Chapter 7

During those anxious moments of waiting, having my parents by my side, comforting and encouraging me, I slowly relaxed.

Sure enough, I was out. Fiona ended up taking my spot.

I saw this coming, and weirdly enough, I felt a bit relieved.

Honestly, I'd rather just get the verdict and be done with it than spend every day waiting, not knowing if I'd get the chop.

Waiting was always the worst part.

But deep down, there was a lingering feeling of disappointment and loss I couldn't really explain.

I'd come so close, just to miss out at the last second. No way I wasn't hurting.

My parents, worried I'd be too down, even sent me off on a trip to help me chill out.

I was already feeling pretty crappy, and I didn't want them stressing over me at home, so I took them up on their offer.

I wandered around aimlessly.

While on a climb up the mountain, I bumped into Griffin. He was startled to see me too.

I spoke up first. "Out here with your buddies for the break?"

Griffin nodded. He glanced at me, looking torn.

I could read the look on his face, so I decided to just lay it all out.

"Dennis and I broke up. He reported me during my review period, and I lost my spot," I said.

Griffin was at a loss, not really sure what to say to make me feel better.

He kept stealing glances at me when he thought I wasn't looking.

I just shrugged and gave him a smile. "Just say whatever's on your mind."

Griffin gave an awkward chuckle. "Does travelling cheer you up?"

I nodded. "If I hit the jackpot right now, I'd be on cloud nine."

Griffin grinned. "What if I told you there's a job where you work four days, get three days off, and pull in twenty grand a month after taxes?"

I blinked, caught off guard. "Huh?" I whipped my head around. "Wait, what do you mean by that?

"You're not trying to hook me up with some high-paying job that actually ships people overseas for trafficking, are you?"

Griffin snorted with laughter. He blinked at me. "You're pretty cautious, aren't you?"

I clicked my tongue. "I'm a single child. If something happened to me, my parents would totally lose it," I said.

Griffin just smiled, keeping quiet.

He was almost a dead ringer for Dennis, same features and all. But he didn't have any of that bad boy swagger or flirty attitude Dennis was famous for.

He looked totally composed, his gaze steady and clear. He was the kind of guy one'd expect to see on a university brochure.

Feeling a little awkward, I looked away and kept heading up the mountain, trying to shift the conversation.

"You're still a student, so just concentrate on school for now. Don't trouble yourself with my job," I said.

Griffin caught on and steered the conversation somewhere else.

As we made our way up to the summit, the cool breeze whipped around us from every direction.

I couldn't help but sniffle, breathing in the chilly air.

Just then, Griffin handed me the jacket he'd been slinging over his arm.

I was about to refuse, but then I sneezed and shivered.

Griffin smiled. "I haven't worn it yet. It's brand new."

Feeling a bit awkward, I accepted.

For some reason, it always seemed like he caught me at my most embarrassing moments.

Even though he said he'd never worn it, as soon as I slipped it on, there was a barely-there lemony scent that seemed to wrap around me.

Mixed in was that subtle, unmistakably guy scent I couldn't quite put my finger on.

My thoughts were all over the place.

I couldn't help but sneak a look over at Griffin.

He had this gentle, kind expression as he gazed off into the distance.

He was really such a good guy.

After we made our way down the mountain, we reached a fork in the road. It was time to split up.

As I handed his jacket back, Griffin casually brought up what he'd mentioned earlier.

"I'm just a freshman, and my classes are pretty full-on. I've got a small company registered under my name, but I don't have the time to manage it myself. I'm hoping to find someone to help keep an eye on things," he said.

He looked at me, totally serious. "Blair, I know you're a good person, and your background is just right for this."

My brain totally froze for a second, and I just blurted out, "If you trust me, I can help you."

Griffin's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously? That's amazing! Thanks a ton, Blair," he said, grinning.

I waved my hand, kind of embarrassed. "It's nothing, really. I haven't landed a job yet anyway, so I might as well give it a shot."

Griffin pulled out his phone. "Blair, let's swap contact info so it'll be easier to talk about work stuff."

"Oh, yeah, sure," I said.

I finally snapped out of it, pulled out my phone, and swapped numbers with him.