“Wow,” Navie giggled and I shot her a dirty look.
Apparently my hospital room had a revolving door, because just after Griffin left, Wendy came dashing in, bag in hand—a bag that was far too big for just a few days—, looking like she’d just won the lottery. “Hey, babe. I got everything you could possibly need for your little sleepover. You shouldn’t run out of anything for a while, but if you do just give me a call and I’ll go pick up more.”
“Why do you look so happy?” I asked warily. “You look like someone just told you ice cream and chocolate don’t contain any calories.”
“I’m just happy, is all. I’ve wanted you and Griffin both to find someone special for so long, and you’ve been right under each other’s noses this whole time! It’s kismet, don’t you think?”
My jaw dropped in astonishment. I was stunned speechless for what felt like a lifetime as I watched my sister-in-law flitter about the room like a hyped up hummingbird.
I shook my head, trying to clear it before saying, “I’m sorry. But were you not there just a few days ago? When Griffin went on a date? With another woman? That you set up?”
She waved her hand in the air like she didn’t think anything of it and came to sit down in the chair beside the bed. “Oh, that was nothing. Honestly, Griffin didn’t even know about the date. He thought it was just the three of us going out to dinner. I surprised him by inviting Kat along, and believe me when I say he was not happy about it. If I’d have known what was going on between you two I never would have set that up behind his back. I’m so sorry that what I did caused problems between you two, honey.” She leaned forward, she took my hand in hers as she looked at me with a solemn expression.
“You should have seen him when we pulled up to the restaurant. It was like he was in a daze the whole way there, then bam! He announces to everyone that he’s in love with you and rushed to get back as fast as he could.” At her words, my entire body grew solid and my lungs quit working. The only thing that moved was my heart, which picked up speed and began to pound against my breastbone at an almost painful rate.
He said he loved me?
Out loud?
To my own brother?
“Holy shit,” I whispered as Navie mumbled, “Well that certainly changes things.”
“God, you should have seen him, Pepper, the look on his face… it was agonizing, like the thought of not getting to you caused him physical pain. I’ve never seen him like that. Ever.”
I could barely wrap my head around what I’d just heard. Wendy and Navie’s voices grew muffled, like I was being sucked through a tunnel, moving farther and farther away from them. It wasn’t until Dex’s head popped through the door once again to announce that it was time to go.
I had no clue what to think, what to feel, as I climbed from the bed to a wheelchair and allowed a nurse to push me through the hospital, down to where Griffin was waiting for me.
What the hell was I supposed to do now?
“HOW YOU FEELING, SIS?” Dex asked as he came into the living room and took a seat on the couch by my feet.
“Okay,” I replied as I stroked PJ’s furry head. She let out a contented purr and burrowed deeper into my side. I’d been at Griffin’s house for two days, and was already going stir crazy. He wouldn’t let me do anything. He was just outside the door whenever I took a shower, insisting I leave it opened a bit so he could hear in case I needed something. When I was hungry, he got my food. When I was thirsty, he got me a drink. He made sure I was taking medicine for the pain, and he checked my stitches every night, gently rubbing antibiotic ointment on the cut with more care than I thought he was capable of.
Everything he did was so sweet and tender that I felt it like a wrecking ball against the wall I’d erected around my heart to keep him out. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could withstand his affectionate assault, and he wasn’t planning on letting me leave any time soon.
He’d taken time off from work to look after me, but had been called to the station earlier that day. Instead of leaving me to my own devises, he’d called in reinforcement in the form of my brother to watch over me until he got back.
“You know, I don’t need a babysitter. I’m totally fine taking care of myself. You and Griffin hovering over me is driving me insane.”
Dex’s deep laugh was like a balm, soothing a wound that had been there since our argument that fateful night at his house. “Yeah, well, if I were to leave you by yourself, Griff might string me up by my short hairs.”
I cringed at the visual he’d just put in my head. “Thanks for that,” I grumbled, snuggling deeper into the couch and pulling PJ onto my stomach.
The conversation had been light, flowing easily since he’d arrived earlier, but when I looked back up at him, his face was a mask of earnestness. “I haven’t said it, mainly because I’m a jackass who can’t figure out the right words, but I’m sorry I’ve ever made you feel like I wasn’t proud of you.”
My eyes stung and my throat tightened at the pain in my brother’s voice. “It’s okay,” I told him in a quiet voice.
“No it’s not. I’m so fucking proud of you, Pep. Always have been and I’m so sorry I ever made you feel less than what you really are. You’re an unstoppable force, little sis, and I’m so goddamned proud to be your brother.”
At his heartfelt declaration, the tears broke free and I began crying again for what felt like the millionth time in a handful of days. If I kept it up, I was going to dehydrate for sure. “Thank you.” His chest muffled my sob as I threw myself across the couch and into his arms. “I-I’m proud to be your s-sister,” I cried harder.
I don’t know how long he held me in a soothing embrace, but by the time I had nothing left but sniffles, my eyes were puffy and my nose was stuffed up. I had no doubt my bruised face was covered in splotches. I was so not a pretty crier.
“Give him a chance, sis,” Dex spoke softly, tilting my face up to his. “I still don’t think there’s a man out there good enough for you, but that’s just the brother in me. Griffin’s a terrific guy. I trust him with my life, but what’s more, I trust him with yours. And I see the way he looks at you. You’re it for him.”
I thought I was all cried out, but obviously I was wrong, because once Dex finished talking I was a blubbering disaster once again.
Dex’s phone chimed from his pocket and he shifted me in his arms to pull it out. “It’s Griffin,” he informed me. “He’s five minutes away. Think you can get yourself under control so he doesn’t walk in here and kick my ass thinking I upset you?”
I laughed and shoved at his shoulder with one hand as I brushed at my tears with the other, while sucking in a lungful of air in an attempt to calm my frazzled nerves.
By the time Griffin got back to the house I’d managed to clean my face up as much as possible, but there was no hiding the effects of my unexpected crying jags. And he noticed instantly.
His face grew thunderous as made a beeline straight for me, dropping to his knees in front of the couch and cupping my cheeks in his big, warm palms. “Jesus, baby. Are you all right?” he asked in a voice like velvet before turning to Dex and biting out, “What the hell happened? What did you say to her?”
“Nothing!” I cried, wrapping my fingers around his wrists to get his attention. “It’s okay. I’m okay, I promise. Dex was just being really sweet, and I got all girly for a while. I think the pain meds are screwing with my system and making me overly emotional. He didn’t upset me.”
His face was scrunched up with worry as he asked, “You sure you’re okay?” Still holding my face in one hand, he ran his fingers along my jawline and tucked an errant piece of hair behind my ear.
Bam! Another direct hit against my walls.
“Yeah, I’m good. Scout’s honor.”
“Well,” Dex declared, slapping his knees and standing from the couch. “Now that that’s settled, I’ll just be on my way.” He leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of my head before giving Griffin som
e sort of manly hand-slap-guy-hug-back-pat. “Don’t get into any trouble, you two.”
Griffin walked him out and I used the extra seconds to try and reinforce those walls he was doing irreparable damage to.
“How are you feeling?” he asked as he re-entered the living room. “You need a pain pill or anything?”
I stood from the couch and walked into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge. “I’m good. No pain.” Feeling awkward just standing there in front of him like we were strangers, I pushed to make small talk. “So… everything okay at work? You weren’t gone that long. Are you getting in trouble for missing so many days?”
“Nah,” he stated as he moved toward the front entryway, still talking as he went. “I have a shit load of vacation days saved up. I just had to stop in there for a few and run a quick errand.” When he came back into the kitchen he was carrying a plastic bag in his hands. “I stopped and got you a new phone since yours is probably laying in a gutter broken somewhere. They set it up for you at the store. All your contacts and everything transferred over. The number’s still the same so you should be good to go.
Bam! Another hit.
Then he pulled something else from the bag.
“Is that—?”
“They called me this morning and told me they found your purse,” he answered as he set the dirty, mangled handbag on the counter. “Cash and credit cards are gone, like we expected, but the asshole left your driver’s license so they were able to find out who it belonged to. You called and had all your cards cancelled, right?”
I nodded as I reached over and slid the bag my way. The strap was broken and it looked like it had a run-in with an eighteen-wheeler. The purse was beyond repair, but that wasn’t what I cared about. Pulling it open, I rummaged around the bits and bobs littering the bottom, discarded bobby pins, pens that had run out of ink ages ago, tampons—but I couldn’t find it.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” Griffin’s voice yanked me out of my search, and when I looked up he was holding a crumpled napkin in his outstretched hand. At the sight of it I felt the tears building again. “I’m sorry, sweetness,” he whispered when he saw the ravaged look on my face as I stared at the ruined napkin—the note Griffin had written me years ago—covered in mud and dirt, the words illegible.
“It’s okay,” I croaked as I took the note from him. I felt like a fool being so upset over a stupid little napkin. The note hadn’t even been sweet or romantic, but for some reason it meant something to me. And now it was destroyed.
“Sweetness, look at me,” Griffin’s low voice demanded. Tearing my gaze from the ruined paper in my hand, I looked up and saw something in his eyes that stole my breath. Those crystal blue eyes, clear as ice were shining bright with something so profound I felt it in my bones. He closed the small distance between us and toke my face in his hands again. “I love that you kept that note, baby, and I love what it eventually came to mean to you, but you don’t need it anymore. You don’t need it because I’m right here. Every day. I’ll always be here to tell you how much I love you,” he ended on a gruff whisper. “You don’t need a note to know that because I’ll spend the rest of my life telling you.”
“Griffin,” I choked as I tried to pull away, but he held strong.
“I love you, Pepper. I’ve loved you for years. I was just too goddamned stupid to realize it.”
“Stop,” I pleaded in a small voice.
“No, I won’t stop. I’m going to keep telling you until you finally believe me. I’ll say it over and over until you finally forgive me for hurting you. You’re it for me, sweetness, and no matter how much you deny it, I know you feel the same way. I love you.”
“Shut up.”
“I love you,” he repeated.
“Shut up!”
“I love you, Pepper.
“No you—” I began to argue, only to have him clamp his hand over my mouth. The tears instantly dried up as I narrowed my eyes in a glare. God, I really fucking hated when he did that.
“Don’t tell me I don’t fucking love you,” he said, his tone fierce. “I bought a hair dryer just so you’d have it here to use whenever you stayed the night.”
Bam!
“I stocked up on what’s probably the most disgusting snack known to man simply because they’re your favorite.”
Bam!
“No one, and I mean no one has a key to my house but me, and now you. I’ve never given a key to anyone.”
Bam, bam, bam!
“For Christ’s sake, I named my cat after you! A cat that fucking hates me! So don’t tell me I don’t love you, because everything I’ve done is because I’m out of my goddamned mind, crazy for you, you stubborn, hardheaded woman!”
And with that, the walls came crashing back down, and I knew there was no chance of ever repairing them again. Reaching up, I wrapped my hand around his and pulled it from my mouth. “I love you too,” I whispered. Judging by the look of absolute shock on his face, he’d been expecting more of a fight out of me. But I was done fighting.
“What?”
“I love you too,” I repeated, feeling my lips tip into a grin.
Pulling my body flush against his, he growled against my lips, “Say it again.”
“I love you, Griffin. You’re it for me.”
“Fucking Christ, sweetness,” he rumbled. Then he kissed me. It was hard, claiming, and I instantly melted into him, opening without the slightest bit of struggled.
“You’re moving in with me,” he uttered as his lips lit a blazing trail across my jaw and down my neck.
“I’ll think about it,” I responded stubbornly… just because it was fun to push his buttons.
He growled again and wrenched his mouth from me. “It’s not up for discussion. It’s happening, Pepper.”
“We’ll see,” I told him with a full-blown smile.
“God you’re such a pain in my ass,” he complained, but his face broke out into a brilliant smile as he spoke.
“Yeah, but you love me anyway.”
“Fuck me, but I do.” He pressed another kiss to my lips. “What have I gotten myself into?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I answered, standing on my tiptoes to wrap my arms around his neck as his banded around my waist. “But I know one thing for sure. Whatever happens, it’s going to be epic.”
His forehead rested against mine as he chuckled. “You got that right, sweetness.”
“FOR THE LOVE OF God, woman. Will you hurry up?” I shouted from the kitchen loud enough for Pepper to hear me all the way from our bathroom. Our bathroom. In our house.
I still fucking loved the sound of that. It had been two weeks since I brought Pepper home from the hospital with me, and she’d still yet to leave. Not that she had anywhere else to go. With the help of Dex, Richard, and Rowan, we’d gone to her apartment and cleaned it out. What little furniture she had that didn’t fit into my place was currently sitting in storage until she had time to go through it and decide what she wanted to keep and what she wanted to get rid of. Her clothes and shoes had taken over the closet and dresser. Her goddamned beauty products littered every available surface of the bathroom.
And I fucking loved it.
These past two weeks hadn’t been a picnic—we argued, we fought, we made up. Then we did it all again. But it was exactly what I expected when it came to being in love with Pepper O’Malley. We were like fire and ice, a rather poignant analogy if you thought about it, but it was us. It was what guaranteed things would never, ever grow stale.
I fucking loved that, too.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” she called as she hurried down the hall into the kitchen, her hands raised as she worked an earring into her earlobe. At the sight of her in a skintight dress the exact color of her eyes, and tan heels that did amazing things for her figure, I nearly swallowed my tongue. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to how beautiful she was. And I was the lucky son of a bitch that got to keep her. I must have don
e something right in a past life to deserve the perfection that was simply her. “How do I look?” she asked, coming to a halt an inch away from me. She was still too far away.
Shooting out a hand, I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her tight, curvy body against mine, instantly getting hard. “Like perfection,” I answered, bring my lips down to her bright red ones.
She moaned into my mouth and leaned farther into me, and I started thinking of viable excuses to get out of going to dinner with all of our friends. “You keep doing that and we’re gonna be late,” she smiled against my mouth.
“Fuck it. Let’s ditch. We’ll go back to bed and I can spend the next hour fucking you in those heels.”
She laughed and placed her palms against my chest, pushing me away slightly. “No way. Dex and Wendy finally have a night out and would kill us if we bailed. Besides, Navie’s bringing the jewelry she made for the wedding to see if it’ll go with her wedding dress. We’re going.”
“Jesus,” I grunted as I went against everything my body wanted and let her go. “I swear to God, if you women spend the entire night talking about babies and weddings like you did the last time, I’m gonna shoot myself.”
“You’ll survive,” she laughed, affectionately patting my chest before turning toward her tiny purse sitting on the kitchen counter and coming to an abrupt stop at the sight of the giftwrapped box sitting next to it. “What’s that?” she asked, looking back at me and seeing the smile stretched across my face.
“Open it and find out.”
As she made quick work of the bow and wrapping, my gut twisted into knots. I hope she loved it. Christ, what if it wasn’t the right one?
“Griffin,” she gasped, pulling the handbag from the box. It was the exact one that had been destroyed two weeks ago. When she looked back at me, I knew I’d chosen correctly. “Thank you, honey.”
Fire & Ice (The Locklaine Boys #1) Page 20