I pushed my chair back and stood. “I’ll help with dishes.”
My mom’s jaw dropped. “Are you feeling okay?”
I chuckled. “Why do you ask?”
“Because I usually have to pull your teeth to get you to help. You always run off and watch football with your dad.”
I shrugged. “Shame on me then. I should help more.”
My mom shook her head as she stood. “My son has been replaced by a robot,” she muttered as she carried her own plate to the kitchen.
I picked up as many plates as I could and followed her.
An hour and a half later, we had finished dessert, and I was itching to leave. I was trying to get into the game, but four o’clock was inching closer, and my aunt lived about forty-five minutes from Madeline. I was already going to be late, but I was starting to feel bad about leaving. I hadn’t skipped out on Thanksgiving since high school.
“Griffin, if you want to leave, then leave,” my dad said out of nowhere.
“What?”
“It’s obvious you want to go, son.”
“Will Mom be upset?”
My father laughed. “You’re a thirty-year-old man. Your mom will be fine. Especially if you tell her you’re leaving early to see a woman.”
“But that’s not—” Well, it was kind of true. “I don’t want to lie.”
“You’re going to see Madeline, right?”
“Yes.”
“And is she a woman?”
I smiled. She most certainly was. “Yes.”
“Then, it’s not a lie.”
I shook my head and laughed. “You know Mom is going to think other things, so it’s kind of a lie.” Then, I threw my arm around my dad. “But thanks for the support.”
He hugged me back. “You’re welcome. Now, get out of here.”
I went to find my mom. “Hey, Mom. I gotta go.” I looked at my aunt. “Thanks for everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Where are you going?” Mom asked.
“I’m going to meet someone.”
“Griffin, aren’t you a little old to be leaving early on Thanksgiving to go and get drunk with your friends?”
“Mom, I haven’t done something like that in years. I’m not going to meet my friends.” I thought about my dad’s advice. “I’m going to meet a woman, okay?”
My mom’s eyes lit up. “You are? Who?”
“I’m not telling you. It’s still new. Don’t get too excited, okay?”
She nodded way too enthusiastically. “Okay.” She pulled me into a hug. “Have fun. Tell this woman hi for me.”
I kissed her cheek. “Bye, Mom.”
She reluctantly let me go, and I hightailed it out of the kitchen before she could ask more questions.
“Bye, Dad,” I said on my way out.
He smiled at me. “Bye, son.”
And with that, I was off to Madeline’s.
I was late, but I had already texted Madeline, so she knew I hadn’t ditched her. She greeted me at the door with a huge mug.
“What’s this?”
“Spiked hot cocoa.”
I grinned. I also saw that she had the gas fireplace running and a Christmas movie pulled up on the television.
“Someone’s ready for the holidays, huh?”
“Always. You know Christmas is my favorite time of year.”
“That I do.”
She grabbed my hand and led me over to the couch. “I thought we could take turns picking movies to watch while we get drunk on peppermint schnapps.”
“I’m game. You know I’m picking Die Hard though, right?”
“I would never expect anything less,” she told me.
Madeline grabbed a blanket and threw it over our laps, and she cuddled up next to me as I put my arm around her.
“Are you ready for me to hit play?” she asked.
“Go for it. What are we watching again?”
We hadn’t had sex since Sunday, and I knew she was almost done with her cycle. If I kissed her, I had a strong feeling she’d melt into me and ask me to take her to the bedroom.
But I didn’t want that. I was more than content to snuggle with her on her couch and watch movies.
“A new Netflix movie. If it’s not good, I’ll turn it off. But the preview looked cute.”
I kissed her on the head. “Works for me.” I was simply happy to be with her. “I have to warn you, I ate a lot of food, and there’s a chance I might fall asleep.”
She patted my stomach. “That’s okay. You sleep today because we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“What’s going on tomorrow? I thought we’d planned to hole ourselves up here and not do anything until I have to work tomorrow night.”
“We’re putting up the Christmas tree.” She grinned up at me.
I groaned playfully. “I should have known.”
“If you do a good job, I’ll have a present for you later.”
“Are you bribing me with sex, babe?”
She laughed. “No. I got you your very own homemade pumpkin pie.”
“You should have led with that. I’d do almost anything for pumpkin pie.”
Thirty
Griffin
The following Monday was like usual, except when I looked outside, the street was decorated for the holidays.
Bar traffic during this time of year was unlike any other. Some of my regulars were too busy to stop in as much as they normally did. Meanwhile, there were people who hated the holidays and came in to drink more than usual.
I was looking at a pretty good crowd for the early afternoon in the beginning of the week when my phone rang.
I could see on my watch that it was my mom, but I was in the middle of pouring a drink with another customer waiting. I would just call her back.
But when my phone rang again, right after my mom hung up, I knew something wasn’t right. My mother did not call multiple times in a row. I couldn’t put this off for later.
I turned to my bartender. “Mitch, I need you to call Casey and see if she can come in.” I had a feeling I was going to need to take off as soon as I answered this call.
His eyebrows furrowed. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure yet. Can you please call her? If she doesn’t answer, call someone else to come in.” I didn’t wait for Mitch to answer; I just ran toward my office.
I had missed my mom’s second call, too, so I quickly dialed her back.
The phone clicked, and I heard crying.
“Mom?” My heart was racing in my chest, and I broke out into a cold sweat.
“Oh, Griffin. I need you to…” Her voice dropped too low for me to hear.
“Mom, I need you to repeat that.”
Silence.
“Mom.”
“Mr. Davis?” a deep, masculine voice said.
“Yes? What is going on?”
“This is Dr. Long. Your father had a heart attack.”
I fell against the wall as if my legs could no longer hold me up. “Is he—is he okay?”
“Your father is alive at this time. But I think it’s best you come to the hospital right away.”
I closed my eyes and fought off panic because I didn’t have time for it. I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and stood up.
“What hospital?”
“Southdale.”
“Tell my mom I’m on my way.”
My arrival to the hospital was a blur. I barely remembered leaving the bar, and the next thing I knew, I was asking someone at a desk where Glen Davis was.
My father was still in the emergency department when I got to the hospital, and my mom jumped up from her chair when she saw me in the doorway of my dad’s room.
She rushed toward me.
“Mom, shouldn’t Dad be in the ICU or something like that? There’s no way they can send him home today.”
My mom cupped my face. “Oh, honey. They don’t think your father is going to make it. I was worried y
ou wouldn’t get here in time to say good-bye.”
I stepped back and pushed her hands off me. “No. No way. Dad is healthy.” I shook my head. “I don’t believe you.”
My mom moved toward me again and grabbed my hands. “Shh. It’s okay, Griffin. Why don’t you just go in and talk to him. Okay?”
I nodded even though I was mad at her for telling me that my dad was going to die. I approached the bed and sat in the chair my mom had just vacated.
He was surrounded by machines, and his face was pale. He looked like someone who had put on a mask of my dad. And when I picked up his hand, it was cold.
“Dad, please wake up.”
The last time I had seen him was Thanksgiving. He’d seemed fine. I didn’t understand what had happened.
“I’m sorry I left early. I should have stayed with you.”
I didn’t even know I had been crying until I tasted the tears on my mouth.
“I don’t want to lose you.” I squeezed his hand. “Please, you have to get better. Who am I going to get advice from if you leave?” I joked, but my father didn’t move. And he didn’t squeeze my hand back.
I didn’t know how long my mother had left me alone to talk to my dad, but she came back after some time.
“What happened?” I asked her.
She shrugged. “I only know what the doctor and nurses told me. He was at work in the back of the warehouse, and someone found him unconscious. They called 911 and brought him here.”
“He wasn’t complaining of any chest pain?” I asked.
“No.”
“No complaints about anything?” I found it hard to believe there hadn’t been any signs.
“Griffin, honey, if he had any symptoms, he didn’t share them with me.”
I looked at my father. “Why wouldn’t you have said anything?” I asked him. “Someone might have been able to help you sooner.”
“I understand you’re upset, Griff. I am too.”
I looked up at my mom as she took my dad’s other hand, and I felt bad for getting mad. Yes, he was my father, but he was her husband. And I knew my mom loved him. I didn’t know what she would do without him.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
“For what?”
“For getting mad. I had no right.”
“It’s fine. You didn’t mean it.”
I hung my head in shame and nodded. When I looked up, she had his hand against her face.
“Jeez, Mom, come and sit over here.”
“No, no. I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
I scanned the hall. “Why hasn’t anyone come in to check on him?” I looked at the monitor. I wasn’t a doctor and didn’t know what everything meant, but I could see that his heart was still beating. “Shouldn’t they be moving him somewhere else by now?”
My mom looked at me, her eyes full of tears. “Honey, the doctor said your dad has already coded four times. He said his heart can’t take much more.”
“Can’t they do surgery or something?” I heard all the time about people getting triple bypass surgery. I’d even heard of a quadruple bypass.
She shook her head. “He needs to be stable before they can take him to surgery. And so far, they haven’t been able to get him stable.”
I studied my dad once more. “He looks pretty stable to me.”
And the second I said those words, the monitor flatlined and started to beep.
Thirty-One
Madeline
I left the conference room, ready to call it a day.
I hated Mondays. Every second dragged on, especially when the entire afternoon was meetings.
Sometimes, I wondered how they expected us to do our actual jobs when they put us in meetings all day.
When I got to my desk, the first thing I did was pick up my phone. I was shocked to see I had missed several calls.
Griffin had called me, followed by his mom and my mom.
I didn’t even wait to call anyone back. I grabbed my coat and purse and told my boss I had to leave early.
I called Griffin first as I walked to my car, but he didn’t answer, so I sent him a text before I left the parking lot.
I was just about to call him a second time when my phone rang. It was my mom again.
“Hello?”
“Honey, have you spoken to Griffin?”
“No. I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer. I’ve been in meetings all afternoon, and they won’t let us take our phones in.”
“Oh, honey.”
“Mom, what is wrong? I saw his mom had called too.”
“Madeline, Griffin’s dad died of a heart attack this afternoon.”
I sucked in a breath and slammed a hand over my mouth.
“Camile called me earlier to see if I knew where you were. Apparently, Griffin left the hospital, and his mom is worried about him.”
I was already crying, and it took me a second to steady my voice. “I’m on my way to his place right now. Since I’m driving, would you mind letting Camile know that I’m checking on him?”
“Of course, honey. I’ll call her right away.”
“Thank you.”
When I got to the bar, I went in through the back way. It had occurred to me to stop and talk to Griffin’s staff to see if anyone had seen him, but I would only do that if I couldn’t find him in his apartment.
I knocked when I got upstairs, but he didn’t answer, so I tried the door, and it was unlocked.
I slowly pushed the door open, wondering what I would find but I didn’t see anything. Griffin’s shades were drawn, and since it was winter, the sun was almost set, so the space was dark.
I gently closed the door, slipped off my shoes, and padded to the bedroom. It was just as dark in there, but I could see Griffin’s figure facing away from me on the bed.
I breathed a sigh of relief and sent a group text to my mom and Camile to let them know that Griffin was at home and safe. Then, I set my phone on his dresser and slipped into bed behind him.
I hesitantly put my hand on his back. “Griffin, I’m so sorry. I just want you to know that I’m here if you need me.”
Griffin slowly rolled over, pushed his face into my chest, and silently cried.
Sometime later, I woke with a start, unsure of why my body was on high alert.
And then I remembered.
Glen, Griffin’s dad, had died.
I had let Griffin cry on me for some time while I stroked his hair, and we must have fallen asleep. I had no idea what time it was. The only clue as to how late it might be was how hungry I was.
Griffin stirred beside me, his face still buried in my shoulder, and I froze. I honestly didn’t know what to do for him, and I didn’t want to mess anything up.
He lifted his head until we lay face-to-face on the pillow. Since I felt like there were no words, I put my hand on his cheek to let him know I cared.
The last thing I expected was for him to kiss me. Or for that kiss to explode into an urgency I had never experienced before with him.
As if we were on borrowed time, Griffin practically ripped off all our clothes until we were both naked. I felt like his hands had multiplied as he touched me everywhere. I didn’t know if he needed to feel that I was alive or if he wanted to make sure I was really there.
I understood that this was a reaction to his dad’s death. I understood that he needed to feel life and that this was his way of coping.
So, when he rolled me onto my back, I spread my legs and let him push his way inside.
He hadn’t spoken a single word to me since I had gotten here, but I ran my hands over his back and shoulders and told him to take what he needed from me. That I was there for him.
I only wanted to make sure he felt good.
But I should have known Griffin wouldn’t let things go down that way. He rode me hard, as if every pump of his hips was a way to exorcise his grief, but he didn’t use me the way he could have.
Every thrust
was aimed right for my G-spot. After sleeping together for a month, he knew exactly how to reach it and how to make me feel good. And tonight was no exception.
I felt guilty, getting so much pleasure from Griffin when his father would never feel anything again, but he didn’t let up, and I knew I was going to be sore tomorrow.
When I lost the fight between desire and remorse, desire won. And as I cried out in pleasure, Griffin slammed home and poured himself into me.
We were both breathing hard and shaking when he lifted his head and looked down on me.
We had both barely regained our breath when he kissed me, and he grew hard inside me again.
Griffin grunted and began to thrust.
Thirty-Two
Madeline
The next morning, I pulled myself from Griffin’s bed, feeling drained and out of sorts. I grabbed sweats from his dresser and got dressed before shuffling my way to the kitchen in search of food. Any kind of food. I was so hungry; I didn’t even care if I made noise and woke Griffin up.
Last night had been a whirlwind of sex, sleep, and more sex, and I’d never gotten a chance to eat. I had known my best friend was suffering, but I’d had no idea that he would refuse to talk about anything. Instead, every time he woke up and I tried to comfort him, he would pull me into his arms and make love to me.
Now, not only was I starving, but I was also thirsty, and my vagina was sore and wet. We hadn’t used protection once last night. I blamed it on the grief, and since we had both already been tested, it wasn’t something I was going to bring up with him. He already had enough on his plate.
I grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filled it with water, and downed the whole thing. As I set the empty glass down, I spotted a banana in the corner and practically attacked it as I shoved huge bites in my mouth. I never knew a banana could taste so good.
Feeling a tad more human, I poured a bowl of cereal and took some time with scarfing that down. Only after that did I feel more like I could think. I had to figure out what I needed to do today.
My Favorite Mistake: A Friends-to-Lovers Romance (A Love Like That) Page 13
