Griffin trailed his fingers down the side of my neck, tracing invisible patterns across my skin. “You showed me how much I was missing by locking myself away from the world. You showed me that I could trust you with anything. But you’ve been showing me that from the first day I met you. In your kindness. Your care. How damn selfless you are. Everything I see in you challenges me to do better. Be better. To not run away from life because I was hurt in the past. I want this with you. I don’t know for sure where it will lead. But I want to find out.”

He was asking. Would I go there with him? Could I take that risk? There was only one answer. “Yes.”

With that word, Griffin moved in again, but a voice cut through the night. “Caelyn? You out there?” Will called. “Mia needs you.”

“Be right there,” I called back, disappointment flaring bright and strong.

Griffin’s forehead fell to mine, and we stayed just like that for one more stolen moment. And I couldn’t help but wish that moment would last a lifetime.

34

Griffin

I groaned as I took the first pull of my coffee. If there had been a way to inject the caffeine directly into my veins, I would’ve done it. Usually, my nightmares left me blurry-eyed the next morning. But last night it had been the feel of Caelyn’s lips and the taste of her skin that had haunted me.

All I could think about was that she was only a few rooms away. How easy it would be to cross the distance and slip into her bed. Then I’d remind myself that her siblings occupied the room across the hall and next to her. Not a smart move.

I grinned down at my coffee. She’d said yes to exploring this thing between us. Mia’s nightmare had meant we hadn’t progressed much further than that. But we had all the time in the world ahead of us.

I listened carefully. I didn’t hear anything at first. And then I caught some laughter coming from the backyard. I moved towards the sound.

Opening the back door, I found the entire O’Connor clan doing some sort of yoga practice. The kids seemed to follow Caelyn as she flowed from one position to another. Even Will moved through it with ease.

I sucked in a sharp breath as Caelyn bent at the waist, her spandex-covered ass pointing directly at me. Suddenly, I didn’t need that shot of caffeine anymore. I was wide-awake.

“Hey, Griffin. You’ve got a little drool there.”

I gave a small jerk at Will’s voice, my coffee sloshing out of my mug and running down my hand. I glared in his direction, which only made Will laugh. Caelyn stood, turning to face me and suddenly seeming just a bit shy. “Morning.”