Just like always.
Claire rolls her lips inward, watching me with a mix of amusement and pity.“Just take a breath, Casey.You get so worked up sometimes.”
Griffin says nothing as he heads to the table behind him, then returns a moment later with a stack of napkins.He offers them to me with a sly grin.
“Your dress is drunk,” he says as I take the napkins from him.The comment inspires a genuine laugh, which helps me feel less like a dumbass as I pat the huge wet stain on my chest and over my stomach.
Claire excuses herself as someone from the city council approaches, leaving me and Griffin to ourselves.I sigh, dabbing at the huge stain.
“Good ole Clumsy Casey strikes again,” I mutter.“Can’t take me anywhere.”
“Your dress wanted a taste.It’s understandable.You don’t share with your clothes enough, clearly.”
I shake with silent laughter as I do my best to make myself look normal again.When I’m finished, Griffin has champagne flutes in each hand.
“This one’s just for you,” he says, handing me one.“Do not share it with the cotton sundress.”
“It’s linen,” I say.
“Oh.”He reels back, feigning a serious look.“Well, linenlovescocktails so you’ll probably spill again.”
I can’t fight the ear-to-ear grin.I wish I could tell him how much he’s helping right now—the way in which he pulled me out of a sister-inspired spiral before I could get lost in it.It doesn’t seem like casual conversation after not seeing someone for a decade, so instead I say, “I’ll take my chances.But this does mean you need to spill a drink on yourself, too.”
His brow lifts.“Tit for tat?”
“Cock for tail.”
His brows furrow together just like mine as we both work through what I said.Then we burst out laughing at the same time.
“That made no sense, but I like it.”He lifts his flute, and we tap them together gently.“Cheers, Casey.”
For a moment, everything feels perfect.The warmth spreading through me, the spring air, the brute manliness of Griffin in front of me.There’s a small voice in the back of my head, and it’s sayingLet’s stay here for a while.
Being around my family has never felt easy, but there’s always been something deceptively simple about being around Griffin.
That hasn’t changed.
I just wonder if he feels it too.
CHAPTER TWO
GRIFFIN
“You waiting for your girlfriend to get out of the bathroom?”Piper’s voice floats past me, causing me to spin and shush her.
“Don’t start that shit,” I warn her.I’ve just had the most amazing hour of my life reconnecting with Casey Hart, so deep in conversation that we barely moved from our spot until she needed to use the restroom.And yes, it maylooklike I’m standing outside the bathroom like a puppy waiting for its owner, but that’s not the case.
“We’re old friends who haven’t seen each other in a long time,” I go on in a low voice, unsure if Casey can hear me through the bathroom door.“Why is that so hard for you to grasp?”
“Because you’ve looked at nothing and no one else for the past hour,” Piper says in aduhtone.“I haven’t seen you this focused since the last championship game.”
I shake my head, feigning annoyance, but she’s not wrong.I just don’t want to admit it.Right before I noticed Casey was here, Mom made a cryptic comment about my “girlfriend being in the barn.”It weirded me out because A) I’m single and have no intention of changing that, and B) it really seems like Mom has become mildly psychic after the fire that burned down her bakery last year and the ensuing coma that had our entire family on pins and needles.Still, she can’t be right.Casey is with some dude named Jake, and she lives in Chicago.
Even though I would sink my teeth into the snack that is Casey Hart given the briefest of green lights, it seems she is not my snack to have.
Fuck, I wish she was though.
The door opens and Casey breezes out, looking cute enough to eat in that green spring dress.She flips her golden brown hair over her shoulder, exposing the pretty curve of her shoulder I’d like to trace for myself.I’m ready to keep the conversation going, maybe move things downtown and then back to my house if the vibe is right.
