Page 96 of Lessons in Heartbreak

I nodded, pulling my head back to smile up at him. He hummed, tracing his thumb under my bottom lip. “Good girl.”

A delicate shiver racked my frame, and his mouth widened in a grin.

Before he could tease me about a praise kink—Lord, what straight-A student didn’t have one of those—I pushed up on the balls of my feet and sealed my mouth over his. He took control of the kissimmediately, angling my head with a simple press of his hand under my jaw, his tongue slicking over mine as he let out a low, decadent groan.

Griffin pulled back, sneaking one more quick kiss, laughing quietly when my mouth followed his. “A kiss and some good press. Any other birthday surprises, baby?”

I pushed a smile onto my face and adopted a light tone. “I thought of asking you to give me a step-by-step tutorial in fellatio.” I laid my hand carefully on his chest, and the flare of heat in his eyes melted every bit of tension I’d been holding in my body. “I’m a very good student,” I whispered, giving an innocent flutter of my eyelashes.

“Yeah?” he murmured. “Feeling eager, are you?”

“A little. Though I’m not sure my gag reflex is adequately prepared. You’re quite the overachiever in the size department,” I said. After a low chuckle, Griffin leaned down and placed a light kiss across my lips, and my eyes fell closed.

“You are so good for my ego, birdy.” His hand, which had been resting on my backside, snapped against my leggings in a sharp smack. “Let’s finish cleaning up first; then we can talk about who owes who the next orgasm.”

“Oh hell yeah, I’m right on time,” Marcus crowed from the doorway. “Who’s giving out orgasms?”

Griffin rolled his eyes. “You have the worst timing known to man.”

Marcus held up his hands, each clutching an expensive-looking bottle of amber-colored alcohol. “On the contrary, I was blessed with a sixth sense of when my presence is absolutely vital.”

Griffin gave a wry quirk to his eyebrow and backed away. I tried not to pout. With an amused tilt to his mouth, he turned to face his friend. “I thought you were Lauren’s problem now.”

Marcus sighed happily. “I am. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’s never getting rid of me.”

“Oh boy,” I muttered. “Can’t wait to see how that plays out. She said she’s never getting married again.”

Marcus set the bottles down onto the island. “Who said anything about getting married? I’ll just travel up here weekly to slake her unquenchable sexual desires. That woman can use me for the rest of her life if she wants to.”

Griffin and I traded a look. “What does she do to you, exactly?” I asked cautiously.

Marcus patted my head. “Nothing I can talk about in polite company, birdy.”

“Hey, that’s my nickname for her.” Griffin sounded so annoyed that I couldn’t help but smile.

Marcus ignored him, tapping out a message and then tucking his phone away. “We have two hours, buddy.”

“Before what?”

“Before your birthday party,” Marcus replied. “A bunch of the guys are coming up. You told me I could invite them.”

Griffin’s eyes pinched shut. “Fucking fuck, I didn’t think you’d actually do it.”

“Oh yeah. DJ should be here in about an hour.” He spread his hands out, narrowing his eyes as he stared into the family room. “We move those couches to the side, get rid of the coffee table, there’s plenty of room for dancing.”

“What? No. No DJ. No dance party. If you turn Steven’s house into a club, he’ll never forgive you.”

“Please. This entire trip is an exercise in how far we can push that man before he finally drags his ass here from LA to stop us.”

“I don’t know,” Griffin hedged. “I heard stories about that party you threw after the big game last year.”

“Fucking epic,” he said. “It won’t be nearly that big. About half a dozen guys from the team.” Then he grimaced. “And a couple girls.”

“Marcus.”

He held up his hands. “Girlfriends. A fiancée. Maybe even a wife. How crazy can the party get if we have a wife here?”

“But iftheybring friends?” Griffin asked.

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