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nineteen

GRIFFIN

“I gotta go, sunshine.” Leaning down, I press a kiss to my wife’s forehead. It’s early—five in the morning—and the sun isn’t even out yet. Though I hate to wake her, I hate the idea of leaving without saying goodbye more.

Mira stirs, does this cute little groan, and then her beautiful green eyes blink slowly at me as she fights to open them. “Griffin? What time is it?”

“It’s five, baby. Bash is picking me up to take us to the airfield, so I need to meet him downstairs.” Brushing my fingers through the hair tangled around Mira’s face, I wish I could stay home with her. Every game, it grows harder and harder to say goodbye.

“Why aren’t you taking your car?” she asks as she stretches.

Grinning, I press another kiss to her forehead, then one to the tip of her nose, enjoying the way she smiles up at me. As though maybe, just maybe, she’s starting to accept what I already know. “It’s your car this week. The tank’s full, and the keys are on the kitchen island.”

That has her sitting up, the comforter slipping down her naked body, revealing her perfect breasts and peaked nipples. I groan, because now, not only is it going to be hard to leave Mira, but my dick is hard as steel, and I’ll have to get it to chill out before I head down to the lobby.

“I can’t use your car.”

“Why not? I won’t need it.” Unable to help myself, I let one of my hands skim over my wife’s naked form, grinning when she sucks in a ragged breath as my thumb grazes her nipple. “And your car is in the shop. I won’t leave you stranded here for almost a week.”

“Your car costs more than I make in a year. By a lot.” Mira’s eyes are wide and a bit panicked.

“So?” I don’t see what the problem is. She needs a car; I have one I won’t need.

“What if I get in an accident?” Her voice rises in pitch with each word.

Eyebrows drawing together, I shrug. “Then we get it fixed. It’s just a car. All I care about is you being safe.”

“Griffin.” Mira shakes her head before pushing her wild hair away from her face. “Seriously, I can’t take your car. I don’t even have full coverage on my insurance.”

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Silly wife. Like I haven’t already taken care of all that. “I added you to my insurance yesterday.”

It’s cute the way her mouth drops open in surprise.

Mira is rarely speechless, but this is one of those moments, and it feels like a win.

In fact, I think leaving my wife speechless may be one of my new favorite things, and I decide then and there that I’ll do what I can to get this reaction out of her whenever possible.

“You added me to your insurance.” She doesn’t say it like a question, even though I know it is.

I grin. “Yep. Any more objections?”

“I… You… This is…” She’s so flustered, it’s impossible not to laugh. And when Mira levels me with a glare that could shrivel a lesser man’s balls, I laugh harder.

“Just drive the car, wife. Now, as much as I wish I could stay here and keep arguing about silly things, I really need to go. Bash should be here any minute.” Reaching out for Mira, I tangle my fingers in the hair at her nape and pull her in for a kiss.

She’s hesitant at first, but when I sweep my tongue over the seam of her lips, the tension melts out of her beautiful, naked body, and she kisses me back just as eagerly.

I don’t pull away until my phone buzzes with a text in the pocket of my suit pants, and even then, it takes every ounce of my self-control.

To my great pleasure, Mira looks as reluctant to end this as I feel, a quiet whimper leaving her lips.

Pressing my forehead to hers, I breathe her in for a moment.

“Fuck, sunshine. I don’t want to leave you. I’m going to miss you so damn much.” Pulling back, I meet Mira’s eyes. “Can we talk while I’m gone? It would mean a lot to me if we could FaceTime after games.”

With her lower lip rolled between her teeth, Mira nods.

“Can I text you?”

She nods again.

Grinning, I gently grab her face with both of my hands and pull her in for another kiss. “Good. That’s good. If you need anything—anything at all—just let me know, okay? I asked Ed to keep an eye out for you, too, while I’m gone. He’ll be working security at the door most of the week.”

Mira leans forward, stealing another kiss, before she looks up at me with bright eyes and pink cheeks. She’s a fucking vision, naked and beautiful, open and eager, with a hint of shyness. She’s everything. “Thanks, Griffy. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will be,” I tell her honestly. “Doesn’t mean I won’t worry. I—” Fuck. I have to stop myself from saying I love you. It’s too soon, and I know it, but I’m shaken by the realization that I want to say it. “I’ll miss you.”

The pink in her cheeks deepens. “I’ll miss you too. Be safe, okay?”

I kiss her one last time as my phone buzzes again. “I will. You too, baby.”

“Tell Sebastian I say hi.” Mira offers me a soft smile, shivering slightly as I step away. She grabs the comforter and wraps it around herself. I’ve never been so jealous of an inanimate object.

“I will. Call you tonight, okay? Text me whenever.” I take a reluctant step away.

“I will. Now get out of here before Bash gets frustrated.”

That makes me chuckle. Sebastian Navarro is one of the most patient men I know.

Even if he got frustrated with me, he’d never admit it.

She’s right, though, I need to go. With one last, lingering look at my beautiful wife, I finally turn and head to the door.

I grab my duffel bag and suitcase, forcing myself to get into the elevator and head down to the lobby.

I say goodbye to Ed and thank him for looking out for Mira before bracing myself for the late-winter temperatures.

Sebastian pops the tailgate of his SUV when he sees me. I toss my stuff in the back next to his, then climb into the passenger seat.

“Hey, man, sorry about that.”

He shrugs. “No worries. Wake up late?”

“Nah, just running a little behind.” My mind is still filled with my naked wife as my teammate pulls onto the road and heads toward the airstrip the team’s plane will leave from. “Thanks for picking me up.”

“Sure thing,” Bash says. “Mira’s car still in the shop?” I filled Sebastian in on the situation with Mira’s car when I asked him for a ride. Obviously, I didn’t tell him I was the one paying for the repairs, but I did tell him I wanted to leave her my car for the week.

“Yeah. Not sure when it’ll be done. That thing is old as hell. I worry about her driving it.”

Bash glances at me from the corner of his eye, one brow rising. “She’s a big girl, Griffin. And if she needs help, she can always ask her brother. I don’t think you need to worry about her.”

His words make me bristle, and even though I know he doesn’t realize he’s poking at a sore spot, he is.

Because I want to tell him I have every reason to worry about Mira.

That she’s my goddamn wife, and it’s my job to worry about her.

No, not my job, my privilege to worry about her.

But I can’t say any of that. Not without obliterating the tentative trust I’m building with her.

“She’s my roommate,” I say instead. “And my friend. I’d be an asshole if I didn’t worry about her at least a little bit.” I’m going for nonchalant with my tone, but if the way Bash looks at me is any indication, I don’t quite achieve it.

“Right. She’s your friend.” The way he says the word friend has me shifting uncomfortably in my seat. Does he suspect something? The guy is way too perceptive, but he’s also a genuinely good guy, so he won’t make accusations without proof. Still, it gets my hackles up.

“You trying to say something, Navarro?”

Sebastian runs a hand through his dark hair.

Light from streetlamps and the headlights of oncoming traffic bounce across his face as he drives.

“Just that you and Mira are both adults. And you’ve been different since she moved in with you.

More focused, settled. Like you’re finally comfortable in your own skin in a way I’ve never seen in all the years we’ve known each other.

And Mira? She seems happy. It was obvious that things ending with her ex shook her confidence a bit.

But since she started living with you, she’s got her light back.

” He glances at me. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed that you don’t even spare a glance at any woman that isn’t her. ”

Shifting uncomfortably in my seat, I shrug. “She’s Maddox’s little sister. And she’s my friend.”

“Is that all she is, though?”

“He’d kill me,” I respond, unwilling to answer the question. Bash will see right through me if I lie.

My friend and our goalie hums. “Maybe. But if you were serious about her and she was serious about you? He’d get over it. He only wants what’s best for her. And you.”

“He wants to set her up with his agent’s nephew,” I say, some of the bitterness I feel about that leaking into my tone. “Because he’s serious and responsible and the kind of guy Maddox thinks Mira needs.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows rise. “And you’re not serious and responsible?”

“Am I?” I bark out a bitter laugh. “Or am I just the fuckboy comedic relief?”

I know that’s how people see me, and I’ll do whatever I can to start changing those perceptions, but it won’t happen overnight. And Maddox has known me since college. He’s seen me through my most unserious fuckboy moments. There’s no way he’ll see me as someone worthy of his sister.

“No one sees you that way, Wright.”

“They do.” I shake my head. “And I know it’s my fault.”

Sebastian is silent for a moment, and my stomach twists.

“Who is the first person on the team to hype everyone else up? Who shows up, day in and day out, and does whatever it takes to make sure morale is high?” He glances at me, but when I don’t respond, he continues.

“Who has stuck his neck out for his teammates and their women when shit hits the fan? Who refused to accept that things were over between Isla and Maddox and stepped in to make sure Maddox didn’t ruin his own life with his stubborn pride? ”

Warmth fills my chest, and the back of my eyes begin to burn, but I still can’t speak. Although I appreciate what Sebastian is saying, none of that means Madds would ever support my relationship with his sister.

“You’re never late to practice, you show up even when you’re sick or injured.

You square up for every single man on our team if some asshole starts shit on the ice.

While some guys blow through their salaries, you found someone to help manage your money, then made sure we all did the same.

You may not be the captain of the Rogues, but we depend on you because we know you care, and you care deeply.

If that doesn’t make you the kind of guy worthy of Mira, then Madds doesn’t really want his sister with anyone. ”

Sebastian’s words wrap around me like a warm bro-hug. I want to believe him; I do. But even if I wanted to sit Madds down and have a heart-to-heart with him, I can’t. Mira has sworn me to secrecy about this marriage, and until she’s all in, I can’t do anything to jeopardize this.

“Thanks, man. I appreciate that, I really do. But there’s nothing to say about me and Mira, okay? Please don’t mention anything to him.”

Sebastian steals a few glances at me as he pulls up to the airstrip’s security gate. “Okay, Griffin. But you can talk to me about anything. You know that, right?”

I nod as he rolls his window down and shows his ID to the guard, who opens the gate and waves us through.

“Yeah, I know. Thanks, brother.”

“You’re a good man, Wright,” Sebastian says as he parks. “I’m sorry we’ve turned you into the butt of our jokes. I’ll get the guys to knock it off.”

“It’s fine,” I tell him. Because whether they give voice to their jokes or not, that’s exactly how they see me. A joke.

Bash shakes his head. “It’s not. And if there was something going on with Mira, she’d be lucky to have you. I hope you know that.”

It doesn’t matter if I know that or not, only that Mira does. And as of right now, I haven’t done enough to convince her. I will, though. Whatever it takes, I will prove that she can rely on me. That I’m it for her and she’s it for me.