Page 40 of The Wrong Sister

“Good. Date it is. Just checking.” Griffin reaches over, pulling my chair closer to put his arm around me. He keeps ahold of his cup, enjoying the dark brew while running the fingers of his free hand along the back of my neck. When Liya brings the check Griffin grabs it and hands her his card before she can set it down. I dig through my purse, pulling out enough cash to leave her a hefty tip. We step out of the restaurant onto the now dark Smith Street and Griffin bends down to kiss me. There are hints of spice and coffee on his lips.

“Thank you for that experience, Mina. That was a very cool date.”

I lead us back across the street to the car park. “It’s the least I could do after you apologized so nicely.”

He raises a dark eyebrow at me, grey eyes bright in the glow of the streetlights. “Don’t give me any ideas. You don’t want me starting fights to make it up to you.”

I laugh, squeezing his hand. “I hate to say it, but if you’re with me the odds of fights are…pretty good.”

“I’d expect nothing less. I like that you’re passionate. You don’t have to dim your light for me.”

Gah, there are those tiny little happy bubbles again. I take Griffin back to his office and he climbs out without making things awkward. I don’t want to leave it at that, though. I get out too. He comes around to my side, shutting my door and pushing me against it. He leans down, his long body hard against mine, and kisses me until my fists are gripping the back of his shirt and I’m pressing my hips up into him. He breaks the kiss first, running his nose along the side of my face and kissing my cheek softly.

“Talk to you soon, Meens.”

Will I lose my Manawahine status if I admit he makes me swoon?

25

griffin

I don’t see Mina on Friday and don’t talk to her other than a quick text exchange letting her know that I enjoyed the date and asking if she was free Saturday morning. I have a lot of work to finish up for the week and I don’t want to come on too strong. I text Rafferty to see if he wants to get dinner tonight, but he already has plans with Mina. Cool cool. Raff is a very good friend and I’m genuinely glad that he’s always had Mina’s back. I have some planning to do for our date anyway. A night in with a simple meal is probably the sensible choice. Mina deserves a well-thought-out date, not something half-assed.

Once home I change into comfortable clothes and make a quick stir-fry. I eat at the table like an actual grown-up, but only because I want to use my laptop while I eat instead of balancing things on my lap on the couch. Outside of the fact that Catherine and I were not a good match, Rafferty was right: the main issue with our disastrous date was that I was more concerned with the outcome than the person I was supposed to be spending time with. I’m not going to make that mistake with Mina. If we’re going to spend time together, I need to be cognizant of her interests and preferences. I want experiences we both enjoy. I want to figure out what we like, together. Since I missed lunch I inhale my meal while scrolling through a hiking trails website, looking through options before settling on what I hope is the right one. A plan set in my mind, I text Mina.

Me: Sorry to interrupt your Friday night but I wanted to square away tomorrow’s date plans

Mina: Interrupt away! It’s only Raff & sci-fi

Me: Still, I don’t want to keep you from your friend time

Mina: No worries. Give me the deets

Me: Meet me at 6?

Mina: K

Mina: What should I wear?

Me: Hiking stuff with a swimsuit under

Me: And whatever you need for sun/water. I’ll bring snacks in my bag.

Mina: Should I fuel up before?

Me: I figured we’d grab something on the way. It’ll probably take us 3+ hours

Mina: Sounds good! See you in themorning!

Me: I’ll be the one who only has eyes for you

Mina: dork

Mina: good thing you’re so hot or you’d be embarrassing to be with

That makes me laugh out loud. I clean up my dinner stuff but struggle with what to do now. I don’t want to watch anything I started with Mina and I can’t decide on a show to start alone. I scroll around for twenty minutes, bored but not bored enough to watch just anything. My phone dings next to me.

Mina: Don’t laugh, but I was thinking about you. Just wanted you to know

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