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“We’ll talk about it in the morning,” he said. “Let’s go to bed.”
Griff stood with me in his arms, carried me down the hallway to our bedroom, and placed me on the bed. He was wearing only a T-shirt and his boxers.
“No one saw me when I dashed across the hallway.” He crawled under the covers with me. “I was being stupid, asking Jarrod to fib for me that I was drunk. After the last time, I promised myself I wouldn’t drink that much again in case you need me.” He patted his chest. “Come here, baby. What are you doing all the way over there?”
I scrambled over to him and laid my head on his chest. He was such a good man, not pressing me to give him answers, even though he knew I’d lied.
“Scottie?”
“Hmm?”
“Can you at least tell me about your nightmare?”
I could, but I wouldn’t. Not when he could easily put two and two together if all of a sudden I had nightmares about David. When I had just left him, the nightmares had been bad, with Jay waking me up in the middle of the night and sleeping in my bed more than once to get me through the aftermath. After a while, the terrible dreams where I relived the horrifying things David used to do to me had stopped.
Until they had returned last night.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Griff said, his voice low. “Let’s go to sleep and worry about all this some other time.”
36
GRIFF
When I pressed a kiss to his forehead, Scottie made a face. His brow wrinkled, and he blinked his beautiful blue eyes open. He’d slept fitfully last night, waking me up several times with his moans, and not the kind he made when we were having sex. They sounded like a wounded animal desperate for help. I’d hugged, comforted, and soothed him back to sleep each time, but I’d barely gotten a wink.
Throughout the night, I’d pieced together as much of the puzzle as possible, and the conclusion I’d arrived at left me uneasy. I was 95 percent sure Scottie’s skittish behavior had something to do with his sleazy ex. Him calling his name in such panic while he was sleeping on the couch had provided clarity.
But why would Scottie hide something his ex did from me? That part I still hadn’t figured out.
“Griff?” He covered his mouth and let out a yawn, then stretched. The sensuous movement of his body made my cock twitch, but I ignored it. I had plans that couldn’t wait.
“Go back to sleep.” I kissed his cheek. “I’m going out for a bit, but I’ll be back soon.”
“What time is it? I should get up for work.”
“I don’t think you should go in today.” I brushed his hair from his forehead. “Why don’t you call in sick and take the day off?”
“That sounds good, but I’m not really sick.”
How could I have believed even for a second that he’d been with another man? Not my Scottie. He was too open and honest for that.
“You had a rough night. It’s just one day, Scottie. They can do without you for one day.”
“What about you? Don’t you have work?”
“I took the day off to take care of you.”
“Then climb into bed with me.”
“I will as soon as I get back.” I kissed his eyes closed and felt a bit better at his half smile. “Now sleep.”
I waited until his breathing evened, then tiptoed out of the room, pulling on a jacket. The sun was peeking through the trees, but the earlier I found out what Scottie was hiding, the better. Sure, I was still upset, but I was too confused by what he meant by him protecting me. Protecting me from what? What kind of threat did he think I would face if he told me the truth?
The drive to my son’s place took longer than normal because I took the long route, giving myself enough time to consider what I was about to do. No matter how uncomfortable the conversation would get, I needed to have it. Jay had been with Scottie the day his behavior changed. He and Scottie were close. The likelihood of him knowing the truth was high. I’d intended to stay away from him and allow him to make the next step, but I had to know what was wrong with Scottie and fix it.
I parked my truck on the corner of the street, not feeling welcome enough to pull up into the driveway. I slammed the door shut and, with a deep breath, walked the few yards to Jay’s house. A memory flashed through my mind of the first time I’d appeared there and Scottie opened the front door. The day that had changed my life.
As I pressed the button, the doorbell pealed out in the quiet morning. No immediate response followed, so I pushed the button again, a little more forcefully this time. Footsteps finally approached, and the closer they got, the more my stomach churned.
