Fingers tangling in my hair at the nape of my neck, Garrett brushes a kiss across my lips. “That I would feel even better inside you.”
“Mmm. I think you’re forgetting the obvious.” I rock into him, grinding down. His cock twitches and he moans, and I smile because I know. The only thing that made it back on my body earlier was his T-shirt. I’m soaked, again, and now his boxer briefs are too. “I haven’t had a cock inside me that wasn’t made of rubber for years. It’s like I’m brand-new down there.” My mouth slides along his collarbone, up his neck, hovering at the shell of his ear. “Tight. Warm. You’ve never felt anything like me, and it’s the only place you want to be. I don’t even know what it’s like to be with a real man, and you’re dying to show me.” Reaching down, I collect the moisture between my legs, showing Garrett my glistening fingertips before I slowly suck myself clean. “So if anyone’s thinking about how good it would feel to have you inside me…it’s you, big guy.”
Garrett flips me onto my back, wrists in his tight grasp on either side of my head. “Trust me, sunshine. I haven’t forgotten.” He nips my jaw. “I can’t wait for you to let me in one day.”
“You think I’m just gonna let you into my Disneyland?”
“You’re not just gonna let me in; you’re gonna invite me in.” He drags his thumb along my lower lip. “Might even lock the gate and keep me from leaving.” Bending his neck, he trails the tip of his nose along my jaw. “I’d treat you so much better than your ex did too.”
My blood runs cold at his harmless words, except they aren’t harmless to me. Garrett’s heated gaze turns to one of confusion and then concern as he watches me shut down. He shakes his head, but it’s too late; I’m already shoving him off me.
“Jennie. I didn’t know…I don’t…Fuck, I’m so shit at talking sometimes.” He runs an aggravated hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. Forget I said anything, okay?”
But I don’t know if I can. Today has been one reminder after another that there are people who never wanted to be in my life for the right reasons, and the first person to own one of those special titles was the very ex Garrett is referring to. Kevin greedily took whatever I was willing to give and left me with nothing. Why I prefer being self-sufficient begins with him and continues with people like Krissy and Nate.
And the reminder is suffocating.
But as I scurry into the bathroom, closing myself in, I tell myself Garrett isn’t Kevin. He’s not Krissy, or Nate. He has no reason to want me for anything other than me. Garrett is kind and genuine, and he’s not them.
Leaning against the door, I lay my palm over my pounding heart. As I focus on breathing, it slows to a gentle trot, leaving me with the silence that stretches beyond the door. Have I scared him away? Did he leave before things could get more awkward?
I don’t know why my heart starts galloping again when I find him tucked beneath the blankets, scrolling through Netflix.
He pats the spot beside him. When I slide in, he pulls me into his side, winds an arm around me, and trails his fingertips over my back. It’s when he brushes a kiss to my hair and tells me he likes lying with me that I open my mouth and blurt out the only bad part of my day that I left out earlier.
“Somebody at school asked me out today.”
“Goddammit.” He groans. “I thought I had more time.”
I giggle softly. “I’m not going.”
“What? Why not? Not cute?”
“He was very cute. He just…” I watch my finger trace a random pattern into the bed sheets. “He didn’t want me. He wanted Carter.”
And something else, maybe. My mind flashes back to those words, the ones he spoke after mentioning Carter. My friends are big fans of your work. I close my eyes to the feeling, swallow down the fear, and tell myself the parts I want to keep safe are safe. I just hope it’s not a lie.
“His mistake. He’s missing out on the chance to know an incredible woman.” Garrett forces my gaze to his. “Don’t make this your problem, Jennie. It’s a reflection of him, not you.”
But what if I never get the chance to show someone who I am beyond my last name? What if nobody bothers to look? That’s…that’s what hurts the most.
Instead, I lay my cheek on Garrett’s warm chest and nod.
We choose Brooklyn 99, laughing quietly together as he tickles my back, any lingering tension melting away.
“Hey, uh, listen.” His fingertip dips around my shoulder blade, then loops down my spine, and I’m pretty sure he’s writing his name. He clears his throat. “I can’t come to your recital next week.”
“Oh.” Without thinking, I start rolling toward the edge of the bed, putting distance between us. Garrett pulls me right back.
“Hey, stop it. You’re not going anywhere.” He drops his lips to the spot below my ear. “I’m flying home on the twenty-third for Christmas, but I checked out the program online, and there’s gonna be a livestream.”
“You’re gonna watch still?”
“Fuck yeah. I don’t wanna miss you kick ass up there.”
My face warms, nose wrinkling. I grin at him. “I’m gonna be the best.”
“I know you are.” His fingers land on my ribs, tickling, and I all but shove a knee into his crotch as I roll around like a feral animal trying to escape. He shoves me to my back and climbs aboard. “Your grand finale should be you nailing Simon Syphilis in the balls. Your standing ovation would never end. You’d hear me all the way from Nova Scotia. Woohoo,” he whisper-cheers. “Fuck yeah, Jennie!”
I giggle, struggling against him.
He trails the tip of his nose across mine and touches a kiss to my lips. “Gonna kinda suck not seeing you for a few days.”
There’s that damn gallop again, no rhyme or reason. “I’m irresistible. One can’t help but miss me when I’m not around.”
Garrett turns me back over so he can go back to trailing his fingertips over my back, and my eyelids flutter closed.
“It’s true,” he says as the motion of his hand on my back lulls me to sleep. “You are very missable.”
When I wake in the morning, it’s to a package of Banana Crème Pie Pop-Tarts on my pillow and three text messages from Garrett.
Bear: U snore like a trucker. Had to get the fuck outta there before I smothered you with a pillow.
Bear: Just kidding. U looked cute as fuck. Didn’t wanna wake u.
Bear: *kiss emoji* Have a good day at school, sunshine.
I can’t remember the last time my smile felt this genuine.
CHAPTER 17
ARE GIRLS REALLY THAT GRUMPY ON THEIR PERIODS?
GARRETT
Jennie’s annoying me.
It’s been three days since I’ve seen her, and she’s thwarting all my attempts. She ignored every FaceTime request, didn’t come to our home game yesterday with the girls, but sent me multiple lewd messages while she was in her classes. I’m super confused. I hate being confused.
Plus, I leave tomorrow for three nights on the road, then fly home to the east coast for the holidays. I wouldn’t mind seeing her first.
I shoot off a quick text and knock on Adam’s door.
Me: U done being a brat?
Sunshine: Literally never.
Me: Let’s bang tonight.
Me: Oops, autocorrect got me again. **hang
Sunshine: No thanks.
The door opens, and Bear leaps up on my chest, tongue in my mouth the second I open it.
“Sorry ’bout him.” Oddly enough, Adam doesn’t sound the least bit apologetic. “You know he likes his kisses.”
“I prefer a woman’s tongue, Bear, but yours will do.” I carry him into the house, setting him down when my face is good and wet. Adam looks tired, so I bet I already know the answer to the question I’m about to ask. “How was your date last night? What was she, number six?”