Page 99 of A Little Jaded
“Okay, but no actual tattooing yet. Right?”
“And why would we do that?” He snorts.
My butt hits the seat, nonetheless. It looks like I’m off the hook for another day.
Perfect.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
RAINE
It’s raining when I step outside. And not a little sprinkle, either. Like, buckets of icy sleet I have no doubt is a full-blown blizzard at the cabin. Tucking my notebook into my jacket, I dash toward Griffin’s car and yank the passenger door open.
“Hey,” I greet him.
He doesn’t bother looking at me. His sole focus is on his phone until he tosses it into the backseat like it personally offended him. Then, after a grumbled, “Hey,” he grabs the back of my seat and turns around to face the rear bumper as he pulls out of the parking spot in front of Etch ‘N’ Ink.
“Is everything okay?” I ask carefully.
We haven’t really spoken since our game ofSpin the Bottle. Even when he dropped Everett off after he was jumped, we barely said two words to each other. To be fair, we’ve never really talked, and I’m not sure if it’s because he respects my situation and doesn’t want to overstep his bounds or if it’s because I’m kind of sort of dating his best friend, whom I’ve only brought trouble to from the very beginning. Well trouble and orgasms. Lots and lots of orgasms. Add in thefact Everett asked him to pick me up and drive me to the duplex until Everett finishes helping his mom with something, and I’m basically a bundle of nerves.
“Thanks for picking me up, by the way,” I add.
His jaw clenches as he turns back in his seat, facing the windshield and driving toward the main road. “No problem.”
A minute passes, and I suck my lips between my teeth. “Listen, aboutSpin the Bottle, I’m sorry if?—”
He chuckles darkly. “What happens at game night stays at game night.”
The windshield wipers pick up their pace, and I twist my hands in my lap, surprised by how quickly he shut me down. “Right.”
“Besides, it’s all good. It was only a kiss.”
I nod but stay quiet.
“I’m sorry I’m acting like I have a stick up my ass,” he continues. “There was no hot water after the game, and…” His eyes fall to the backseat where his phone still rests. His eyes return to the road in an instant. Nostrils flaring, he adds, “Can I ask you something?”
My brows hitch, and my head bobs again, making me feel like a bobblehead. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Do you wish your friends would’ve stepped in?”
Blindsided, I jolt back. “What?”
“When Drake started acting like an ass,” he explains. “Do you wish your friends or family would’ve stepped in?”
I open my mouth to answer, but he barrels right past waiting for my response.
“Or better yet, did you even see them? The signs?” he questions. “Or were you really so disconnected from everything you thought the red flags were normal relationship shit?”
“Are you asking about my experience or…are we talking about someone else? Hypothetically,” I rush out.
He gives me the side eye. “Fin wants to cut me out of her life all because her fucker of a boyfriend told her to.”
My nose wrinkles as I watch the wipers move back and forth, squeaking with every pass. So this is about Finley. I should’ve known. But seeing Griffin like this? Distracted and lost in his own head? It’s…well, it’s a little confusing because, from what I’ve been told, Griffin and Finley are only friends. Or at least, they were until her boyfriend drew a line in the sand.
Unsure what to say, I admit, “She, uh, she might’ve mentioned it to me, yes.”
“And?” He glances at me again. “It doesn’t seem messed up to you?”