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)
I give her a quick hug and go back to Griffin’s side. “We’re fine, Nana. I just need to patch him up. He’s bleeding.”
“Were you shot?” she asks him, sounding panicked.
“No. Just scratched my shoulder open when I pushed Georgie down onto the ground,” he lies. Considering how freaked out my grandmother looks right now, I let him get away with it.
Her voice follows us down the hall as I lead him to the bathroom. “There’s iodine and alcohol and bandages in my bathroom cabinet, Georgie.”
“Okay, Nana,” I answer, leading him to my bedroom instead. “Sit down on the bed. I’ll get the first aid kit,” I mutter, not really looking at him.
“I can come into the bathroom, baby,” he says.
I half laugh as I look around the small, dated, pink tiled room. The vanity mirror always tilts slightly to the left. “I’m afraid if you come in here all your testosterone will leak from your body,” I joke.
“It is kind of pink,” he admits. I look up to find him standing in the doorway. He’s staring at the pink toilet and bathtub with a hilarious look on his face.
“Yeah,” I respond and if I wasn’t so worried about him, I’d giggle.
“I’ll meet you on your bed. I like the sound of that better,” he mutters.
I roll my eyes, but don’t verbally respond. I take a minute to catch my breath and then grab the supplies I need. With another deep breath, I go back into the bedroom. I kneel down on my knees as I listen to him talk on his phone.
“No,” he growls quietly. “I didn’t get a good look at the son of a bitches. There were two of them. It was a white car. I saw a Lexus emblem. That’s about all I know. Get on the horn to our contacts at the Sheriff’s office. Yeah, head over here. Let’s see if we can find out anything. We need to see if there are any security cameras around. We need a fucking clue to get to the bottom of this shit, C.”
“Yeah, man. They shot at my old lady. I want everyone involved and I won’t rest until I get them. That’s what I said. Georgia is mine. I’ve already claimed her. That’s not changing.”
“Yeah. I’ll see you here. Make sure you get here before the cops,” he snaps and then hangs up the phone.
He goes quiet when he hangs up the phone. I feel like I have a million questions, but I’m afraid to ask any of them. So, I stay quiet, too. I carefully peel back his torn shirt sleeve as I sort through my thoughts. His wound isn’t deep, thank God, but swollen and red. It makes my stomach turn. He could have died today. I could have died. I’ve never had to face anything like this and this time it’s with a man who has apparently claimed me, and yet today is the first day I’ve spent any time with him. Part of me feels like I’ve entered an alternate universe. My calm life is over if I let Griffin into my life—which apparently, I don’t have a choice about.
I’m feeling lost.
“This is not nothing,” I whisper, my fingers trembling as I wet a cloth and start cleaning his wound.
He watches me with that steady gaze of his. I can feel the weight of it, even if I refuse to look at him. “You’ve got a gentle touch, Georgie,” he croons softly.
“Don’t distract me,” I order. “I’m too busy making sure you don’t bleed all over my comforter.” I’m lying. It seems safer to say that, however, instead of telling him that I need him to leave me alone and disappear. I feel like if I do that, he might go and that terrifies me just as much as keeping him in my life.
Griffin lets out a dry chuckle, then winces when I dab his wound with the antiseptic. “You’re bossy when you’re worried,” he observes.
I force myself to look into his face for a moment. There’s a lot written there, but I truly don’t know how to read any of it, so I focus back on what I’m doing. “I’m allowed to be. I just had the life scared out of me.”
His smile fades, and he looks down at his hands. “I’m sorry, baby. I don’t want this part of my world touching you.” Something about the way he says it makes my chest ache. I reach for more of the antiseptic and try to breathe.
“Little late for that. I don’t actually like you protecting me with your body, either. You could have actually been shot, Griffin.”
I bite my lip as I look at him. The reality of what just happened hits me. He literally shielded me with his body to keep me safe. Who the hell does that? Made up heroes in movies and books, that’s who. It definitely doesn’t happen in real life—at least, I’ve never seen it.