Play Me, page 7
part #3 of Take a Chance Series
When Brianna didn’t finish, Kiersten prompted, “Yeah?”
“Don’t break his heart.”
Kiersten flinched. Even Brianna knew that they were doomed. Kiersten was no good for Garrett. Look what happened the last time she opened her heart to a man. Her fiancé slept with his secretary. No, Chris—and now her baby—were the only ones she could focus on. “I won’t. We’re keeping it platonic. No feelings involved.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It will be.”
Kiersten could practically hear Brianna rolling her eyes. “If you say so. But he likes you. And you don’t like him the same way.”
“I care about him,” she said, shifting in her seat.
“Those are two completely different things.”
Brianna said something to Thomas, something that sounded a lot like bed and ten minutes, and she heard Thomas’s responding chuckle. A small ping of jealousy shot through Kiersten. She wished that she could have that.
“How do you do it?”
Brianna didn’t even ask her what she meant. “Believe it or not, there are happy romantic relationships in this world. I’ve had two.” She sighed. “Thomas doesn’t just keep me satisfied in life. He makes me smile when I’m sad. He makes me laugh when I want to scream. And he’s there for me no matter what. I mean, I broke his nose the night he proposed to me—and he still wanted to marry me. That’s love.”
“That’s love,” Kiersten echoed. She choked on a laugh. She knew that story all too well. “Sometimes, late at night, I think I kind of want that. But then morning comes, and I remember why I don’t.”
Brianna made a small sound. “Maybe you already have it, minus the broken nose.”
“I doubt that.” Kiersten pulled into her driveway and looked in her rearview mirror. Garrett parked on the street and hopped out. She didn’t have any love in her life from anyone besides her family. If so…wouldn’t she know it? “Okay, I have to go.”
She could practically hear Brianna’s nod. “Promise me you’ll think about your feelings without fear? At least consider the possibility you might grow to love him someday?”
“I promise,” Kiersten whispered. “Bye.”
She hung up without waiting for a reply, and reached for the knob. Garrett beat her to it, opening the door and holding his hand out for her. “Who were you talking to?”
“Brianna.”
He nodded. “She knows?”
“She does.”
“And?”
“She took it well.” Kiersten slid her hand into his and stood. His fingers swept over hers gently, and she wanted to continue to hold his hand. Didn’t want to let go. But she slid her hand free and shoved it in her pocket. She tipped her head toward the house. “Now we just have to tell him.”
“Right.” He dragged his hand through his hair. For a second, he didn’t look as confident as he’d been the past week. He looked…scared. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” She led the way, making sure she kept her hands in her pockets so they didn’t touch him. It was that hard. “Let me do the talking initially. Then you can join in.”
“Okay.”
They went inside. The sound of the PlayStation filled the living room. “I hear you playing in there. Are you done with your homework?”
“Yeah.” The TV paused, and Chris flopped back on the couch. “It’s all on the table waiting to be checked.”
Garrett stepped in front of her, making himself visible. “Even your math homework?”
“Uh, yeah.” Chris looked at Kiersten with his lips pursed. “You brought my teacher home to check on me? I got my grade up to a B. Why are we having a parent/teacher meeting here?”
Kiersten laughed, but it sounded fake even to her ears. “No. It’s not a meeting. But we do need to talk.”
Chris eyed them both. “O…kay.”
“It’s nothing about school,” Garrett added, sitting down on the couch. He looked entirely uncomfortable and ready to run. “Relax a little bit, bud.”
Chris nodded, but still looked nervous. He’d seen Garrett at family events, and he’d even come to a few of Chris’s birthday parties before he’d become his coach. But not lately. Every time Garrett had come over, it had been after Chris went to bed. Or when Chris was gone. “What’s up, then?”
Kiersten took a deep breath. “You know Coach Garrett and I went to school together, and remained friends afterward. Right?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “In high school, but that was ages ago.”
Garrett chuckled. “Easy there, bud. I’m not that old.”
“Why are we talking about this with Mr. Kelly?” He gave him a weird look. “Or should I call you Coach Garrett instead?”
“Call him Garrett.”
“Garrett?” Chris looked between them with wide eyes. “Why?”
Kiersten cleared her throat. “Well…”
Chris paled. “Please tell me you’re not dating. That would be gross. What would my friends say?”
“No,” Kiersten said.
“Yes,” Garrett said.
They both froze and looked at the other. Crap. They were screwing this whole thing up, and Chris’s face was turning red. “It’s complicated,” Kiersten finally said.
Chris leaned forward, his eyes on Kiersten. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This isn’t happening.”
Garrett white-knuckled his knees. “Nope. Not kidding. And there’s more.”
“More?” Chris turned on Garrett, his whole body tense. “So you’re not dating, but you are…and I’m supposed to call you Garrett now? And there’s still more?”
Kiersten flinched and answered for Garrett. He was way out of his league right now, and she knew it. “Right.”
Chris raised his brows. He looked like his mother when he did that. She rubbed her chest where the hollow ache always seemed to be when she thought of Sue. “Okay. What is it?”
When Kiersten froze up again, Garrett sighed. “Look, bud. You’re mom’s having a baby, and I’m moving in.”
Kiersten gasped. He couldn’t just blurt out something like that without warning. It was huge news. You had to work up to it. Make a few tries before you found the perfect way to say those words. Chris could get upset and—
Chris shrugged. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Kiersten rubbed her eyes. “That’s it? Okay?”
“What did you expect?” Chris lurched to his feet. “It’s not like you can take away what you did. You slept with my freaking coach, and now I’m going to be a big brother. Hey, my friends will laugh at me and accuse me of getting played in the game because of Garrett, but whatever. As long as you’re happy.”
Kiersten winced. Yeah. He wasn’t okay. “Don’t be mad. It wasn’t planned. It just kind of happened.”
“Really?” He clenched his fists, looking far too old for his years. “I took sex ed. I know how it happened, and it takes two to get jiggy. It’s not an accident, so don’t say it was.”
Garrett stood up, too. “Sometimes, adults do things they don’t think through all the way. Just like kids.”
“Yeah, well.” Chris spun on him, his arms akimbo. “I wish you two would have thought this one through. And what it meant to me.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” Kiersten said, grabbing Chris’s shoulders and pulling him close. She latched gazes with Garrett over Chris’s head. “But Garrett is going to move in now. We’ll be like a…like a family.”
“A family?” Chris pulled free. “You mean like we were supposed to be with Pete? That worked out really well.”
“Yeah.” Garrett paced in front of them, biting his thumbnail. “But minus the leaving part. Chris…I’ll be here for you and your mom. And for the baby, too. I promise. Anything you need, I’ll be here.”
“I need you to turn back the clock, keep your hands off of my mom, and stay out of my house,” Chris snarled. “Can you give me that?”
Kiersten’s eyes went wide. She’d never heard him so angry before. “Chris!”
“It’s okay. He’s mad.” Garrett held up his hand. “But I’m not going anywhere. And you’re going to have to accept that I care about both you and your mom.”
Chris seemed to deflate. He sank down on the couch and flopped back dramatically. “Are you two getting married?”
“No.” Kiersten sat beside him and rested her hand on his knee. “But we’ll still be a family, even without a piece of paper to make it official.”
Chris’s knee relaxed under her hand. “I guess it’s kind of cool, as long as my friends don’t make fun of me.” He gave a little shrug. “I’ve always wanted to be a big brother.”
Her heart clenched. He wanted to be a brother. She hadn’t even known that about him. And the way he always saw reason once he calmed down and thought about whatever had upset him in the first place never failed to impress her. In fact, he reminded her of Mike in that way. They shared the same temperament. A big, heavy weight lifted off of her shoulders. She could do this. “Well, now you will be.”
He hesitated. “Do you know what it is yet?”
“No. Not yet. That’s not until…” She broke off, realizing she had no clue when that was. She had a doctor’s appointment next week, but she doubted she would find out then. Did she even want to find out, or did she want to wait?
Garrett swooped in. “The fifth month. Twenty weeks. If we find out then.”
That was right around the corner. Holy crap.
“Cool.” Chris nodded, but was still avoiding Garrett’s gaze. “Can we stop talking about this now? I want to play my game again.”
“S-Sure.”
He un-paused his game and went back to ignoring them, even if he did grip the remote too tightly. She wanted to press him some more, make sure he was really okay, but she sensed he needed time. Time and space. He was a lot like her in that respect. Kiersten motioned for Garrett to follow her upstairs. Once they were alone, she leaned against her closed bedroom door and took a shaky breath.
Garrett grinned and leaned next to her. “That went well, huh?”
She laughed somewhat hysterically. “Yeah, I think so. But he’s still mad.”
Garrett nodded. “Yeah, but I think he’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head, because she really didn’t know. “This is all such a freaking mess.”
Garrett pulled her against his body and hugged her close. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.”
“Garrett…”
She placed her hands on his chest. She should push him away. Send him back to his apartment for the last night he’d live there. But instead, she curled her fists into his shirt and tugged him closer. He flexed his fingers in her hair, and his other hand fell to her waist. His lids dropped, and he stared at her mouth as if he were starving for her.
As much as she was starving for him.
She tilted her chin up, and he was on her, his mouth devouring hers. Their tongues intertwined, and she clung to him as if he was the only thing keeping her on Earth. As if she couldn’t stand without him. And she was starting to fear she couldn’t. Even though she kept trying to push him away, it seemed he kept getting closer and closer. He was like a knight hammering a door with a battering ram. The door would break eventually…and then what would happen?
She would be completely vulnerable.
His hands swept over her hips and he hauled her against his body, her belly brushing against his hard erection. She moaned into his mouth and cupped his butt. He grinded up against her and lifted her until her back was against the door. She wrapped her legs around him, and he groaned when he pressed against her heat. Reaching down, she yanked his shirt over his head, breaking contact with his lips for as long as it took to rip his shirt off of him. Then she was kissing him again, even hungrier for him than she’d been moments before.
“Fuck,” he growled, his fingers scraping down her thigh and creeping toward her core. When his fingers brushed her inner thigh, he stopped. His harsh breathing filled the silence of the room. “We can’t do this. Not like this.”
Her heart stumbled to a stop, and then sped up painfully. He was right. They couldn’t do this. What had she been thinking? That’s exactly the problem. She hadn’t been thinking. She’d been feeling. And feelings were…God, she had been over this enough times. They were stupid. That’s what. “Put me down,” she whispered, letting go of him.
He gently set her on her feet and then stepped back, running his hands down his face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
She swallowed hard. He’d actually meant it. He was done with her. He didn’t want her anymore. If he did, then he wouldn’t have stopped. They’d be having sex right now, and he’d be buried inside of her where he belonged.
Except he didn’t want to belong there anymore.
“It’s okay,” she managed to say through her clogged throat. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Of course not.” He shot her a hard look she couldn’t read, then grabbed his shirt and yanked it over his head. “It never is, is it?”
“Never.” She hugged herself and averted her eyes. Trying to insert a light tone into her hollow voice, she said, “You should go home now. It might be Friday night, but you should go to bed early. Big day tomorrow.”
He stood there for a minute, looking as if he wanted to say something to her. She held her breath, waiting for him to open his mouth and say something that would show her he didn’t want to be apart. Something to indicate he still wanted her, like Brianna said he did.
“Okay. See you tomorrow.”
She finally looked back at him, then wished she hadn’t. He looked so confused and lost. And sad. That one hurt the most. “Yep. I’ll be here. Working.”
“On a Saturday?”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “Deadlines. I’ve got three books due back to the authors by the end of next week.”
“Okay. I’ll try to be quiet.” He opened his mouth, closed it, and then nodded. “Bye.”
He turned on his heel and walked out of her room. And once again, she wanted to chase after him…and yet push him away at the same time.
Chapter Eight
The next morning, Garrett paused on the threshold of his new house and took a calming breath. Today was the day he moved in with Kiersten. The day he could start trying to win her over. But if he wanted to do that? He needed to keep his hands to himself, or he would lose the battle before he’d even begun. He couldn’t kiss her. Couldn’t forget his role in this new family of his. If he won her heart, he wanted to do it the right way. Through his actions…not through the bedroom.
He wouldn’t fight dirty.
No matter how hard it was to keep his hands to himself around her. And man, it was hard. He pulled his key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Chris was sitting on the couch playing PlayStation, and Kiersten was nowhere to be found. She was probably at her desk, which was now in her bedroom. He was getting her former office, and the other room would be for their baby.
Their baby. Even thinking it made him tremble. He still couldn’t quite wrap his head around the fact that he’d gotten Kiersten pregnant. That they’d made a life with their one night together.
He walked into the living room. He hesitated at the threshold, uncertain how the boy would react to him after last night. “So, this is how you spend Saturday mornings?”
“Yeah. Pretty much.” Chris paused the game but didn’t put the controller down. “You gonna keep talking to me, or are we done?”
Garrett sighed. “Yeah. I’d like to talk for a minute. I’m waiting for your uncle.”
“Gotcha.” Chris set the controller down on the table. “So, this is the day, huh?”
Garrett nodded. “Whatcha playing?”
“Call of Duty. Zach’s online with me.” Chris looked at him. “You play?”
“I do. I have a bunch of other games, too.” He shrugged, trying to look as if Chris’s answer didn’t matter. “You can play them if you want.”
Chris hesitated, torn between his desire to look mad and his interest in the games. “Got the new NBA one?”
Garrett snorted. “Of course I do. I preordered it months ago.”
Chris’s eyes lit up. “Sweet.”
“Yeah.” He rubbed his head. “Maybe we can play together. You know, once I’m moved in.”
Chris looked away from him. “Yeah. Maybe.”
He picked the controller back up and resumed playing. Garrett walked away, feeling a little bit more confident of his welcome here. Well, with Chris, anyway.
“You’re here,” Kiersten said, coming down the stairs. She looked gorgeous and fresh faced, even though she just wore yoga pants and a pink T-shirt that said, Warning: I’m an editor. “I thought I heard the door open.”
“Yeah.” He tossed his keys back and forth in his hands, feeling like an idiot for standing there looking up at her with nothing to say. Things were so damn awkward between them now. Apparently getting your friend pregnant messed things up. Go figure. “You can keep working. I brought reinforcements to help.”
He pointed over his shoulder just as Mike pulled up into the driveway. She looked outside, then nodded. “Right. I’ll, uh, get out of the way.”
She stared at him for another second, then headed back up the stairs. He watched her go, then called out, “Kiersten?”
She stopped, her hand gripping the banister. “Yeah?”
“This’ll get less weird, right?”
She gave a soft laugh, turning back to him. “My God, I hope so. Because we’re about to be around each other every day.”
“Yeah, we are. Morning and night.” Sounded like heaven to him. “So we might as well stop being so weird around each other. You’re pregnant. It happens all the time to people all over the world. Right?”
She cocked her head and blinked at him. He loved when she did that. It made her look adorably elfin. “I think most of them are couples. Or if they’re not, then they don’t move in together.”
“Do you want to be in a relationship?” He climbed the stairs, holding his breath.
Her gaze skated away from his. “I think we should stick to the plan.” She hesitated, looking back his way. When her eyes met his, his stomach twisted. For once, she looked uncertain. “Don’t you?”
