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Well, too bad for him. There’s no way I’m wasting the little spare time I have on a college hockey player who thinks he’s a rock star.
“Just out of curiosity,” she says, “after you wake up in the morning, do you admire yourself in the mirror for one hour or two?” “Two,” I reply cheerfully.
I wonder if she knows how easy it is to read her emotions. Annoyance, anger, embarrassment. Her eyes reveal everything and it fascinates me.
I’ve never met anyone who’s so repulsed by my popularity, and I have no idea what to make of it. I think I might like it.
I wonder if “sexy as fuck” is a requirement for living in this house.
“Play something else,” he orders. “Um. What do you want to hear?” “Anything. I don’t care.” I’m startled by the intensity in his voice, the emotion now glittering in his gray eyes. “I just need to hear you sing again.”
My entire life people have been telling me I’m talented, but other than my parents, nobody has ever pleaded with me to sing to them. “Please,” he says softly.
And honestly, as insufferable as he is at times, Garrett Graham isn’t as bad as I thought he was.
I didn’t expect it to happen, but I kinda like her. She keeps me on my toes, and last night when I heard her sing… Shi-it.
This time I sit beside her, but there’s still two feet of space between us. It’s messed up how much I’m enjoying this. Just hanging out with a girl without worrying about how I’m going to get rid of her or that she’s going to start making demands on me.
“I’m not other women.” No, she isn’t. Because other women don’t entertain me as much as she does. I suddenly wonder how I ever made it through life without Hannah Wells’s sarcastic barbs and annoyed grumbles.
The second our lips meet, the strangest thing happens. Pulsing waves of heat unfurl inside me, starting at my mouth and then rippling down my body,
It wasn’t long enough for me to properly judge. I’m gonna need more to go on.” His big hand cups my cheek. This should be my cue to leave. Instead, I lean in for another kiss.
In the span of ten days, Garrett went from being a stranger to a nuisance to a friend, but that’s as far as I’m willing to take it. I don’t want to date him, no matter how good a kisser he is.
That sweet, familiar cherry fragrance mingles with the faint hint of lavender and something uniquely feminine. It takes a serious amount of willpower not to press my nose into her neck and inhale her. Or taste her with my tongue. Lick and kiss the hot flesh of her throat until she moans.
Oh man. I’m in big trouble. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about that kiss. Every time the memory floats into my head, my pulse races and my balls tighten, and all I want to do is kiss the crap out of her again.
This might be the only chance I get. So I plant a soft kiss on the side of her throat before whispering, “You’re gonna be the center of attention tonight, babe. Smile and pretend you’re enjoying it.” I steal another kiss, this time on the corner of her jaw, and she sucks in a breath.
Why is “Sexy Back” blaring out of my phone? Well, because a very obnoxious hockey player programmed it in as his ringtone, and I’ve been too lazy to change it.
Before I can blink, Garrett tugs me into his arms and hugs the breath out of my lungs. I throw my arms around his neck, then burst out laughing when he lifts me right off my feet and spins me around so many times I get dizzy.
With a smile, he draws me in for another hug. “I couldn’t have done it without you, you know.” His voice has gone husky, and I feel his warm breath tickling my temple. He eases back, those magnetic gray eyes focusing on my face, and then his head dips slightly, and for one nerve-wracking second I think he might kiss me.
“Hey.” I lean in and smack a kiss on her cheek. I would have loved to target those luscious lips, but even though I consider this a date, I’m pretty sure Hannah doesn’t.
Hannah is either going to place her trust in my hands, or she’s going to lock it up tight, which would be the equivalent of a bone-jarring hip-check, because damn it, I want her to trust me.
Hannah throws her head back happily, her cheeks flushed and eyes shining as she sings, and she’s so beautiful it makes my chest hurt.
Those mesmerizing green eyes peer up at me, flickering with uncertainty. “You won’t let anything bad happen to me, will you, Garrett?” A lump the size of Massachusetts lodges in my throat. I swallow hard and try to speak past it. “Never.”
“What’s wrong?” I ask. “Nothing.” He clears his throat, then slides out of the booth and tugs me up with him. “Dance with me.”
Garrett doesn’t plaster his body to mine or try to grind up against me. Instead, we dance the way I’ve seen my parents do, with Garrett’s hand on my hip and his other one curled around my right hand. I rest my free hand on his shoulder, and he leans in closer and presses his cheek to mine.
“Hey, come on, don’t cry,” he begs. “It breaks my fucking heart to hear you cry.”
The pressure in my gut gathers in strength, tightening into a massive knot. I have no idea if I can do this. I’m terrified of doing something wrong. Hurting her.
She goes quiet for a long moment, and then the most brilliant smile fills her face and lights up the room. It’s the first time Hannah has smiled at me like that, a smile that truly reaches her eyes, and it makes my heart clench in the strangest way.
Her smile widens, and my chest cracks wide open. I know in that moment that I’m in trouble.
I’m not a fragile piece of china to him. I’m just…me. I love how excited he gets, the way he pulls my hair if my head isn’t exactly where he wants it to be, or how he bites my lip when I try to tease him by depriving him of my tongue.
I never expected her. Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don’t know how you ever lived without them.
I didn’t know the meaning of blind rage until this very moment. Because the mere thought of Hannah being forced to suffer through all that makes me want to murder everyone in that small town hellhole of hers.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want this girl. When I wasn’t fucking desperate for her.
“How did I go so long without noticing you, damn it? Why did it take seeing a stupid A on your midterm to make me notice?”
The heavy weight of his arm makes me feel safe and warm and treasured. So does the way he flattens his palm on my belly and absently strokes my naked flesh. His lips press into the nape of my neck, and I can honestly say I’ve never been more content in my life.
“You said you don’t do girlfriends,” I say weakly. “I said I don’t have time for a girlfriend,” he shoots back. “But guess what—priorities change.” I falter. “So you’re saying you want me to be your girlfriend?” “Yeah, maybe that’s what I’m saying.”
“I know you’re into me, Wellsy. And I’m definitely into you. Would it really be so bad if we made this thing official?”
My breath comes out in a white puff that quickly gets carried away by the wind. “I’m sorry I ran off,” I concede. “But I’m not sorry that I want to be with you.”
“Baby, I could watch you watching paint dry, and I still wouldn’t be bored.” Garrett Graham, my own personal sweet-talker.
My heart damn near explodes as those three sweet words hang between us. Other girls have said that to me before, but this time it’s different. Because it’s Hannah saying it, and she’s not just any girl.
She loves me. It’s difficult to speak past the enormous lump in my throat. “I love you, too.” It’s the first time I’ve told a woman I love her, and it feels so damn right.
“Don’t you get it? The thought of anyone hurting you rips me apart.” I blink rapidly, fighting the tears. “I didn’t realize it until tonight, but…I think I was broken, too.”
when I’m with him, I feel whole. I feel like I can drop my guard completely and not have to worry about getting hurt or taken advantage of or being afraid, because Garrett Graham will always be there to love and protect me.
I’m grinning like the town idiot. And now is not the time to be grinning like the town idiot, not when I’m buck naked in a room full of showering dudes and my girlfriend is glaring daggers at me. But I’m so happy to see her that I can’t control my facial muscles.
“You invoked a campus-wide hands-off law? Are you kidding me?” I’m not at all remorseful as I meet her eyes. “Of course I did.”
“Because you’re in love with me, and you don’t want to date anyone else. But see, I was afraid your stubborn self would try to do it just to back up your cover story, so I had to take some preventative measures.”
I wrap my arms around him and hold him tight against me, and it’s so familiar, so wonderfully perfect, that the love in my heart overflows and stings my eyes. “I love you, Garrett,” I choke out. His husky voice tickles my lips. “I love you, Hannah.”
Me? I’m gone for this girl. She’s it for me. And as she melts against my body and devours my mouth with single-minded purpose, as if her whole world is centered on this one, breathless kiss…I know I’m it for her.
