Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59767 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Griffin catches me staring, and the corner of his mouth lifts. “What’d you pick?”
“Speed,” I manage.
“Really?” he questions.
“Well, yeah. What’s wrong? Don’t you like action movies?”
“I don’t watch much of anything,” he says, grabbing a blanket off a chair, then sliding into bed beside me, before covering both of us with it. “But yeah, it’s the genre I’d pick. I guess I just figured you were the Hallmark Christmas movie type. It is that time of year.”
I laugh. “Nah. All those movies are the same and they’re not my type of Christmas movie at all.”
Grifter chuckles, the sound deep and warm. “So, what’s your favorite Christmas movie ever?”
I grin. “You’ll never guess it,” I say with a giggle.
“Um … Bad Santa?”
“Ew, no,” I reply scrunching my face up in distaste.
“It’s a Wonderful Life?” he guesses.
I frown. “Okay so that’s a good one. It’s right up there with Susan Slept Here, but it’s not my favorite.”
“Susan what?” he asks, completely lost.
“It’s an old black and white movie starring Debbie Reynolds. Me and Nana watch it every year.”
“Okay, then. It’s time to spill. What’s your favorite Christmas movie?”
“Die Hard.” I cackle.
“You’re shittin’ me,” he laughs.
“Heck, no. That movie is epic and it’s one that you can watch over and over without getting tired of it.”
“I was wrong, Georgie. You are a witch, one who is casting a love spell on me.”
“That was so lame, Griffin,” I laugh, and wondering how it’s possible I can laugh about something that hurt me for years.
“I’m almost afraid to ask now, but what’s your favorite movie ever?”
“Oh, that’s easy. Princess Bride.”
He frowns like I just confessed to murder. “I had such high hopes for you after your Christmas movie. Now, we’ve crashed back to reality. That’s one I’ve never seen, but it definitely sounds like a chick flick.”
I look at him like he just kicked my puppy. “It’s epic!”
“Sure, baby.”
“I’m serious, Griffin. You have to watch it. It’s hilarious!”
“Is it the kind that’ll zap all the testosterone from my body?”
“Maybe just half,” I tease.
He shakes his head at me. “For you, I’ll watch it. But you can’t tell anyone.”
I raise my hand solemnly. “I promise. Witch’s honor.”
“I see what you did there, you little minx.”
“You know, the rumors in town really are absurd,” I confess. “If I really were a witch, I’d wiggle my nose and clean up this nasty room.”
He looks around, studying the room. “Is that why you didn’t turn the bed down?”
“Well, duh,” I say with mock seriousness. “Even now, I’m fearing for my life because I’m lying on this comforter with only a blanket between me and the unknown.”
“Point made. Do you know anyone that does cleaning?”
“Not really, why?”
“Because it’s not my thing, and I want you to stay here with me. That means it needs to be clean.”
Something tender stirs in my chest. “Griffin, I really had fun tonight.”
“After I stopped being an idiot, you mean.”
I groan. “I’m trying to forget the disaster that was the first part of our date. It’d be nice if you stopped reminding me.”
He leans closer, voice low. “I’ll remind you how good it is when we kiss instead.”
“Um, that’s dangerous considering we’re lying in bed together. How about we play five questions instead?”
“Five questions?” he repeats. “I thought it was twenty.”
“I have a short attention span,” I tease, making him laugh again.
We take turns asking funny, harmless questions that slowly turn into something softer. He asks about my favorite food, my first car, the worst lie I’ve ever told. I ask about his first tattoo, his favorite ride, the moment he knew he wanted to lead this club. Each answer makes me feel closer to him, like the walls between us are slowly falling away.
On the fourth question, he says my name. “Georgia.”
“Yeah?”
He pauses, his voice suddenly lower, thicker. “I don’t really want to ask you another question. I mostly just want to kiss you.”
“Griffin…” I whisper.
“Just a kiss, baby. Before I can respond, he’s kissing me—slow, sweet, unhurried. The kind of kiss that melts your bones and makes you forget to breathe. The kind that I never imagined existed before Griffin entered my life. When we finally break apart, I can barely think straight.
Griffin leans in to whisper against my lips, “We better watch that movie before I forget my promise to only cuddle and not do anything else.”
I giggle—something I do a lot around him. Come to think of it, both of us seem to laugh a lot together. That thought makes me happy as I settle against him, snuggling into Griffin’s warmth. The movie plays in the background, but all I can feel is his heartbeat steady under my cheek, his hand tracing lazy circles on my arm. After a while, I whisper, “Griffin?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“I just wanted to thank you for a wonderful night. I had a really great time.”