Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (18 page)

“Hey guys,” I say
as I walk in. Everyone else is here before me.

We exchange greetings
as I drop off the whiskey I brought. Then I ask my dad if I can speak
to him before we start the game. We go outside onto the balcony, and
I ask him about what I need. I’m surprised when he agrees so
readily, but I should have known that he would have my back. I
promise to get him all of the information that he needs tomorrow
morning.

We join the other guys
and start playing. All of us had made an official pact to let Danny
win tonight. He’s probably the worst poker player known to man, and
we want him to have some money to spend on the honeymoon we all
chipped in for as a wedding present. Playing poker badly on purpose
is hard enough, but doing it against someone who is truly a bad
player is a nightmare. We somehow manage to lose all of our money by
the end of the night.

“I don’t know how
you did it man, but you cleaned us all out,” Owen says to Danny.

“I know you guys let
me win. Thanks. I mean it.”

“No worries, Danny.
Just show Sam a good time,” Luke replies.

“Maybe Scott can
borrow you some game controllers,or Ryan will let you borrow the jet
with the king-sized bed. They both got lucky with those.”

“The jet? Ryan?”
Luke looks at me with his eyebrow quirked.

“I’m going to
fucking kill you if you don’t stop talking about the game
controllers, Owen.”

“I’ll help if you
mention the jet in front of Chloe again.”

“Your woman let us
all know your fetish, Scott. And you and Chloe are the ones who were
playing Mile High Club with me on the plane, Ry. So neither of you
can blame me.”

Scott and I both lunge
for him as he jumps behind my dad. Dad’s not having it, though, and
moves to the side, holding up his hands to stop Scott and me. “Boys,
if you didn’t react so strongly, he would just drop it. He likes
getting a rise out of you. As for you, Owen, one day you’ll do
something with a woman to make your brothers ridicule you. Karma can
be a bitch, so I suggest you back off.”

“That would be great
advice if I was embarrassed by anything I do with a woman. But I’m
not.”

“Candi does seem like
she would be up for anything,” Luke admits.

“For the last time,
Candi and I are not together. We never have been.” For the briefest
moment, I see a look of pain cross his face, but it’s quickly
replaced with his usual smirk.

I vow to ask him more
about it when we’re alone. I know there’s something going on
there, but I don’t think any of us has been able to figure out what
it is. Owen deserves a good woman, and Candi is really cool. For some
reason, they seem to be fighting their attraction. I’ll talk to
Scott and see what we can do. Then, maybe we can get Luke to settle
down to at least a handful of girls instead of a new one every night.
I guess Scott and I weren’t too good of an influence in that
department. But, we’re both settled down and happy now. I’m
happier than I’ve ever been. and I don’t want it to ever end.

* * *

Chloe

I haven’t been to
Scott and Yasmin’s house before tonight. Ryan said it was her
family home and Scott just moved in few months ago. He told me that I
would love it, and he’s right. It’s a beautiful Craftsman style.
Tonight is Sam’s bridal shower, which Yasmin is hosting. I walk up
to the door and ring the bell.

“Chloe. I’m so glad
you could make it,” Yasmin says as she lets me in.

The girls from our
group greet me with hellos and hugs. Sam introduces me to her mom and
her other friends who are there. I take in the decorations. There are
dark teal and cream colored balloons everywhere so I’m guessing
those are the wedding colors. I take in a table filled with finger
foods and also a dessert bar. The girls let me know to grab a drink
from the kitchen.

We settle in and play
some fun games. Yasmin and I team up for the game where you make a
wedding dress out of toilet paper. Alex is our model and we win. We
both love fashion, and I know construction, so it’s no surprise.
Our prize is the promise of tickets to The BeatlesLove with the
special back stage tour included. I’m really excited because I love
the Beatles, but then reality sets in. Ryan loves the Beatles too,
but I know he went with Cel and probably other women as well. I guess
I’ll invite one of the girls once I figure out what day I can go.

It’s soon time to
open the presents. I hope Sam likes mine. I bought a cute pink
babydoll from Victoria’s Secret, and then I sewed some little
Mickey Mouse ears on it. She opens a few before she gets to mine.

“I love this Chloe.
Did you sew the ears on it?”

“Yeah, I did. I’m
glad you like it, Sam.”

Yasmin got her a sexy
teddy from Agent Provocateur, and Erika got her a bustier and garter
belt set that she picked up in Paris while she was on her honeymoon.
Candi’s present is next. The girls and I look at each other a
little nervously. If it was just us, it would be fine, but Sam’s
mother and Maggie and Alex are here. So if there’s something too
crazy in that box, we’ll probably all be mortified.

Sam opens the lid and
then closes it again. “It’s not that bad, Sam. I knew that your
mom would be here, so I held back,” Candi says.

“Okay, here goes,”
Sam replies.

She pulls out some sexy
lingerie first. It’s racier than anything else she has gotten so
far but not too scandalous. Then, she shows us some fuzzy pink
handcuffs, edible body oil, and some kind of chapstick that Candi
says makes your lips and anything that they come into contact with
tingle. It’s all really tame for Candi, and no one is too
scandalized.

The party starts
winding down after another hour or so, and I get ready to leave. I’m
exhausted after my long day at work and know that tomorrow will be
even harder. I easily have twelve hours of work that needs to get
done, but since it’s Friday barbeque, we will be leaving the office
by 6. Yasmin reminds me to let her know what date I want the tickets
and tour for. They only do the tour on Friday and Saturday, so she
expects me to pick a Saturday since Ryan and his brothers don’t
miss barbeque unless they’re out of town. I don’t tell her that I
am not planning to ask him to go. Instead, I promise to let her know
soon.

I’m just saying my
goodbyes when one of Sam’s friends comes over. “You’re dating
Scott Griffin, aren’t you, Yasmin?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I haven’t met him,
but I know his brother well.”

“His brother?” I
ask, afraid that I already know who she’s talking about.

She looks at me like I
have no business even speaking to her. And maybe I don’t, but I
have to know. “Ryan Griffin. He’s one hot stud. We spent almost a
week together a few months ago. It was the hottest time I’ve ever
had. That boy knows how to use some handcuffs and other toys. We’ve
both been busy, but I can’t wait to see him again and pick right
back up where we left off. I’m packing some extra special stuff for
Orlando.”

I’m trying not to
freak out, but I must not be doing too good of a job. Sam looks at me
before answering her friend. “You won’t need that. He has a
girlfriend now.”

“Whatever. He told me
I was the most fun and best he’d ever had. That’s why he didn’t
drop me after one night. So, girlfriend or not, he’ll be sneaking
out to see me.”

I can’t take anymore.
I just can’t. I say my goodbyes and leave. The girls give me
sympathetic looks and Yasmin tries to stop me to talk, but I’m
done.

I’m supposed to meet
Ryan at his place tonight, but I head to mine instead. I know it’s
my fault, it’s all my fault. Knowing that doesn’t make me feel
better, though. I don’t let Ryan use handcuffs or toys when we’re
together and he’s already been to Love. I’m nothing special to
him now. Maybe when we were teenagers, but not now.

* * *

Ryan

Last night with the
guys was fun. I wish I could say that I had fun with Chloe last
night, too. But, as usual these days, I passed out as soon as I hit
my bed. Then she wasn’t there when I woke up, even though that was
the plan—she was going to spend the night. Maybe she came by and
found me asleep and got mad. She’ll been acting a little weird this
morning. I’m hoping that my surprise will make it up to her, but I
wanted to do something more immediate as well. I just left her a note
on her computer while she’s grabbing lunch. I’m heading back into
my office when Scott stops me.

“Hey, Ry. You must be
excited by the tickets.”

“Tickets? What
tickets?”

“The Love tickets
that Chloe won at the shower last night. She didn’t tell you?”

“No. She hasn’t
mentioned it.”

“Well, I’m just
glad that you’ll finally be going to see it. I know you love the
Beatles, and I can’t believe you haven’t gone yet. You guys get a
backstage tour, too.”

“Honestly, I never
went because Chloe was the one I wanted to experience it with. I
didn’t want to take another woman. Even though I didn’t think
she’d be back in my life, it just didn’t seem right to go with
someone else.”

“I’m glad to see
the two of you back together. I know those three years nearly killed
you. Sure, there were plenty of women, but I could tell that you were
never really into any of them.”

“I wasn’t into
them. It’s always been only Chloe for me. Now that I have her back,
I’ll do pretty much anything to keep her.”

“About that.
Something else happened at the shower and Yas is really worried about
Chloe.”

“What happened?”
Did she get hurt or something? Who knows what goes on at those shower
things?

“I guess one of the
women you were with recently is a friend of Sam’s and will be at
the wedding.”

“Well, that’s a
little awkward, but I don’t really care about some one night stand
being there.”

“Well, from the way
this chick was talking, she was more than a one night stand. She said
you were together several days, where you used handcuffs and other
shit with her, and told her she was your best ever. Yas said she made
it seem like it was pretty recent.”

“Shit. It was her? I
was with her several days, because she was hot and up for anything.
It was when Chloe first got here. I realized she was getting too
clingy, so I told her it was nice, but I was moving on. I can’t
believe she’s Sam’s friend.”

“Yeah, well, there’s
more.”

“More?” Fuck. Fuck
.Fuck. No wonder Chloe’s been acting weird.

He sighs and then looks
me in the eye. “I guess Sam told her you have a girlfriend now, and
she said it didn’t matter. That you’d sneak out to see her in
Orlando. Chloe practically ran out of my house at that point, Yas
said.”

“Oh my God. Crazy,
stupid bitch.”

“You wouldn’t,
would you, Ry?”

“Are you fucking
serious right now?”

“Yeah. I am. I know
Chloe hurt you and my loyalty is ultimately with you, but she helped
me a lot in high school. If you’re going to go off and fuck some
other chick, I want you to break up with her first.”

“If you weren’t my
little brother, I’d be kicking your ass right now. As it is, I’m
only going to say this once. I. Love. Chloe. I am never going to
cheat on her. Do you understand me, Scott?”

“Yep. And that’s
the response I was hoping to get from you. Just make sure Chloe knows
that, too.”

“I will. Believe me,
I will.” We hug it out, and then Scott leaves to head back to his
home workroom.

Chloe gets back with
lunch a couple of minutes later. I’m immersed in work and don’t
notice her at first, until she almost drops one of the drinks. I
immediately jump up and go to her.

“Shit. I’m sorry,
Chlo. I should’ve been watching for you. I knew I had you get me
too much food.”

“I’m fine, Ry. I
just lost my grip for a second.”

“You just missed
Scott. He told me that you won tickets and a backstage tour to Love
last night.”

“Oh, yeah. I did.”

“You don’t seem too
excited.”

“I am. You know I
love the Beatles. I just have to figure out a Friday or Saturday to
go.”

“Umm, Chloe, you know
I don’t miss Friday barbeque, so it would have to be a Saturday.”

“I-I was planning to
ask one of the girls to go with me.”

Is she serious? “You’re
kidding, right? We always listened to the Beatles together when we
were younger. I mean, what the fuck?” I know she’s upset, but
really?

“I just thought since
you’d seen it before, you wouldn’t want to see it again.”

“I would probably go
see it a hundred times, but I’ve never gone before. Why would you
just assume that I had?”

“You invited Cel in
front of me.”

Fuck. She thought that
I took someone else and that it wouldn’t be special for us to go.
She’s so wrong. I move to her and cup her face in my hands. “Chloe,
I would never go see anything having to do with the Beatles with
another woman. I could never share them with anyone but you. I
canceled that date, along with the date for the party.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. So, can
I be your date to Love?”

“Yes. I would love
for you to be my date. But, you have to let me pay for dinner, drinks
at Revolution after, and whatever else you want that night. You pay
me a good salary plus the money I’m getting for the Seattle
project. I can afford this, and I want to do it for you. I liked it
when you let me pay sometimes when we were teens.”

“Okay. You’re the
only one who has ever offered to pay for a date. I liked it when you
paid sometimes, too. I know it’s not the gentlemanly thing, but it
made me feel like you wanted to be with me for me, and not for where
I could take you.”

“You didn’t know
that already?”

“I did, but it was
nice to have it proven to me.”