He hasn’t seen me yet because his head is covered. I need to move. I need to turn around. I need to leave the state.
Instead, my eyes—which clearly have a death wish—drag downward.
Stop it. Piper, look at the ceiling. Look at the floor. Look literally anywhere else.
Broad shoulders? Check. The tattoo I saw earlier goes all the way up his arm and over his back.
Up. Eyes up.
I’m hot. Why am I getting hot?
I get as far as his stomach before I make the catastrophic error of looking too far down while trying not to.
Oh.
Oh God.
There it is.
Yep, there’s not-so-little-Griffin.
I’m staring at his penis.
I can’t stop staring.
I make a noise. It’s not a word. It’s the sound a person makes when they’ve accidentally walked into a sliding glass door. Griffin whips the towel off his head, eyes wide, and we make full, soul-searing eye contact.
One second.
Two.
He snaps the towel around his waist in one blurred motion. I spin around so fast I nearly trip over my own feet and grab the doorframe for dear life.
“I’m so sorry,” I start, my voice an octave higher than usual.
“Shit, I’m sorry,” he says at the same time.
“I should have knocked!” I blurt out. It’s a lie. I didn’t even think about it. “I mean, I was going to knock. I thought about it. The door just… happened.”
“It’s fine,” he says, his voice sounding a little strained. “I lost track of the time. I thought you’d be longer.”
The silence that follows is heavy enough to crush a person. I’m still staring at the wood grain of the door. My face is so hot I could probably be used as a space heater.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m completely fine! Completely. Great. I’m just going to…” I look around the room without looking at him. My eyes land on Gerald, sitting in the armchair where Griffin left him. “He needs a walk,” I say, pointing at the stuffed bird.
“He needs a…” Griffin pauses. “He’s a penguin, Piper.”
I march over and snatch Gerald up. “Fresh air. It’s good for both of us.”
“You just came back from a walk.”
“That wasmywalk.” I tuck the four-foot penguin under my arm like a shield. “This ishiswalk.”
“Piper—”
“Won’t be long!” I scramble for the door. “I’m not sleepy yet, so don’t, you know, worry.”
