“It happened most recently when she and Kru started dating.She kept it from me because she thought I would disapprove.And she was right.I did disapprove.”He cracks a grin.“So I get why she hid it.But I caught them together—in my living room no less—and finding proof that she’d been lying to me made me furious.”
“It’s a catch-22,” I say.“I don’t want to disappoint Claire.Just like Piper didn’t want to make you mad.”
“Yeah.And I was mad for a while, until Kru knocked some sense into me.”
“He punched you?”
“No, I punchedhim,” Griffin clarifies with a little laugh, “but he helped me realize that Piper was hiding things to protect herself from me and our brothers and our…opinions.I admit, we can be overbearing.And I was thirty years old before I realized I was doing that to my little sister.All of this is to say that maybe Claire doesn’t realize she’s doing this to you.”
I snort, shaking my head.“She has to realize.”
“Does she?”
“She’s been this way with me for over a decade.It’s not an accident.”
“Yeah.”Griffin squints out at the grassy area, watching some kids playing nearby.“I always thought I was helping Piper.Guiding her toward her best life.And I guess I sort of see that in Claire too.”
I frown out at the market, watching as a customer puts a tomato into a paper bag and it falls straight through to the asphalt.
“It’s different,” I finally say.
“Yeah.Maybe.”Griffin drapes his arm over the back of the park bench, his gaze drifting to another corner of the shaded area.The sounds of the market fill the air between us—raucous laughter from nearby, the excited squeals of children, the faint exclamation from the farm stand—“It just splattered on the ground!Such a juicy one too.”
“She’s always known what she wanted and who she was.And I’ve always been the opposite.That doesn’t go away.”
“But it can.”
The concept of my dynamic shifting with Claire makes me pause.I can’t even fathom what a healthier relationship would look like.All I ever think about is the ways in which it’s failing.
Griffin stretches his legs out in front of the bench, shifting beside me.“Do something with her before the wedding.Just the two of you.Casey and Claire.But the real Casey needs to show up.Not the sixteen-year-old version.The sexy, confident Casey who’s recommending books and isn’t ashamed of it and doesn’t care if she disappoints anybody.As long as she doesn’t disappoint herself.”
I look over at him, tears prickling at my eyes.There’s a lot to unpack there but one thing stood out.“You think I’m confident?”
He cracks a grin.“Yes.Especially when you’re in your groove at work.It’s fucking awesome to watch.That book rec bartender commands the room.”
I bury my face in his shoulder, overwhelmed with emotion.My heart feels like it could burst into a million pieces, and I want to climb onto Griffin’s lap and never leave.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He gives my shoulders a tight side hug.
We watch the farmer’s market together, me half-crying but fully devoted to Griffin.I love this man.For real.Until the end of time.He sees me, he grounds me, and he completes me.
I just wonder if he’d say yes to what’s between us once the summer comes to an end.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
GRIFFIN
My alarm clock only beeps once before my hand is flying to silence it.
It’s 4:30 a.m.I don’t want to wake Casey, who has finally been sleeping in my bed each night.Likely because it’s the only time we get to spend together now that I’m back in hockey mode.
Usually, I’d be spending more nights in Cleveland by this point in the summer.
But not this summer.
I gently slip toward the edge of the bed, untangling myself from the sheets.She murmurs a small protest, nuzzling into her pillow.I pause to soak this in.The bedroom is still dark, and I can only see the faint outline of her beauty.