Perfect Regret (Bad Rep #2)(21)
Author: A. Meredith Walters

My heart was beating at a frantic pace in my chest, his words twinging something in my brain. Images flashed in my head of him kissing the inside of my thighs. I could almost feel his lips as they moved up my skin to taste between my legs.

The memory was so vivid that I knew it could only be from that night. Shit, I remembered him f**king me with his tongue before he crawled over top of me and told me how beautiful I was. And the look in his eyes had been earth shattering.

I tingled from head to toe and I desperately wanted to remember more.

Garrett continued to watch me as he strummed his guitar, humming that incredible melody. I was melting. Dear lord, I was turning into a big pile of goo.

“I bet you say that to all the gals,” I said lightly, trying to hide the fact that I had morphed into a giant, throbbing vagina.

Garrett frowned and got to his feet. He moved slowly, as though he had all the time in the world. When he finally reached me, I was on high alert. Was he going to touch me? Sweet Jesus, I really wanted him to touch me.

No I didn’t!

Stop it, Riley! This is not the time to let the sex beast out! Lock it away, now!

“Why do you do you that?” he asked, puzzled.

“Why do I do what?” I asked, just as puzzled.

“Blow off a compliment. Make everything a joke. When I tell you you’re beautiful, I’m not just saying that. I’m saying it because you are. You. Are. Beautiful. And I want to kiss you more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my entire life,” he said in a hush.

“Oh,” was all I could say.

Oh? I was somehow rendered mentally deficient. Please, someone locate my brain! It was desperately needed to stop me from acting like a total dork!

Garrett’s eyes dropped to my lips and I couldn’t help but wet them with my tongue. Something fierce and smoldering took over his typically unemotional face and I went from pile of goo to molten lava in point three seconds.

He was going to kiss me.

He was going to touch me.

We were most likely going to have sex again.

And just like that the evil sex beast busted from her cage.

Hell yeah! Mama wanted to get her sex on, right now, with this hunky slacker that tells me I’m beautiful. Apparently all it took was a syrupy compliment to make me spread the legs I swore would stay resolutely closed.

See, I was a total hussy!

“Yo, Garrett, you in here?” a voice yelled from the front of the house, yanking me out of my trance. Garrett blinked and he stepped away from me, giving me room to breathe again. His face pinched and he looked pissed off.

He gave me an apologetic look before calling out, “Back here!”

Suddenly the room was full of people. Cole and Vivian came stumbling in, barely standing. Behind them came Gracie and Mitch as well as Jordan and Maysie. But it wasn’t just our friends crashing the moment we had been having. It seemed they had brought half the town with them.

Garrett went back to put his guitar in its case, sliding it under the couch. I wanted him to look at me again the way he just had, but it was as though I were no longer there. I was apparently being ignored.

And that made me really, really mad. After being told you’re beautiful, it would be nice to be treated as though you were more than another piece of furniture in the room. Excuse me for thinking I was worth a bit more than that.

“You bailed, man. Lucky for you, I scored some great shit,” Cole slurred, passing Garrett a joint. The instant change in Garrett was startling. He effortlessly transformed from Mr. Look At Me I’m So Sensitive to I Couldn’t Give a Shit And Acting Like a Butthole.

And there it was. The familiar disgust I was used to feeling around Garrett.

Garrett pulled a lighter out of his pocket and lit the joint and gave it a long pull. He blew out a cloud of smoke, permeating the air with the smell of burnt garbage. I coughed and waved my hand in front of my face.

“Oh, I didn’t see Riley over there. What the f**k are you doing here?” Cole asked rudely, earning him an elbow to the ribs from Vivian.

“Shut up, Cole. You are such an ass**le!” she yelled, pushing away from him clumsily. Cole stumbled backwards, grabbing ahold of Mitch so he wouldn’t fall over.

“What the hell, Viv? Don’t f**king walk away from me!” he hollered at her retreating form.

“Screw you, f**ker!” she screamed back at him.

Cole took off after her and we could hear the back door slam and their yelling out in the yard. The party started to flow around me and I hated the way the Garrett I had seen a few moments before disappear the higher he became.

I had been forgotten.

Garrett lounged back on the couch and he was soon joined by a girl I vaguely recognized as one of the groupie skanks that were front and center for all of the Rejects’ shows. I didn’t know her name, only that I wasn’t used to seeing her with so much clothing on. And that was saying something, considering her boobs were barely covered by the thin, slip of fabric she had on.

Jealousy, hot and lethal, flashed through me and I had visions of ripping her away from him by her hair and then wailing on my chest caveman style.

But I realized quickly, Garrett Bellows was not worth the effort it would take to exert such violence.

“Want a drag?” Garrett asked, holding the roach out for me to take.

I curled my lip at him, hating that I had been suckered, however briefly, into thinking he was anything but a stoned out loser. “I’d rather keep my brain cells, thanks,” I responded, turning away from him. But not before I saw the cold set to his eyes. He was making a point here. To show everyone in the room that there was nothing to see here. Look away folks, it’s just the same ol’ shit.

And I hated that guy with as much passion as I was starting to like the other Garrett. The one who could play me a song on the guitar and tell me I was beautiful and mean it.

A few of the guys around us ooh’d at my rejection, taunting Garrett by my obvious dismissal.

“You’d better keep those, babe. Cause they’re all you’ve got going for you,” he responded hatefully, earning him a riot of laughter from his friends. Garrett looked away and I saw a tiny sliver of regret on his face as though he wished he could take his words back. Well sorry buddy, words stick but I sure as hell wasn’t.

Without saying a word, I walked away. And I was left feeling oddly bereft. Maybe it was for not getting the last word in. Maybe it was for wasting a chance at insulting him back.

Or maybe it was for losing sight of the man I had glimpsed for only a few seconds. A man I could find myself actually wanting to be around.