Page 95 of The Goat in the Bedroom
“We're never going to have privacy again, are we?” Artie asked, but she was smiling.
“Probably not. Is that okay?”
“As long as I have you? Everything's okay.”
“That was cheesy.”
“You're cheesy.”
“Your face is cheesy.”
“Say it again.”
I didn't pretend I didn't know what she meant. I wanted to say it again, and a million more times. “I love you, Artemis.”
“I love you too, Gryffen.”
We lay there, finally together, finally honest, finally home. Tomorrow we'd have to face our friends' told-you-so's and figure out what this meant for everything else. But tonight?
Tonight was ours.
And it was perfect.
IDIOTS IN LOVE
ARTEMIS
Gryff and I stayed up almost all night just talking and laughing and kissing. It was the perfect night, even though we didn’t do anything more than that. I honestly thought it was so incredibly sweet that he wanted us to date and do all the girlfriend-boyfriend things first.
At some point we must have fallen asleep, and I swear it was mid-deep conversation, because I woke up still wrapped in Gryff's arms. Our legs were tangled together, we were fully clothed and holding each other like we might disappear if we let go. For a moment, I kept my eyes closed, afraid that if I opened them, it would all have been a dream.
My body felt different. Aware in new ways, the slight beard burn on my neck, the tender spot where Gryff had sucked a mark just below my collarbone, the pleasant ache in my lips from hours of kissing.
Six years of careful distance, and now I knew exactly how much pressure Gryff liked when you bit his bottom lip, how he made this tiny gasping sound when you traced your fingers along his ribs, how his hands shook when he was trying to go slow.
“I can feel you overthinking,” Gryff's voice rumbled against my hair, and god, I'd heard his morning voice thousands of times but never like this, never with his lips pressed against my temple.
“How do you know I'm awake?”
“Your breathing changed. Plus you're doing that thing where you scrunch your nose when you're thinking too hard.”
I opened my eyes to find him watching me with so much affection it made my chest tight. This was Gryff looking at me without having to hide it, without having to mask it as friendship. The difference was devastating.
Vincent and Holly were at the foot of the bed, looking extremely pleased with themselves.
“I think they're taking credit,” I said.
“They should. They're smarter than us.”
“Everyone's smarter than us. We took six years to figure this out.”
“Six years, two months, and twelve days,” Gryff corrected, his fingers tracing patterns on my arm. “But who's counting?”
“You were counting?”
“Since the day you walked into gym class.” His voice went soft, vulnerable.
My throat went tight. All those years, he'd been counting.
