Garrett placed the picture back on the mantle and braced a hand on the wood as he peered down into the cold and empty hearth. “After they died, I couldn’t come back here. So I closed it up. Tried to forget about it. I kept the electricity on for some reason even if I never planned to come here again.”
He stood up straight and backed away. “But lately, the memories have been harder to ignore.” Garrett looked over at me as though I were the reason he was facing some deeply hidden demons.
“And you wanted to bring me here?” I pressed; wanting him to acknowledge what I hoped was the reason behind our late night visit to his family’s cabin.
Garrett ran his hands through his hair and gripped his scalp. Then, looking at me, he moved his hands to cradle my face. “Yes. I wanted to bring you here,” he stated.
“Why?” I asked.
Garrett let out a noisy breath. “Because very few people know the real me. So many see me as the guitarist of Generation Rejects. The townie that throws the crazy parties. The stoner who fucks around and likes to have a good time. But not you, Riley. Okay, maybe at first that’s what you saw.” I grimaced at this but Garrett ran his thumb along the bottom curve of my lip as if to stop my guilty thoughts.
“But now, you see me. And I want to give you every little piece of the person I am. Of the person I used to be. Because I love you, Riley Walker. And I want you so deep in my life that you can’t ever leave,” he said softly and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling freely. What the hell was it about Garrett that turned me into a pile of hormonal mush?
He kissed me tenderly. Not a sexual action, but one filled with love and devotion. And there wasn’t a girl on this planet that could resist the feel of his lips promising the world.
I opened my mouth to admit my own feelings. To bare my soul to the one person who should see it but Garrett pressed his thumb against my lips silencing me.
“You don’t need to say anything. Not right now. Right now, I need to be with you…here. Please,” he pleaded as if I could deny him anything right now.
I kept quiet and nodded my assent. Garrett leaned in kissed me again and then released me. Quietly, he went about building a fire in the dusty fireplace from wood that had been left from an earlier time. Once the fire was raging, he unrolled the thick blanket he had brought from his van and laid it out on the floor.
Sinking to his knees on the ground, he pulled me down beside him. I fell to my own knees and faced him in the flickering light of the fire. For the first time tonight I wasn’t freezing my ass off. I was warm and completely at peace.
Slowly, Garrett pushed my jacket off my shoulders. I wiggled out of the sleeves and tossed the coat onto the couch behind us. I cringed at my overzealousness. But I was totally ready to get naked and sweaty with him. And here he was trying to be all sweet and romantic.
Garrett laughed. “My girl is a little over excited,” he teased and I flushed at his endearment. He called me his girl. Typically I balked at possessive titles. I was a modern woman after all. But somehow, being Garrett’s anything felt like the most wonderful thing in the world.
My trembling hands began to unbutton his shirt. I tried to slow myself. You know, take my time. But I found that I was practically tearing the buttons off in my haste to get him out of his clothing. Garrett couldn’t stop laughing as I pulled his belt off in one rambunctious tug.
“You really can’t let me take control of anything, can you?” he asked and I wondered if that bothered him. Garrett grabbed my face and kissed me soundly. “And I love you for it. I wouldn’t have you any other way,” he responded firmly, grabbing the hem of overly girly blue blouse and pulled it up over my head.
We were still on our knees facing each other. Garret only in his jeans, me in my bra and skirt. And suddenly my haste to get naked faded and I just wanted to spend an eternity staring at this man who had somehow, someway become the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.