Page 23 of Property of Grifter
I feel some of the tension leave me.I didn’t have it right.Georgia isn’t angry.Hell, no.She’s fucking livid and it’s a beautiful sight to behold.I may have thought my woman would have trouble fitting into my world, but seeing her anger on display, I know I was wrong.A woman with this much fire will carve her place any fucking where she pleases.
“Baby—”
She turns her attention to the two women beside us.“What do you guys think?You want to have sex with my date?He’s completely fucking insane, but if you get past that he’s not bad to look at.
I start to laugh, but then I realize what she just said, and it pisses me off.“I’m not having sex with another woman, Georgia,” I snap.
“Why?Are you wanting to …” She stops, her brow crinkling.“How did you put it, Grifter?Doyouhit for the other team?”
“Griff or Griffin.Never Grifter, Georgia.Not to you.”
“Fuck you,” she huffs and Christ, I don’t know for sure, but I figure that might be the first time that word left her lips, but I know right now that I want to hear it again…
She stands up and when I go to do the same, she picks up her water glass and dumps it on my head.“Don’t get up.Look around for a new partner.I’m done here.I’ll call a damn taxi.”She stomps away and for a second all I can do is watch her.Then, I get up, throw way too much money on the table and follow my very pissed-off date.
11GEORGIA
I don’t thinkI’ve ever been so mad in my life.I want to kill Griffin and maybe choke my grandmother.I know everyone is staring at me and although tears are stinging my eyes, I refuse to let them fall.The last thing I want to do is add falling apart in public to this mess of a night.I don’t know what I was thinking.I am not that girl—the one that can have a normal date with a guy I like.No, it has to explode just like everything else I touch.
When I make it out into the parking lot, I realize I don’t even have my cellphone with me.I didn’t bring my clutch at all.I left it on the table by the door at Nana’s.Shit.I’ll just walk home.Sure, we drove out of town, but I’m mad enough that I can make it there on pure anger alone.I barely make it ten feet when I hear him.
“Where are you going?My bike is back this way.”I don’t answer him, I just keep walking.“Damn it, Georgia,” he mutters and now I can feel his presence behind me.I increase my speed, but I know it’s futile.“Baby, stop,” he pleads and the tight control I had, completely snaps.
“Don’t you dare call me baby like you care,” I yell at him, tears now running unchecked down my face.
“Georgia—”
“I knew it!I knew you were crazy.I knew going out with you would end up bad.I tried to tell Nana.I don’t even know why I agreed to go tonight.Maybe I just wanted to believe Nana was right and there’d be a man out there who could really care for me—all of me.”
“Baby, please.I do care,” he says, but his words just add to my pain.
“Maybe I just wanted to be fucking normal for once,” I huff, rubbing at my tears with the back of my hand and hating it—hating everything.
“You are normal!”he barks, sounding as angry as I am.
“Oh yeah?You’re technically my first real date and you propositioned one of the restaurant staff for a freaking threesome!How is that normal?”
“I did it to prove a damn point!”
“What point was that, Grifter?That you’re an asshole?You can rest easy then.You proved that big time!”
“I wanted to show you how sexy and desirable you are, woman,” he grumbles.
I look at him like he’s crazy and honestly, at this point, I think he is.“Can you even hear yourself?Do the women you’ve had in your life actually feel sexy when the man they want offers to share her with someone else?”
He scrubs his face, and I get a sick feeling in my stomach that somehow radiates to my heart.“My life is all about my club, sweetheart.Sharing women is fairly normal when it comes to the club girls.”
“You … Have you?”I can’t get my question out, but I see the answer on his face.“Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick,” I mumble, pulling away from him again.I don’t want to be near him.I can’t handle that right now.I barely make it a few steps before he’s grabbing me again.
“You can’t judge me from my past, Georgie, baby.I understand why you want to, but you can’t.I’ve never felt like I do when it comes to you.Nothing in my past matters.Fuck, baby, you’re all that matters to me.”I try to pull away from him, but his hold is strong and uncompromising.I finally give up and all but sob in his arms.“I know I fucked this all up, but Jesus, I’ve never had these feelings before.I’m trying to navigate it, but you have to understand this is all new to me, too.I asked with the best of intentions.Once he told you how beautiful you were, I was going to tell him to fuck off and never look at my woman again, but he kept staring at your tits and legs and I mostly wanted to kill him.I think it’s safe to say I’m not sane when it comes to you, sweetheart.I’m just not.”
I turn in his arms, mostly because he refuses to let me go.“You can’t say that.It’s only been one day,” I whine, because his words would mean the world.If I believed them.
“It doesn’t matter how long it’s been.I know nothing is going to change.”
“You hurt me, Griffin.”
His eyes close and he leans his head down to press against my forehead.“I’m so sorry.I promise I’ll be more careful from here out.I may still fuck up, but I’ll never pull this shit again.I don’t want another man around you.I want you with me—just you.”
