Page 57

I think about every interaction I’ve had with Carter over the last month, how neither of us could fight the pull to each other, his smile when he laid next to me and we shared air, the comfort we found in each other’s presence, how easily our bodies came together.

“Yeah, he does; he just hasn’t accepted it yet.”

“Has he been with men before or you his first?”

“Definitely his first,” I reply with a smirk.

“You worried about that?”

“I’m more worried about him never admitting to being in love with me than being enough for him.”

“Want me to smack him? Sometimes a good throat punch is all someone needs to remove their head from their ass.”

“Nah, I’ll do it if he needs. He’s a stubborn asshole, but I’m not ready to give up on him. I thought I loved Nick and I was so fucking wrong. What I feel for Carter was instant, life-changing.”

“Love at first sight shit?”

“A hundred percent.”

“It’s gonna work out, brother. I got your back, and we’ll get through it.”

We have to. There’s no other option.

The next day, I make the three-hour drive into Seattle to the Northwest Explorer’s main offices, ready to talk to my dad again and see if we could have a civilized conversation. I didn’t give him a heads-up that I was coming, and hopefully, if I act like I’m going to be compliant, he’ll be open to being a little more transparent with me.

After parking my car in the parking garage, I pull out my phone to send Carter a text. I’ve been messaging him once a day for the last few days. I don’t want to be pushy, but I want him to know that what we had was real, and hopefully he’ll be open to talking to me and giving me a chance to explain. As much as I was heartbroken that he wouldn’t give me a chance to do that at the moment, I have to put myself in his shoes as well and attempt to be understanding of how he reacted.

The situation we found ourselves in wasn’t exactly conducive to transparency from either of us. Based on our brief history, he’s been programmed not to trust anything I say. But I have to fix that. We’ve been speaking with our bodies for long enough, and I hope that with time, he’ll let me use my words.

Me: I hope you’re ok. I can’t stop thinking about you.

Pocketing my phone, I take a deep breath and head into the office, nodding to security and taking the elevator to the top floor, where my father’s office takes up the entirety of it. All the worker bees are on the floors below. Cynthia, the evil minionreceptionist, gives me a look that would strike lesser men down, but I just return it with a cheeky smile.

“Good morning, Cynthia. Here to see Satan, I’m sorry, my dad. Same thing though, am I right?” I joke just to piss her off even though my mood is sour.

“He has appointments all day, Griffin. You’ll have to schedule something at a later date.”

“Yeah, see, that’s not gonna work for me, Cynthia. Because I just drove over three hours to see him. He is my father, and I’m not going to schedule a time to sit and talk with him.”

She huffs as my father’s office door opens and the man of the hour appears.

“I’ve got this, Cynthia. Thank you.”

“I know it’s unannounced, but I needed to speak with you.”

“Hopefully to share something I can finally be proud of,” he mutters, as if I can’t hear him a foot apart as we walk into his office.

I grind my molars and swallow my pride, saying the words that need to be said to smooth things over between us and buy me the precious time I need.

“I came here to apologize.”

His facial expression doesn’t change, the bastard.

“I’m sorry for how I treated Lexi, she caught me off guard and I had to put out a fire because of it. I apologize for the embarrassment it caused you, and I’m going to work on making amends.”

“It doesn’t change what you did or what you said, Griffin.”

“I realize now that—” The words practically die on my tongue, but I know I need to get them out. “I realize now that my feelings were not reciprocated and that I was being a fool. I’m going to fix it.”