Chapter Six
CHAPTER SIX
GARRETT
She smells like vanilla today. Marie smells different most every day, and I’ve become a little obsessed with trying to figure out what each new scent is. She must have an entire collection of body sprays. I like this one a lot—truth be told; I like every scent she wears, but this one makes me think of something sweet and tasty. Something I could lick as a tasty little treat.
“Garrett? Hello? You in there?”
Blinking, I realize with a start that I’ve been staring at Marie without saying a word. She’s watching me with a small, concerned frown.
“Oh, sorry,” I murmur, clearing my throat. “Spaced out there for a bit.”
“Are you okay?” she asks, looking me over and gently touching my good arm. “You’re not too tired, are you? Do you have a headache? It’s been nearly an hour. We can take a break if you want.”
“I’m fine,” I assure her. “Really, just got lost in my thoughts for a bit.”
“Are you sure?”
I give her a grin. “It’s been two weeks since we started this. My headaches are few and far between and my arm is feeling tons better. I promise you, I’m totally fine.”
This time I’ve spent with her has been both productive and confusing. She’s been a tremendous help with editing my papers and working with me on the English assignments I struggle with. She’s been patient, kind, and generous, giving me space to work on my own but being close by in case I need her. At some point, visiting the library became a highlight of my days. Walking in and seeing her smile… watching the way she interacts with anyone else who walks into the building… seeing the way she lights up when she talks about books… it makes me want to spend more and more time with her.
It’s a slippery slope that’s been difficult to avoid.
She arches a brow and gives me a skeptical look before sighing and saying, “All right, if you say so. I swear to God, if you’re just trying to make me feel better, I’m going to kill you.”
That makes me chuckle. Marie has always made me laugh… even when she was a mostly annoying little kid, she could come up with jokes that I thought were hilarious. No other woman has really made me laugh like she does, now that I think about it.
It’s making things… complicated.
Being so close to her during our study sessions has been an unexpected torture. She’s been helping me take notes and work on papers as my arm has continued to heal. I’ve noticed different things about her that have made it difficult to focus on my schoolwork.
Apart from her scent, there are her kissable pink lips. She parts them when she’s really concentrating, and sometimes she’ll press the end of her pen against her plump bottom lip. When she does that, I get the urge to pull the pen away and take her lip between my teeth.
Wait, where did that thought come from? What the hell is wrong with me? I shouldn’t be having these thoughts about Marie, but every time she brushes up against me, throws me a flirtatious smile, or walks away with her hips swaying, my cock twitches and my blood heats. Then the guilt sets in. I shouldn’t be thinking of her like that. She’s too young for me. She’s like a sister.
Even as I tell myself that over and over again, I can’t stop sneaking looks at her or imagining how her lips would feel wrapped around my cock.
She checks her phone and lets out a sigh. “Shoot, we need to finish up for the day. I need to get back to work.”
“No problem,” I reply, a little relieved. My thoughts are getting a little out of control, so some distance is probably for the best. “Thanks for your help.”
She stands from her chair and I follow suit, but my elbow hits a textbook sitting on the edge of the desk. It falls to the floor with a clatter.
“Oh, shit,” I mumble, bending down to get it.
“I’ll get it,” Marie says at the same time.
Our hands meet as we both touch the book and I look up, meeting her gaze. We’re close. Really close. I could lean in and press my lips to hers with ease. The urge to kiss her strikes me like a lightning bolt and I wonder if it would be such a bad thing to do. Her cheeks grow rosy, and her eyes drop to my mouth. She’d let me kiss her if I tried. She wants me to. I can see it in her heated gaze…
“Are you two all right?”
I jump, startled at the sudden intrusion, and look up to find Kathy standing over us. She’s watching us with a furrowed brow and a concerned frown. Embarrassment floods through me, as if I’ve been caught doing something I shouldn’t be doing. Clearing my throat, I grab the book and stand back up. Not looking at Marie, I quickly gather my things.
“I’ll see you later,” I say, flashing her a smile before turning to hurry away, leaving Marie and the temptation she presents behind me.
* * *
Later that night, I’m still thinking about Marie, despite my best efforts to put her out of my head. She’s somehow burrowed her way into my thoughts and won’t let go. Sitting on my couch, I dangle a half-empty beer bottle between my fingers and rest my head back to stare up at the ceiling. I run my free hand over my face and let out a long, frustrated breath. I keep picturing that moment when our hands met and her lips were right there, begging to be kissed. What if I’d done it? What would have happened? That’s a dangerous road for me to go down, but I can’t stop imagining her spread out on the library floor beneath me, her cheeks flushed and her lips plump and reddened from my kiss.
Fuck… I need to get it together. I need to remember why I can’t cross that line with her.
As much as I hate to remember it, I force myself to think back to one of the last conversations I had with my mom, not long before she died.
She’d been in the hospital, sickly and gaunt. Weak. Fading. I hated seeing her like that, and I hate even more that I didn’t visit her as often as I should have because the sight of her in so much pain gutted me.
I’d made myself go that day. I’m still not sure why, but some instinct pulled at me to go to her. Maybe a part of me knew she had little time left. That if I didn’t see her then, I might never get the chance to again.
She’d smiled, putting on a brave face for me, but I could tell she was suffering. We both knew it was almost the end, but I refused to say so out loud.
Mom was braver than me.
She took my hand in hers. Her skin was paper thin and her bones felt brittle wrapped in mine.
Meeting my gaze, she spoke in a low, raspy voice.
“Gary, I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything, Mom.”
“Take care of yourself when I’m gone, and look after my girls. Both of them. They’re going to need you.”
With tears in my eyes, I nodded and said, “I promise. I’ll take care of them.”
Her girls—Haven and Marie.
Marie was like a second daughter to my mom. Her mother had been best friends with mine, and when she’d died, mom had unofficially “adopted” Marie. She loved her and cared for her, looking out for her even after her dad remarried. I remember when she’d come over as a little girl to play with Haven and how Mom doted on both girls. The two of them together were often annoying and got on my nerves, but once they were older, it wasn’t so bad being around them. At some point, Marie really became part of the family. I started thinking of her as another little sister. Mom made me promise again and again to look after both her girls.
I’m glad Marie had my mom. Meredith has never really treated Marie like her daughter. Haven always complained when they were teenagers about how demanding of Marie her stepmother was, and that treatment has continued into adulthood. She treats her more like an assistant—someone she can dump her extra work and responsibilities onto and assumes Marie will take it all with a smile on her face.
It always pissed me off, and when I saw Meredith doing the same at the library the other week, I couldn’t just sit back and let her take advantage of Marie. I’d had to step in and do something.
The point is, I promised my mom I’d take care of Marie, just like I would Haven. That I’d protect her and look out for her. Like a sister.
I can’t break that promise to Mom. I can’t have these thoughts about Marie. She’s my responsibility, and I can only imagine what Mom would think if she knew I was even entertaining any kind of desire for her. She’d be disappointed, I’m sure. Disgusted, maybe… I don’t know.
Leaning forward, I take a long drink of my beer. I feel an ache in my chest and can’t decide if it’s my heart or my ribs. They’re healed, but now and then I still get a pang of discomfort. I’m doing well healing physically, but mentally, I’m a mess. Maybe having Marie help me study wasn’t such a good idea after all. It’s leaving me all twisted up inside and confused. The only thing that seems certain is my promise to Mom. I have to hold on to that. It was her dying wish for me, and I will not let her down.
Finishing my beer, I stand and move to set the bottle by the sink in the kitchen. Sucking in a deep breath, I steel my resolve. Marie is off limits. That’s all there is to it. I’ll protect her, care for her, and make sure she knows she still belongs in my family, even though mom is gone.
It can’t be more than that. No matter how delicious she smells or how kissable her lips might be, I cannot cross that line with her.