Sophia
I dumped my gym bag on my bed, stepped out of my gym clothes and hit the shower. It had been a long ass day and I needed an equally long shower to wash it all away. After my encounter with my flat tyre and Griff this morning, things had not improved. Andrew had been in a bad mood all day at work and had taken it out on me, especially after I ditched half the day yesterday without informing him. He’d been pissed off about that and I’d had to listen to a fifteen-minute talking-to from him about it. Then, after work, Magan had informed me how disappointed our mother was that I was yet to visit her. And to top it all off, I’d had a run-in with a bitch at the gym over using one of the machines. She didn’t want to share and I refused to back down. Today was not a day I would let anyone walk all over me, and I’d stood my ground with her.
After fifteen minutes of standing in the shower and letting the hot water seep into my muscles, I stepped out and dried off. Then I dressed in shorts and a tank and padded into the kitchen to make dinner. It was late – just after eight – and I was starving. However, a knock at the front door interrupted me.
I opened the door, surprised to find Josie on the other side, smiling at me. “Hi, Josie,” I said warmly.
“May I come in?” she asked, but I sensed that with Josie, the answer ‘no’ wasn’t even an option.
I let her in and led her into my lounge room. We settled ourselves on my couch and I asked, “What’s up?”
“I wanted to talk to you about Michael.”
Griff.
“Okay,” I said slowly, not sure where she would take this.
Her face softened but there was a seriousness to it I’d never seen from her before, as if what she was about to tell me was one of the most important things she’d ever tell me. “Michael feels something for you. I’ve never seen him the way he is with you, and I wanted you to know that.”
I frowned. “No, he doesn’t. He’s attracted to me, but he’s not interested in pursuing a relationship with me.” At the frown that appeared on her face, I added, “Trust me, Josie, he and I have discussed it. At length. There’s no way anything will happen between him and me.”
“But you want something to happen?”
“I’m interested. There’s something about him that makes me want to see if we’d be any good together.”
The frown left her face and was replaced with a smile. “You’re going to have to be the one to make the first move, my dear. Michael’s a stubborn ma
n and doesn’t know what’s good for him most of the time.”
I sighed. “You’re not listening to me, Josie. He’s really not interested. Let’s just say that he and I have a difference of opinion on something fairly important.”
She leaned forward in her chair and that serious look returned. “Michael used to visit me twice a week at the most. These days he’s at my house every day. He asks me if I’ve seen you and whether you’re okay. He doesn’t ask me outright but he finds a way to get it into the conversation. I saw him change your tyre this morning, and I know he tried to give you those boxing gloves.” She paused. “He cares about you, my girl, and I’ve only ever seen him care about a few people. You can’t tell me that man is not interested in you.”
I stilled and my heart skipped a beat. She’d surprised me and I was stunned into silence.
It’s just sex he wants.
And yet, I knew that men didn’t go to such extremes for sex, especially not for sex they weren’t getting and knew they had no hope of getting. Griff could score whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He didn’t need me for sex.
“Well, that may all be true, but I don’t know what to do with it because, like I said, he’s been very clear about what he wants.”
She tsk’d. “You need to show a man like Michael what he’s missing. And I’m not talking about sex here, Sophia. You’re going to have to figure out why he’s being so stubborn, and show him that he’s wrong.”
I had no idea on this, but I’d put some thought into it. “Okay,” I said with a nod.
Standing, she said, “He’s a good man. Just a little bit lost, but I know a woman like you can help guide him back.”
And then she was gone, but as she left, she placed a piece of paper in my hand.
A piece of paper with an address on it.
* * *
I sat outside Griff’s house for a good fifteen minutes, psyching myself up to go in. After Josie had left my house earlier, I’d tried to put this out of my mind, but when I was still thinking about it an hour later, I knew I had to come to his house tonight. I knew I wouldn’t sleep if I didn’t.
It was nearly ten pm but his lights were on, so I figured he was awake. After going back and forth in my mind, I finally said ‘screw it’ and headed for his front door. God knew how he would react to me being here, but Josie had given me the confidence to try.
He took his time answering the door, and the vision that greeted me when he did caused me to suck in my breath. Griff stood in front of me, dressed only in shorts, his body slick with sweat, his hair rumpled, and a ravaged look on his face.