by Josephs, Mia
Total success.
Thirty
Griffin shook out his wet hair, the early morning sun already lightening the horizon. He’d dropped Lita at her room for a shower, and promised to check in with her again before crashing. Using the key card she gave him, Griffin slipped into the suite, moving around the small couch and toward her room.
He paused at her doorway—the moment he saw her standing next to her bed in a small black robe, rubbing a towel over her hair. Griffin’s head tipped sideways until his body rested against the doorframe. This simple, simple thing… No huge gesture in the world would ever compare to being the guy who got to have small moments with her—even though he was just looking in.
Her eyes trained on his and she smiled. “Oh, hey.”
“Just…um…checking in.” His eyes floated down her body again, her robe stopping about mid-thigh.
“Checking in, or checking me out?” she laughed lightly.
Griffin took a tentative step into the room. “Both?”
She dropped her towel on the corner of the bed. “I should be so much more tired.” Her eyes still held traces of the thick liner and mascara, but her hair was damp, her face clean, and she smelled amazing… He pulled in a lungful of air.
Stepping around him, Lita closed her bedroom door and paused behind him, resting the side of her face on his back and sliding her hands around his middle.
“Can I tell you something that’s maybe the most embarrassing thing ever?” Her arms tightened.
Griffin shifted to hold her against his front, but she was immovable, still resting against his back. Instead of moving, he placed his arms over hers. “I’d love to hear the most embarrassing thing ever.”
“I’ve only had sex once. Ever.”
Griffin blinked. Thought of the guys he saw her with in the papers, and in that moment, he knew now how much of that had been total BS. “That’s not embarrassing.”
Lita scoffed, still not moving her head from his back, the dampness of her hair moving through his t-shirt. “When you sing and pretend and talk as much as I do, it is embarrassing. And now here with you… It’s a little embarrassing again.”
Griffin unlocked her arms from his waist and turned to face her. “Please don’t be embarrassed with me. I had the same girl since I was fifteen and know more about hair dye, treatments, and chemicals than any man should ever know.”
Her cheeks dimpled. “That’s cute.”
“It’s…something.”
Laughing her quiet laugh again she leaned forward until her forehead pressed against his chest. “One more confession for tonight.”
His hands found her sides, her cotton robe tantalizingly thin and tried to concentrate past his body shifting. “One more,” he choked out a whisper.
“I want you.” Lita sucked in a breath, amazed she’d gotten out the words, but wanting him more than worrying about how she’d sound to him or how he’d take her words, or what might happen later. She wanted him to know what she wanted, even if it didn’t happen.
There were a few things she had no control over, but some she did. What came out of her mouth was one of the few things she controlled. “I even recognize that I should maybe wonder if you’ll compare me to Stacy or if this is too soon…a million other worries, but I don’t want to worry when I’m with you because there’s something about you that calms me. And yeah… I want you.”
She waited for him to be his overly cautious self, and tell her they should wait, or that maybe four am wasn’t the best time. Maybe he’d think that a shared suite wasn’t ideal.
He touched the front of her robe, following the lapels and tracing the soft skin of her chest until he pressed his lips to hers.
Lita shivered under his touch. His soft mouth against hers. His kiss deepening as he held her face in his hands. She’d always been worried that she wouldn’t know where to place her hands, but she wanted them everywhere. All over him. Wanted to see him.
Griffin reached behind him and turned off her overhead light, leaving the lamplight in sideways shafts of yellow across the room.
“I want to see you.” She tugged at the bottom of his shirt and Griffin slid it over his head.
He fingered the edge of her robe near her neck and then over her chest, and paused when he hit the softness of her breasts.
“Don’t stop.”
She felt his mouth pull into a smile as he kissed her again. “I like this.”
“Like” was such a small part of what she was feeling. “Me too.”
“You telling me what you want.”
A twinge of embarrassment or uncertainty tried to pinch in, but she shoved it away. “I want more of you.”
She ached for his hands on her. Everywhere. His mouth. Tongue. Fingers. Body.
Urgency and want began to take over her body and her hands slid up his hard sides and to his hands where she grasped his wrists and helped him slide her robe further open in the front.
Griffin moaned as his hands traced lines under her breasts and Lita’s knees went weak.
“Bed,” she said before biting his neck.
He lifted her easily and paused at the edge of the bed.
She met his eyes and smiled. “It’s me. I know you. Don’t be too careful.”
His eyes flashed in mischief before dropping her on the bed and climbing in next to her. And then his hands read her mind as he traced every inch of her from just under her ears down her neck, across her collarbone, between her breasts, tracing underneath them again, down her stomach and then slowly back up.
The light was on. He could see every imperfection, scar, scratch, dimple, freckle… And she wanted it. Him. Everything. She’d taken control of one part of her life by making the video where she told the world she was struggling. And here she was again, facing something completely different, but with Griffin also came that sense of calm—even after what they’d been through together. She knew she could tell him anything, ask anything of him, really be with him in a way she hadn’t been with someone before.
Griffin’s fingers traced down again until he reached the tie of her robe.
Lita smiled at the control she felt. The relaxation she felt. The happiness. The wanting of this guy next to her. “Jerk. It. Off.”
She felt Griffin relax into one shake of laughter his eyes met hers. “You know how much fun we’re going to have together?”
“How much?”
He reached into his pocket, tossing his wallet onto the bed, and then shoving his pants to the floor.
Naked. Griffin. She wanted to tease him back, but now she found her hands roaming his chest and shoulders and stomach… There was none of the anxiety or fear or weirdness that she expected to have; just wonder at this man next to her and the way he wanted to be with her.
Griffin flopped onto his side, and she did the same, facing him in the dim light. His lips found hers once, and then again. And she slipped her tongue into his mouth needing more. Deeper. Harder. He cupped her breast before lowering his hands and sucking on her, ripping a whole new level of need through her body.
“Griffin,” she whimpered.
And then his fingers traced up the inside of her thighs making her whole body shake in need. And then his fingers were there and exploring and moving and she found her hands sliding down to grasp him as well, holding the smoothness of his skin over the hardness of him.
“That’s so good,” he moaned into her ear. “So good.”
His fingers moved in a smooth rhythm between her legs, and she felt her body tightening, tightening, tightening, and everything in her slipped over the edge of orgasm pulling a near scream up her throat.
“Shhhh.” He laughed as he kissed her.
“I’m Lita James. I can do whatever I want. Isn’t that what you said?” she said through panting, laughing breaths. Her body was a new kind of liquid ecstasy she’d never felt with someone else.
His lips slid down her throat. “That’s what I said.”
“I want to feel you
in me,” she whispered as he moved down.
Griffin rolled to his side, flipped through his wallet and she watched him open the packet and slide the condom on. His eyes met hers, sincere and trusting. “If you—”
This time it was her turn to silence him with a kiss. She was ready. Had been waiting. And she trusted him. Griffin readjusted one of her legs underneath him on his side and wrapped her other leg around his waist, grasping her hips but not moving closer.
His nose touched hers. “I’m falling in love with you, Lita James.”
“I’m falling in love with you, too.” And then she felt the pressure of them coming together, and his hips pushed against hers, and she pushed back against him. Holy shit. Sex. And the good kind.
Every place his skin touched her skin seared heat through her until she spun over the edge of another orgasm and Griffin released just after her, holding her body against his.
And it hit her then. He’d fall asleep next to her. And he’d be with her the next day and the next, and they’d spend nights together sometimes and apart sometimes, but she held his warmth next to her, knowing they’d just started something big. Something that would hopefully last.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered, out of breath, smiling wide.
“You’re following me to California, right?” she asked.
“Anywhere,” he answered. “I’ll follow you anywhere.”
“Tell me this is more than just an after-sex promise.”
He touched his forehead to hers, resting his hand on her neck, keeping them together. “This is definitely more than an after-sex promise.”
“Okay then.” She felt herself giggling next to him. Giggling. “I think we should get some room service and do that again.”
Griffin shook in laughter, grabbing her around the waist until she squealed. She couldn’t remember the last time that she’d felt so free. “That sounds like a fantastic plan.”
A week later
“I can’t believe we’re doing this.” Griffin sighed as the limo pulled up to the trailer where his mom lived.
Lita practically bounced in her seat she was so excited. “You promised that you’d take the bonus.”
“But I’m…” He let out a breath. “I was distracted by your waist in my hands.”
“Really?” She cocked a brow and slid quickly over in the seat, straddling his lap, feeling his stomach between her legs, the strength of his arms as he pulled her close. Pressed his lips to hers, deepened their kiss.
In that second, Lita was distracted. Beyond distracted. She took his hands and placed them just under her shirt and in seconds, his calloused fingers ran up and down her back, holding, pressing, touching.
He nipped her lip and let out a chuckle. “I think we’re both distracted.”
“Oh.” Lita sat back. “Right.”
And then she remembered she was sort of on a mission and climbed out of the car, Griffin right behind her.
“Griff!” his mom shouted from the small porch. “There’s my boy!”
The round woman with startlingly blond hair ran down the stairs, pulling Griffin into a fierce hug. Lita glanced back at the limo, which suddenly felt very out of place and then toward the old Impala she’d seen Stacy driving. Griffin’s car. She smiled again. This was so perfect.
“And you must be Lita.” His mom held out her hand and Lita shook it.
“So.” Lita stepped in closer to Griffin’s mom. “Can I be really rude and run into your house to see Griffin’s room before he has a chance to—”
“Go now. Second door on the right,” his mom whispered with a laugh.
Lita sprinted up the steps, but heard no protest until she was in the front door. Ryker had mentioned a few things about posters, but Lita wanted to see for herself.
“Hey!” Griffin yelled as he ran in the front door and Lita shrieked, laughing as she hit the hallway.
“No! Nonononononono!” Griffin’s voice was filled with as much laughter as she was.
She pushed open the door to his room and stepped inside first.
Her jaw dropped. It was like a music memorabilia store. Guitars, posters, records…
“Well, shit.” Griffin sighed in the doorway with a smile. “You’ll never look at me the same way again.”
Lita’s eyes focused on a full-sized poster of herself. Onstage. Singing. Hair up. Makeup fierce. She looked pretty damn good, but then, that’s why they’d made it a poster.
She jutted her hips to the side and grabbed a fake mic. “How’s this?” she teased.
Griffin’s cheeks were red, but he still wore a smile. “Good. You’re always good.”
She relaxed her stance and pulled him closer. Slid her tongue across his bottom lip. His muscled arms wrapped around her, holding them together.
“I fell in love with you so fast,” he said.
“And hard,” she teased, sliding her leg between his.
Griffin kissed down her neck and walked her backwards until they collapsed on his bed. The weight of him was addictive. Had been addictive since their first night together. She guessed there would be a point when having sex until they both fell asleep from exhaustion would get old, but not yet. Her stress was slipping away around him. She had to be able to handle the stress load on her own, too, but still… Handling it with Griffin had been pretty fantastic.
“You bringing me here was more like an indulgence for me. Your bonus is that I paid off your mom’s trailer. And before I get back to the craziness of LA and the added busyness of my new therapist, we’re going to road trip.”
“Bossy, aren’t you?” he teased as he pushed the hair off her face. “Wait.” Griffin sat up. “You’re not buying the trailer. No way.”
“It’s done.” Lita poked him.
His brows went up. “I’m going to fight this. This is insane.”
She ran her hand up the inside of his thigh. Slid her lips up his neck and felt his body and breathing change. “Yes. Because you never lose focus.”
He kissed underneath her ear, pulled her waist and easily placed her in his lap.
Her thin arms relaxed on his shoulders. “I want my road trip.”
“My car is not at all reliable.” He kissed her again. “And you’re not paying for the trailer.”
“But you said you would feel weird living in California without your stuff, so… So. I promise to try to not to be too bitchy about you checking up on my eating and my stress, but we’re going to pack up a few of these guitars. I have an old condo on the beach I want you to stay in, and I might stay there too until I find a house. No arguing. This is part of the bonus you agreed to take when I asked you to be my PA. And… And I think that’s it.”
Griffin’s eyes closed. “This is… It all feels backwards.”
“Only if you’re from the fifties,” Lita chided. “I’m falling in love with you. I want to keep falling in love with you. You say you want to be around me. I have the means to make that happen. So I’m making. That. Happen. Money is easy for me, just like honesty and emotional stability are easy for you”
“Lita—”
“And do you like how I just tossed “emotional stability” into a conversation like that?”
His brows pulled together, almost tortured. “But, Lita, I—”
She grasped his shoulders. “Just by being you, in your easy way, you’ve helped shift my whole body to be healthier and less stressed out. I’m just talking. I’m just… I feel like me now, only I’m different. Stronger and better than I ever have been.”
“But that’s just me, Lita. That’s nothing. What you’re trying to do is...”
“But to me, that’s everything,” she assured him. “And I know money is this power thing with guys, but I’ve always had it. It doesn’t feel like a power thing to me. I don’t even want to say this out loud, but paying for your mom’s trailer was easy. Giving you my old condo while I house shop is easy. Like, I won’t even notice it’s so easy. So in a lot of ways, you’re doing this life-changing t
hing for me, and I’m just…doing something easy.”
His fingers dug harder into her hips. “But you know it’s going to take me a long time to get used to someone—”
“To anyone taking care of you in any way.” She rested her forehead against his. “Get used to it, because I want to take care of you more than I’ve wanted anything in a very long time. And we all know how I love getting what I want,” she teased.
She felt him soften underneath her, and she knew she had him.
“Okay,” he agreed quietly. “But know that this is going to be maybe the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and not something I could do for anyone else.”
Love and excitement and newness swelled in her chest. “I love you.”
“You two want dinner first?” his mom shouted, making Lita jump away. “Or should I leave you alone for a few more?”
“Oh, hell, I’m sorry,” Griffin buried his face in her neck and Lita laughed.
“Coming!” Lita shouted.
He shook his head against her again.
“This is so perfect, Griff. All of it.” And it was.
Going Home
They took every small state highway they could between Georgia and California. Lita played one of his guitars after another. Sometimes from the passenger’s seat. Sometimes while sitting on the trunk, her feet resting in the backseat. That was his favorite. Her hair flying behind her and her looking happier than he’d ever seen her.
Ryker was home with their mom, and Griffin was finally coming to terms with the fact that his life had taken a serious turn in direction. A good one. One where he wasn’t chasing the music. He wasn’t chasing anything. He was in it. He’d be helping put together Lita’s next album. Maybe recording a few songs with her. Meeting up with Christian Meyer. Seriously. Awesome.
Every once in a while Stacy would send him a text, and he’d answer, but every day she felt more a part of his past and that was good for all of them.
Lita continually refused to let him buy a meal or pay for gas because she was sure that if he was forced to go “cold turkey” for a while in letting someone take care of everything, that it would be easier for him later to do it only in moderation. Moderation wasn’t starting until they reached California.