“Yes!” His voice is a low hiss. “You admitted it to me, Paddy.”
“I told you I had to try to work things out with her. But Ineverfucked her after she showed up again.”
Griff’s head snaps up, chestnut irises gleaming with mist.He’s fighting back his tears. But there’s also a hint of relief there. “Explain.”
“I never should have called us off. I should have put you on my list of priorities. But when Camille came to me, when she said that the baby was mine, what choice did I have, baby?” My nose drops to the crook of his neck. I groan, my tongue darting out to taste the saltiness of his bare skin.
I push forward, grinding my hard cock against his hips, but he shoves me away.
“You had a choice. I was the choice.” He grabs my wrists and walks forward until I’m pinned against the opposite wall.
I close my eyes and suck in a breath to calm myself. “My child comes first, Griff.”
“Fuck that. You haven’t even gotten a paternity test.” Griff's mouth presses against my ear, leaving a warm trail of wetness. Then he sinks his teeth into my lobe and tugs hard.
I stifle my yelp, not wanting Haley to hear. He’s angry and there’s honestly nothing hotter than when Griff is angry with me. The way he takes over the wheel and makes me forget all the fucked up shit my family does. My brain turns off, and it’s everything I need.
He’s doing it now, and it’s giving me hope that maybe he can forgive me. His hand squeezes my hard-on through my jeans.
I grunt. “Fuck.Please, baby. I need more.”
He pins my wrists above my head, his fingers digging into my skin so hard it’s pinching it. “You can go to hell, Patrick Murphy. Get out of my house.”
He lets go of me and storms away, heading for the stairs to his bedroom. I debate following him, and I would have if it weren’t for Haley. She’s probably already witnessed too much.
Chapter One
Six Weeks Later
“Howlongdoyouthink it would take me to die if I took all of this Diazepam, crushed them, and dissolved them in a bottle of vodka and drank it?”
I shoot my best friend a knowing look over my shoulder, and she shakes the pill bottle in her hand. Doing the math of her weight in my head, I calculate an answer for her. My head rests against the grass while we sit quietly in the center of Public Garden.
I decide not to give her an answer. Instead, I say, “Bitch, you’re a doctor. You know.”
“Yeah, but it’s hot when you do the calculations out loud.” She rolls to her side to face me and props her head in her hands.
A fit of laughter escapes me. “You’ve never found me attractive. Best not to lie now.”
“True. But you’re the only person I can talk science with.” Her hand darts out, and she jabs me in the side. “And it almost always makes youhappy. You’ve been moping for too long.”
“This is my normal amount of happy.”
“Bullshit. Usually, we go out for margaritas and chips and guac. We don’t lay out in the grass and quietly stare up at the sky. This isn’t us. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing I can share with you.”
Haley blows a strand of honey-brown hair from her face, then rolls onto her back. She’s frustrated with me because I won’t share what’s been bothering me these last six weeks. It’s been killing me not to, but how the hell am I supposed to? She’s dating Paddy’s brother. Paddy hasn’t told his family that he sleeps with men, and if I tell her, I’d be risking outing him. It’s not my place to do that, no matter how badly I need to vent.
She reaches out to me, resting her hand over mine. The gesture is meant to show me she supports me. It’s meant to comfort me. It doesn’t. It only makes me feel guilty that I’m not being completely honest with my best friend.
“You can tell me anything, Griff. You know that, right?” Haley asks.
I nod. “This isn’t my secret to share.”
“It’s not a secret if I already know it.”
My lip curls, confusion apparent on my face from the way Haley’s eyes soften.
