Chapter 13

Thanksgiving arrived faster than I expected. We’d planned as a family to go visit my aunt’s family in Orlando, Florida, but then Sadie came down with a cold that I soon caught, and Griffin wasn’t scheduled to be back in town until later that day. Mom and Dad had wanted to cancel, but I knew Mom hadn’t seen her sister in a while, so I wanted her to go.

“Don’t worry about us,” I said as she went to get back in the car after stopping by my house to kiss me and Sadie goodbye. I was feeling slightly better, just really tired from being sick so many days in a row.

“I feel so bad.”

“Why?”

“It’s the holidays... we should all be going as a family or not at all,” she whined.

“Mom, you haven’t seen Auntie Akila in two years. Go. Get out of here.”

“Ada, get in the car,” Dad said, leaning his head out the window. “I want to get there before the turkey’s cold.”

“I bet the turkey’s still frozen,” Mom said, “You know Akila, she always procrastinates.”

“But she makes juicy turkey,” Dad said.

“That’s because she spends all her time doing nothing but going through recipes on Pinterest. I swear she’s addicted—”

I missed the rest of her statement as she closed the door, tooted the horn, and then drove away.

That left just me, eventually Griffin, and Sadie around for Thanksgiving dinner and I hadn’t prepared a thing. This Thanksgiving was an epic fail of historic proportions.

And I wasn’t sure if Griffin was even going to stop by. He’d said he would, but then we’d all gotten sick and I hadn’t heard from him since. He could still be on a plane for all I knew.

I walked back in to check on Sadie. She was still asleep. At the rate she was going, she would sleep through dinner, but honestly did it really matter? Thanksgiving was going to be non-existent this year.

Ten minutes after my parents pulled off, I spotted Griffin’s car in the distance. I waited for him on the front porch.

I felt bad. I knew he’d just gotten back from L.A. the night before. He must be exhausted, I thought to myself. Hungry and exhausted.

He pulled up and stepped out of the car. He’d grown a beard since moving here and it looked really good on him. It made him seem sort of like an upscale lumberjack, I thought with amusement.

He was dressed in jeans and a plain black t-shirt and he wore plain black and white sneakers. His wardrobe was a lot more casual than it had been in L.A., but I thought he looked just as attractive, if not more so.

I waved my hand hesitantly to say hello as he got out the car. He smiled at me and waved back. I was glad he was there. I didn’t want to spend Thanksgiving alone.

I stuck my hands in the back pockets of my jeans and called out to him, “Just FYI—I have no food.”

“I figured as much,” he called back and began unloading stuff from the car. He placed two paper bags on the hood of his car and said, “I have dinner.”

I cheered and gleefully bounded down the porch stairs to help.

“I saw your parents at the gate,” he said as we carried the groceries in. My parents lived in a gated community, so it was no surprise he’d run into them. “They seemed excited about their trip to Orlando.”

“They are, it’s just too bad we all had to get infected with the plague.”

“I’m feeling better now,” he said.

“I still feel like crap.”

“Well, you look good,” he said glancing at me quickly and then looking away.

“Oh, thank you...” I hadn’t expected the compliment. I was wearing a yellow tank top and a plain pair of skinny jeans. Nothing special. My hair was down because I’d at least brushed it today.

“You don’t have to worry about cooking. I’ll take care of our Thanksgiving feast.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Why? You don’t think I can pull it off.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“Don’t mess with a man on a mission,” he said as he unpacked his groceries.

I watched him, checking out his backside once again. I couldn’t help myself. He was crazy attractive in jeans. I watched the way his muscles pulled at the fabric of his shirt and noticed how broad his shoulders were. I wanted to walk up to him, wrap my arms around him, and lay my head on his back and just breathe in the scent of him.

He looked behind him suddenly and I pretended to be busy organizing the spice rack. He gave me a knowing look and I decided not to notice.

“Want to be useful and help out?”

“Not if I don’t have to.”

“Pretty please...”

“Well, since you’re begging and all...”

I came over to help and noticed that none of the items he purchased could even remotely be considered Thanksgiving-ish.

It was a mixture of Italian ingredients and salad fixings.

“Not exactly Thanksgiving oriented,” I commented

“Well, it was either Italian food and salad or eggs. Those are really the only things I know how to make.”

“So, spaghetti or an omelet for Thanksgiving?” I tapped my chin and tried to look pensive as if it was a tough decision I had to make.

“Those are your choices, mademoiselle.”

I smiled widely. “Spaghetti sounds delicious.” It felt good to tease him again. It made me feel as if we were good friends, but I guess, over the months, that’s exactly what we had become.

“How can I help?”

“You can help by taking a nap. You look exhausted.”

He was right... I was exhausted.

“No, I want to help,” I began to protest. He shook his head, nudged me towards the hallway and said, “Go take a nap. I’ll wake you when everything’s done.”

I didn’t bother to fight him. A nap sounded like a godsend. He was right, rest was exactly what I needed. I walked to Sadie’s room to check on her. I sat down on the bed next to her and stroked her hair as she slept, grateful that the worst was over and she was feeling better. I felt my eyelids growing heavy as I stroked her hair and within minutes I gave in to sleep, tucked next to my preschooler in a tiny twin size bed.

* * *

It was pitch black in Sadie’s room when I opened my eyes again. I’d been startled awake because I was floating in the air, a pair of strong arms carrying me, removing me from my awkward position on Sadie’s bed.

I snuggled up against his chest thinking it was only a dream, but it clearly wasn’t. His chest felt hard against my cheek and I could hear the steady beat of his heart near my ear.

“Where are you taking me?” I questioned drowsily.

“To your room. You were almost about to fall off the bed.”

“Hmmm....” was all I said as I let my head fall back against his chest and I wrapped my arms around his neck. A girl could get used to this, I thought dreamily.

A minute later he was lowering me into my bed and then he walked quickly away. As he moved to close my door I sat up, “Griffin?”

“Yeah?” he said, pausing at my door.

“Can you come lie next to me? I mean, just for a little bit.”

He paused. “You sure about that?” It was a loaded question, but I chose to pretend it wasn’t. I couldn’t see his expression in the shadows, but I knew what he was actually asking. And I knew without a doubt what my answer was.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

He came over slowly and slid his shoes off and he lay down next to me. We didn’t touch, we just lay there in the dark next to each other.

“Did you have a good nap?” he asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Yeah, it was exactly what I needed. Did you finish cooking dinner?”

“Hours ago,” he said.

“And Sadie didn’t wake up at all?”

“She was up for a few minutes. She went to the bathroom and wanted some orange juice, but then went right back to bed.”

“That cold kicked her butt. She’s still exhausted. Poor thing.”

“She’ll be fine. She’s a fighter like her mother.”

I smiled and shifted a little closer to him, trying to see his face in the poorly lit room.

“Sorry, we slept through Thanksgiving...”

“No biggie.”

He shifted a little in the bed as well and then brought his hand up to hold my own. We lay like that holding hands not saying a word. His face was only inches from my own and I could easily take a breath and breathe in the scent of him.

He slowly removed his hand from mine and brought it up to my face. He trailed the palm of his hand across my cheek, cupping it gently before letting go. He stroked my hair, lightly playing with the strands that randomly fell across my face and pushing the bangs that rested on my forehead away from my eyes. His hand was warm, and I sighed enjoying the feel of his soft touch. His touch was easy and familiar. And I realized how much I missed the easy intimacy between us.

I made the first move, leaning forward and gently resting my lips against his. He hesitated but he let me kiss him. I kept the kiss brief, not wanting to be greedy, but one wasn’t enough. I had to kiss him again and this time there was no hesitation as his warms lips met my own. As the kiss became deeper, he took my hand again and held it. And we lay like that kissing each other, slowly, not rushing, as if we had all the time in the world to lie there and kiss our troubles away.

I finally pulled back and slowly sat up. I began to remove my clothes until I was completely naked.

“Are you sure about this?” he whispered, as I unzipped his pants, freeing his already erect penis.

“Yes,” I said simply, before sliding his length into my mouth.

He moaned and thrust his hips up slowly, moving in and out of my mouth. With each of his movements, I sucked and licked the tip of his cock, using my hands to also pleasure him, stroking him up and down.

“Nina,” he gasped, and I shushed him, not wanting to take the chance that we would wake Sadie.

I released him from my mouth and climbed on top of him, straddling his thighs. I placed my hands on his hard chest and slowly lowered myself onto his straining member. It was gradual because I was tight and he was bigger than I remembered. He felt amazing as my wet lips fully enveloped him, growing wetter as he filled me, inch by glorious inch.

And when he was fully inside, I began to rock my hips, riding him slowly at first before picking up the pace as he stroked my back, my arms, my neck, and hair.

His soft touches electrified my body. Everywhere he touched me was like an erogenous zone and I found myself coming, taking him with me as the pleasure became too much to bear and my whole body shook, trying to adjust to the waves of pleasure that overtook it. I collapsed against his chest, gasping his name.

He came then, bucking into me, pressing my hips down, pushing even deeper into me than before and then I felt his warmth spill into me as he quietly whispered my name.

I didn’t want to get off him, but I wanted him to be comfortable.

I went to crawl off, when he said, “No, stay. Just let me hold you.”

I didn’t protest. Instead I stayed right there... resting with him still buried deep inside me. He continued to stroke my back and I don’t know how long it was before I drifted off. I only knew that I was still wet when I woke again, and he was stiffening inside me.

We made love again slowly, not rushing. Afterward, I fell asleep one last time on top of him, nestled against his chest.

The sun peaking in through the blinds woke me up and I slowly slid Griffin out of me. I realized that we’d spent the whole night connected and not just physically.

I immediately missed the way he filled me and apparently, he missed it too. He promptly wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

“We have to get up,” I said softly as he buried his head in the crook of my neck and started to nuzzle me.

I gasped. “Griffin, don’t start...”

“But you smell so good, so sweet. And your skin... it’s so smooth.” He continued to nuzzle my neck and I curled my body around his, loving the feel of him.

I could feel him hardening against my thigh and couldn’t help rubbing against it as I brought his face to mine and kissed him warmly on the mouth.

“Good morning to you too, Griffin.”

He gave me a big smile and then said, “Do I have morning breath?”

I giggled, “I’m pretending not to notice.”

He surprised me by sitting up abruptly and turning me so that I was now sitting up in his lap. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me briefly on the lips.

“I know I spent the night inside of you, but the part I enjoyed the most was just holding you.” I looked into his brown eyes and knew he meant every word of it. “I missed holding you so much.”

“I missed being in your arms,” I said wanting him to know the truth. “I missed being with you.”

“Why didn’t you say something sooner?” he asked.

“I just wanted to know, to be sure that you respected me, that you took me seriously. That you cared about me.”

He shook his head as if he didn’t understand me. “Don’t ever doubt that I respect and care about you. Our time together has been colored by a series of mistakes on my part, I know that now. But I want you to understand I never only wanted your body. Yes, you’ve always been a great lover... but you’re also caring, and quirky, and smart. You’re a great daughter, friend and mother. You made me a better man, Nina, and overall just a better person. Knowing you has made me better. I owe my happiness to you.”

Tears clouded my eyes and I wiped them away. His words moved me, as if they had touched my soul.

He brushed my tears away with small kisses under my eyes. I felt self-conscious and vulnerable all of a sudden, but I wasn’t sure why.

“Don’t shy away from me,” he said as he turned my face to his and looked me straight in the eyes. “You’re a wonderful person and everyone loves you. It’s impossible not to love you. And I love you.”

I didn’t know what to say. I was speechless. And so, I said the only thing that came to mind, “Happy Thanksgiving.”

“That was yesterday,” he said.

“Ok then, how about this? I love you too, Grant ‘Griffin’ Wallace.”

He laughed and brought my head down to his for another long, blissful kiss.