Once again, he pulled back to look me straight in the eyes. "Because if anything ever happened to you, I wouldn't survive it." And then, his lips found mine, giving me a kiss so sweet and sincere, I was lost to everything but him – until yelling from the front made us pull apart to look.
The door to the front was shut, but the voices carried loud and clear. I gave Griff a confused look. "Is that…?"
He sighed. "Yeah. My mom."
I gave the door another wary glance. "And…Sierra?"
82
Sparkles and Spite
Maisie
With Griff at my side, I burst through the door to the front room. The first thing I noticed was Sierra sneering at Griff's mom. With a toss of her hair, Sierra announced, "I'm just saying, it looks a little desperate."
My gaze darted around the shop, taking all of it in, including Trevor who looked like a deer in headlights behind the counter.
Next to Griff's mom was Disco Bike in all its glittery glory.
Next to Sierra was Devon in full mannequin mode.
Next to me was still the most wonderful man I had ever met, who had sworn up and down that his mom could handle herself just fine. His words from the back room were still fresh in my mind.She won't like you stepping in.
Even so, I couldn't stop myself from asking, "What's going on?"
Nobody answered. Not Griff's mom, who looked mad enough to spit nails. Not Sierra, who was smirking like she'd just spotted someone in last season’s shoes. And definitely not Trevor, who was inching toward the door like he hoped no one would notice.
And don't get me started on Devon, who was doing nothing at all.
I zoomed in on Trevor. "Well?"
He froze in mid-sneak. "Are you talking to me?"
Nice try.I knew exactly what he was doing. Now that I was here, he was hoping to slip away and dump the whole fiasco into my lap – not that I blamed him. After all, thiswasmy circus. "Just tell me what I missed."
He pointed at Griff's mom. "Tammy here is renting Disco Bike, but this other customer – " He gestured toward Sierra.
Sierra gave a loud huff. "I'm not a customer." She said it like he'd just accused her of shopping at the dollar store.
Trevor frowned. "So, what are you?"
She drew back like he'd asked to see her panties. "That's none of your business."
Griff's mom – aka Tammy – snorted."I'lltell you what she is."
Beside me, Griff shifted, just barely shaking his head. Whether it was a warning or a prayer, I couldn't exactly tell.
To no one in particular, Tammy announced, "She's the kind of woman who walks into a place she doesn't own, insults a bike she can't ride, and treats regular people like trash." Under her breath, she added, "Bitch."
Sierra gasped. "Excuse me?"
With a wicked gleam, Tammy told Sierra, "You're not excused."
Sierra whirled around to gauge our reactions. When her eyes landed on Griff, she did a double-take and then froze. Slowly, her face morphed from something scornful to serene. With an angelic smile, she said, "Oh. I, uh, didn't see you there."
Griff's mouth was tight. "Obviously."
Sierra ran a hand through her long, blonde hair. "So you're still in town, huh?" Her gaze traveled the length of him, molesting him with her eyes. With a flirty little laugh, she asked, "So you're done with the disguise?"
