Page 56 of Wrecked Rose

I’d wanted to bust out of here and shout about it to anyone who’d listen. I’d wanted to pull Scarlett and Daph aside and tell them. I’d wanted so much.

And I’d gotten figuratively slapped down in return. I close my eyes, thinking. I can either storm out of here pissed as hell, or I can go with what Griff needs in this moment.

I’ve never had trouble knowing who I am and what I want. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have any clue what it’s like for him. Hell, I’ve held a lot of hands through this journey, and I get it. The insecurities. The questions. The confusion. So, I’ll do the only thing that feels right to me. I might not be completely happy right now, but I’ll walk this road with Griff and see where it takes us.

Because I’m not ready for this to be over when we’ve only just begun.

With a quick glance to make sure the door is closed, I reach for Griff, pulling him closer to me. I brush my lips over his and hold onto his slim hips. “That was uncomfortable. And I think we need to talk about it. But I don’t want it to overshadow how I felt when I watched you come apart with my mouth on you. Because the idea that you wanted to do that with me? The taste of you on my tongue? It was everything.”

Griff’s voice hitches as he stares into my eyes. “I have a lot I need to say to you. And I want you to know what we just did together was so fucking good for me that I almost passed out when I came. But if we don’t get outside right now, Beau is going to barge back in here and tell us to hurry the fuck up.” Pressing his lips to mine in a swift, hungry kiss, he groans, then whispers, “I really don’t want to walk back into the house with a hard-on, so I’m going to back away from you.”

My eyes are alight with amusement. “You think you have issues, I’m hoping jumping in the snow will help me out.” I palm my dick, adjusting myself while gritting my teeth.

And Griff, the bastard, he snorts with laughter. “Come on. Let’s do this.” He throws an arm over my shoulder as we walk across the garage. It’s companionable, I guess. Friendly. If anyone were to open that door and see us, they’d see two dudes and would probably assume we’re a little drunk, laughing and talking cars. As we open the door, Griff drops his arm, presumably to let me precede him into the house. But I know the truth. He’s ready to explore the possibility of something between us but not yet ready to share whatever we are to each other with the world.

Not that one blow job means much of anything, anyway. But with Griff—well, maybe I’m being an idiot, but I feel like it could be more than that. Knowing my mixed-up emotions are likely showing on my face, I ball them up and force them down deep.

In the living room, there are six other guys prepared to partake in whatever this final obnoxious snow day tradition entails. I can’t say I’ve ever been around when they’ve done this before. Eyeing the long coffee table, there are a couple dozen shots lined up—eight sets of three shots.Well, that’s a relief because I’m not certain I’d be able to jump into the snow sober.

At Aria’s urging, the group of us participating line up. She claps her hands for attention. “Okay, gentlemen. Just as we’ve always done, on the count of three, you’ll strip down to your underwear and leave your clothing with someone.”

My mouth drops open. Seeing my reaction, Scarlett snorts with laughter.

Aria gives me a saucy smirk before continuing. “Don’t forget who you give your shit to—that’s important later. Then, you’ll down your three shots and take a running jump into the snow. It’s got to be a full body immersion or it doesn’t count. Once you’ve done that, race back in. The last one back has to do a final shot and spend the rest of the evening in his skivvies looking for his clothing because if you’re the loser, you don’t deserve to have your clothes back right away.”

“What the hell did I get myself into?” I groan, regretting this already.

At my side, Griff snickers. “It’s all in good fun.” He sneaks me a little wink.

“Last year, Greg Smythe ran around for over an hour looking for his pants.” Beau slaps my shoulder like it’s the funniest thing ever. “Can’t wait to see what happens this year.”

“Notice he’s not here tonight,” Xander huffs out a laugh.

“Don’t be like Greg.” Micah shakes his head.

I cover my face with my hands and moan. “How the hell did I get roped into this?”

Daphne must have been in the bathroom or something because she hurries over to me and grabs at my arm, twisting me around to face her. “Holy shit, are you doing this with these boneheads, Max? Tell me you’re kidding.”

A snicker sounds from behind me and I turn to see Scarlett laughing her head off again. “Those boneheads are our boyfriends, Daph.”

Lyla nods, stifling her laughter as she rolls her eyes. “I hadnodoubt Beau would do it.”

Beau nudges me with his elbow. “Come on, Sutton, if you want to run with this crew, you gotta do it.”

Begrudgingly, I laugh. “Okay. Yep. I’m in.”

The noise level goes up in the house as the pandemonium of this silly game plays out. I tear out of my clothes down to my boxer briefs with the rest of the guys and hand mine off to Daphne, who also has Micah’s. Griff and Beau have both thrown theirs at Lyla.

Whatever is in the shot glasses is awful tasting, and the faces being pulled around the room by the participants in the shenanigans are hysterical. I’m sputtering with laughter as I down the third one and run for the door right behind Griff. We burst through the doorway and race across the patio together.

“Oh, fuck! Cold!” Griff shouts as he half jogs and half hops across the ice-cold pavers.

I’m more of the strong silent type so my curses are all pretty much internal, but holy fuck, he’s right. My feet feel like they are going to freeze off before we even hit the snow. Griff is a few paces in front of me and he takes a flying leap, twists and lands on his back in the snow.

I follow, landing right next to him. I shriek. There’s no other word for it, as embarrassing as it is. Micah, Beau, and Xander are right behind us, and soon there is a mad scramble to get up and head back to the house. We’re shivering and trembling, yet still grinning by the time we get inside. We’re rewarded with warm towels fresh from the dryer as we huddle together on the tarp that I’m guessing Darla has provided again. I wonder if she’s responsible for heating the towels for our antics, too. She’s something.

The other three guys who’d been crazy enough to do this with us are grappling in the snow, each trying to keep the other two from taking off back to the house. It’s fucking ridiculous. I can’t seem to wipe the grin off my face. This was too much fun.

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