Page 17 of Instant Heat
Once they reached me, both of my friends pulled me in for a hug."You know we love you, right?"
Wrapping my arms around them, I smiled into the space between their shoulders."I do."
After we said our goodbyes, I began tidying up the living room. It annoyed me that even while doing these mundane things my mind kept drifting to Griffin.
What was he doing?
More importantly, who was he doing it with?
At that thought, an old memory popped into my head, demanding to be in the light. Thatch and I had been in the middle of a heated argument shortly after I'd met Rob; he'd accused me of being blind and falling too hard too fast.
Maybe he was on to something?
"The girls left?"
The pizza box and napkins that I had in my hands went flying at the suddenness of my brother's voice. Clutching at my chest, I glared at him."What the hell, you big buffoon! My damn heart."
"What?"
My hands moved to my hips."Don't what me, and don't pretend that you don't know they're gone."
He didn't even bother denying it, simply pulled his shoulders into a shrug.
"What did you do to Brie, anyway?" I asked while I picked the trash up again.
"Me?" I could've sworn Thatch's voice went up an octave."Did she say something?"
I paused mid-bend and side-eyed my brother, who was looking just a little twitchy. Now I knew something was up with the two of them. Slowly straightening, my gaze never left him."Thatch?"
His Adam's apple bobbed up and down before his strained sentence reached my ears."Nothing happened, okay?" The words had barely left his lips before he turned and stomped off.
I found him in the kitchen a few minutes later, staring into a mug of coffee as if it held the answer to the world's troubles. Sliding onto the stool next to him, I put my hand on his arm."If you like her this much, why don't you just tell her?"
The big idiot looked at me as if the words coming out of my mouth were some foreign dialect."Stay out of it, Rae," he finally gritted out.
"I'm just trying to help."
Thatch took a good swallow of coffee before he turned to face me. Leaning forward, he made sure we were at eye level."Your meddling is neither asked for nor wanted."
Wordlessly and without blinking, I stared at him until I couldn't hold it anymore. Laughter spilled from my lips and didn't stop coming until my ribs ached."Is that supposed to scare me? Haven't you learned that I'm not intimidated by you, you big dummy."
Jumping out of his seat, Thatcher grumbled something under his breath as he stalked off to lick his wounds. I was about to hurry after him when my phone vibrated from my back pocket. Unlocking it, I fully expected to find a teasing message from Brie or Lacy.
It wasn't.
Unknown Number:Hi
I stared at the phone for a second, just as I moved to pressdeleteanother text popped up.
Unknown Number:I should probably have said it's Griffin *smiley face emoji*
9
GRIFFIN
I stared at me phone, willing those three dots to start jumping. When they finally did, a breath I had no idea I was holding, left me lungs in one big whoosh. It was pathetic really.
You'd think I'd never texted a woman before.
