the line when he did that. Why would he risk his job as a Guardian if it wasn’t because of something more than sex? The two of you weren’t even a thing when he did that. Don’t you think that means something?”
“Griff is protective to a fault. His job is more than a job. It’s his creed. Rescuing others is his life’s work. If you look at it like that, I was just another job.”
“If you think he saved you because of some deep-seated moral imperative, you might be right, but there’s more going on there than you give him credit for. He would never jeopardize the mission, go against a direct order, or place his teammates in danger, unless there was a damn good reason to do so. He risked all of that—for you.”
“You’re reading a whole lot into something that probably doesn’t exist.”
“Or maybe you’re too scared to see what’s right in front of you?”
“And that is?”
“Griff’s in love with you, silly, and not because you’re sleeping with him. Have you ever wondered why Four was always the Guardian who trained you?”
“He’s not the only one. They switched things up.”
“True, for everyone else they do, but somehow Griff was always your primary.”
I swipe at my cheek and sniff. “Maybe I’m too broken to love? How can any man want someone like me? I’m damaged.”
“I hear you, and I don’t have any good answers for you. Our histories are different, and I’ll never pretend that I know what you’ve been through, but if Griff has no reservations about putting himself out there, about risking his career, don’t you think that’s something you should pay attention to?”
“I’m afraid.”
“We’re all afraid, but if you let him in, trust him to guard your heart and to love the fierce woman you are, maybe you won’t have to work through all the trauma alone. You really need to talk to him. Tell him what you told me. I’m sure he has insight that I don’t have. You owe it to him.” With a sigh, Zoe pushes me off her shoulder. She scoots behind me and moves to her knees. Before I can ask what she’s doing, she gathers my hair and divides it into three sections. “Do you know I’ve never had a sleepover?”
“You haven’t?” The sudden switch in conversation throws me, but I have a sense things were getting too deep.
“My dad was strict to a fault. I never had a girlfriend whose hair I could braid.” She draws my hair tight and begins to weave the plaits together. “It’s one of those rights of passage I feel like I missed out on.”
“I missed out on everything.” I blow out my breath. “If I could go back in time, I’d wish for a dad who didn’t leave and a mother who didn’t love her drugs more than her kid. I’d wish for sleepovers and slumber parties, dances, and dates. I’d wish for a friend like you.”
“Well, you have me now. We’ll just have to work on the rest. And one of the things girls talk about are boys, and you have yet to tell me all the filthy, dirty, nasty things Griff does to you.”
Zoe’s words bring a smile to my face. My tears stop, and a burst of laughter escapes my lips as I remember all the ways Griff introduced me to his home.
“You’re a really good friend.”
“You are too.” She finishes the braid, but with nothing to tie it off with, she lets the ends unravel as she scoots around to sit in front of me. “Now you braid my hair, and tell me about the first time you and Griff made love.”
I gather her long hair and divide it neatly into four parts. I may never have been to a sleepover, or braided my friend’s hair, but I’m an expert in all things which enhance a woman’s beauty, and I can plait a multitude of complex braids.
“I wouldn’t call what we did as making love.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“He claimed me.”
A shiver races down my spine with the overwhelming memory of being taken by Griff. His unrestrained passion and unyielding dominance made sex something I enjoyed for the first time ever. He made me crave all the things he could do to my body.
“Oh, now that sounds juicy. I want all the details. Don’t leave anything out.”
I don’t.
We spend the rest of the day in that cave talking about Griff. Zoe tells me about her first time with