Chapter 32: A False Start: Chapter 32

The closer I get to Ruby Creek, the heavier the sense of dread in the pit of my stomach. Up in the mountains, everything feels right—just the two of us in a perfect little bubble having mind-blowing, toe-curling sex.

But down in the valley, reality sets in. I watch the bumper of Griffin’s truck in front of me as I follow him back to the ranch. Back to complications.

While we were holed up in his house, it felt like nothing could touch us. We spent the entire day and night tangled up together, only stopping to eat or bathe, both of which turned into more sex. We barely talked, we literally just disappeared into each other’s bodies. Hid there, where it was safe and felt good. Like we both knew if we came up for air, certain realities would come crashing back in.

School. Baggage. Divorce. Opinions. Sex tapes. Judgment.

It doesn’t bother me he’s fourteen years older than me, but I’m not stupid enough to think other people might not have opinions about our age gap. Not that they matter. I’ve never much cared what other people think of me, but the thought of anyone making Griffin out to be something he’s not makes me see red.

And beneath all the anger is sadness. I need to prove to myself I can do all the things I’ve ever wanted to accomplish. And what’s more is that Griffin does, too.

We turn onto the winding tree-lined driveway leading to the A-frame guesthouse at Gold Rush Ranch, but as I come around the last bend, I’m not met with an empty parking lot.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

My brother is here, leaned up against the front door looking really pissed off. There’s a red Audi parked beside his gray Jeep, and when Griffin pulls up and hops out of his truck, another person steps out of the crimson car.

Perfectly straight bottle blonde hair swishes around her waist as her toned, tanned limbs fold out of the vehicle. She turns a practiced smile on Griffin, and my heart stutters, slowly puttering out in my chest until it feels like it’s going to stop altogether.

Stefan is watching her like a hawk until his gaze snags on me. His head tilts in question, but I only spare him a glance before I stare back at Griffin as he approaches the real-life Barbie doll in skinny jeans and stilettos. She strides toward him like she owns the fucking place.

I don’t even need to get out of my car to know who she is. I don’t even have to meet her to hate her. It doesn’t matter that Griffin spent the last day worshipping my body and professing his love for me. It doesn’t matter that he doesn’t know her or want her.

All that washes away as I watch his lay a hand on his forearm. The one crossed over top of the other as he scowls down at her. The arms that held me tight all night long.

That forearm is and seeing her drag a French manicured nail over it like she has a right has me shoving my door open and storming up the driveway. I can’t hear what she’s saying, and I don’t even care. She just needs to keep her fucking hands to herself, or I will seriously kick her in the box.

“Don’t fucking touch me.” Griffin’s voice cuts like a hot knife through butter. Quick and absolute.

She rolls her eyes and cocks a hip. “Who’s this?” She nods her head toward me, eyes sparkling with venom.

“That’s my sister.” Stefan shoves past her, eating up the ground to stand beside me.

“Adorable.” She turns back to Griffin with a pout on her frosty pink lips. She’s overdone, but you’d have to be an idiot to not notice how stupidly fucking hot she is. Which is honestly just worse. I take an inventory of my current appearance, feeling self-conscious in a way I never have before in my torn acid wash jeans, flip-flops, and concert tee.

I feel childish and messy standing next to this woman. And I despise myself for letting her make me feel this way without even trying. She doesn’t deserve it after what she’s done to Griffin.

She reaches out to touch him again, but he steps away, regarding her like he’d destroy her on the spot if he weren’t such a gentleman. “Let’s talk inside.”

“No.”

“Without an audience?” His gaze follows hers to where Stefan and I are standing, and I’m intensely grateful that my big brother is here. He’s like a shield against what’s happening in front of me. He’s always protected me in his own way, and right now is no different.

“You c—” Griffin reaches his hands up and squeezes the brim of his worn baseball cap down on either side. I know he was about to stumble over that word, which means he’s stressed. And I hate that for him.

I hate for him.

“Say what you need,” he simplifies.

“Yeah. I’d love to hear why you were skulking around his house and looking through windows.” Stefan’s voice is all bite, his stance foreboding. He is protective with a capital P. Something that has only become more pronounced since he became a father.

She sighs and lifts the manilla envelope in her hand. “I told my lawyer I’d sign, but this version doesn’t include any financial compensation. Your lawyer won’t budge, so I figured I’d track you down and talk some sense into you.”

A deep rumble sounds from Griffin’s chest. He’s a gentleman, but the threat is clear, and he doesn’t like it.

“We’re estranged. We never had a relationship. There’s no basis for it. I only paid you so you’d go away.”

The woman bristles and has enough sense to look a little embarrassed in front of us. “Well, if you want to keep your problem under wraps in the press, then you’ll be adding to this.” She slaps the envelope against his chest with a flourish. “It would be a shame for that video to see the light of day. Not that I’d mind showing that off. We look good together. Or we did before this beard happened.” She waves a hand over him, and I instantly want to break it. I his beard. “And we really had a spectacular time, didn’t we?”

Then the bitch has the gall to wink at him.

“This has gone on for t-t-t-too long. It ends now.” My heart twists, and I am so damn proud of him for not giving up on the exact words he wanted to use.

“T-t-t-too bad,” she mocks, with a practiced smile that makes my skin crawl.

And I see red. “Leave. Now. You’re trespassing.” I point at her car, stepping towards her, hand shaking with rage.

She just rolls her eyes, and I seriously consider getting my gun out of my car and doing target practice on her plastic nails. I’ve always promised myself that I’d never resort to violence after what I grew up with. But I am seriously considering it right now. It’s the glare my brother gives me that holds me back, like he knows I could probably kill a bitch.

“Not until I get what I came for.”

“Griffin, don’t you dare give her a single thing,” I blurt out, even though it’s none of my business. He’ll never get out from under the shame of his past if he keeps burying it. I don’t want that for him. I want a fresh start for him—for us. Video be damned.

Plus, she doesn’t deserve shit from him.

He looks over at me, his harsh gaze softening as I stare back at him. A look specially reserved for me. And when our eyes meet like this, I know it doesn’t matter if I’m standing here wearing scrubby clothes with wild, freshly fucked hair. What’s between us isn’t skin deep. It’s soul deep. We understand each other in a way that no one else can.

Based on the way he’s looking at me right now, he feels the same.

He steps away again, giving her the full force of his glare, letting the envelope flop down onto the packed gravel at their feet. His eyes swivel back to me as he sucks in a deep breath. “See you in court.”

We share a small smile as she storms back to her car, head held high, like she didn’t just try to blackmail a man into giving her money by exploiting the lowest point of his life.

“I hate her with a fiery, fiery passion,” I grit out, right as she revs her engine and blows past Stefan and me, just a little too close for comfort. I watch her brake lights glow as she rounds the bend and speeds away.

Hopefully for good. But I think I know better.

“Someone care to tell me what’s going on here?”

I swivel back to face the two men, eyes widening when my brother’s attention turns on me, an accusatory glint in his green eyes.

When neither of us jumps to explain, he turns his back on me, focusing his attention on his best friend. “Because I can’t think of a single good reason why my best friend would be spending his days off with my little sister.”

“Frankly, Stefan, that’s not your business.” He stiffens at my words.

“It is when everyone has been trying to get a hold of you to tell you that Billie had her babies.” He turns on me, and I finally recognize how distraught he is. “No one knew where you were! I’ve been going crazy trying to find you.”

Now I feel like a dick. “I’m sorry.” I roll my lips together. “There’s no reception up at the mountain house, and my phone is dead. Is Billie okay?”

“Yes. Everyone is healthy and happy. But going back to the mountain house. Can we elaborate on why you were up there at all?”

I blink, not ready to give a name to what we were doing up there. Especially not in the wake of the whole scene here.

“Griff?” my brother asks, with a note of pleading in his voice.

Griffin shrugs. “I’m not going to speak for Nadia.”

Stefan runs a hand through his hair like we just announced the worst news of his life. “Seriously? She’s fourteen years younger than you.”

Griffin’s eyes flit to mine again. The look he gives me is like he’s about to throw caution to the wind, jump off a fucking cliff. And he doesn’t disappoint when he says, “Yeah. Well. I’m in love with her anyway.”