Free Are You In The House Alone? (plus: Love Me) by Y.A. Love Page B

way: to bash Aiden’s face in or
make his girlfriend freak out.
    I nodded that we had a deal, then I
gulped—big.
    Griffin noticed and grinned. “Don’t
look so scared, Grange. I’m a good kisser.”
    That in no way calmed my nerves. It
only made my face burn and my cheeks turn a million shades of red, but somehow
I was pretty sure that’s what he wanted.
    His eyes twinkled as he watched me
prepare for the kiss, eyeing me wipe my sweaty hands on my jeans and pump my
fists a couple times, trying to psyche myself up. Finally, I puckered my lips
and leaned in for the kiss.
    Griffin watched me with quirked
eyebrows, looking amused. Finally, he gave a soft laugh. “Not here.”
    His eyes danced as I blinked up at
him in confusion. What was he talking about? Not here? Where? Panic rushed
through me. What exactly had I agreed to?
    Griffin gave another soft laugh.
“In room 204. At three.” He leaned in close again, playing with a tendril of my
hair. “You’ll survive. I promise.”

 
    ***

 
    When I got to room 204 Griffin was
already there. He was sitting on a desk, bouncing a rubber ball.
    “About time,” he muttered, hopping
off the desk.
    What? I glanced at the clock on the
wall directly over his head. It was only 3:02. Two minutes late.
      Griffin eyed me as I gawked at the clock.
    Oh,
got it . My face turned red. I could tell by his smirk he was only kidding.
    “Come here,” he said.
    His words and the way he said them,
all husky and quiet, made me start to sweat, but also feel butterflies bat
around in my stomach. I stood in the open doorway, unable to move.
    Griffin sighed with a slight grin
and came over to me. Gently, gently he took my hand, pulling me out of the
threshold and silently closed the door. Then he gently backed me up against the
door he just closed, pinning me there, but in a half-playful, half-seductive
way that had my knees weak and my heart fluttering.
    “Take it easy,” Griffin murmured
softly, like I was a wild colt that needed soothing so I didn’t bolt away. His
fingers lightly stroked my hair. “I’m not going to hurt you, Grange. I
promise.”
    His hands—just touching
me—was like electricity shooting through my body. My breath caught and I
made this slight moaning sound. It was embarrassing and yet I couldn’t really
focus on it or anything that was happening. All I could think about was his
lips. They looked so soft and pink and shiny.
    I’d thought about them before
actually, lots of times, dreamed of them. Every night for a while. Back in
junior high I’d had this mad, monster crush on him. It was embarrassing and
stupid and crazy since he didn’t even know I was alive. And, yeah, he was a
thug.
    Still, it made this moment …
surreal.
    My head was swimming. I had all
these wild, scattered thoughts dashing around in my brain, but they all came
back to this: I’m going to kiss The
Griff, The Grief Master! It had my heart pumping frantic and my pulse
zooming wild.
    Gripping the door behind me for
support, I wondered if I was going to faint. It seemed like maybe I was. Or
have a heart attack. Something dramatic and embarrassing like that.
    I squeezed my eyes shut wondering
what it would be like kissing The Griff for real. Would he be like out on the
hockey rink—rough and tough? Would he give me whiplash? Somehow, I didn’t
think so. If his kiss was anything like his touch just now, or like in my
junior high macking dreams, I was going to explode and die from delight.
    Full of curiosity I leaned in for
the kiss.
    But there was nothing. No mouth
crashing against mine, no I love you,
Ally confessed in my ear. No nothing. I leaned in further and waited.
    And waited.
    Still … nothing.
    Finally, cautiously, I peeked my
eyes open just a squint wondering what was up but afraid that my face was right
next to his.
    It wasn’t.
    Griffin was just watching me, his
seductive brown eyes glistening like he knew exactly what had been going on in
my brain. He gave a husky little