Page 52 of Wrecked Rose

“Guys?” The sound of footsteps on the stairs is jarring.

My heart trips.

“It’s just Lyla,” Griff murmurs against my mouth.

Surprised at his relaxed attitude, I pull back and ask, “Does she—”

He nods. “Yes. But she’s the only one who knows.”

Not wanting there to be secrets between us, I quickly admit, “Scar and Daph know I’m into you. And after today, they are questioning whether there’s something on your end, too. I didn’t admit they were right, but—”

And because I’m still touching him, I feel the wince.

He inhales quickly. “Okay. I guess I wasn’t hiding things very well today. I guess I’m just—” His jaw tenses.

My teeth sink into my lower lip. “Look, they’re our friends. It’ll be awfully hard to hide this if we’re going where I think we are.”

“Guys? Where are you?” From the sound of it, Lyla has passed the room we’re in and wandered further down the hall.

“This feels like a big deal,” Griff whispers.

“I know. I’ll let you lead.” I press a final kiss to his lips and give his hand a gentle squeeze, keeping us linked, but release my hold on his neck. “We’re in here, Lyla.”

She wanders in, and immediately sees Griff’s hand in mine. With a soundless scream, she slaps her hands over her mouth, after which, she does a bouncy little run in place as her eyes widen. “Oh man. I’m so excited,” she hisses quietly.

Griff holds up a finger. “Just remember. You promised.”

She nods her head so quickly I’m surprised it doesn’t snap right off her neck. “I got it. Mum’s the word.” She presses a hand to her chest and looks up at us with astonished eyes. “But guys, what does this even mean?”

I look at Griff and he looks at me. We both shrug. “We have no idea.”

Chapter 32

Griff

Ithink … I think I just admitted to Max that I’m very curious what it would be like to be with him—that I want to see where things could go between us. That I like him enough to begin exploring all these feelings and desires raging inside of me, clawing to escape.

I sneak a glance at him as we walk down the stairs side by side, and it dawns on me that this isn’t different than dating a girl for the first time. It’s going to take some time to see if we’re as compatible as I think we are. One thing is for sure—so far, the physical chemistry is off the charts.

What I know about him makes me want to know more. So maybe we’ll take things slow, because I have no idea what I’m doing. I have a feeling I’ll forever be frustrated and wondering if I don’t at least give this a shot.

Down in the kitchen, everyone else is already gathered around the island with their mugs of cocoa. Darla presents the last two to us as we walk in. She wipes her hands on an apron, then smiles brightly at the whole group. “I’ve put what I felt needed to be dried into the dryer upstairs for you. Unless you mind getting them out on your own, I’m going to head up to my rooms to get out of your way for the evening.” She pulls the apron over her head and throws it onto her shoulder.

With a round of thank-yous for both the hot cocoa and her assistance drying our things, she nods and takes off up the back stairwell.

I completely surprise myself when I sit down on a stool next to Max. On purpose. And then surprise myself once more when I ask, “How’s your friend doing?”

Max takes a sip of his drink before turning his head. “Sam? He’s going to be okay. He’s all healed up from what they did to him. On the outside, anyway.” He shrugs. “There are a lot of assholes out there, you know?”

I take a deep breath. I do know this. And I wonder if I won’t be finding out firsthand what dickheads some of the guys on my team are. But I’m no freshman, and if they want to mess with me, they can certainly try. It could get pretty crazy if I’m about to do what I think I am. I’m going to have to steel myself against all the bullshit as I help Max figure out who else was involved.

With that thought in mind, I clear my throat before saying, “Our preseason meeting for baseball is coming up. I wanted you to know I’ll definitely be paying attention.” I bite the corner of my lip and meet his gaze.

Aria, who is standing across the island from us, waves her hand, grabbing our attention. “Are we talking about that freshman that got the piss beaten out of him?”

I nod. “Yeah. Max says the kid knows who attacked him, but was too scared to say more than that they’re on the baseball team.”

Lyla places a hand on my arm. She knows I’m still processing everything and has been my rock these last few days. “You’re going to try to find out who they are?” She winces a bit. I get it. She’s starting to realize that things could turn shitty for me really quickly, depending on what I decide I want.

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