by Allie York
“Have a nice day, Mrs. Sharpe.” Then I watched him walk away in the direction of his BMW. Griffin was standing with a coffee in each hand, looking like he wanted to hit the guy. I shook my head and retreated before Griffin could follow me. The last thing I needed was for Richard’s attorney to go tell him I was seeing someone. Am I seeing someone?
Richard was never a fighter, he was more of a talker, work it out with words. Before the drugs, he avoided confrontation, but after was a different story, and I had no idea how his addiction was going. I really didn’t give a shit. The thought of him in my life again made me light headed. I had loved him. Loved him so much that I stuck by while he made a mess of his life, our lives. I thought he loved Ax and me enough to get better, but he didn’t. Richard loved getting high.
The day I saw Richard the first time was my fall semester in his English class. He was toned and tall with a thin build and thick-rimmed glasses. His short hair was groomed to perfection. He was even wearing a bowtie. The guy was my nerdy wet dream all in a college professor. It took all of two weeks before we were all over each other, then as soon as I was out of his class we eloped and I was pregnant with Ax. He had had the car accident right after that and we got sued. They threatened our home, our cars. The desperation for money made me start grooming instead of finishing school. Richard had different ideas. Instead of picking up a second job, he turned to selling drugs, namely his pain pills from the wreck. It snowballed from there and my life went straight to hell.
Griffin followed me into work, as I knew he would, stalking after me all the way to my table. He ignored Jovie’s protests as he vaulted the gate to come behind the counter. “Who was he?” Jove and Erica were watching, but Griffin obviously didn’t give a shit.
“Richard’s attorney.” I stepped back, but he followed again, staying in my space. I sent my attorney a text, giving her a heads up. Betsy was the most badass attorney in the area but you paid out the ass for her services, but it was worth every cent to keep him and his dealer away from us. “He has a parole hearing next week and is expecting to get out, so I need to prepare for this. Don’t you work or something?” I pushed past him to go get my next dog from the back. He trailed after me, stopping me in the hall by the arm. I was scared, terrified, and Griffin wasn’t helping by following me around.
“Do you need anything?”
“Other than for you to stop this, no.” I turned from him, but he gripped my arm tighter.
“Cori, I told you. I’m not going anywhere. I don’t give a fuck about your ex other than wanting you and Ax safe. Now stop trying to fight this and tell me how to help.” His voice lowered as he talked, not wanting my co-workers to hear him. How the hell did I get so damn lucky? Griffin was gorgeous and protective, even if he was bordering on too macho. I loved it. The guy had a point. I wanted him instantly and he did something to me, made me forget how fucked up I was. So, why fight it?
I growled, irritated as hell at him. “No, I don’t need anything other than to groom these dogs so I can pay for my fucking attorney, okay?” I jerked out of his grip but he moved closer, backing me into the wall. We glared at each other in another epic stare down. Another battle of wills. He won when he took my hand, making me fall into him. “I hate you.”
Griffin laughed, and it ran through me, causing a weakness in my knees. “I know. I piss myself off sometimes. Now go groom some dogs and have a better day. I’ll see you later, babe.” With that he kissed me hard, vanishing out the front after patting Jovie on the shoulder as she cussed him for storming into her shop.
I gathered myself, got my dog out, and went about my business. Erica and Jovie stared at me with stupid grins on their faces, but I ignored them, turning up the radio in the grooming room. It wasn’t long before Jovie cornered me by the tub. Her look said everything.
“I know what you said, but it’s not like that, Jove. I don’t know what you know about him, but it’s different with us.”
She warned me. My boss straight up told me about the kind of person Griffin was, but she didn’t even know about Celia, so what could she really know? I wanted to believe my own words so badly. I wanted to think I wasn’t fooling myself, but the look on her face made me second guess, and my self-confidence vanished.
“Oh, it’s different. I told him this would happen.” Jovie nudged me with her elbow. “I told him he would meet some amazing girl, fall madly in love and he would regret ever screwing around like he did. Lydia told him too. If I remember correctly, she’s been telling him since high school.” Jovie got all smug about it. “Now I’m going to text him and tease him relentlessly about how pussy-whipped he is and how I told him so.” My boss laughed, but a jolt of jealousy ran through me at the idea of Griffin texting another woman, even if it was just Jovie. “No strings attached. I don’t get all caught up on a piece of ass. HA!” Her mock-macho tone was hilarious, easing my unwarranted jealousy. Jovie and Ewan were the perfect love story. I had spent months living vicariously through them and Harriet. “Anyway, Erica and I may be looking to hire another groomer, we’re booked a month out, so if you know anyone, spread the word.”
By the time I picked Ax up from school and went to see my parents, I was a mess. Between the incident at the zoo, the domineering man forcing his way into my life, and Richard, I was a fucking wreck. More so than before. It was comical that Griffin thought I was fixable. The guy had no idea how deep my scars truly were, how destroyed I was inside. He didn’t know the demons I fought every night or that him holding me the night before had kept the demons quiet. With Richard coming back into my life, there was no telling how bad the nightmares would be, and Griffin would tear out of my arms after witnessing what a mess I was.
Mom was shuffling around the kitchen, barefoot, of course, and caught Ax in the air as soon as my little monkey jumped at her gramma. Margo Wallace was a small, quiet force to be reckoned with, much like her three daughters. Poor Dad never stood a chance. Ari came in from the back door, holding it for Ax to dash out to meet her cousins. Dad’s pipe tobacco came in with the warm air and I had to close my eyes to take in the scent. Before anything else was discussed, I asked my sister about Ben. They talked about it, deciding that Ben was going to a therapist the next afternoon to let him talk it out.
Mom waited impatiently for Ari and me to stop talking about how Ben was doing. “Ari told on you.” My mother crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at me. “When do we get to meet him?” Yeah, not happening.
“Arianna met him and was a total bitch about it.” I poured a glass of tea from the fridge. “Plus, I have other things to talk about.” My older sister rolled her eyes at me. “Richard’s attorney showed up today. He has a parole hearing next week. He asked us to be there so I can drop the order of protection, so we can discuss custody and reconciliation.” I took in the complete shock on their faces and rounded it off by telling them what I said to the attorney and my own attorney was taking care of it. Mom changed the subject to Celia so I had to tell her story and she went onto her well-rehearsed speech about cooking for them. Mom’s goal in life was to feed as many people as she could and psychoanalyze them in the process.
“Celia likes horses.” Dad pecked me on the head, Ax in tow. “We had a sleepover last night.” My kid’s big mouth got me all kinds of accusing looks. “We had dinner then laid in the floor and watched the movie with the big flying dog.” Axel pointed at the fruit on the counter and Dad handed her a banana.
“Did Griffin sleep over too?” Ari eyed me, talking sweet to my little monster. Great. My stuck-up sister was going to judge me for that one so I would go back to being the family whore. I knew nothing of her sexual history other than Lee, her husband, and truly didn’t care to. I was with Richard and only Richard, we got married, had a family, but because I was pregnant before I got married, Ari saw me as a whore. Sleeping with Griffin was going to make me an all-out slut in her eyes.
“Hey, Ax, can you take your cousins bananas too?” I handed her two more bananas. S
he jumped to the floor and ran out the back. “Thanks, munchkin.” I started unloading the dishwasher, ignoring the tension. My family knew about my opposition to sex, so the fact that Griffin spent the night was probably more shocking to them than it was to me. Plus, they loved to judge me. Where was my baby sister when I needed her? Oh, right, Meredith followed some asshole to Colorado to go to college, leaving a path of verbal destruction in her wake.
“Corinne—” Mom took a plate from me “—are you all right?” The psychologist in her was about to rear its ugly head and psychoanalyze me. I nodded, answering with an “uh-huh”. She grabbed my shoulders to make me look at her.
“I’m fine.” It wasn’t a lie. After the early morning sex, I had gotten pissed, but not upset, not panicked. Griffin made it very clear he was not going anywhere, even if I shoved him away, and after the scummy attorney showed up, he still held to his story. It may have been stupid after only a few days, but he asked for my trust, and I gave it. Mom obviously didn’t believe me, because the look on her face told me everything.
“I mean it. Griffin is the polar opposite of any guy I have ever thought about, including Richard but I think it’s a good thing. We’ve only been talking for a few days, but we’ll see.” I shrugged out of her grip.
“He’s the anti-Richard. The guy looks like a biker thug and was a complete player in high school.” Arianna just had to open her mouth too. “Covered in tattoos and has this smoldering ‘don’t mess with me’ look.” My sister kept talking about Griffin appearance while Mom watched, nodding in her signature therapist way until Ari was done. I bit my lip to not laugh. Arianna had a thing for my man, and I would never let her live it down.
“So, what you’re saying is that you’re attracted to Cori’s boyfriend, but not on an emotional level, solely physical and because he has a bad boy charm.” My mother the psychologist. Arianna looked offended as hell, and I laughed. She scoffed, shaking her head and denying it, but it was obvious. Then Mom turned on me. “Does he know about your attack? Is he empathetic about it? I don’t want you having panic attacks again if he doesn’t understand.” Oh. My. God. I was not about to have a sex conversation with my mother.
“Yeah, he knows. No there are no panic attacks. Can we please talk about something else, anything else? I do not want to discuss my sex life with you or how my sister gets all hot and bothered over my … whatever.” I glared between them, then my phone rang. I thought it was my saving grace. Please be Harriet. I wasn’t that lucky. Of course, Griffin would call while we were talking about him. “Hey.”
“Hey, babe. I need to come by when I get off. Can you be up?” Griffin sounded stressed, and I was surprised he phrased it as a question. The guy was more of the demand and take type.
“Was that a double entendre?”
He laughed. “Fuck, how did you know? It’s been a shit day.”
“What time? I work tomorrow. Are these demands going to let up or should I just get used to it?” Griffin was silent for a minute.
“No, you can get used to me getting what I want, when I want it. I thought I told you, your ass is mine now.” Then I laughed. “I’ll be there by twelve-thirty, probably sooner.”
“Bye, Griffin.” I pretended to sound put out.
“Bye, babe.”
“What demands?” I groaned at my mother, tucking my phone in my back pocket.
My sister and mother trailed after me to the patio where the kids were viciously battling with foam swords. Ax was the black knight and the boys were the thieves trying to steal her horse or something to that effect. I avoided the Griffin topic despite them wanting to have girl talk with me and Dad served us all dinner. They had such an amazing relationship. Mom cooked, Dad served, they were both retired so sometimes they randomly took off to travel this place or that. You would think after being together for a million years, they would stop the lovey stuff, but they didn’t. They were still smoochie and cuddly all the time. Mom was never allowed to pass without a kiss or a light swat on the ass. It was so sweet. Richard and I were never affectionate. I mean, we had sex, we kissed, but everything was behind closed doors. Before his downward spiral, Richard was prude, very prude. But it was what I loved about him. My parents were free-spirits, not shy about nudity or anything, so having a man like Richard was a new thrill for me. He was the anchor to my wildness. I gravitated toward the safe men, the ones with boring lives and existences. The funny part was that it took the tattooed badass to make me forget such a horrible night.
My family finally moved on, talking about Lee’s promotion at work and Ari’s book club, and I was left to my own thoughts. My thoughts led me to missing Harriet.
Cori: How’s my favorite hippie? I missed you this morning.
Harri: Being domestic. You?
Cori: Parent’s house playing 20 questions about Griff.
Harri: Jovie said things had heated up. You holding up?
Cori: Can we have a night this week? I need sex talk that isn’t with my mother.
Harri: So you did the deed?
Cori: Yeah. Jove needs to keep her whore mouth shut.
Harri: Tomorrow night? Wine and girl talk? I’ll kick Briggs out to bond with his brother or something. Yeah, Jove has a big mouth, but she only runs it with us. She said Mr. Badass came in all dominant and stuff this morning.
Cori: He certainly did. The man is very persuasive, but I can hold my own. I kind of like it. It’s nice to not call all the shots.
Harri: Briggs is that way too, but only when we’re alone. See you in the morning?
Cori: see ya then, love you girl.
Chapter Twelve
Griffin
I hung up with Cori and tossed my phone on the glass display case just as my next appointment came in. Her shorts were barely longer than her pussy and her top left little to the imagination. Shit. I greeted her and she pulled out a folded paper from her pocket.
“I want this on my ankle.” An anchor, how original. But the girl hardly looked like the type to be original.
“Do you want me to draw something up for you? Maybe make it unique?” I knew I was barking up the wrong tree, but it was worth a shot. She drummed her manicured nails on the counter, obviously thinking too hard for her own good.
“No, I like that.”
I shrugged, handed her the form to fill out, leaving to make a stencil. When I came back she handed me the clipboard and followed me to the back. I started setting out supplies. “How long have you been doing this?” She wiggled in the seat, leaning so I could see straight down her shirt. God, I hated fake tits, but she would have been just the thing I took home a few months before. Easy and desperate had been my thing.
“Ten years.”
“So, I bet you’re super good at it.” I motioned for her to prop her leg up and she kicked her flip flop off, sliding her leg up slowly. Even I had to admit her legs were nice. They were long and toned with a light tan, but she was going to be disappointed. Nice or not, her legs did nothing for me. The only legs on my mind were the ones wrapped around my face early that morning.
“Yeah. I’m the best.” She smiled at my words—apparently, we were done talking about tattooing and had moved on to a different topic. I positioned the stencil, let her check it in the mirror, then had her sit back down. I had barely started when she tried to talk to me again.
“I’m Keeley.”
Fitting name for a girl like her. Blonde, flirty, tan. “Griffin.” She was exactly the kind of girl I would be happy to occupy a night with before Cori came around. Or I forced myself on Cori. I felt fucking terrible for not talking to her or listening to her the night before. I couldn’t help it. It had been four months since I gotten any relief that wasn’t by my own hand and she was fucking amazing. By the time I finally got inside her, I was about to explode, and the way my girl fit around me was perfect. Her pussy practically molded to me. I couldn’t let her ruin it with a rehashing of her attack. Cori was enjoying it, had let go enough to feel something, and I wasn’t
going to let her fall back into the abyss of fear. I had to shake the images of Cori from my mind to focus on the ink and control the raging boner threatening me.
“I bet you drive a Harley and have a trail of broken hearts behind you.” Keeley batted her lashes at me, blinking her brown eyes rapidly. I had forgotten she was even there and I was tattooing her.
I chuckled. “No, and no.” I used to own a Harley and missed it like crazy, but Celia wasn’t ever riding one as far as I was concerned and the broken hearts thing wasn’t true, either. Most women understood that I didn’t get attached and didn’t call the next day. Unless they were Cori, but she was different. Cori was my girl. When Keeley realized I wasn’t going to flirt back, she settled back in the chair, crossing her arms over her tits. I finished up, bandaged the fresh ink, walking her up front to check her out. Waylon popped his eyebrows at me as he watched Keeley’s ass sway by, but I shook my head. Again, not interested.
“My number is on the receipt, text me if you need some company.” The blond ran her nails down my arm and walked out the door. I tossed her receipt in the trash and Waylon popped the back of my head.
“The fuck is wrong with you, man?” He pointed at Keeley getting in her car. “Go chase that ass. Did you see her rack? I’d tap that so hard.” Fucking liar. The man was so in love with his wife he could barely function.
I rolled my eyes. “Then go get it. I’m good.” Before I could escape to the back, Hattie was blocking my path and Waylon joined her.
“You still on the mom from Celia’s dance class?” Hattie had a shit-eating-grin plastered on her cute little face. “I knew the drinking stopped, but are you settling down too? It’s been a week. You’ve broken the rules, haven’t you?” After watching what my parents went through when my father died, I swore I would never put myself in the position to hurt like my mother did. I never wanted to care about anyone enough to want to die over their death, but then I had Celia. I would die before I let anything happen to her, so why not open up a little more? I tried to shove past my captors, but Waylon stopped me.