Griff's Place (Havenwood #4) - Riley Hart Page 0,5
felt good.”
“It does, doesn’t it?” A lot of people didn’t understand the feeling of accomplishment from exercising. The burn my muscles always felt reminded me that I worked hard, and I reveled in that. It was why I’d always known this was what I would do. I sure as shit didn’t make a lot of money at it. The only reason I had a house and my own gym was because of the money and home my grandma left me when she passed away. As much as I loved it, though, I would trade it all to have her back. She’d always been my favorite person in the world. My parents and I had never been close. They might have been willing to give me a loan—they could afford it—but I wouldn’t have wanted to owe them. We just didn’t work that way.
We finished up her workout, which was my last of the day, since I was getting off at noon. I noticed the way she looked at me, the spark of attraction in her eyes. She hadn’t been in Havenwood long—she’d recently moved from California—so she had no idea she was barking up the wrong tree.
Her gaze darted down to my hand. Looking for a ring, maybe. Just then something caught my eye in my periphery. Not something, but someone, a very sexy male someone I took a quick second to appreciate. I couldn’t help it; I liked admiring beautiful men. It drove Griffin crazy. It was fun to razz him a little, so I often played it up around him, and yeah, I had no reason to be thinking about Griff right then. Little shit liked to sneak up in my thoughts when I least expected it.
“Of course,” the woman said, drawing my attention back to her. “The really sexy ones are always gay.”
I chuckled and winked. “Yeah, sorry not sorry.”
She laughed. “I’ll see you next week.”
“Have a good one.”
I went back to my office, gathered my things, made sure the computer was shut down, locked the door, and headed for the front. “See you later,” I told Jasmine, one of the employees who worked the front desk. “Text me if you need anything.”
It was a Saturday. Kellan and Chase were having a little get-together at their place this afternoon. Kellan had been acting a little strange all week, but then he was Kell, so who knew what was going on in his head?
My house and Griff’s were in town, rather than on the outskirts like the rest of the guys’. Mine sat back from the road, a little blue place I used to stay at when I came to Havenwood to visit my grandma in the summers.
Outside of my childhood best friend, she was the first person I told I was gay because I knew she would accept me. She was the only person who knew about Doug, about who he’d been to me. I’d told her about our first kiss and when I knew I loved him. She’d known our plans—plans that never came to fruition. And when everything went down with him, she was the only person I’d been able to talk to, and she’d come to Raleigh, knowing I needed her.
I shook those thoughts from my head. I’d been thinking about Doug more lately, though I didn’t know why. Most of the time, I did a good job pretending none of it had ever happened.
I checked the mail and tossed it on the table when I got into the house. I went straight for the bathroom off my bedroom for a quick shower and jack-off session before getting changed, then headed to Kellan and Chase’s place.
Their vehicles and Griff’s truck were the only ones there so far. I pulled my Mustang up and hopped out.
In the beginning, Griffin and I were never too close. There used to be a distinct separation between our friends. There was me, Kellan, and our friend Natalie, then Griffin’s buddies Knox and Lawson. Then Chase came back to town, and I’d hated him when he first showed up. He and Kell got all domesticated and in love, and our friends group merged. It was weird for Griff at first. He’d appointed himself Kellan’s protector, even though Kell never needed it. When Griff understood that, it seemed to be a bit of a revelation for him, like he didn’t know what to do with himself.
I started hanging out with him more after that, and realized I liked the grumpy Caine