Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (6 page)

“Talking to you
always makes it easier for me to come to the right decisions. I’m
going to call Rose when I get home and invite her to the party this
weekend. Maybe she can bring her older sister. She’s a student at
UNLV and Rose said that she never gets to have any fun since she’s
worried about her grades.”

“I think that’s a
great idea.”

We pull into the
parking lot, and I’m surprised to see a mural covering the front of
the bookstore. I know immediately that it is Owen’s work. I grew up
with him and have seen his work all of my life. “Wow, Owen did a
mural here?”

“Yeah. It’s really
cool, isn’t it?”

“It is.” The mural
depicts people sitting and reading, while books fly in the air all
around them. The name of the bookstore, I Heart Books, as well as
butterflies are coming out of the flying books.

“Come on inside so
you can meet everyone!”

“Everyone?”

“Yasmin, Erika and
Sam are all working. Plus, I see Candi’s car, so you can meet her,
too!”

She’s excited to have
me meet her friends, and I can’t help but smile. “I can’t
wait.”

We go in, and I see
four women standing by the cash registers. They are all stunning, and
they seem so comfortable with each other, laughing at something
without looking self-conscious. I’ve never had friends that I was
that close to other than the Griffin boys and their sister, Erin. She
was Alex’s mom. Erin and her husband Dave were murdered a little
over a year ago. The killer was Scott’s ex-girlfriend. Yasmin
helped him through one of the roughest times in his life. My dad said
that she’s a good woman, and I can’t wait to meet her.

“Hi everyone! This is
my friend, Chloe.” I smile at them as I walk up.

“Hi Chloe. I’m
Yasmin. It’s great to meet you. These are my friends Erika, Sam and
Candi.”

I greet everyone and
then Alex goes off to work while they ask me how I like Vegas, and if
I miss my friends. “I don’t have any friends to miss,” I tell
them honestly.

“Who do you confide
in or ask for advice?” Erika asks me.

“Honestly, no one.
The only people I have ever been close to are the Griffins. I used to
confide everything to Ryan, but then I had to leave him, and there
was no one.”

“Had to leave him?
You left him for someone else didn’t you? That’s what Scott said,
at least,” Yasmin says, looking at me curiously.

“You left Ryan for
someone else? Girl, that other guy must be incredible because Ryan
Griffin is an Adonis come to life,” Candi tells me. “If I wasn’t
already interested in someone else, I would totally try to get that
man into my bed.”

“That someone else is
Owen, by the way,” Yasmin says with a laugh as Candi glares at her.
“But seriously, why did you leave Ryan? He’s a great guy.”

“He is the best guy.
I-I had my reasons.”

“But, you’ve never
been able to talk about it, have you? I mean you said you’ve had no
one to confide in.” Sam looks at me and I shake my head. “We’re
all good listeners and know how to keep a secret.”

“Yeah. We have a
girls night planned for Thursday night at my place if you’d like to
come over. We usually drink margaritas, watch a 90s romantic comedy,
and talk. If you want to unburden yourself or get advice, like Sam
said, we can keep a secret.” I can tell Erika’s sincere, and I’m
really tempted.

“Thanks for the
offer. I’m not sure I can talk about it yet, but I’d love to hang
out with you guys if that part of the offer still stands.”

“Of course you’re
still welcome. I understand how it would be weird to tell us your
secrets after just meeting us, but I care about Ryan and would love
to help you out,” Yasmin tells me.

“Even if I could tell
you, you couldn’t tell Scott.”

“That would be rough.
I try not to keep any secrets from him.”

“I understand that,
but this is something that can’t get out. I would love to have been
able to tell Ryan. We’d be together right now if I could.”

“I’m trying to wrap
my head around all this, but you’re not making it easy.”

“I know.”

And I do know. But it
can’t be helped. I say goodbye to everyone, hugging Alex and
reminding her to call me if she needs me. I head back home since Ryan
has texted to let me know I should take the rest of the day off. As
usual, I have no idea if I should be happy or worried. I used to know
him so well, but now he’s hot and cold so often that I feel like I
may get whiplash trying to keep up. I’m looking forward to being
with the girls on Thursday. If it works out, I’ll finally have some
girlfriends to talk to and maybe shop with.

* * *

Ryan

I picked up white roses
for Chloe on the way to work. They’re her favorite. I can’t wait
to see her. Now that I’ve made my decision, we can really be
together. I’ve missed her so much these past few years. She was my
best friend, as well as the love of my life. We used to watch movies,
laugh together, and just have fun. We told each other everything and
helped each other make hard decisions.

Like when her mom died.
My whole family was there to support her, John, and her sister, Addy.
But, while I care for John and Addy, I was there for Chloe alone that
day. I kept people away from her when she needed to be alone and held
her as she cried at the edge of her mom’s grave. When the gathering
at my house became too much for her, I carried her up to my room and
fell asleep with her.

She was there for me
when my internship was going downhill, too. The architect I was
working for was one of my idols. But he turned out to be a total
asshole. I found that out when he almost backed out of a project for
us to go do a building for one of our competitors. It would have made
my dad and the company look really bad. The publicity had already
been done, and everyone knew this guy was supposed to be doing our
job. But he was about to back out. I tried to talk him out of it, but
he said that he thought their project would be more prestigious. At
the last minute, Adam’s father decided not to use the guy for his
project. Yeah, that Adam. The one Chloe left me for. Before she left
me devastated, she listened every night and did her best to lift my
spirits.

I can’t wait to have
that friendship back. The great sex we’ve been having is just an
added bonus. Unfortunately, things don’t always work out how you
plan them because when I get to work, I find Kevin sitting at Chloe’s
desk.

“Hi Ryan. Chloe
called in sick today, so I’ll be covering for her.”

“Oh. Um, thanks. I’ll
just be in my office until my first meeting.”

“Those are some
beautiful flowers.”

I forgot that I was
holding them. “Yeah.”

“Would you like me to
put them in water for you until you go home later?”

“That would be great.
Thanks again.”

I hand him the roses
and go into my office, where I stay for the rest of the day. I need
to work out Plan B, which will have to include visiting Chloe at home
tonight. I consider taking her soup, but I know she’s not really
sick. She’s just possibly sick of me.

The day goes by
uneventfully. Kevin does a great job, but he’s no Chloe. And not
just because I’m not interested in bending him over my desk. She
knows me and it makes work so much easier and fun. I grab the flowers
and head to her place. When I get to my parents’ house, I wave at
my mom, who looks at me curiously as she drives out while I’m
driving in.

I walk up to her door
and ring the bell. Chloe answers in jean shorts and a tee shirt.
“What are you doing here, Ryan?” Her eyes are red and she doesn’t
look happy to see me.

“I brought you
flowers and I was hoping we could talk. I also wanted to make sure
you were okay since you called in today.”

“So, now you can get
me flowers on your own but before you had me call and order some for
another woman for you? And since when did you care about whether or
not I’m okay?” Her eyes are flashing now.

“Well, yeah. I
couldn’t have you order your own flowers, could I?” My attempt at
humor fails as I see her ball her hands into fists. “And I-I care.
Besides, like I said, I want to talk to you.”

“I don’t know if
that’s code for sex, but I can’t Ryan. I just can’t be your
whore anymore.” Tears are falling from her eyes now. Shit, I’m
such a bastard. “I know I said that I would, and I meant it then,
but yesterday…yesterday was just too hard. I know you’ve been
dating other women while sleeping with me, but it’s not okay and I
won’t pretend it is anymore. I can’t sit here and wait to see if
you want me after you take another woman out. And then I have to
wonder if you really want to be with her instead, but came to me
because that’s what we agreed on.”

Does she really think
that? That I want to be with another woman when I’m with her? I’ve
used other women as substitutes for Chloe, but I can’t even fathom
wanting someone else whether I’m with her or not. It’s always
been just her. And I haven’t been taking other women out, even
though I could. I tried a couple times and they weren’t her, so I
was beyond bored every time. “Chloe, sweetheart.” I start to move
towards her to comfort and reassure her, but she puts up a hand to
stop me.

“Please just go,
Ryan. I don’t want this to affect our work relationship, and I’ll
remain professional and send your girlfriend her flowers for you. But
that’s all I can handle. I promised your mom that I’ll be at the
party on Saturday, and I’m begging you to limit the PDA. I know you
don’t owe me that or really anything, but can you please do that
for me?”

“You don’t have to
beg me. I won’t engage in any PDA with Cel at the party. I
promise.” I promise because I’m not bringing Cel, but I’m not
going to tell Chloe that right now. Does Chloe really think Cel is my
girlfriend? Damn it, I’m such a fucked-up idiot.

“Thanks for that. And
for the flowers.” She reaches out to take them and then closes the
door in my face.

I went too far, and now
I need to figure out how to fix this. And I need to talk to my
brothers. I pull out my phone and dial Owen. “Hey, Owe. Are you
still hosting poker night tomorrow at your place?”

“Yeah, but I thought
you couldn’t make it.”

“My schedule just
became open, and I need to talk to you guys.”

“About Chloe?”

“Yeah, man. About
Chloe.”

“We have your back,
Ry. I’ll see you at 7.”

“I know, thanks. See
you tomorrow.”

* * *

Chloe

It was a rough day
today. Ryan and I did our best to interact as little as possible. I
need to get used to the fact that this is the way it’s going to be.
Ryan has a girlfriend—he didn’t correct me when I called her
that—and so there’s no future for us other than work. I love this
job, though. Even just the assistant part is challenging, but doing
the interiors for the Seattle building has been amazing. I just need
to focus on work and not on the man I love. Because that’s going to
be easy to do.

I pull up to Erika’s
place. I’m excited to go inside, but scared, too. In three years,
I’ve never told anyone about the agreement I made. I didn’t have
anyone that I could trust enough with my secret. But, I feel like I
can trust these women. I don’t know why, since I just met them
yesterday, except for the fact that I felt completely at ease with
them immediately. I’ve only ever felt that way before with the
Griffin family. God knows that I can’t tell them what I did. Even
though I really want to, and I know it would fix my broken
relationship with them, I just can’t.

I get out of my car and
head up the walk to ring the doorbell. I’m surprised when a guy
answers the door. I thought this was a girls’ night. “Hi, I’m
Sean, Erika’s husband. You must be Chloe. I wanted to meet you
before I headed out to my poker game. I talk to your dad sometimes
when he calls for Scott. He’s a great guy.”

“Yeah, he is. You
work for Scott, right?” He nods. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

“The girls are all in
the family room, which is straight back. Have fun!” He heads out
with a wave. I walk back to the family room to find the girls spread
out over several couches with every kind of snack imaginable set out
on the tables. The house is pretty big, but still really cozy.

“Hi Chloe!” Erika
calls out when she sees me. Everyone else says their hellos, too.
Which to them means that they come over and hug me. I don’t think
that I have ever been hugged by other girls my age before. It’s
nice.

“Your house is
beautiful, Erika.”

“Thanks. We were in
an apartment, but since Sean started working for Scott, we can afford
a lot more things, including this house.”

“Scott has always
been really generous, so I’m not surprised that he would pay Sean a
good salary.”

“Yeah. It’s more
than good. He also paid for our wedding in Paris and is paying for
Sam’s wedding at Disney World in a couple of months.”

“Yep. That sounds
like him.”

“You knew him when he
was in high school, didn’t you?” Yasmin asks with excitement in
her eyes. I nod, and she continues. “Was he really as nerdy and
unpopular as he claims that he was?”

I have to laugh. “Oh,
yeah, he was. I was his only friend outside of the Griffin family. My
sister Addy was friendly to him, too, but she was already in college
when we met him. I mean he was always cute, but he only wanted to
talk computers and video games.”

“Addy is the reason
John stays in Chicago, right? Oh, and don’t think I missed you
calling Scott cute as a teen. Did you want to date him?” She asks
me, but doesn’t look mad.

“Yes, Addy and her
husband had a hard time with the recession and are just now getting
back on their feet. My dad helps watch their kids, and also covers
some of their bills when they need to. The Griffins offered to help
them out, but Addy’s husband is too proud to take money from
someone outside of his family. So my dad does what he can.” I turn
to Yasmin and smile as I continue. “As for dating Scott, there’s
only ever been one Griffin boy for me. Although I did go to Scott’s
senior prom with him so that he’d have a date. Ryan asked me, and I
was happy to do that for him.”