Written in Ink (Montgomery Ink #4)(43)

“For a man who uses words for a living, you never have much to say about Autumn,” Decker remarked.

Griffin shrugged; trying to be casual and knowing he was failing miserably. “She’s helped me. A lot. I’m actually getting through my book.” In fact, he was getting close to the end. Seriously, he had no idea how she did it. All Autumn had to do was be near him, and suddenly, he could write. He could imagine what his characters needed to do, imagine what path needed to be made.

He didn’t know if was her or the fact that she’d cleaned for him, all he knew was that he was starting to want her there more than he should. And that was scary as hell. What if when she left—and she would leave—he lost everything? What if he couldn’t write anymore once she wasn’t in his life?

What if he wanted her for more than a muse, a book lover?

What if he just wanted her?

“That’s good, right?” Decker asked as he slammed his hand down on Griffin’s back. “You needed to get to your deadline, or whatever you were working toward. You weren’t telling us, so I’m glad Autumn is helping.” His best friend narrowed his eyes. “And don’t tell me it’s just work with her. I’ve seen the way you look at her, the way she looks at you. You’ve slept with her.”

The others stared at him, and Griffin lowered his head. He didn’t want to talk about Autumn. For some reason, he wanted it to be private. Even in as big of a family as the Montgomerys, he wanted something that was just his, just hers—theirs. He didn’t know if it would stay private, and f*ck, it wasn’t really that private now, but if he kept it to himself, maybe they’d get off his back.

“Not any of your business, bro,” Griffin finally said.

Decker raised a brow. “Odd thing to say coming from you.”

Griffin flipped him off. “I thought you said you were over that.”

“Oh, I am, totally. But it’s still fun to needle you.” Decker frowned. “Don’t f*ck her over, okay?”

“What do you mean by that?” He and Autumn were just casual. No strings. He didn’t want strings, and she sure as hell didn’t. They were just doing what their bodies wanted, and when the time came, she’d leave and he’d keep doing what he always did. He didn’t need her, and she didn’t need him. That’s all there was to it.

“I mean, she doesn’t have family from what I can tell, so she doesn’t have the big brother to tell the dude she’s dating all the things he needs to know.”

Griffin opened his mouth to shoot that down, but froze. He didn’t know if she had a brother, didn’t know anything about where she’d been before she’d seemingly dropped from the sky and into the Montgomerys’ lives. He had no clue who she was, and yet no matter how hard he tried to ignore that, he wasn’t sure he could. She knew more about him than he’d let others know. He’d even talked about Lauren with her. And yet he didn’t know anything about her other than the look on her face when she came.

And if they were keeping it to no strings, that should be enough.

It had to be enough.

Fuck.

He hated being kept in the dark. It wasn’t just the writer in him, but the Montgomery, too.

“Thanks for looking out for her, Deck, but we’re not anything serious so you don’t have to worry.”

“Sure I don’t,” Decker said smoothly. The others had been oddly silent during this exchange, and Griffin didn’t know what to think about that. “I care about you, too. So just be careful.”

Griffin didn’t need to hear this. He needed to let his mind go blank before he went back to work. Maybe he’d make out with Autumn when she came by, but it wouldn’t be serious, and he wouldn’t have feelings.

“If you’re done having a heart to heart, I think I’ll head over to Montgomery Ink since you guys seem to be good without me here.”

Luc shook his head. “Keep running, Griffin. It’ll catch up to you eventually.”

He didn’t want to know what “it” was, so he tilted his chin at the guys then headed back to his rental car. His insurance company had given him the car until they figured out how much Griffin would get for his totaled one. He probably could have bought another one at this point since he had the money, but he’d had other things on his mind.

Namely his book and Autumn.

And his family, his father…Alex.

It was all too much sometimes.

With a sigh, he headed back downtown and struggled through mid-day traffic and pedestrians who didn’t understand that jaywalking was actually a crime. Between the businessmen with too much self-importance, the college kids who forgot to look up from their phones to pay attention, and the random hipsters who didn’t care about crosswalks, Griffin was ready for a cup of coffee or something stronger by the time he pulled into the back parking lot for the employees of Montgomery Ink.

He was cranky, tired, and missed Autumn.

And that pissed him off.

He slammed the car door shut then made his way into Taboo for a cup of coffee first. Hailey stood behind the counter and raised her brow at him before sliding over his favorite hazelnut coffee with chocolate shavings on top.

“How the hell did you know I was coming in here?”

She smiled. “I saw you pull in, glower a bit, and figured you could use your favorite. Was I wrong?” She tilted her head, her expressive eyes seeing far too much.