i still love you • blake griffin

•one•

April 2015

"Come on, Vivian." Natalie Palmer whined to her best friend of twelve years. "This is Sloan's last night in town, and you already told her you would come out with us."

Vivian looked away from her computer and at her best friend, a small, tired smile on her lips. She was in the process of planning a sweet sixteen party for a bratty teenager, whose mother insisted on calling her every other hour. So as much as she wanted to go out with her friends, she wanted sleep even more.

"Nat—"

"I know you're tired, and that brat is stressing you out but if you go home now, you can get some rest before tonight."

If Vivian could get just one hour of sleep, she would be good to go, so she took her friend's advice and went home.

--

Three hours after her nap, Vivian found herself in a bar in downtown LA with Natalie & Sloan. She casually sipped on her drink, which was watered down by now, as her friends talked amongst themselves.

"Vivian, are you okay?" Sloan asked. "You've been really quiet for the last five minutes."

She looked up to meet Sloan's gaze, not knowing what to say. "I'm just surprised you still want anything to do with me. I figured you would hate me like everyone else."

Vivian had been divorced from Los Angeles Clippers power forward, Blake Griffin, for a year, which is why she's always so nervous around Sloan. Not only is Sloan Vivian's friend, she's Blake's cousin.

"No one hates you, Vivian," Sloan assured her. "Uncle Tommy & Aunt Gail aren't mad about the divorce. You did what you had to do."

"I hate to be that girl," Natalie blurted, "but this conversation is bringing me down. Can we go dance or something?"

After several failed attempts to get Vivian to loosen up, Sloan and Natalie went out to the dance floor with some guys they met. She was going to leave but instead, she opted to stay at the bar and drink until she forgot about her ex-husband, not knowing he was in the same building.

Blake sat at a table about three feet away from the bar with his good friend & teammate, DeAndre.

From the moment Vivian walked in, Blake couldn't keep his eyes off of her. He watched her take shot after shot and considering Vivian wasn't much of a drinker, he was worried about the woman he still loved.

"She sure is drinking a lot," Blake muttered to himself.

He stood from his seat to go check on Vivian, before DeAndre stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"Don't worry." Blake waved his friend off and continued walking toward the bar. "I'll be right back."

He sat on the empty stool next to Vivian and told the bartender not to serve her anymore. When Vivian's eyes landed on Blake, she squinted to make sure she was seeing correctly.

"You look like my ex-husband," she mumbled, shaking her head.

"It is me, Vivian."

She groaned out loud and rolled her eyes before dropping her head. So much for getting Blake out of her head.

"Please go away. I came here to stop thinking about you, and I can't do that if you're sitting here."

She raised her glass to her lips, but Blake grabbed it and set it down on the bar top. "I think you've had enough for tonight."

She scoffed, then clumsily stood up to leave. She probably would've fell flat on her face if Blake wasn't there to catch her.

"Alright, I think you need to go home." He helped Vivian outside, where he called a cab.

--

"Where's your room?" Blake had finally been able to get into Vivian's condo after a whole minute. She wanted to open the door herself, but she couldn't even get the key in the keyhole.

"That way." Blake walked down the hall she pointed to, and went in the room he assumed was her bedroom. She sat on her bed and looked at Blake with those big, brown eyes that he fell in love with. "Thank you for bringing me home."

"You're welcome."

She slid her heels off, grabbed Blake's hand, and pulled him on the bed with her.

"Vivian, what are y—"

She grabbed his face and kissed him, flooding his mind with memories of their relationship. She lied back on the bed, and he lied on top of her as she tried to take off his shirt. As much as Blake enjoyed the thought of being intimate with Vivian one more time, he reluctantly pulled away from her lips and sighed.

"Vivian, you're drunk."

"I'm sober enough to know that I want to do this."

She placed her hand on the back of his neck, pulling him back into the kiss. By no means did she want him back; she just wanted sex — the one thing he always did right in their relationship.

Once again, Blake pulled away, making Vivian agitated. "I don't want you to do something you'll regret."

"Blake, can you just do what I ask for once?" she asked. "I just want meaningless sex right now; can you do that for me?"

He looked into the lust-filled eyes of his ex-wife, and he gladly did what he was told.