Read Working On Love (The Griffin Brothers Book 6) for Free Online Page B

were when she
was younger. So I know more about Miles and her than the rest of you.
While I’m trying to be cautious, because I’ve heard of his
behavior the last few years, I also want to jump up and down for
Alex.”
    “Thanks, Chlo, I want
to jump up and down, too.”
    Miles kisses my temple
and squeezes my hand. “Do you want me to tell them our story?”
    “Yes. I’ll jump in
when I need to, but I’d like to hear you talk about me again.”
    “Okay. Most of you
know that Alex’s mom, Erin, was good friends with my mom. From the
time I was sixteen and Alex was eleven, we spent every summer
together in Florida. Our dads would come down when they could, but it
was usually just the four of us. I used to babysit Alex—God, that’s
weird to think about. Anyway, I was in charge of taking her to Disney
World, Universal Studios, or anywhere else we wanted to go. Don’t
get me wrong, our moms hung out with us, too, but they needed some
alone time a couple days a week.
    “I didn’t mind
hanging out with Alex. My dad made me go to military school, which
was pretty rough for me. So, it was nice to have fun for a change. She was fun and
didn’t ask me to do anything too bad. Actually, I take that back. I
remember going to some Princess Breakfast thing where I had to wear a
tiara.”
    “I still have that
picture.”
    “Of course you do,”
he says with a laugh. “Like I was saying, it was fun for those
first couple of years. We saw each other over the summer and sent
each other cards and little gifts. For holidays and birthdays mostly,
but other times, too. We were good friends. Things changed the year
she turned thirteen. When she walked into our vacation home, I almost
forgot how to breathe. She was so beautiful and grown-up, though not
really. Immediately, I knew things wouldn’t be the same for me
anymore. I tried to hide my feelings and act like I always did with
her.”
    “You did a good job.
I thought I was the only one feeling things that summer.”
    “Good. That’s what
I wanted,” he tells me softly before turning back to my family. “It
wasn’t right. I knew it wasn’t right. Falling in love with a
thirteen year old is not what an eighteen year old man should be
doing.”
    “Stop saying it
wasn’t right. It’s not like you were trying anything with me.”
    “No. But I wanted to.
And it was wrong.
Anyway, by the end of the summer, I was hopelessly in love with Alex.
She was everything a guy could ever want in a girl. Smart, kind,
funny, talented, and so beautiful it made you hurt to look at her.”
I stop to turn to her. “You’re still all those things, you know.”
    “Thanks.”
    “That’s why you
broke off all contact with her that summer. It killed her, you know.”
    “It killed me too,
Chloe. I knew there would never be another woman who I loved the way
I love her. I also knew that by breaking off all contact, I’d lose
any chance with her when we got older. I accepted what I had to do
and, well, slept with any woman who’d have me. I thought that if I
couldn’t be with the woman I loved, I’d just have fun.”
    “Wow. You slept
around because you couldn’t have Alex and didn’t want anyone
else? That’s really romantic,” Olivia says.
    “Seriously, Ollie?
He’s a man whore.”
    “Pot meet kettle,
Luke You were just as bad when we met,” she tells him.
    “You weren’t
thirteen.”
    “Neither am I, Uncle
Scott. Did you not hear him say he left me because I was too young
then? I thought I’d never have him, either, and that’s why I
settled for a jerk like Nick. I’m a woman now, and I want my man.”
    “You’ve got me. If
I have to fight each of the guys in this room, I’ll do it. I’ll
do anything to prove that I’m serious about us.”
    “Guys? Who says
you’re not going to have to fight us, too?”
    “I don’t hit women,
Candi. So if you attack me, I’m just going to have to stand there
and take it.”
    “Good answer. I like
you, Miles.”
    “Enough with