Working On Love (The Griffin Brothers Book 6) (8 page)

“Maybe not, but I’ll
tell you something. If Chloe ever did that to me, I’d be getting
drunk and laid, too. And I’d have to think long and hard about
whether I could take her back, if she asked me to. You say you’re
grown up, but you just acted like some spoiled little girl who didn’t
get to play with her favorite toy. You’re better than that. Maybe
losing the guy you say you love will teach you that.”

“We’re not the two
of you. And we’re not broken up. That was just me being stupid,
I’ll admit that, but it wasn’t as bad as you said.”

He just shakes his head
at her and then reaches out a hand to me. “Good luck, man. I hope
we can be friends. I really do like you.”

“I’ll call you when
you get back to town.”

Ryan nods at me before
walking back towards the restaurant. Alex looks panicked now. I think
she just realized that we did indeed break up. I put my hands in my
pockets and just look at her.

“Oh my God. We
are
broken up, aren’t we?”

“I told you that you
needed to understand what you were doing. You did it anyway.”

“I’m sorry Miles. I
didn’t think it was that bad. I swear.”

“You let him touch
you.
You
touched
him
.”

“I didn’t mean it.
I just…”

“You just what?
Wanted to see if I’d fall at your feet and beg you to forgive me
for acting stupid? In private. After I’d already apologized?”

“No. Yes. Maybe.”

“Well, now you know.
I love you, Alex, but I won’t stand by while you tell me you’re
going to find some other guy to fuck. And then flirt and
touch
someone else in front of me.”

“Please, Miles.”

“I’m going to go
get my stuff. Enjoy the rest of your birthday.”

“Miles,
please
.”

I turn and see that
she’s dropped to
her
knees. Tears are streaming down her cheeks, and people are stopping
to stare. I could tell her to get up, but I need this. I need her to
want me enough to beg.

“I’m so, so sorry.
I was being stupid and shouldn’t have done that. I guess I wanted
to see how far I could push you, and I pushed you too far. I know
that now. I shouldn’t have flirted, and I definitely shouldn’t
have let anyone touch me or touched him back. I love you Miles. I
only want you. Please give me another chance.”

I walk over and pull
her to her feet. “You need to be sure you want me. I won’t go
through this again. What you just did hurt me. I laid myself bare for
you, and you just purposely hurt me.”

“I
do
want you. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. Whatever you want
tonight, however you want it.”

“Sex doesn’t solve
things. You need to stop thinking it does. And I don’t want or need
anything different than what we’ve been doing. You need to stop
thinking that, too.”

“You were going to go
have sex.”

“Because that’s
what I know. That’s how I cope. I’ve told you that. I’ve also
told you I want more than just a physical relationship with you.”

“Will you come back
to the restaurant with me?”

“What about Mr.
Preppy?”

“He’s a non-issue.”

“Does he know that?”

“I think me running
out of the restaurant after you was pretty clear.”

I close my eyes and
tilt my head back. How the fuck can I go back in there? They all saw
her. Not just her family, but that asshat and his friends. Now I’m
going to walk back in there and what? Act like nothing happened?
Yeah, I guess I am. For her, I am.

“Come on. Our food’s
probably getting cold.”

We walk in and the
conversation at our table stops. As well as, the table next to ours.
I suck up my pride and pull out her chair. Instead of sitting, Alex
spins and grabs me, kissing me hard. She lets me go and turns back
around.

“I begged. I know
you’re all wondering. I dropped to my knees outside and begged him
to give me another chance. I was a bitch, and I don’t deserve him.
But he loves me enough to come back in here with me.”

“You’re used to
girls on their knees, aren’t you?” a chick from the asshole’s
table says to me.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re Miles
Corrigan. Half the women in this country have been on their knees for
you.”

“You’re Miles
Corrigan? Well, fuck. I heard about you and that women’s lacrosse
team back east. You really had them all at once?” Mr. Preppy is
smiling at
me
now.

“Listen, I’m with
my girl, celebrating her birthday. Yes, I used to be that guy, but
I’m not anymore. I’d appreciate it if you let us enjoy the rest
of our dinner in peace.”

“Your girl? Cool. I
just almost took Miles Corrigan’s girl back to my room.”

“I was
never
going back to your room. I was just mad at Miles. I shouldn’t have
used you and I’m sorry.”

“Use me in any way
you want. Especially if you managed to get this guy to commit. You
must be one hot piece…”

I’m on him before he
can say another word. I have him out of his chair as I get up in his
face. His friends start to stand up, but so do the Griffin brothers,
which causes them to return to their seats.

“The last asshole who
disrespected her isn’t looking so good. Go ahead and say something
else.”

“No, man, I’m
sorry.”

“Tell
her
.”

“I’m sorry. Really
I am.”

I release him and he
throws some money on the table. His whole table leaves, glaring at us
the entire time. I don’t give a fuck. Even if I wasn’t with Alex,
I’d still defend her. She means too much to me not to. The
restaurant manager comes over and tells us that if there’s any more
trouble we’ll have to leave. We all tell him we’ll behave.

We sit and eat our
dinner. At first, things are a little strained, but everyone soon
relaxes. The server brings out a cool cake with Mulan on it. She was
always Alex’s favorite princess. She blows out the candles, and
then the cake is taken back to be cut.

We’re told the show’s
going to start right as the plates of cake are brought out. I turn my
chair around so I can watch, placing my plate on my lap. I’m so
caught up in the show, which is amazing, that I don’t notice my
piece of cake is gone until it’s over.

“What the hell?”

“Is something wrong,
Miles?”

“You seriously ate my
cake while I was watching the show, Xandy?”

“It was good.”

I wave down the server
and ask him for another piece. He looks a little scared of me as he
heads back to the kitchen to get it.

“You’re so lucky I
love you.”

“I know, Miles.
Really, I do.” She looks down then.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“You want to ask me
something. What is it?”

“I was just wondering
if I could…umm…hold your hand.”

“You don’t have to
ask,” I tell her as I hold it out to her.

“I wasn’t sure.”

“We’ll talk about
this when we get back to the room, okay?”

“We’re talking?”

I lean in close because
I don’t want anyone to hear. Ryan may like me, but he would
probably still kill me if he heard what I’m about to say. “Don’t
worry. That greedy pussy of yours will get the two orgasms I owe you.
But we do need to talk, too.”

“My pussy’s not
greedy. It just likes you.”

“It
is
,
and what do you mean ‘likes’ me?”

“Loves. It loves
you.”

“That’s better. I
love it, too.”

My cake arrives, and I
eat it quickly, pushing her hand away when she tries to eat this
piece, too. I look up and meet her grandmother’s eyes. Maggie
smiles at me, and I smile back. I’ve always liked her. Even though
she knows my secret. I trust her to keep it from everyone. Especially
Alex.

We hang out a little
longer, and then everyone splits up. Alex and I are going to watch
Fantasmic with Landon while Zane and Quinn have a little alone time.
We need our own alone time, but I should still have enough time to
fulfill my birthday duties. She didn’t open her last present yet.
She said she wanted to wait until we were alone.

She catches me staring
when we’re in New Orleans Square and asks me what I’m looking at.
“There’s a suite up there. I wanted to book it so bad for
tonight, but you can only win it. Even for a million dollars they
wouldn’t give it to me.”

“You were going to
pay a million dollars for a suite?”

“You always dreamed
of staying in one of the parks.”

“You remembered? Of
course you did. You remember everything. I like it.”

“I’m glad.”

“Ugh. You two are
worse than my parents,” Landon says with a groan.

I laugh as I ruffle his
hair and lean down to whisper in his ear. “Sorry, Land.”

“You’re not mad at
Alex anymore, really?”

“Really. I love her
very much, and I know she’s sorry.”

“Okay. So I can like
her again?”

“I hope you’ll like
her forever, buddy. Even if she wasn’t my girlfriend, she’s a
great person.”

“She’s really
pretty, too.”

“Yes, she is. But you
need to find a girl your own age and stop looking at mine.”

“Is she really going
to come to our games?”

“She said she would,
and she usually does what she says.”

“Are you two talking
about me over there?”

“Maybe.”

“It’s not nice to
exclude the pretty girl.”

I burst out laughing.
“You’re so cute, baby.”

“You two are going to
kiss again, aren’t you?”

“Yep. You should
probably look away,” I tell him as I pull Alex into my arms.

* * *

Alex

I’m feeling awkward
when we get back to our room after dropping Landon off. I don’t
know how to behave. I can’t believe I did that to Miles. My uncle
was right. I acted like a spoiled little girl. I’d stupidly blurted
out that remark about someone else before we left the hotel—which I
immediately regretted—and then he wouldn’t even look at me. I
wanted him to pay attention to me, but I took it too far. Especially
when he put that Tiffany box next to my plate. I don’t deserve him,
and I definitely don’t deserve those last two orgasms. But I want
him and
those
. I
don’t know what to do.

I’m so lost in my
thoughts that I don’t notice we’re inside. I’ve just been
standing in the middle of the living room looking like an idiot. When
it registers, I look for Miles. He’s sitting on the couch smiling
at me.

“Wow. I totally zoned
out. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. I was
hoping you’d work out what was bothering you and come sit with me.”

“I don’t deserve
any more orgasms, and I definitely don’t deserve you,” I blurt
out before I can stop myself.

“Come sit down,
baby.”

I chew on my lip for a
few seconds then do as he asks. I sit at the edge of the couch, as
far away from him as possible.

“Are you scared of
me, Xandy?”

“What? No. Of course
not. You’d never hurt me.”

“Then why are you
sitting away from me?”

“If I sit closer, I
may jump you.”

He laughs, and I see
his beautiful eyes twinkling. “After we talk, you definitely need
to move closer. I would
really
like to be jumped by you. For now, I’ll settle for your hand.”

He holds his out in
between us, and I place mine on top. He laces our fingers together
and gives my hand a reassuring squeeze.

“I just wanted you to
pay attention to me, Miles. I swear I wasn’t going to do anything
with that guy.”

“I wasn’t ignoring
you. I was giving you the freedom to make your choice. I’ll always
give you that. I never want you to feel like you have to be with me,
Alex. I want to be the one you choose.”

“I’ll always choose
you.
Always
. I can’t
believe I made you doubt that. All because you got a little jealous.
God, I’m an idiot.”

“You’re actually
very smart, but you did
act
like an idiot tonight.”

“Were you really
going to get drunk and laid?”

“Drunk, yes. Laid?
Maybe. It’s what I know. Even though I don’t want anyone but you,
it’s the way I’ve coped in the past. When things got to be too
much, I just fucked some random chick.”

“Please don’t. I’ll
try not to make you mad. You can fuck me whenever you want.”

“We make love. It’s
not ‘fucking.’ At least not to me. I wasn’t breaking up with
you because I was mad at you. Do you still not understand? You nearly
broke me in there. Seeing you have so little regard for me, it just…I
can’t even explain how bad that made me feel.”

I need to tell him. I
don’t want to cause us anymore conflict, but I have to be honest,
too. “I understand. That’s how I felt the first day you saw me at
work.”

“Shit. I’m sorry. I
was so shocked to see you there. I behaved really badly.”

“Yes, you did. I
don’t want to say we’re even, because that’s not what tonight
was about. I wasn’t trying to get back at you. Can we just put both
of those things aside and move on?”

“Yes, wise one, we
can.” He leans towards me, and I meet him in the middle. We share a
sweet kiss, and then he pulls back. “Now, how do you want your last
two?”

“I only get two more
tonight?”

“I don’t know if I
can manage more than that before midnight.”

“Oh, I think you can.
But I’ll settle for my two as long as we don’t stop at midnight.”

“What were you saying
about your pussy not being greedy?”

“And you cock’s
not?”

“Oh, it is. It would
be inside you 24/7 if we let it.”

“We’re going to
have to go away somewhere and let it. I could almost come right now
just thinking about it.”