Wait. What had she just thought? She could trust him. If she could trust him with something so trivial as a secret, without a doubt in her mind, why couldn’t she trust him enough to try to be his girlfriend? To try to be in a relationship? Yeah, Pete had fucked her up. No, her life had fucked her up. But there had been one thing constant through all of the heartache, betrayals, and tears.
Garrett.
Always Garrett.
Didn’t she owe it to him to be the same? To try to be what he wanted her to be?
Her hands must have stilled. He looked at her over his shoulder, his brow furrowed, and started to turn back around. “You okay?”
“Stay there.” She resumed rubbing, and clucked her tongue. “Yeah. I’m fine. Sorry. Just got lost in thought.”
“Care to share?”
“Yeah, maybe someday.” Without thinking, she asked, “Why did you want to move in with me, really?”
Oh, God. Did she really just ask him that? Talk about opening a can of worms. She knew—because he was a great guy. A guy who deserved someone that was much better than her. A guy who deserved love.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Because I-I—”
The doorbell rang and Kiersten hopped to her feet to open it. Saved by the bell. Her neighbor, Ellie, stood outside with a package. “The mailman delivered your stuff to my house again. Sometimes I wonder about that guy, even if he is ridiculously hot.”
“Oh, thanks,” Kiersten mumbled, hugging the package close to her chest. She stayed mum on the topic of the hot mailman.
“What was with the moving truck?” Ellie asked. “You’re not leaving, are you?”
“She’s not. That would be my truck,” Garrett said from behind Kiersten. Holding his hand out, he smiled and said, “I’m Garrett, Kiersten’s new…roommate.”
Ouch. That hurt. She had thought maybe…that maybe he would introduce himself differently. As more than her roommate.
“Oh.” Ellie blushed, her gaze dropping to Garrett’s bare chest before she shook his hand. Kiersten’s heart dropped to her stomach as she watched the newly divorced Ellie size up Garrett. And Garrett, the jerk that he was, ate it all up. “Nice to meet you. Roommates, huh? How do you two know—?”
“Thanks for the package.” Kiersten slammed the door in the face of her friend, and glowered at Garrett. He, in turn, looked at her as if she’d sprouted two heads. “What? Stop looking at me like that.”
He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay, I’ll bite. What the hell was that all about?”
“You were flirting with her,” she accused
. “Right in front of me.”
“I was not. I told her my name and shook her hand,” Garrett argued. “How is that flirting?”
Then he cocked his head and studied her, and she knew instantly what a mistake she had just made. He’d think she was jealous. Which she wasn’t—why would she be jealous? Women had been swooning over Garrett for years and it had never bothered her before.
“You know what? You’re right. I don’t know what that was,” she said quickly, waving a hand in the air. She hoped he would take the hint and drop the subject. As she passed him, she fanned her cheeks. “Man, it’s hot in here, huh?”
“Oh, no you don’t.” He captured her elbow, his touch burning her skin. “Not so quick, there.” He grinned, his eyes alight at her obvious attempt to distract him. “You’re jealous, aren’t you? Admit it.”
“I…I’m not,” she managed. “It must just be the hormones. Does it say anything about that in your little book?”
“There can be mood swings, yes,” he said slowly, dropping his hold on her. Was that…disappointment in his voice? It made her want to tell him that hell yeah she was jealous. Because she was. It was stupid…but she was. “But is there something else bothering you? It seemed like you were upset.”
She backed away from him, needing the distance. Should she take a chance and tell him she was starting to think about wanting more from him? Tell him she wanted to maybe try? The mere thought of opening herself up like that was terrifying. “Y-Yes.”
“Okay.” He waited, and when she didn’t speak he motioned her onward with his hand. “…and it is?”
“I’m…” Nope. Not ready. “I’m tired,” she blurted out, skirting away from him. “I need to go to bed now.”
“So go to sleep. I’ll be fine on my own,” he said. “I don’t need a babysitter.”