all around, so yelling is a bit of an exaggeration.”
“I would say I’m sorry, but you told me not to.”
Griffin laughed and shook his head. “That, and I deserved it, huh?”
“Just a little bit,” I said, holding up my finger and thumb close together.
“Well, I’m sorry you didn’t know I was coming. I’m sorry I hadn’t taken the time to tell you, so you weren’t blindsided.”
“You’re forgiven…I suppose,” I teased him. “I’m glad that you are getting help.”
“Does this mean we can be best friends again?”
I sighed and tried to take my hand back, but he refused to let go. “Griffin, I have missed you more than you know. But…” I looked away. “I don’t know if things can just go back to the way they were before.” I turned back to him. “I think I’m going to have to take it slow and build back up to being just friends again.”
He tilted his head and opened his mouth, but then he closed it again before he said anything.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded sluggishly and pointed to the couch. “You know we just had sex, right?”
I slapped my free hand over my eyes. “And you didn’t want to. Now, it’s my turn to apologize.”
Prying my fingers off my face, he asked, “Are you purposely being obtuse?”
“I don’t think so.”
“You know I wanted to have sex with you as much as you wanted to have it with me, right? Probably more.”
“I suppose that’s good news.”
“I would like to think so, yes.” He studied my face. “I sense a but coming.”
“But…I can’t go back to being friends with benefits with you, Griff.” I closed my eyes. Am I really going to put myself out there again? It appeared so. I opened them and took a deep breath. “I love you, Griffin. I am still in love with you. I can be your friend—with time, as I said before—or I can be your girlfriend, but I can’t be something in between.” I shook my head. “At least, not at this time in my life. It hurts too much.”
He tugged me forward, and I screeched as I landed on my back in his lap.
“Then, that is all my fault because I love you too, Madeline. I’m sorry I didn’t say it weeks ago, but you honestly caught me by surprise, and…let’s face it…I wasn’t ready.” He smiled down at me. “But I am now. I don’t think I was clear when I said I was working hard to get my life back on track these last few weeks before I saw you again. I wanted to make sure that I was worthy of you loving me.”
“Oh, Griff.” I threw my arms around him. “I love you so much.”
He leaned down and kissed me. “I love you too, baby. More than you’ll ever know.”
Forty-One
Madeline
“So, you and Griffin made up, huh?” Christina asked me as we took a break from dancing at her wedding reception and stood on the sidelines.
I smiled. Oh, we made up all right. “Yes.”
“I’m so glad because you two belong together. And I’ve been waiting years for you both to realize it.”
My mouth fell open. “Why have you never told me this?”
“Because I didn’t want to influence you at all. Your relationship had to progress naturally.”
“I think marriage has gone to your head. You think you’re a romance guru now,” I joked.
“You’re funny,” she said sarcastically. “But seriously, in my head, I always pictured the two of you ending up together.”
“It looks like you might have been right.”
“I love being right.”
I laughed. “I hope your new husband knows that about you.”
She laughed, too, and put her hand on my arm. “And I’m sorry you didn’t know about Griffin yesterday. I thought you knew and didn’t want to talk about it. Even so, I should have asked you if you were okay.”
I put my hand on hers. “It’s fine. I heard there was a communication mix-up.”
“Yeah, never send a man to relay a serious message to another man.”
I laughed again. “It’s true. And it’s really okay. You were in the middle of planning a wedding, and I don’t blame you.” I shrugged. “Maybe it’s even good that I didn’t know because it didn’t give me time to obsess about it.”
“But you missed dinner last night.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. I just feel bad. Although it wasn’t that exciting.”
“Griffin told me Chantel complained the whole time.”
Christina gritted her teeth. “Boy, did she ever. Hope took her aside and told her if she complained one