“How about this? If I’m wrong, I’ll forfeit the game and we’ll amend the agreement to your terms,” Garrett said, watching as she thought that over.
“And if you’re right?” she asked after a slight hesitation.
“We play a different game,” Garrett drawled softly.
“I’m listening,” Kristen said, gesturing with a french fry for him to get on with it.
“In the original ending, Emily ends up with Tristan, but after I fucked up, you changed the ending,” Garrett said, watching her closely.
“Then, why didn’t I just kill Tristan off?” Kristen asked, meeting his gaze.
“Because you’re a hopeless romantic,” Garrett said, reaching over to cover her hand with his.
“Meaning?” Kristen asked, watching him curiously.
“That you wanted to give Tristan and Emily the ending that we never got,” he said, gently caressing the back of her hand with his thumb.
“And why would I do that?”
“Because you’re in love with me,” Garrett said, watching Kristen slowly nod as she pulled her hand away and-
“Looks like you just lost.”
He knew.
She just...
She needed to put some space between them so that she could think straight, which meant that she no longer had a choice in the matter. She was going to have to look into assassin training. But first, she was going to have to put her house upfor sale, figure out a way to lure Blanket back, and fake her own death so that he couldn’t find her.
She didn’t want to do it, but really, what choice did she have?
None as far as she could tell, Kristen thought, risking a glance at the large man that hadn’t said a word since she’d ended their game to find him staring straight ahead as he pulled into his driveway and-
“You’re a bad liar,” Garrett said, throwing his truck in park as she somehow managed to bite back a wince.
“I never took you for a sore loser,” Kristen said with a pitying look, and just to make sure that he was buying it, a heartfelt sigh as she reached for the door handle and-
“I still have the original copy,” Garrett said, taking her by surprise.
“What?” Kristen asked, feeling numb as she sat there, telling herself that he was lying.
He had to be.
“When I plucked the iPad out of your hand, the first thing I did was send the file to myself just in case you managed to steal it back before I had a chance to finish reading it,” Garrett explained while she sat there, struggling to remember how to breathe.
“You’re lying,” she whispered hollowly.
“After we got back from camping, I read your first book again, trying to figure out how I’d missed it only to realize something important,” Garrett began as he reached for the door handle.
“What’s that?” Kristen asked, forcing the words out of her mouth.
“You changed chapter three,” he said, making her swallow hard as he opened his door and climbed out, leaving her struggling not to panic while she watched him make his wayaround the front of the truck, their gazes locked as she tried to tell herself that this wasn’t happening.
Not now.
Not after all this time.
She-
