46

Of course, he’d show up now, after Luna must have left. The anger inside me at what they might have done put me in a combative mood.
When he stepped into the living room, I somehow prevented myself from getting up and running toward him. He looked fresh with his hair gelled to the side and his maroon shirt fitting him like a second skin. He placed his hands in his jeans pockets as he scanned me from head to toe.
My body warmed.
“Hey, you,” he drawled as he sauntered over to me. “A little birdie told me that you were staying home today.”
“I know that little birdie wouldn’t be Killian.” It had to be one of the guards. “He’s pissed at you.”
“Oh?” He looked amused. “How come?”
I sat up, surprised at his cavalier attitude. “Because I told him that we kissed.”
He shrugged and sat next to me, throwing his arm over my shoulders. “I’m thinking there is more to the story between you and Killian.”
“Are you trying to be funny?” I scooted away from him, needing him not to touch me. I lost my mind that way. “As far as you know, he and I are dating.” I wanted to see how he reacted to my words.
He smirked. “I don’t think that you really are. I would even go as far as to say you two view each other more like siblings than anything.”
“What?” I said in a way too high-pitched voice. “I don’t have to explain anything to you.” Shit, why would he say that? Were we not convincing? “Besides, it’s not just Killian that’s part of this equation. Speaking of which, how is Luna?”
“Probably hungover as hell.” He laughed. “Her dad was not pleased. He called me, apologizing profusely when she got home.”
“Well, I’m sure she made up for the inconvenience she caused you many times over.” I crossed my arms and turned my head, cheeks burning, refusing to meet his eyes. I didn’t want to see what was reflecting back at me.
“What are you talking about?” He sounded bewildered. “When I left here, I dropped her off at her house and immediately left.”
My heart leaped with joy, and I told it to sit the hell down. I wasn’t going to fall for the innocentplayboy act. I stood, needing to get away from him, but he grabbed my waist and brought me down beside him, the tug pulling us together.
“I asked you a question,” he rasped.
“She’s your girlfriend.” I inhaled sharply, trying to keep my act together. I wanted to explore things with him-I couldn’t help but want to be with my fated mate-but not while he was with someone else. “It’s fine. But you shouldn’t be here with me alone.”
“Why the hell would you think she’s my girlfriend?” he asked as he cupped my face and turned me to look at him.
I expected to see malice, contempt, or something, but instead, I found concern. His eyes were tender, and the cocky man I’d met that day in the coffee shop appeared to be gone.
“Because she told me that, during those weeks when you were gone, you’d been spending them with her.” That conversation had devastated me, even though I didn’t like to admit it. “That she’d been able to get you to settle down sooner than she expected.”
“Are you fucking serious?” he snarled. “She’s such a bitch. Killian had her pegged all along.”
“So you aren’t together?” I wanted to take that back because the answer was way too important to me. But there it was, hanging out there for him to answer and potentially to break me.
He smiled. “No, but she did have part of that right.” He leaned so his lips hovered over mine.
“For the first time ever, I do want to settle down.”
My heart raced, and butterflies took flight in my stomach. “That’s funny, after all I’ve heard about you.”
“Oh, everything you heard is true, but this silver-haired girl walked into my life, turning everything upside down.” He brushed his lips against mine. “The first time I met her, she challenged me, infuriated me, and was so damn alluring. The first moment I laid eyes on her and she cut through all my bullshit, I was a goner.”
“You expect me to believe that?” My head didn’t believe him, but my heart and wolf did. The awful stench of a lie was missing. My wolf whimpered, wanting to get closer. “You fought with me constantly and disappeared until last night. You didn’t even come into the shop.”
“When I lost my dad, it was the worst day of my entire life,” he said as he took my hand. “And I swore I would never grow close to anyone else again. But then you came here, and not only did I care for you, but I fell for you so damn hard that the thought of losing you makes me insane.”
Happiness surged through me stealing my breath. I never thought I’d even feel a fraction of this ever again, but that was the kind of effect this man had on me.
“So you ran?” He and I were more alike than I’d thought.
“Yeah, but every day, the urge to see you again got stronger and stronger. Watching you with Killian would have killed me.” He turned his body fully toward me. “But yesterday, I couldn’t stay away any longer. It was like something pulled me back here in the nick of time. I’d only been home a few minutes before something told me you were outside. And there you were, running away.” “Griffin-” I started, but he placed a finger over my lips.
“Please let me get this out.” His irises darkened to a brown.
I nodded, wanting to hear what he had to say.
“Between you confiding your secret to me and Luna trying to hurt you, I knew my heart was done for. That I would have to watch you with Killian, from the sidelines.” He rubbed his thumb against my wrist. “But then I came into the house to help you get shifted back and realized that, not only are you sleeping in Olive’s room alone, but you don’t love Killian in the way I feared you did, and I didn’t need to worry about betraying my best friend any longer. You are fair game.”