“I’m not playing another game,” Kristen said, mostly because she didn’t feel like losing again.
“No games,” Garrett said, placing his hands on her thighs.
“Then, what’s the plan?” Kristen asked as she ran her eyes over him, absently noting the way that he watched her before she ran her eyes over his chest and arms, taking in every perfectly sculptured muscle and found herself debating grabbing one of the pillows and beating the shit out of him with it.
“You don’t trust me,” he pointed out, absently caressing her skin with his thumbs.
“No, I don’t,” Kristen said, because no matter how tempted she was to pretend that the last six years never happened, she just...
She couldn’t do it.
“We’re going to fix that,” Garrett said softly as he reached up and traced her jawline with his fingertips.
“And how exactly are we going to do that?”
“That’s up to you,” Garrett said, locking his gaze with hers. “Whatever you need to do in order to trust me.”
“So, I can ask you anything and you’ll tell me the truth?” Kristen asked, watching him curiously.
“Anything,” he said with absolutely no hesitation.
“And if I decide that I need to tie you to the bed in order to do that?” Kristen asked, already climbing off him to do just that.
“If that’s what you need to do in order to trust me,” Garrett said as she climbed off the bed and made her way to his closet.
“I see,” Kristen murmured absently as she took her time selecting the perfect neck ties for the job. “When exactly did you realize that you were in love with me?”
“When I willingly walked that plank for you when we were ten,” Garrett said, making her lips twitch as she selected two navy blue ties.
“I thought you were going to say the first time that you saw me in that play tube,” Kristen said, closing the closet door behind her as she made her way back to the bed.
“That’s when I decided to keep you,” Garrett said as his gaze flickered to the ties in her hand.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” she asked with a pointed look at the headboard as she climbed back onto the bed. Never taking his eyes off her, he reached back and grabbed hold of the top metal bar while she climbed back onto his lap.
“It’s complicated,” Garrett said as she leaned over him, the move causing her breasts to brush against his chest, tearing a small groan from him that had her lips twitching.
“That’s not exactly trust-inducing,” she pointed out with a heartfelt sigh as she wrapped the first tie around his left wrist before attaching it to the bar.
“Consider it my one skip,” he said, making her lips twitch.
“Fair enough,” Kristen murmured absently as she secured his wrist to the frame, making sure that it wasn’t cutting off circulation. “And when you miraculously realized that you were still in love with me?”
“I never stopped loving you, Kristen,” Garrett said softly as she reached for the other tie.
“And it really showed over the last six years when you made my life a living hell,” Kristen drawled, making quick work of securing his arm to the bed frame.
“I’m an asshole.”
“I figured that out for myself, what with you telling me that a few weeks ago and everything,” Kristen said, double-checking the knots. “What I want to know is how you went from wanting a second chance to suddenly professing your undying love for me.”
“Because I’m done pretending that I can live without you,” Garrett said as she climbed off his lap.
“Yet, you did it for six years,” Kristen pointed out, grabbing her clothes off his bureau.
“I don’t know what else to say,” Garrett said as she made her way to the door.
“You’ve said enough,” Kristen said, never taking her eyes off him. “Blanket, Komm.”
