Page 79 of Love Felt Like This

“I’ve heard he’s doing well” is all I manage.

“Congratulations, by the way,” Taylor murmurs.

“On what?”

“On that.”

“What?”

“Girl.” Her eyes bug out. “Griffin. Harvey.”

Oh.

Taylor’s eyes are locked on to a space behind me. I turn and spot Griffin with his black baseball cap on, tilted low. It must have been tucked in his pocket. But his pseudodisguise can’t hide his iconic jawline and gorgeous long hair. Griffin doesn’t linger, moseying into another room behind Ava, who is too busy to care about adult conversations. The old hardwood floors creak and whine under his heavy boots, sounding exactly how I feel.

I was so distracted about memories of dating Beau, I forgot about my silly little lie to make others not think about me dating Beau.

“Thank you,” I say quickly. “Yeah.”

“Look at you. Lucky duck with all these musicians.”

I swallow. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s not on purpose.” But heat rises in my chest. I guess it doesn’t look like that.

“So…” Taylor lowers her voice. “If you don’t mind me asking…what exactly happened with Beau? He absolutely will not tell me.”

I swear my throat closes in that moment. I let out an awkward laugh because it’s all I can do. “We just…I don’t know. Didn’t work out, I guess.”

“I mean, you saw the video, right? Who didn’t?” She laughs, then gets real serious all too quick. “But…you just seemed so happy before that, y’know? You were on the homecoming court. I mean, he was. But oh, your dress was so pretty that year.”

“Yeah, things change, I guess.”

When I glance over to the side room, Griffin is back, sifting through the opposite side of the rack. His eyes are focused on me. I avert my gaze back to my hands, twisting in front of my thighs, my thumb chipping away at my nail polish.

Taylor sighs. “That’s so sad.” Say-ud. “Was it him that broke up with you?”

“Um, it’s complicated,” I mutter. God, I could sink into this floor.

I don’t have the heart to tell her he cheated. Even now, despite everything he did, razing his reputation feels cruel.

Suddenly, a hand wraps around my waist. Warm. Solid. Long fingers curl around to my stomach, pulling me into a hard chest. My breathing stops.

“Baby, I’m so lost.” Griffin’s crooning voice heats into my ear. It’s low and gritty, trailing down to my neck and skittering over my spine. “Can you help me out?”

Taylor’s eyes get so big I wonder whether they’ll pop out of her face. I imagine I must look the same.

“Oh.” The word is breathy. “Of course.”

Griffin’s opposite hand slides between both of mine, thwarting my efforts to ruin my painted nails. We don’t cup hands this time; he links our fingers together. His are thick and rough, calloused from his guitar.

“Sorry,” he says to Taylor with a forced smile. “I hate being without her for too long.”

Taylor runs a tongue over her bottom lip as if parched. “Sure. Sure. Can I help you find anything?”

“Beverly’s got me covered,” he says. “Come on, baby.”

Baby.

I swallow again, but my throat is painfully dry. I’m thirsty like Taylor—parched, I mean. Not thirsty for Griffin but—