“No, you’re not. You are ten times the man your father ever was. He has no power over you anymore. I’ll be right beside you.” I reach over and squeeze his hand. When I move to pull it back, he links his fingers through mine and grips it tighter.
“He’s going to be a dick. He’s going to say stuff just to hurt me and embarrass you. He’ll try to drive a wedge between us, and he won’t think twice about lying and making up bullshit stories to question my loyalty to you.”
“Griff, you have nothing to worry about. I’m loyal to you, and I know you’re loyal to me. Let him play his fucking games. He can’t win.”
He leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips, lingering for a moment or two before he sighs and pulls back.
“Let’s get this over with. Hunter will be losing his shit until I call him and let him know I’m okay.”
“He worries about you. Nothing wrong with that.”
“I know, it’s just…” He looks away for a moment before turning back to me with a look of uncertainty on his face.
“He was always the one to clean me up. I feel like he’s spent half of his life picking up the pieces of my life and holding them together for me. What do I bring to this relationship?”
“You mean besides a big dick and an awesome girlfriend?”
He laughs at that, shaking his head.
“Griff, the man loves you. It’s so easy to read on his face that I want to smack myself silly for missing it all this time. Looking after you makes him feel good. It’s in his nature. Some people are born badasses like me,” I tease, making him roll his eyes.
“And some people are born natural protectors. Nothing is making him stay with you. He has the means and opportunity to walk away at any second, but he won’t because, for him, there is nowhere he’d rather be than right by your side.”
“And you’re okay with that?” he asks hesitantly.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m happy knowing there is someone out there watching your back, loving you hard, treating you like a fucking king. How could I not want that after everything? As for me and Hunter?” I shrug, pulling the door handle so the door pops open.
“We don’t have what you two do, but we don’t share the same history either. We are just starting out, but there is potential there. I feel it when I’m around him and I know he does, too. Actually, I’m not sure I’m the expert here. I’m still trying to process his about-face. He’s known a lot longer that he has feelings for me. I just thought he was a dick. What we do have, though, is something in common that binds us in a way I couldn’t have understood before.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“We both love the same man.” I smile before climbing out of the car.
I close the door and turn to face him as he climbs out and walks around the car toward me.
“I cannot believe you just said that shit here where I can’t bend you over and fuck you,” he growls, pinning me against the car.
“Something to keep you going while we’re in there. Keep your shit together and I’ll let you pull over on the way home and have your wicked way with me.”
“Promise?”
“Oh, yeah.” I wink.
Taking my hand in his, he walks us to the main entrance, where we wait for a guard to let us in and direct us to follow him.
We walk quietly hand in hand. His thoughts, no doubt, on the man we’re about to face.
Mine are on the men I’ve left behind and what I’ll have to face when I return.