Page 49 of Cherry Picking
“Answer me this, Easton.” Griffin leans a knee on the bed between my legs and reaches down to pull his shirt over his head. “Do you want to be with me?”
My eyes trail the ridges of muscle along his abdomen but bounce to meet his as I shift focus. “Of course I do.”
He kicks his shoes off and shoves his pants down, leaving him in nothing but his favorite navy blue jock that cradles his cock and balls just right. We’ve been touching and kissing each other for the last twenty minutes, and there’s a fuzzy line between Horny Riley and Emotionally Attentive Riley.
“I need you to give me something,” he says, moving to plant his knees on either side of my hips, resting his weight on my pelvis and his hands on my chest. “You have everything, Riley. Every piece of me. All of the control in where this relationship goes. We’ve been at a standstill foryears.”
His voice cracks as he slips his hands under my shirt and shucks it off. He raises up to pick at the band of my sweats, but he doesn’t remove them.
“I don’t need all of you. I don’t need more than you’re willing to give. But I need you to be willing to give me something.”
“What do you need?”
The velvet touch of his fingertips dragging down my chest and plucking at the hair there makes my stomach swirl.
“I need you to be a part of my life I can share. Not with the world. But with my parents. My sister. My friends. I need us to move beyond a secret fling that’s outlasted its expiration. This isn’t a fling. This isn’t hooking up. I’m in love with you, Riley Easton, and I need to know you’re in this with me.”
He’s not asking me this time. He’s telling me.
“Give me something, Riley. Tell me I’m not in this alone.”
You aren’t. I’m here. I’m always here.
Every time I try to open my mouth, though, it’s like I’m trapped by my own mind.
I prop myself up with one hand and grip onto the back of Griff’s neck with the other, and he willingly goes down until our foreheads touch.
“I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything,” I say through breathless lungs, through my raging heartbeat. “More than Matty. More than hockey. This connection with you is everything.”
Yet, I still can’t push out those three little words.
He’s right, though. He deserves more than my promise. More than flowery language. I need to give him proof. Something tangible.
“Christmas,” I whisper, and his eyebrows crease. “Come home with me for Christmas.”
His eyes widen, and he pushes me flat on the bed with his face hovering over mine. “Like meet your parents? And your brother?”
Two years together and other than seeing them at the occasional game or after dinner celebration, we’ve never meteach other’s families. I’ve heard about Griff’s dad, but he doesn’t come to games or call often. I’ve met his sister once or twice when she comes down for the holidays, but that’s it.
“Would they know who I am?”
Would they know what I mean to you?
“They’ve suspected. In the past. But I’ve never outright told them.”
He isn’t saying anything, and I close my eyes because I don’t want to see the inevitable hurt on his face.
“It doesn’t have to be a secret, but I’m not sure I can say the words.”
“What if I say them for you?”
My eyes fly open, and I’m met with Griff’s soft smile. “Hi, I’m Griffin. I’m Riley’s boyfriend.”
My chest swells at hearing those words from his mouth, at the joy reflecting in his eyes from saying them.
“I don’t need everything,” he says, the tip of his nose touching my cheek. “Just something.”
He kisses me then. A gentle press of his lips to mine, and then he’s sitting up fully on my lap and reaching behind him.
