"Welcome to my humble abode," Griffin said, sweeping his arm out in a welcoming gesture. I peered through the doorway of the tent, it was around the same size as my one, and in my opinion that was too small. I grimaced, sleeping next to Griffin was not in my top ten goals in life.
"Do you hate camping that much?" Griffin asked, catching my expression.
I rolled my eyes. "No dimwit, I just don't want to sleep next to your repulsive body."
Griffin took a step closer to me. "I know many people who disagree with that statement."
"Many also think the world is flat," I replied with a smirk, ignoring my leaping pulse.
Griffin's eyes danced with amusement. "Touché."
Not wanting to stand outside in the cold any longer, I crawled inside the tent and Griffin quickly followed, zipping up the tent flap behind him. I swallowed, suddenly the tent felt a whole lot smaller. "Cosy," I said with a grimace.
"Having second thoughts?" he asked, attaching his torch to the tent roof.
I scowled."No."
Griffin laid back on his red sleeping bag and put his hands behind his head. All of his stuff was already unpacked and his bag was kept neatly at the bottom end of the tent.
I started unpacking my things. "First rule—"
"Rules?" he interrupted.
I pursed my lips. "Yes. First rule, you must keep to your side of the tent; no rolling over in the middle of the night."
"Princess—"
"I don't want you accidentally touching me."
"I mean, technically we never touch." Griffin sat up and lifted his hand up in front of me, palm open and fingers stretched upwards.
"What?"
He said nothing, just waited. I narrowed my eyes and copied him, our hands almost touching.
"The gap between us is filled with air," he said.
"No shit, Sherlock."
He ignored me and drew his hand slightly closer to mine. "Still there is air between us and we are not touching, yes?"
I nodded. "Yes."
"But even when I do this." He placed his hand against mine and a spark shot through my body. "We are still not touching."
I was silent for a few seconds, thinking. And then it hit me. "Electrons," I breathed.
He winked. "You princess, repel me as much as I repel you."
I pulled my hand quickly away from him with an exasperated sigh. "You really are a chemistry nerd."
He laughed. "I never said otherwise."
I went back to rummaging in my bag and pulled out my PJ's. "I need to get changed."
"Go ahead."
I frowned. "Without you in the tent."
"Here I was getting my hopes up." He crawled out of the tent and zipped it back up. "Go quickly, it's freezing out here. "
Translation: Go as slow as possible.
I took my time pulling on my sweatpants followed by my t-shirt for sleeping in, then—
"Incoming!"
Griffin dived back into the tent and I yelped. "I could've been naked!"
"Someone was coming over and I didn't want to get caught." He looked me up and down. "And besides you—"
A female voice—Brittney—called out from a few metres away, "Griffin!"
He tensed.
What on earth was she doing here?
Suddenly it hit me. If Oscar was out of the tent then Griffin could have whoever he wanted over. He'd probably asked her.
"Be quiet," Griffin whispered, turning out the torch. "I'm hoping she doesn't know which tent is mine."
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Didn't you invite her here?"
He shook his head. "Absolutely not."
"Griffin darling! I hope you're ready for me!" She let out a squeal. "I see your shoes."
My eyes widened as I realised she was almost right outside our tent.
Griffin too did not look pleased that she'd spotted his shoes outside. He leaned over. "I have an idea to get her to go away. How good are you at acting?"
"I've won an Oscar," I replied dryly.
Brittney began pulling down the tent's fly zip and I knew we had seconds before she was here. Suddenly I felt my back pressed against the sleeping bag as Griffin rolled himself onto me.
"What are you doing?" I hissed, looking up at his face which was now very close to mine.
"About to go to hell?" He smiled, a glint in his eyes. "Do you trust me?"
"Not at all," I replied. "But I trust you know how to get rid of her. Do what you must."
He grinned and bent his head down, pressing his lips against my neck. My breath hitched. All thoughts momentarily left my head for a second and I almost entirely forgot about Brittney until I heard the inside zip being pulled down. My pulse quickened.
"Relax," Griffin said softly against my neck and for some unknown reason, my body listened.
"Griffin?" Brittney called out and suddenly a torch light shined on us.
To add to our performance I ran a hand through his hair. I felt him smile against me.
"Griffin! What are you doing!" Brittney shrieked from outside. "I can't believe you'd cheat on me!"
Griffin continued kissing my neck, ignoring her. Small sparks shot down my spine and I felt a tug in my stomach.
"We're over Griffin!" Brittney stormed off, leaving the tent door flapping in the breeze.
"She's gone," I whispered, clearing my throat.
"And hopefully won't return," Griffin said, not moving off me. "She's been latching onto me all day."
"I'm getting crushed here." I pushed my hips up, trying to roll him off me.
That only brought certain areas a lot closer.
Griffin's voice lowered. "Princess, what are you doing?"
"Trying to get you off me obviously," I said, ignoring the feelings racing through me. His body was still very much pressed against my own.
He chuckled and I felt the vibration throughout my entire body. "You only had to ask."
I sucked in a full breath of air as his weight was removed. Without looking at him I crawled to the door and began zipping it shut.
"You're avoiding looking at me."
"No," I replied, focusing intently on the zip. "I'm trying to prevent mosquitoes from getting in."
"You sure?"
I turned around and looked at him. "Yes."
He smiled and my cheeks heated. I prayed it was dark enough that he wouldn't be able to see it but my optimism quickly diminished as his smile grew. He could definitely see the colour on my cheeks.
"Why did you want her to leave?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "I thought you guys have a thing?"
"We don't, " Griffin replied bluntly.
"So it was a complete coincidence that she came to visit you after Oscar had gone to sleep with Olivia."
"A complete coincidence."
"You weren't planning to seduce her in here?"
"What? No!" he exclaimed. "Absolutely not."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yes! I've been trying to avoid Brittney all week but she keeps finding me. I certainly did not want her here tonight."
"Then why did you kiss her yesterday?" I demanded, crossing my arms.
His eyes widened. "What? You saw that?"
"Yes."
"And did you see me push her off me immediately?"
I hesitated, I'd turned away immediately. "No."
"Brittney has been trying to get back with me all week. She read a moment wrong and I quickly put a stop to it."
"Why don't you just stop hanging out with her?" I asked, still confused. "You're certainly good at giving people the cold shoulder."
"Our parents are friends; we've been friends since we were children. I hooked up with her a few times last holiday and have been regretting it ever since," he explained. "I didn't realise how deep her feelings were towards me."
"Oh." Relief washed through me as I realised that meant that he wasn't actually with Brittney.
"Princess, the only person I want in this tent is you." He winked, his tone now playful again. "You still owe me lessons in seduction, remember."
"Never happening." I went to slap his shoulder but he caught my hand in his.
"Coach," he teased, "it isn't very professional to hit a player. Or are you trying to hit on a player?"
I groaned. "Ignore everything I said on that blasted island."
"Everything? You said a lot."
"Everything," I repeated.
Griffin's voice lowered. "And what if I don't want to?"
A/N:
Ahhh the Gory? Riffin? ship is moving!
Vote and comment if you enjoyed :)
SouthernAlps over and out...