AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A laugh tears from my lips, and we pause, realizing the brother is slower than we thought. I rip off my shoes, grabbing them both in one hand before turning to see the hunter coming after us.
With that, we both take off, laughing and filling our lungs with the bitter December air.
I thank Mother Nature that it hasn’t snowed yet, but regardless, I don’t feel the cold as my feet pound on the asphalt. I hike my dress up to get better movement–trying to keep up with Griffin’s long strides.
The brother is yelling at us, parking lot lights illuminating the surrounding area. We sprint down the hill past the cars in the lot and toward some trees; the brother becoming faster and angrier with every step. When I see the tall chain-link fence in front of us, I start to think we have a chance.
“You like climbing?” Griffin yells over the wind whipping past my ears.
“I do now!”
We are both still laughing when we get there, looking back once to see if we have enough time.
I grab the sides of the dress, mud caked on my feet, as Griffin takes my shoes from me. “Up you go,” he says, and I squeeze my feet through the small holes in the fence. Somehow, this was much easier when I was a kid–less painful, too. Even so, with the threat of an angry brother on our tail, I start climbing.
It’s not fast enough. I can hear the yelling behind us, and Griffin reaches up, pushing a hand on my butt and giving me a shove until I can grab the top of the fence, struggling with the skirt of my dress and trying to figure out how I will hurl one leg over. Finn’s hand is still firmly on my ass.
“You’re really feeling me up,” I say. Griffin removes his hand instantly, and I hear the fence rattle as he climbs next to me.
We are both winded and focused.
“These are not the circumstances in which I imagined palming your ass,” he responds, and my foot slips. Quickly regaining my composure, I risk another glance back and haul my very felt-up ass higher.
I throw my leg over the top and hear the rip cut through my thrifted dress. The cold night air hits my thigh, but I refuse to look down at the dress when the ground sits further below me. Hopefully, I’ve just created a nice and tasteful slit.
Behind us, I can see the brother has given up, standing higher on the hill and waving us off as he turns around. Griffin tosses his leg over, and before I know it, we are both in the grass, safe and cold–caked in dirt and sweat.
I’m panting, my hands on my knees as I look through the fence chains and up the empty hill. When I stand up straight, my gaze slides to Griffin, sitting in the mud-mixed grass with his legs stretched out and his hands resting behind him. He’s staring up at the sky, his chest heaving as he tries to get his breathing under control.
“You imagined palming my ass?” I ask, placing my hands on my hips.
His eyes snap to mine, and I swear I see a slight tint to his cheeks in the small amount of light meeting us from the parking lot. “I didn’t mean to say that.” He clears his throat. “Fuck, Ellis. I’m sorry.”
I chuckle, moving to stand in front of him. When I offer him my hand, he takes it easily, standing up to his full height and towering above me. The smile is gone, and I can tell he suddenly feels uncomfortable.
“It’s really okay,” I assure. “Absolutely fine.”
A breathy laugh escapes him as he looks at the ground, shoving his hands in his pocket. The expression makes him look younger–vulnerable. “You still want to hang out? There’s something else I think we can check off the list tonight.”
I take one more deep breath, finally coming down from the high of our impromptu marathon. “Yeah?” I realize I left my phone in his car and try not to think about how reckless that was. “What time is it?”
He grabs his from his pocket to check, the gentle glow illuminating his face. “Eleven-thirty. I know it’s really late, but I’m fine if you want to–”
“Yes!” I say, and he meets my smile with his own. “But before we leave, I feel like I should confess that I lied to you about something.”
“Ellis.” He rolls his eyes. “We lied about nearly everything tonight.”
I don’t let his comment derail me. “I don’t park far away because I’m afraid people will hurt my car. Which I need to pick up, by the way.”
His smile drops, and his brows furrow. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. “Okay?”
“I park far away because I’m a bad driver, and parking between two cars gives me anxiety.”
Griffin shakes his head, the smile returning to his lips as he pulls off his suit jacket and offers it to me. “Alright,” he says. “You’re forgiven. Now let’s go before our adrenaline runs out, and we start to remember it’s winter.”
Eleven
Griffin
