Written in Ink (Montgomery Ink #4)(47)

“Come with me to the bedroom,” he whispered. “Stay the night.”

She hadn’t stayed over since that first night, and she wouldn’t be doing it again. She couldn’t.

“I have to go,” she said, her voice oddly hollow. “Thank you.”

She didn’t know what she was thanking him for, but she stood up and grabbed her clothes, putting them on as she made her way into the living room.

“Autumn!”

“Bye!”

She left with her shoes in her hand and her bag on her shoulders. She was out of the house and in her car by the time he made it to the front door, but she didn’t listen to him as he called her name. Things were getting too close, too dangerous.

And when danger came, she did what she did best.

She ran.

****

Griffin stared at the TV but wasn’t really seeing what Jake and Decker were doing with their video game. His turn would come next, but first, he had to figure out his brain. Or at least try to. His mind was on Autumn and the fact that she kept running. She’d surprised him with that outfit and role-play. He’d had fun, and had enjoyed licking her until she came. And the blowjob? Fuck. That had been the best blowjob of his life, and had popped his top faster than ever before. Maybe not since he’d been a teen.

And then she’d practically tripped over her heels to run away from him when he’d wanted to go back to the bedroom—when he’d asked her to stay the night. Why the heck had he asked her to stay the night? They were casual. No strings. That’s what he wanted. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to have a full-on relationship like his other family members had. He might have thought it was nice in some respects, but he liked things the way they were. Or the way they had been. He may not have been writing as he should, but he’d been somewhat happy. And yeah, Autumn had come and blown his routine to smithereens, but he was writing now.

He frowned, his nail scraping absently at the label on his beer bottle.

He was writing.

He was actually enjoying his job again.

He’d had a path for his character to get through the death of his girlfriend. His character Jensen had been through hell, but he was going to get through it. It wasn’t going to be easy—it sure hadn’t been easy for Griffin all those years ago when it came to Lauren—but it was something that could be done.

Autumn was helping him, and he had no idea what to think about that.

Jake and Decker cursed at each other as they kept up the pace on their turn of the game, and Griffin waved them off when they offered him a turn. He needed to think, needed to figure out what his next step was. Because he could either chase her down and make her come clean with her secrets, or let her walk away like she had always planned to do.

Honestly, he had no idea what he wanted.

And that scared him.

He had always known what he wanted, and one look at Fall and he had lost it.

Perhaps that wasn’t quite true, though. He hadn’t been able to write without her there to help his thoughts. He hadn’t been able to do a lot of things. What would happen when she left? What would happen when the book ended?

She was hiding something from him, he was sure of it. But then again, he was hiding something, too. He might have told her about Lauren, but he hadn’t told her about everything to do with his feelings on it. Hadn’t told her about his passion for writing and how he’d almost lost it. The secrets had almost cost him this book and they still could, but he knew Autumn held more secrets than that.

If he went to her and asked her why she ran, then they’d have to talk about their relationship, and Griffin wasn’t sure if he wanted to do that. He liked what they were. He liked having her in his bed when he could and getting through work with a smile on his face, even if he sometimes wanted to pull his hair out. If that changed, well…that would suck. It would also hurt what they had, and he wasn’t sure what they had to begin with.

She had told him she was a nomad but hadn’t told him anything else about her life. And when he’d asked, she’d pushed him off, changing the subject. How many times could he let her do that before he gave up or pushed harder? It hurt that she wasn’t completely honest with him, when he’d at least told her about some of his past. There was something hurting her, he knew it, and there was nothing he could do about it. Like with his hand, he’d broken it trying to protect her in the car accident, yet it hadn’t been enough. He’d broken himself, and it had been luck that she hadn’t been hurt.

She was always so scared. So skittish.

And he wanted to know why.

He needed to figure out what he wanted first before he peeled off her layers. Because no matter what, he didn’t want to hurt her. And from the look in her eyes, she’d been hurt before.

What did he want with Autumn Minor?

And, maybe more importantly, what did she want with him?

“Hey, you okay?” Jake asked as he leaned into Griffin’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Decker asked.

“I…I can’t talk about it.” He played with the label on his beer again.

“If it’s Autumn, you can talk with us,” Jake said softly. “I know we joke that us guys aren’t supposed to talk about relationships, but that’s bullshit.”

“Let us help,” Decker added.

Griffin swallowed hard, shaking his head. He didn’t want to betray Autumn’s confidence by even voicing his concerns. She may not have told him a damn thing, but he didn’t want to make her feel she couldn’t. The fact that his friends were there to help, though? That made him feel slightly better, and part of his chest untightened ever so slightly.