by Y. A. Love
I slink down in my seat and grumble, “Look, can we just work on the math?”
His voice goes husky, “We can do whatever you want, Brandy.”
Ugh! Suddenly, I’m aware we’re in the house alone. Completely. Our parents went away for the weekend—though they seemed rather hostile with each other (which has suddenly become their “normal” towards each other—which is weird, since they used to be sickeningly affectionate with each other … until Garrett moved in.) He’s kind of a total wad to them … but I guess he has good reason. In his mind, anyway. His mom is really fragile. He’s protective of her.
My entire body is on fire, due to his sexy eyes glued on me, waiting for my answer, though he has to know what it will be. I stare down at my book, and inform him as chill as possible, “I just want to work on math.”
“I don’t think you do,” he says.
“Well, then you’re wrong.”
He draws out a loud, dramatic (teasing) breath, “Okay.”
Then he patiently goes back to helping me with my math.
CHAPTER 5
I can’t believe how sweet and patient Garrett is being!! I hate to admit it (and I won’t out loud), but he’s even a better math tutor than Phoenix. And Phoenix is awesome. And, yeah, he’s patient and sweet too. But the thing is, he’s always like that, and Garrett … isn’t. Ever.
So, it’s kind of astonishing. To say the least.
“You’re being really nice to me,” I inform him as he leans over my book trying to figure out where I made an error in one of my equations.
His eyes flicker up to me. “Well, you were nice to me with the poems.”
“Yeah … but I’m a nice person.”
He grins and goes to say something, but then breathes out a laugh, “Ouch.”
When I don’t apologize, only smirk and duck my gaze back down to my mess of a worksheet, he asks softly, “Why do you waste all that on your boyfriend?”
I furrow my brow, “Waste what?”
“You,” he says.
Fireworks shoot through my body.
I stammer out, “Once again, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
He smiles sardonically. “I know, Brandy.” His eyebrows go up, “—it’s sad.”
I tilt my head, totally confused. “Sad that I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
His answer is a slow, sexy nod.
My lips part, but I don’t know what to say. Actually, I don’t even think I can talk, the way his gaze is glued on me like that.
His eyes glimmer. “Brandy, I hate to break it to you, but you’re hot.”
Heat rips through my body.
I swallow.
My brain has left my body. Floated away. I swallow again, then stammer out inanely, “I—I am?”
His eyes lingering hungry-like on me, he nods.
He says softly, “It’s sad you don’t know that, Brandy.”
“Well, Phoenix …”
He raises his eyebrows. “Phoenix—what?”
I don’t know. I really don’t know what to say. I mean, this is all leaving me dizzy and wondering—really?? I mean, a lot of guys flirt with me. A lot. But I ignore them. Because I have a boyfriend. But actually, Phoenix doesn’t exactly make me feel ‘hot.’
Garrett gives me a knowing look when I don’t say anything. “The guy doesn’t make you feel hot, right? That’s because the guy can’t, Brandy.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re saying he can’t love me?”
He says softly, “No. I’m sure the guy loves you. He’s just gay, so not the same thing.”
I tilt my head, “—as what you feel?”
He grins. “No, nu-uh, it’s not the same thing that I feel. Look, it’s the difference between your grandma, and Zak Efron. You’re enraptured with them both, right? But do you want to attack your grandma?”
I go up in flames. How does he know I’m enraptured with Zak Efron???
I squeeze my eyes shut, then growl, “Whatever. He’s not gay. You’re mean and delusional to keep saying that. Not all guys are lusting, horny pigs.”
He quirks an eyebrow. “Yeah they are.”
CHAPTER 6
As his gentle helping me with my math goes on and on, getting later and later, I’m starting to actually get an embarrassing crush on Garrett. Sort of. A little one. I mean, he’s being soooo incredibly patient, and talking all soft and gentle. And his eyes aren’t being teasing and mischievous anymore. They’re being soft and gentle too.
So, yeah. Crush City. Which is bad … since I have a boyfriend. (An awesome one, by the way.) Phoenix is pretty dang perfect. So, yeah. This is bad.
As my heart pounds all longing-like, Garrett helps me diligently, glancing up at me every so often to make sure I understand.
But THEN he gets a text from a girl. (I can tell it’s a girl by the way his eyebrows rise and his lips curl up as he reads the message. Obviously something dirty has been suggested to him.)
His eyes flick from the text, to me. “You have a handle on this now, right?”
He’s referring to my equations—not my heart. So, I reluctantly nod, murmuring, “Yeah.”
Then I add, trying to not sound so solemn, “Thanks for helping me.”
“Sure, what are brothers for?”
He winks at me, since he doesn’t really act like a brother towards me. Not in any way. Well, except he teases me. And he helped me with my math … but he’d talked about sex stuff the whole time he did it. So, yeah. Not brotherly.
… well, until the end.
Toward the end, after he had stopped teasing me and trying to make me blush—he’d been incredibly awesome and sweet and kind.
He’d made my insides all warm and fill with a hundred-thousand butterflies.
Only now he’s running off to a girl. (Sigh.)
So, you know, I’m an idiot for feeling so mushy towards him.
Plus, I have a boyfriend.
Duh.
CHAPTER 7
Before first period, April squeals all excited-like when I tell her how nice Garrett had been last night.
“Wow,” she practically drools. “Gorgeous and nice.”
“—and smart,” I add.
She grins, “It sounds like you’re starting to not hate the dude.” She chuckles mischievously, “Actually, it sounds like Phoenix finally has some competition.”
She’s only teasing. Of course. She’s heard me whine enough about Garrett’s man-whoring ways. Also, she knows me. I’m totally dedicated to Phoenix.
“Anyway,” I groan, changing the subject, “I’m not going to be needing a ride home after school today—you know, since I have to take that math test.”
“Oh yeah,” she says sympathetically. “Good look with that.”
“Well, I’m actually not too worried about it now—Garrett was an awesome tutor. Now I’m more worried about taking that dang late-bus home.”
“Yeah. Good luck with that,” she says.
(Our late-bus is creepy.)
“I’d wait for you and give you a ride, but I have piano students coming,” she says.
I nod, groaning inside. “I know. Don’t worry about it.”
“Maybe call your mom?”
“Can’t. She’s out of town with The Toad.” (That’s what I call Garrett’s dad.) (Garrett used to be “The Wad.”) (But, um … I don’t call him that anymore.) (Now he’s “The Giver.”) (Ha!) (I don’t call him that either … except in jest to April—and Garrett.) (In my brain he’s “The Devil.”) (He makes me want to sin.) (Nah, I’m just kidding.) (Mostly.)
Actually, he’s “Dream-Guy.” You know, only suitable for dreams. You can’t actually date dream guys. I mean, unless you want your heart broken. Which I don’t. I’ll stick with Phoenix, thanks. He’s pretty dreamy, but careful with my heart.
In case you can’t tell, I’m pretty fond of Phoenix. Even if it doesn’t seem like it after last night’s lusting.
Groan!
CHAPTER 8
After
school, my head is still swimming from equations as I slowly exit my math class. The first thing I notice is Garrett down the hallway talking with his friends.
Of course that’s the first thing I notice. Groan. I’m a bad girlfriend, apparently. What’s happening to me??? Before Garrett moved in with us I never, ever thought about other guys. Ever. But lately I’ve thought about Garrett a lot. Wayyy too much.
I slink down the hall in the opposite direction, so not looking forward to my bus ride home.
Only, shockingly, Garrett leaves his friends, and chases after me.
“I thought you might need a ride home,” he says, like that’s what he’d been doing here in the hallway—waiting for me.
Happiness skitters through my insides.
“I do need a ride,” I breathe out. “ … thanks.”
He nods.
As we walk out the door, he opens an umbrella for me, and holds it over my head. (An umbrella!!)
“What?” he asks with a grin, when I stare up at him like the heavens have opened and I see angels. (But hey, I basically do.) His grin grows, “It’s raining.”
He says it like that explains it—his sudden bizarre beyond niceness.
I stare up at him, my heart beating way too fast
When we get to his car, he opens the door for me.
I gape at him. “You’re being really nice,” I inform him, “—abnormally nice.”
He grins sheepishly. “Is it weird? Do you want me to stop?”
“No! I mean, yeah, it’s weird. But no, I don’t want you to stop. It’s nice … I just don’t understand.”
He grins again, getting into the car, “You mean the umbrella?—was that going too far? It’s just that you always talk about your boyfriend being ‘gentlemanly.’ And an umbrella seemed like a gentlemanly thing. I mean, it’s raining.”
“Oh-kay … but why were you trying to be like Phoenix?—and by the way, he doesn’t have an umbrella.”
“Oh…. No?” He grins. “I thought he would.”
I tilt my head. “What’s going on?”
A faint grin still hovering on his lips, he starts the car without answering. After a while of driving in silence he peeks at me. “Thanks for the cookies in my locker.”
“Well, I owed you—remember?”
He gives me a tiny look. “Yeah. I guess. But it was still a nice surprise—it made me smile.”
My stomach swoops.
I might actually die from this. Die of happiness.
He liked my cookies? I made him smile???
Did I faint back when he opened that umbrella for me? Am I lying in the middle of the school parking lot having a delusional episode? I made him smile??? Me? The girl that used to make him roll his eyes and glare like he wanted to burn down my house?
“I truly don’t understand,” I tell him.
“Relax, Brandy. I’m just being nice.”
“I know, but it’s weird.”
A grin quirks on his lips, but he doesn’t say anything.
When we get to our house he pulls into the driveway and pushes the button to open the garage door. But he doesn’t actually drive in. He just seems to be waiting for me to get out.
His brow rises as I sit staring at him, not moving. He slowly tilts his head. “You want me to open the car door for you again?” he asks.
I breathe out a puff of air in confusion. “No, but … you’re not coming in?”
He shakes his head. “I have to get back to hockey practice.”
I cock my head. “At the school?—that we just left?”
“Yeah,” he rubs the back of his neck, grinning slightly at my confusion. “Look, you told me your boyfriend is out of town. I’m just filling in for the guy a little—until he gets back.”
I blink at him. “What?! Why?”
He shrugs. “I want to.”
“Garrett, I have a—”
“—boyfriend,” he cuts me off. “Yeah, I know that. You don’t think I know that? Believe me, Brandy, I do. I swear, you don’t have to keep reminding me.”
“It’s just you’re acting …” I don’t even know what to say.
He waits for me to get the words out. When I don’t, he says softly, “Look, I liked getting the cookies from you—and your little note.”
Warm tingles wash through me.
My throat goes tight with emotion. “Garrett …”
He leans the back of his head against the seat and winces slightly. “You have a boyfriend—I know.”
CHAPTER 9
It’s getting really late and Garrett still hasn’t come home. I’m getting worried that he’s not going to. That he’s going to stay all night at a friend’s. Probably a girl’s.
I sooo don’t want that. Just thinking about it makes my stomach twist with agonizing knots. I want him to come home so we can talk. But I get the sinking feeling that will never happen. He’ll go back to avoiding me again.
The thought sends a gloomy sadness crashing through me.
The pathetic thing is, I liked Garrett being nice to me. Liked it wayyy too much.
Now I just long for his presence. Like a sad little puppy waiting for his master.
Garrett come home. It’s like a silent continual wish running through my tortured brain.
While I’m sketching a picture of Garrett (yes, I know I’m being demented), I get a bizarre text from a blocked number.
Reading the message, a chill crawls through me. “Are you in the house alone?”
The words send shivers down my spine.
My heart pounding wild, I stare at the message, unable to breathe.
Breathe, Brandy. It’s just a joke, I try telling myself. But the thing is, I don’t have friends like that. Friends that would write me creepy messages.
Sucking in my breath, I shakily text back, “Who is this?”
“Answer my question and I’ll answer yours.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, then put down my phone, telling myself I’m not going to play their game. I’m not going to be scared.
Well, that’s what I try telling myself.
I try to go back to my sketching of Garrett, but my hands are shaking too bad. Now my wish for him to come home is more like a desperate prayer. Come HOME Garrett.
I get another text. My heart stops. It’s the same message: “Are you in the house alone?”
Too frightened to move, I do it anyway. I run out my bedroom door, planning to run to my neighbor’s house and bang on their door. But I barely make it out of my bedroom before a hand wraps around my waist and I’m whisked back into my room.
Before I know what’s happening, a blindfold is pulled over my eyes, then my hands are tied loosely at my wrists.
A husky voice whispers in my ear, “I’m not going to hurt you, Brandy.”
The voice is almost reassuring—almost. Only MY HANDS ARE BEING TIED!!!
And I’ve been blindfolded!!
So, yeah. I’m not reassured.
I’m so frightened I feel like I’m going to pass out.
A rough warm hand tenderly brushes my shivering arms, sooo gentle. The voice whispers, “I swear, Brandy, I’m not going to hurt you.”
“W-what d-do you want?” I frantically stammer out.
“This—” Suddenly, a hot mouth crashes on mine.
At first I fight it, try with all my heart to pull away. But as the kissing goes on, I start to relax a little, since the voice keeps telling me to.
In between the seductive kissing, “Relax Brandy,” keeps being murmured huskily in my ear, and the rough, gentle hands keep tenderly stroking my arms. Then they pull me closer and closer as he deepens the hot, hungry kiss, sending waves of tremors crashing through my trembling body, and making me so weak in the knees that he has to hold me up. But he tenderly does it—holds me—his hot, hungry mouth not leaving mine for a second. And I can’t help it. I can’t fight it. I totally believe him after a while of the fervent, masterful kissing. He’s not going to hurt me … or he would have already.
The hot, passion-filled kiss goes on and on, his tongue exploring my mouth like he’ll never get enough of it.
Slowly, hungrily he trails seductive kisses up the curve of my neck. “I’m going to move you to the bed,” he murmurs, his hot mouth not leaving my tantalized skin as he murmurs it.
When I stiffen he murmurs reassuringly—again, “I’m not going to hurt you, Brandy.”
He picks me up and carries me to my bed. I’m shaking, and trembling, but it’s not because I’m scared anymore. Only scared of my feelings … because I like this. I adore it. I’ve never been kissed like this before. It’s … magical. Seductive. Glorious.
His eager kisses go on and on, driving me wild, shocking me. With a groan, he reluctantly drags his mouth from mine. Breathless, he murmurs, “Brandy, I have to stop.”
Immediately missing the heat of his body, and the glorious feel of his tantalizing mouth, I moan, “Why?”
The question spills out of me before I can stop myself.
He laughs softly. “For one thing—you have a boyfriend.”
Oh yeah. While I’d been tied up I’d been able to push that thought away. After all, it wasn’t my fault I was being kissed. I was literally forced to do it.
And, okay, I’d been under a hypnotized spell. Totally enraptured.
I wasn’t thinking of … anything. Only, Oh yeah baby, keep going, give me some more of that tongue.
Reality comes crashing back on me, making me feel guilty, guilty, guilty.
He seems to realize this. He says sardonically, “I guess my other reason doesn’t matter now, huh?”
I shake my head, going to cry. I cheated on Phoenix!!!
“K. I’m gonna go.” Gently he unties my hands.
But he doesn’t untie the blindfold.
By the time I finally get it off, he’s gone.
And he took my sketch of him with him.
CHAPTER 10
Monday morning I hunt down Garrett. “You moved out of the house?!”
He did it while I was asleep, the night he had blindfolded me and kissed me wild.
