His eyes screwed closed, like hearing them was almost too much to bear. “Fuck,” he grunted, pounding into me even harder.“Fuck. Say it again.”
“I love you.” I was close, so close. I could feel the pressure building inside me, threatening to explode.
“Again,” he hissed through clenched teeth.
A tear broke free and trickled into my hair at my temple. “I love you.”
Garrett braced himself on one forearm, his free hand coming up to my throat. His thumb put pressure on my chin, forcing my face to his. “I love you so much, baby.” Each word was punctuated by his hips slamming against mine.
“I love you too.”
His eyes hid nothing. I could see every single raw emotion staring down at me. “I need you, Gwen. Please don’t leave me.”
The moment was so staggering that all I could do was promise, “I won’t.” Then that pressure built to a crescendo and I was spiraling down, down, down. I screamed his name until my throat hurt as I came, wave after gigantic wave crashing over me.
He buried himself to the hilt, his muscles locked, and shouted out his own release. I’d barely caught my breath when his arms gave out and he began to drop. But before I could takehis full weight, he twisted, rolling to his back, taking me with him without breaking our connection.
His cock twitched against my sensitive walls, causing me to shiver. He held me close as he shifted our bodies and pulled the covers over us. We remained silent for what felt like forever, until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“You broke a lamp,” I whispered, nuzzling my cheek against his warm chest.
“I did. And I’ll destroy this whole fuckin’ room if you pull that shit again.”
My eyes were open, but I didn’t see anything around me as I stared into space. “I just had to get out of there,” I admitted, still speaking softly. “It was all too much. Then I saw you with that woman….”
The vision of her in my mind was a blow to the gut.
His voice was as hushed as mine as he asked, “What woman?”
“You know.”
His softened dick slid out, making me gasp as he rolled me to my back and hovered over me. “I don’t, Gwen. What woman?”
I swallowed down the lump in my throat and willed myself to answer. “The redhead.” Recognition flared in that jade green. “You looked… well, you looked really happy to see her, like she was important to you.”
“Shit,” he muttered, glancing off to the side for a second. “Baby, that was Tate.”
My head jerked back against the pillows in confusion. “Who?”
“Tate. Tatum. Christ, Gwen. She’s Declan’s ex. If it looked like she was important to me, it’s because she is.” I tensed, and he must have felt it because he quickly explained, “We all grew up together. She was like a sister to me. She and Deck werepractically attached at the hip since we were teenagers. He’s still in love with her, probably always will be. But when he fucked up, he wasn’t the only one who lost her—we all did. I hadn’t seen her in almost ten years before tonight. What you saw was me catching up with an old friend. That’s it.”
That ache in my heart I felt at the sight of them finally began to subside. “He’s still in love with her?” I breathed.
“Yeah,” he whispered back. “Always will be. And she’s still in love with him, whether she’s willing to admit it or not.”
“What….” I licked my lips, unsure if it was my place to ask, but too curious not to. “What happened?”
He smiled down at me, full-on with dimples and everything. “That’s a story for another time when your head’s screwed on straight. Right now, all I care about is knowing you aren’t gonna run again.”
The sigh that whooshed from my chest was weary and exhausted. “I didn’t fit in tonight,” I said. “I didn’t like where we were or who we were with. I don’t belong in that world, Garrett.”
“You belong with me,” he growled, his nose almost touching mine. “Fuck everyone else. Fuck the parties and all that bullshit. You fitme. That’s all that matters. You get me?”
I didn’t, at least not completely, but I gave him what he needed. “Yeah.” I nodded. “I get you.”
His tone gentled. “You love me?”
“I do. You love me?”
