Slow Agony (Assassins, #2)(18)

“I never told you that I’d never had sex before, did I?” he said.

“You said you didn’t anymore.”

“And you assumed it was like a God thing,” he said.

“And it’s not?”

He was quiet.

I turned on the sink and ran water over the dishes. As I rinsed each, I stacked it in the dishwasher. When I turned off the faucet, Daisy was talking again.

“If our relationship isn’t built on a strong spiritual foundation, then I don’t know what kind of future it has.”

“Future?” said Griffin. “It’s only been a month.”

“A month and a half,” she said.

“Look, can’t we wait until Leigh’s gone and talk about this then?”

“How long is she going to be here?”

“A couple of weeks, maybe.”

“A couple of weeks?”

“Yeah.”

“No way, Griffin.” The door to the bedroom opened. “You better figure out some way for us to talk before then. Because I’m not waiting around for you while a woman that you were sleeping with is staying in the same apartment with you.” She stalked out into the living room.

I busied myself wiping down the counters.

Griffin came after her, catching her by the arm. “Don’t run off like this.”

She wrenched her arm away. Tears were streaming down her face. “You should have thought of all of this before you lied to me.”

He rubbed the top of his head. “I’m sorry.”

“You know, I don’t think you are. I think you’re only sorry that I found you out.” She slammed the door to the apartment.

Griffin glared at me. “Nice going.” Then he went after her.

The apartment was empty and quiet now. I finished cleaning up the kitchen. I didn’t run the dishwasher because it was only half full. When I was finished, I sat down at the table. Maybe I could have been nicer to Daisy. I was sorry that I’d made her cry.

But overall, if it meant that she and Griffin were having problems, and that they might break up, then I wasn’t that upset about it. I didn’t want him to be with anyone else. I didn’t want it at all.

In about ten minutes, Griffin came back into the apartment. He looked defeated and tired. He slouched in the doorway to the kitchen. “Why’d you have to do that?”

I shrugged. “I didn’t do anything.”

“You made her feel like crap,” he said.

“Like I said before, I didn’t think it was a good idea for all of us to hang out.”

“She’s a very nice girl, doll. Maybe she’s not as intelligent and as sophisticated as you, but she’s really nice. And you weren’t nice to her.”

“You think I’m smarter than she is?”

He threw his hands up in the air and went into the living room.

I got up and went to the doorway. “I don’t get it. Why would you date someone like her?”

He flopped down on the couch. “She was nice. She is nice.”

“That’s the only quality you’re looking for in a girl?”

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and rubbing the back of his head. “I was lonely. And I knew there wouldn’t be... pressure.”

“Pressure?”

“Pressure to have sex.”

I came into the living room and sat down on the couch with him. “I thought that was okay.” I put a tentative hand on his arm.

He jerked away, raising his face to look at me. “No. It was okay with you. But it isn’t...” He got off the couch. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

I was quiet. It had taken a lot of time for Griffin and I to be able to have sex. The things that had happened to him in his past had been difficult for him to work through. Even after we’d managed to do it successfully, he still sometimes had issues. It made me so angry at the people who’d hurt him.

He went back into his bedroom and shut the door.

I went after him. I knocked on the door. “Griffin, I don’t think you really liked her.”

“Leave me alone.”

“You weren’t honest with her, and you were only with her because you were lonely.”

“Would you shut up?” he said. “Watch a movie or something. I want to be alone.”

“I’m only saying this because it seems kind of obvious that you aren’t happy here. Without me. And I’m not happy without you. And...” I took a deep breath. “I want you back, Griffin.”





Chapter Five


Silence came from the other side of the door. Complete silence.

My heart thudded in my chest, waiting for him to respond to what I’d just said. But he said nothing. I stood outside the door for several long minutes, waiting.

Finally, I backed away. He wasn’t saying anything. That was answer enough. He was never going to get past what happened. I was an idiot for thinking that he could.

The door opened. “You don’t get to say things like that.”

“I don’t?”

“No.” He swept out of his bedroom, his expression hard. “You’re the one who screwed it all up. So, you don’t get to try to reconcile everything like you’re the wronged party or something.”