she needs.” I bob my head on his cock, the tip hitting the back of my throat with every stroke. Once the head touches the back of my throat again, I close my mouth and swallow. Grimm’s body reacts, sending him slightly forward. He catches himself on the coat rack in front of him, remaining inside my mouth the whole time.

“Fuck, V. That feels so good. You’re a fucking goddess. I love when you take control of me. You’re fucking perfect.” My eyes look up to meet his. I keep sucking as we stare into each other’s irises. He sees me for everything I am and doesn’t expect me to be someone I’m not. Grimm has shown me the most pure and rawest forms of love. He’s seen me at my lowest and chose to fight for me every single time. There’s no getting past that.

I licked him, so he’s mine.

He moans as I bring one hand to his ass and the other to his balls. I gently massage them both and he unravels before me, his release filling my mouth. I swallow all of his cum down before pulling his pants back up, tucking hisnot-solittle guy back into his underwear, and redo his zipper and belt.

Footsteps sound just outside the door, before we hear the front door swing open and slam shut. A few moments later, a car engine starts and we hear my father peel out and away.

“That was close. Grab our little bitches and let’s get the fuck out of here.” I say, unable to contain my smile.

We slowly retreat from the closet and I peek out of the window to confirm that my father has left. Grimm runs upstairs to collect the girls and when he meets me outside, I ask, “I thought you said he left this morning for a business trip?”

Grimm shrugs, “That’s what I was told. Take it up with Eli, not me.” Once we’re buckled in, we hit the road and I remember why the dogs were in the room in the first place.

“Wait! What about our little impromptu rendezvous?” I ask, with a giggle.

“It was just that. Impromptu because I like giving you everything you need and more. Nothing we can’t do back home.” He replies, his free hand stroking my thigh while his other guides the steering wheel. “What happened back there?”

I look out the window, wishing to avoid the discussion altogether. I knew it was coming, I was just hoping we’d never have to actually talk about it. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Grimm reaches up and pinches my nipple through my shirt. “Hey! Hands on the wheel!” I chuckle.

“You can talk to me, you know. I just want to understand you. Did you avoid him because he didn’t know you were coming? Or because you don’twantto see him?” He asks, patiently waiting for my answer.

My confessions spill from my lips, “I don’t have a good relationship with them. While I was spending all of my free time with Ronnie, they were at fundraisers and meetings, caught up in temporary, unimportant matters. Ronnie’s life was the only temporary thing that had any level of importance. They weren’t there. She missed them. She wanted them around and they left it up to me, a fucking teenager, to make sure she was at peace before her life ended. They had no regard for what I was going through. All that’s important is the money, the house, the cars. Materialistic bullshit.”

“Sometimes I wonder if they went into overdrive because they had to pay for her medical treatment. But I’m almost positive they had more than enough sitting in a savings account, nestled away in a foreign bank. They had the luxury to take time off of work, to spend her last days with her, to reassure her that she was loved and valued. If my mom had time to get a fucking rhinoplasty a few days before Ronnie died, she had plenty of availability to spend time with her daughters. The one that was grievingandthe one that was dying.” Tears are streaming down my face before I can pull myself together. “That solidified it for me. They didn’t care about us. They thought of us as extensions of them, heirs to their legacy. Those expectations died when I fought for a chance to study art and writing. Ronnie wasn’t even going to make it to middle school.” I blow out a breath and Grimm pulls the car over to the side of the road.

He unbuckles his seatbelt and reaches over the console to hold me. I wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face into him. “I don’t know if they’re even together anymore. They’re married on paper but those business trips could be weekend getaways with mistresses and gigolos for all I know. But I truly don’t care. I just needed them to pay for my tuition at Blackwood. Once I graduate, I’ll be free from their shackles ofpressure. I don’t know what I’ll do, where I’ll work, or how I’ll survive, but I’ll do it. I always have.”

“Stop right there,” Grimm interrupts. “You’re not alone anymore, V. You haven’t been alone since the first day we met, and you certainly haven’t been alone since coming to Blackwood. Feelings are a fickle thing. They trick us into believing that our emotions are fact. Newsflash, that’s a fucking lie. You have Aspen and Blair. They care for you so much. Even if they’ve got their own shit going on, you know if you call them, they will always be there for you. Also,” he brings his hands down along his body to present himself as an obvious choice, “I’ve been here since day one. It may have taken you a while to notice, but this didn’t start at the beginning of the school year or when I saw you hanging off of Leo’s arm for the first time. The moment I saw your light brown hair, your pink high-top converse, paired with those low-rise jeans held up by that awesome black-and-white checkered belt,” I can’t help but laugh. At the same time, I’m fucking shocked he remembers the details that well. “I became yours. Even when you turned around and I saw that funny looking cartoon monkey on your shirt blowing up a glittery ball of bubblegum.”

Now I’m cackling and regretting my previous outfit choices. Those styles were all the rage way back when, but I wouldn’t be caught dead in anything remotely close to that now.

So many parts of me have changed and gotten lost along the way, some for the better, but there are parts that I wish remained. My innocence, my trust, my confidence. I just hope that in time, I’m able to build up all the best parts of myself once again.

Grimm brings his hand to my face and strokes his thumb across my cheek. “All jokes aside, it has always been you. Itwillalways be you, V. My little monster. I love you.” Grimm freezes and his Adam's apple bobs as he swallows, his face turning abright shade of pink. My eyes widen as my mouth falls open in disbelief.

He WHAT?

33

GRIMM

You gotta be shitting me.No fucking way I just dropped the L word on her.This is what happens when you speak faster than you think, dude.

V stares at me, eyes wide, mouth agape, and I just feel the heat of my body turning my face the color of a fucking tomato. Out of all the things I could have said, it had to be that.I love you.

I told Verena I love her.

She clears her throat and speaks, but her voice cracks, “Sorry. That caught me off guard.”

It caught her off guard, and she’s not going to tell me she feels the same. It was too fucking soon.

I drop my hand and face straight ahead. I clear my throat and punch the campus address into my GPS. Starting up the car, I pull back onto the road and keep driving. A feather light touch grazes my thigh, sending shivers up my spine, causing my heart to do backflips, and goosebumps trail down my leg.

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