“If you didn’t love me, what would be the point? What would I be fighting for?” Garrett said. “I don’t show my feelings because I really don’t have the... well, intensity that other people have. But I love you. I have always loved you. You make me feel things I don’t feel with anyone else.”
“We go slow. I’ll visit you in February like we talked about, then I graduate in May. If nothing has changed, if we still feel the same, then we can talk about the future.”
Garrett grinned. It felt dopey on his face, the genuine joy that wanted to burst out of him. He liked to have a plan, a schedule, something to look forward to. “Okay.” He kissed her. It was old and new, familiar lips he hadn’t touched with his in four years. “I want to make love to you,” he whispered in her ear, then nibbled on it.
“Me, too,” she said with a breathy sigh. “But my parents are downstairs. Anticipation is half the fun, right? When I come out in February, it’ll be like the first time.”
He hugged her. Garrett wasn’t into spontaneous bursts of affection, but with Becca, it felt right.
Garrett was packed and ready to leave the next day. He didn’t have many things—he didn’t really care about stuff. He liked nice things; he liked living well and having a state-of-the-art gym to work out in, good food and drink, nice clothes. But he didn’t need any of it, and wouldn’t miss it when it was gone.
Audrey came over. He had been dreading this, because he liked Audrey and the last two months had been a lot of fun. More fun than he’d had in a long time. Maybe ever. Audrey was fire and heat and together they were combustible. The sex was honestly the best he’d ever had. He would never tell Becca that, but that was okay. Because with Becca it was more than sex.
Garrett explained that he wanted to check out Scottsdale alone, see if he even liked the job. Then maybe she could come out and visit in a few months.
It wouldn’t happen. While he didn’t come out and tell her he was breaking it off, she had to have known.
“I understand, baby,” she said. “I have some projects to wrap up, anyway. Call me when you get settled?”
“I will,” he said, knowing he wouldn’t.
She walked over to him as she pulled her dress over her head. She was completely naked underneath and he immediately became horny. Audrey did that to him. Every single time.
“To hold you over until I can make it out to Arizona.” She put her perfectly manicured hands on his chest and pushed him down to his bed.
She didn’t have to know this was the last time, he thought.
He rolled her over so he was on top. “How much time do you have?” he asked with a low growl and a smile.
“I have until dawn. And I don’t need much sleep.”
“I have to be at the airport at seven in the morning.”
“Want a ride?” she asked suggestively and bucked her hips.
“You drive me wild,” he said, and meant it.
He barely got his cock out of his jeans before he plunged into her.
By dawn, they were both exhausted and completely satiated.
By the time he landed at Sky Harbor Airport in Arizona, he was only thinking about Becca.
A week later, he learned that Becca had gone missing while driving back to college after Christmas break. He was shattered, as if he had been made of glass and someone dropped him.
Two months later, Audrey came back into his life. He was still broken, feeling a pain deep inside unlike anything that he had felt before. Audrey fixed him. She gave him what he needed—sex, fun, games. He told her he loved her. And he did, in his way.
But no one could replace Becca.
39
Present Day
Kara told Matt he needed to get an X-ray to confirm that his ribs weren’t broken and he wasn’t bleeding internally. Matt didn’t want her to talk to Garrett Reid without him, but Michael assured them both that Kara wasn’t leaving his sight. So Matt let Billy the paramedic take him to the hospital; Ryder joined him.
Kara got into a sedan with Catherine and Michael. Detective Fuentes and a deputy followed them. Catherine said, “Kara, I’m staying in the car.”
“Why?”
