Page 20 of Make My Heart Malt

“Occasionally, but for the most part, they’re more scared of you than you are of them.”

“I can assure you I would be the one more terrified if I came face-to-face with a bear. You’d have to come save me with your strong muscles.” Reaching over, I squeeze his bicep. Mostly, it’s an excuse to get close and touch him. I link my arm with his and snuggle into his side. He smells like citrus with a hint of campfire smoke. I steal a glance at him, and he twists his head to face me. Our eyes meet, and an electric jolt of happiness surges through me. I fight the urge to lean in and press my lips to his. But he clears his throat and drops his gaze. I blow out a small breath and unlink my arm with his. A thick cloud of tension billows between us.

“Dessa?”

“Yeah?” I turn to face him.

“There’s something I want to do?—”

“There you two are.” Tony’s loud voice echoes across the lake as he clambers down the dock. The wood creaks and groans with every heavy footfall. “You’ve been down here forever. Are you two having girl talk?” He throws his arms around both our shoulders and sticks his head between us. “Mitchell, we need you to settle a debate whether Harrison should either shave his head or go for a mohawk.”

“She has an actual name,” Garrett mumbles under his breath.

Annoyance coils through me at the use of my last name. It reminds me of his teammates, one of the guys. Next thing he’ll be slapping my ass, telling me great job. I brush it off. I’ll deal with it later. “You guys are shaving his head?”

“Yes. And your answer will decide his fate.” He helps me to my feet.

“Why am I the one to decide? Shouldn’t that be Cara’s job since she’s the one dating him and will be stuck looking at him?”

“She’s not here at the moment, so it’s in your hands.”

I glance at Garrett and mouth, “Sorry.” Garrett drops his chin as Tony drags me down the dock and toward the fire pit. When we reach the grass, Kristen races past us and onto the dock. When she reaches Garrett, she wraps her arms around his neck and settles herself on his lap. He wraps his arm around her waist, and I can’t bear to watch them any longer.

“What I remember about that night is Kristen all over you as soon as I left.”

He links his fingers behind his head. “I didn’t want her. I wanted you. So fucking bad. You were supposed to be with me. Because,” his hands drop to his sides as if he’s holding lead weights, “I had feelings for you for so long. And you?—”

“What?” I step closer to him, preparing for a fight. “What did I do?”

He blows out a breath. “Left with Tony.”

“Because you blew me off! All night I was giving you signs. Touching you. Moving closer. And you ignored all of them.”

“Those were signs? We’d always been like that.”

“Exactly! I wanted to kiss you. I was so excited when you invited me to the lake because I wanted alone time with you. And you blew me off like you didn’t want me!”

He steps closer so we’re toe-to-toe. “I wanted to kiss you so bad that night. It was eating me up inside.”

I bump my chest against his, getting in his face. “And I wanted you to kiss me!”

His nostrils flare as my jaw clenches. Seconds tick by as we stare at each other. My chest rises in time with his. Like a vacuum all the air is sucked from my lungs, and I can’t breathe. After years of built-up tension, a fireball of heat and passion bursts through me. I’m surprised I don’t spontaneously combust. There’s only one thing that canextinguish the flame. I clasp his face between my palms and smash my mouth to his. The brim of his cap stabs me in the forehead, but it’s the least of my concerns. I inch closer to him until the front of his cap pushes off his head. Hops and mint linger on his lips. I’m already addicted. His arm wraps around my waist, desperately clinging to me like if he lets go, he’ll lose me again. All my thoughts are consumed by Garrett. Kissing him. Him kissing me. Having our bodies flush. It’s dizzying.

I jerk away. My chest heaves as I work to collect my breath. His eyelids rise to half-mast. His normally green irises are almost black with desire.

“Fuck,” he whispers.

“Double fuck,” I murmur. Being trapped in such close proximity to him, touching him, and kissing him short circuited my head, heart, and lady bits. My gaze drops to his mouth. I suck in the corner of my bottom lip, desperate to have his mouth on mine again. His lips twitch. With one hand, he takes off his cap and flips it backwards. A guy wearing a cap, hot. A guy who flips it backwards turns my panties to ash. Some girls like forearm porn, but I ladygasm over the backwards cap. Before I know it, his lips are on mine again. It’s hot. Desperate. Frantic. Needy. And everything in between. I moan into his mouth, and he deepens the kiss. With his arms wrapped around me, my steps retreat until my back hits one of the shelves, rattling bottles from the sudden jolt.

As I run my hands over his chest, I’m fixated on the firmness beneath my fingertips. His heart hammers under my palm and I know mine’s doing the same. I’m drunk on Garrett Dawson, and I don’t want it to stop.

His fingers curl through my hair at the nape of my neck, holding me in place as his tongue sweeps across the seam of my lips. I press my body closer to his, needing tofeel him against me. A surge of pleasure courses through me as his growing erection presses against my stomach. I’m desperate for this. For him. I open my mouth and our tongues stroke against each other’s. It’s hot and needy. A cloud of passion envelops us, and I never want it to dissipate. I didn’t know what to expect, but it wasn’t this. It’s better. So much better.

He pulls away and I gasp for a breath. Slowly, he drags the tip of his nose against mine. “Fuck. I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.”

“Same,” I murmur..

“I don’t want to stop.”

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