Page 47 of Under One Roof

I don’t know how he’s talking, yet I want him to keep going. It’s the only thing keeping me alive at this point.

“You had on tiny little shorts and a white shirt. No bra. You were wet from the rain, and all I could see were your nipples, those hard little peaks. I dream of them at night. Touching them. Sucking on them.”

I gasp my next breath, and next to us, Marybeth’s voice rings out from the bullhorn. “One minute!”

“Are you thinking about that now?” Griffin asks, tightening his arms around me. “Me sucking on your tits. Making them red and shiny?”

“Oh shit,” I mutter, and he huffs in my ear.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

I nod. I’m delirious. From him. From the cold. From the blood loss in my brain.

“Can you do ten more seconds?” he asks, and I nod again.

I’d agree to anything he wanted at this point.

“You’re so good,” he praises. “So fucking perfect.” He lifts his wrist to show me his military watch, counting down in my ear. “Nine… Eight…”

Each second is a battle, the cold biting into my skin, my teeth chattering uncontrollably. But there’s a fire burning inside me, a heat that has nothing to do with the temperature and everything to do with the man holding me.

“Three… Two… One.” When Griffin releases his arms from around me, I shoot up, wrapping myself around him like a koala as soon as he stands. The crowd laughs, but I can’t bring myself to care, not when I’m shivering so hard, it feels like my teeth might shatter.

As Marybeth announces that our time is one minute and twenty-four seconds, Griffin steps out of the tub easily, as if I’m not clinging to him. Someone throws him a towel, and he wraps it around me, rubbing his hands up and down my back, creating friction and warmth. I bury my face in his neck, my lips brushing against his cool skin.

Eventually, my shivering subsides enough for me to release my death grip on him, and he wraps a towel around his own waist, then turns back to me, concern etched on his face. “You okay?”

I nod, managing a small smile. “Yeah, I think so.”

“You did so good, sweetheart.”

I melt faster than the loose pieces of ice on the floor and lean into his side. He wraps his arm around me just as the twins run up excitedly.

“Aunt Taryn said we can sleep over tonight,” Grace tells us.

“And Jake said I could play GTA with him,” Logan adds.

Griffin and I both swing our gazes to Taryn, who’s standing with Jake and Maddie, smirking.

She knows. About Griffin and me.

And she’s gifting us a night alone. Without the kids.

Griffin clears his throat then turns back to the twins. “Okay. Be good.” He touches each of their heads. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” they both chirp and then, to my utter delight, throw themselves at me for hugs.

I squeeze each of them. “See you tomorrow.”

They run off back to Taryn, who waves at us. Ian takes his leave, too, with a knowing salute in our direction.

Then it’s just Griffin and me and a whole night ahead of us.

“You ready to get out of here?” he asks, and I am breathless with anticipation, barely able to get the one syllable out.

“Yes.”

Chapter16

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