Page 21 of Bitter Lies

My heart throbbed so brutally at his smile that I had to turn away to catch my breath. No surprise because Griffin held my heart at that point.

The evening was terrific, and I basked in the glow of being celebrated, but the best part was when Griffin pulled me aside and handed me a small box with a shiny yellow bow. Charmed by his nervousness as he watched me open it, I gasped when I saw what was inside.

“It was my grandmother’s. The only yellow stone I could find. Do you like it?”

Beaming at him, I picked up the delicate necklace and sighed, “It’s beautiful, Griff.”

His eyes lit up with delight, and I said shakily, my stomach wobbling with an emotion I couldn’t define, “Put it on me?”

With a smile, he leaned forward, his cheek brushing mine, and I held my breath, my skin tingling where he touched my neck as he fastened the tiny clasp.

Glancing down, I held the heart-shaped charm in my hand, blazing with a large yellow gem that sparkled in the light, and with my heart singing in my chest, I smiled.

“You remind me of her—my gram. She was always happy, always smiling and free…” he said softly.

“Oh,” I breathed, caught in his warm stare as he searched my expression intently before pressing his lips gently to mine.

His lips were soft and warm as they grazed me delicately, and instinctively I opened to him as he swept his tongue inside. Instantly, heat shot through my veins, and my pulse stuttered at this, my first kiss.

It was amazing and beautiful and cut short when my mom called out for me, and we broke apart abruptly.

Glancing over my shoulder, I chuckled with embarrassment as Griff smiled at me with blazing eyes and kissed my forehead gently. “You better go back.”

Nodding shyly, I stared into his reflection, attempting to commit to memory every look and word. “What about you?”

“I’ll be there in a minute.” He tipped his head toward Max as he came down the hill.

“Okay,” I murmured, walking away, feeling so light that I could float away.

“Well?” Griffin says, breaking into my reverie as he looks me over with a curious intensity.

Raising my gaze to him, I clear my throat against the lump that’s formed. “My fourteenth birthday.”

If my heart weren’t pounding so hard, I fear I might puke, I’d find the way his eyes go painfully wide amusing, but then he stands abruptly and averts his face. “Is that right?”

“Yes.”

Whipping back around, his eyes bore into mine and I have to resist the urge to look away from the intensity as he rasps, “I’ve got to go. We can work on this more later.”

Nodding silently, I wipe away a tear after he’s gone, willing my past back in the box where I can lock it away with a key.

Chapter Six

Happily, ever after…what a crock of shit.

The day I met Griffin was monumental in more ways than one. Unfortunately, it was the seminal moment when I became a woman, as my mom put it, with tears in her eyes no less as she walked me through how to use feminine products with a soft look on her face.

Meanwhile, I was mortified and in pain, because as I would learn over the years, period cramps are no joke. At any rate, by the time I made it to school—late—I was flustered, embarrassed, and annoyed by life in general. I mean, why should a girl have to suffer such an indignity?

When I walked into class, I could swear everyone in there knew why I was late, as though something about me was so different it would be easy to glean, and awkwardly I sat down amongst my peers who I had known since grammar school with new eyes.

Was Stacy Ford a woman now, too? Did she hate it as severely as I did? Ugh.

As the new kid, Griffin caught my eye immediately, and I remember looking over his dark head of silky hair curiously as he concentrated on the worksheet Mr. Bradshaw liked to pawn off on us when he was in a sluggish mood. To be honest, I kind of thought he might be hungover on those days, but I had no way of confirming beyond his bloodshot eyes and lackadaisical attitude.

Just as I was about to look away, Griffin glanced up, and the prettiest eyes I had ever seen on a boy met mine, with swirls of green and gold, bronze and chocolate. Heck, even his eyelashes were long and lush. He looked me over with much the same curiosity I did him and smiled, and my heart skipped a beat in my chest before taking off in a gallop.

I think that was the beginning of my obsession—one smile and I was a goner. I just wish whatever I saw in his eyes that day was still there now because the differences are marked, and fuck if I don’t miss my best friend.

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