Page 85 of Cherry Picking
“We’re so trying some of these positions.”
“Shut the damn book and go to sleep. You can be the big spoon.”
As I climb into bed, Griffin hooks his arms around my neck and pulls me down for a kiss. It’s soft. Slow. We end up naked and whispering each other’s names with our muted releases in a matter of minutes.
Still, he holds me close, exploring my skin with wandering fingers and turning my mouth into a playground for his lips.
We’re hanging on the precipice of doing this or not.
Of where our relationship goes from here.
But for tonight, we hold each other.
We make love again and again.
Because it feels like if we stop, we’ll have to face the dark cloud looming overhead.
Before we get lost in the storm, we need to build our boat.
Together.
CHAPTER 20
GRIFFIN
The airportat three in the morning on Christmas Day is surprisingly calm. There’s colorful lights lining the terminals, creating fun patterns on the tile.
I check my phone for what has to be the tenth time hoping for a text from my sister, but all I see are anxious check-ins from my boyfriend.
Is she there?
Is she okay?
Are you okay?
It’s been twenty minutes since the plane landed, holiday jingles playing overhead with garbled announcements breaking up the monotony. There’s a cookie shop just past the gates that’s been wafting some butterscotch chocolate mix that I’ll be bugging Riley about finding a recipe for. The thought of food makes my stomach grumble and churn all at once.
My leg bounces its nervous rhythm, and I can imagine Locke sitting beside me, clamping his hand over my knee at how mad it drives him. It’s a habit that won’t break until I can lay eyes on my sister and know she’s alright.
Ten more minutes pass before people start filtering out through the gates, but it feels like an eternity until I see Cam’s normally carefully braided pastel green hair pop into view looking like she got into a fight with a blow dryer.
As soon as she’s in arms reach, I pull her into a hug where she presses her damp face to my shoulder.
“You okay?” I ask, and she nods.
“I just needed my big brother.”
Cam is tall, nearly even with me in height, but the way she scrunches her shoulders and folds in on herself makes her appear smaller.
She sniffles and laughs, then steps back and adjusts the strap on her bag.
“I’m sorry for coming out here so late. Things just—they hit the shit, and I knew I could drive home, but the thought of going back to that apartment and hiding in my room so I didn’t have to explain the black eye to my roommates was overwhelming. I was going to book a hotel for the night, but I saw an open flight here, and?—”
Her shoulders droop, and her eyes remain downcast. “I knew you’d get it.”
Because I might be the only person in her immediate sphere who does.
“It’s fine. I’m here for you. Riley is even making you up a spot on the couch.”
