Page 36 of Cakewalk
Chapter 14
Jade
“So!”Griffin said as we escaped into the open air again. “At least you two seem to be on speaking terms again. Mission accomplished?”
“Iguess!But she’s probably only talking to me because she wants front row seats to the shitshow.” I sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of my nose. “She thinks we’re dating too. What if she tells people? I mean, I guess she was never the type to spread gossip, only eat it up. But still.”
Griffin shrugged. “If everyone thinks we’re dating, then I guess we’ll just have to date, anyway.”
I wagged a finger at him. “Nuh uh. Besides, somehow my sister and parents don’t suspect a thing.”
That was the real sticking point, if I had to be honest.
“It’s probably for the best anyhow,” Griffin said longingly. “Sounds like I’m going to get torched at this town hall meeting. Maybe wear something fireproof?”
“Oh, I’ve already been taking precautions.”Mainly because your smile sets my panties on fire.“So now that freaking Madison brought it up, are you going to ask about my last boyfriend?”
“Not as long as you don’t ask about mine.”
“Ha!”
“Just kidding. I’m an open book if you want me to be.”
“Then tell me about it.”
“Well, all the women I’ve been with… those relationships were never anything significant. Maybe the last one I thought would go somewhere, but she ditched me the second I was convicted.”
“Ugh. Sorry.”
Griffin shrugged. “It was only fair. I got as much effort as I put in, which I realized after the fact wasn’t much. All those years in prison made me fix my priorities. It wasn’t just her; almost all my friends, all my colleagues abandoned me too. Not so much as a phone call or a letter.”
“That must’ve been hard. And lonely.”
Griffin nodded. “It was. But maybe it was all for the better. I’m going to forge stronger relationships this time around. Maybe make things easier the next time my father throws me under the bus.” He was trying to make a joke, but I could tell he was covering up a deep wound that hadn’t yet healed.
“What about your mother? And do you have any siblings?”
Griffin ran a hand through his hair, for want of anything to do besides answering that question. “No siblings. My mother lives on the other side of the country with a new family. She’s more of an absent parent than my dad was. He might be an asshole, but at least he was there when I was growing up.”
“That… sucks.” I didn’t know what else to say. Here I thought maybe a handsome and charming guy like him had some sort of social network to fall back on. “My sister’s overbearing, and my parents are kinda off in their own world, but that’s a lot better than the hand you were dealt. I’m sorry.” I put a hand on his shoulder, but I wanted to do so much more than that. Kiss him, for one.
He put his hand over mine, and my skin tingled at his warmth. “Thank you. It’s fine. I’m trying to focus on what I do have. And I’ve got the means to do some good, maybe balance out all the bad.”
We let that hang in the air for a moment, then he nudged me with an elbow. “So. Your turn. What was so epic about this breakup that Madison’s still bringing it up?”
Guess I wasn’t getting out of that one. “Let’s walk. Madison’s gonna think we’re creeping on her if we keep standing here.”
We started strolling as I tried to think of some place to begin. “I don’t know. I got together with him in ninth grade, my first real boyfriend, and only one. I was such an awkward dork most of my childhood that I was like the wrong end of a magnet to most boys. We were partnered up in one science class. He seemed to think I was kinda cute. I thought he was really cute, and it went from there.”
“Until it didn’t.”
“Yeah. It was like something out of a bad movie. Years later, prom night, I caught him with some other girl. And here I thought I had found the one. To make matters worse, he posted pictures of me all alone at the dance. He worked at the school newspaper and had access to the school’s social media accounts. Guess he really wanted to twist the knife and ensure I didn’t keep clinging.”
“That’s an awful thing to do.”
“Yeah. My parents are high school sweethearts, and so is my sister and her husband, so I thought it’d turn out that way for me too. I thought it’d be that easy.”
“It shouldn’t be easy.”
