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“Have your parents bothered you since our dinner?” I asked, curious about how everything had unfolded for him. It had been a few days since that night.
“Aside from gushing about us and being excited, Mom’s been on the tame side, fortunately. We pulled it off,” he murmured, taking me in.
Being under his gaze never made me feel like an object, and it helped put me at ease. Instead, he looked at me like I was worth admiring. Worth taking the time to study and understand how I was feeling.
Even if he could be abrasive at times, Griffin was thoughtful, and that was a wonderful thing.
Smiling for him, my heart squeezed, and I wished my hand could still be in his. “I’m glad to hear it.”
Maintaining that eye contact for an extended period, I couldn’t help but notice as we gravitated closer to one another. Like an invisible link between us was encouraging that subtle effort to be nearer.
A part of me hoped he would take it a step further.
With his gentle gaze, Griffin inhaled dismissively and broke that tension. “I should let you go now but let me know if you need a hand again. I’m happy to help.”
Nodding, I tried to not let that slight disappointment get the better of me. It was good. Everything between us was just fine, and it didn’t need to be more than that.
“Thanks again.”
As quickly as he arrived, Griffin went on his way with his essentials, leaving me to try my best to collect myself again.
To silently thank him again and again for showing up when he did. I could only imagine how much worse that interaction would’ve been if not for Griffin.
Soaked in confliction, I urged myself to grab the rest of what I needed without consuming myself with thoughts of him.
***
“What’s with you today?” Cora asked, smiling at me suggestively.
Perking up at the question, I looked at her from across the small storage room within the building where our coven gathered. Since everything was run by us, cleaning and maintenance of the place came down to volunteer work. The two of us managed to sign up for the same shift.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re practically glowing,” she said, reaching for a box of pillar candles. “You have been all day. I wonder if someone might be the cause of that?”
I smiled sheepishly at that and shrugged her off. “I’m just in a good mood, that’s all.”
She eyed me suspiciously, then snickered. “If you say so.”
Grabbing a second box, I followed her out of the supply room and into the general ritual space.
Many of the candles had burned down to their holders, and we busied ourselves replacing them.
The scuffle of our shoes echoed throughout the old stone building as we went. Otherwise, the place was nearly silent.
“How has your troublesome neighbor been then?” She asked with a bored tone.
If anyone had heard the extent of my previous disdain for Griffin, it was Cora. I didn’t blame her for sounding annoyed by him already.
“Actually, not as bad as before,” I answered, thinking back to our run-in at the grocery store. How he jumped in without question and helped deter Ryan.
She threw me a questioning look and raised her brows. “Are we talking about the same person?”
“I know, right? He came around to the whole decoration thing,” I murmured, reaching for more candles.
“What would possibly possess him to be nice?”
I laughed quietly at her complete disbelief. “I think he’s turning a new leaf. He even apologized for being stubborn before. It was actually nice.”
