Page 111 of You and Me, For Real
“Perfect. Then it’s a date.”
A “Woohoo!” comes from inside the house.
We laugh. He softly pecks my lips. “Enjoy the rest of your girls’ night. I’m sure we just gave you two plenty more to talk about. Sweet dreams.” He winks, squeezes my hand, and steps off the porch.
And with the sexiest, most skilled backward walk I’ve ever seen, he walks down Wren’s driveway toward his house next door, leaving me with the biggest, most ridiculous grin on my face.
The second I open the front door, Wren lets out a squeal. “That man is totally smitten with you—even when he saw you looking like Shrek. That’s true love right there.”
I chuckle and push her through the doorway. “Come on, crazy. You should get that mess off your face too before it becomes permanent.” I shut the door. “Exactly how much of that conversation did you hear?”
She speaks over her shoulder, heading toward the bathroom. “Oh, I heard the whole thing.” She holds her phone in the air. “Saw the whole thing, too. Griffin and Ashton kissing on a porch…” Her singing fades as she turns the corner, and I have to admit, her version of the song is probably the best I’ve ever heard.
Despite my embarrassment, my nerves buzz with excitement for our impending date. It can’t come fast enough.
31
GRIFFIN
Itug the blindfold further down Ashton’s nose. “I said no peeking, young lady.”
She giggles and grabs my hand, lacing it with hers. “I can’t help it. I’m so excited. Plus, I’m not very good with surprises.”
My lips curl upward. “You don’t say.”
From the moment we slipped into my car, and I placed the blindfold over her eyes, she’s bounced with giddiness like it’s Christmas morning. It’s charming. My ability to make her happy makes me happy. I’d give this woman the world if she let me. But for tonight, I hope to make just a sliver of her dreams come true.
I pull her hand to my lips and kiss it. “Patience is a virtue.”
“Yeah, yeah.” She leans toward me over the car’s console, rubbing her shoulder against mine, like a cat begging for attention. “Can you pleeeease give me a little hint?”
She nuzzles my neck in such a way that I’m tempted to pull the car over, but instead, I grip the steering wheel tighter. I’m anxious to get to our destination.
“Nope.”
The early evening breeze rifles through our hair as I hit the gas pedal. I picked Ashton up directly from work—wanting every ounce of this time with her. Luke’s on dog duty with Teddy and the pups at my place. It’s been almost a week since they’ve been staying with me and I don’t mind them in the least. Frankly, the puppies are hilarious. They’re little demon-diggers in my backyard, but then they just look at me with their big black eyes and all is forgiven.
Ashton and I have only seen each other for a couple of hours in the evenings before she heads back to Wren’s to sleep. While I appreciate our evenings of long chats, snuggling on my couch, and extensive make-out sessions, I’ve been dying to take her on a proper date. But I had to make all the arrangements first. And it wasn’t an easy secret to keep.
When she emerged from the shelter tonight, I pulled her into my arms—not wanting to let her go, yet eager to get our date started. I’d thrown some of her clothes in the back of my car for my little surprise adventure. I figured she would want to change before our date since it’s usually the first thing she does when she gets off work due to the excessive dog hair.
Her nuzzles turn into gentle kisses along my collarbone, distracting my driving yet again.
“Stop that, you greedy woman. Just wait. You’ll see with your own eyes in about five minutes.”
She whines, but retreats.
My body aches from the absence of her warmth and soft floral scent.
I glance over to see her lips pouting and laugh. “I promise it’ll be well worth it.”
She smiles fully then, and it’s not her shy, reserved smile. It’s her full-blown, mega-watt smile she saves for rare occasions. It’s my favorite. I never realized I could get such fulfillment from something other than my career. It’s freeing, and a relief, really.
I called my dad earlier this week and made it clear my personal life choices are mine, and mine alone, to make. He tried steamrolling me again, insisting such decisions would impact the future of my career. But I’m tired of my career controlling my entire life. I want to be allowed to live a life of my own—one not dictated by my careerormy dad.
If the public wants to love me, they’ll have to love me for the work I do on-screen. Off-screen is off-limits and not up for discussion. While I’m determined in my resolve, the delivery of that speech to my dad came out a bit messy, but he got the gist. At least, instead of hanging up without saying goodbye, he said, “It’s your life to screw up.”
Progress.
