Page 75 of Dare to Fall

I didn’t have to ask to know that what we had between us was something he’d never known before I came along. But there was still a thick wall he encased himself in, hesitant to show me the most vulnerable parts of himself.

It tried my patience on more than one occasion. I felt like he knew everything about me. Even parts I had yet to discover myself. He read me like the pages of an open book, and while it was comforting to have a partner who was so interested in getting to know me on that level, it was just as infuriating that he struggled to open himself up to me in the same way.

I kept telling myself that we just needed more time. We’d hardly spent any time together in the grand scheme of things. My thoughts sometimes filled with doubt, wondering if it was worth the risk to try and break through his wall. Knowing what happened with Connor made me second-guess everything. I thought I knew everything about Connor when it turned out I knew nothing about him at all.

Especially how good of a liar he was.

In those moments of fear, I kept telling myself that Garth was worth it.He had to be.

There was no way that he could just fall into my life the way he had, at the time he had, for him not to be an important part of my life’s journey. Despite everything I’d gone through, I had to believe in fate. That all the shit that had gone down in the past few months wasn’t for nothing. It was leading me to the person I was meant to be, as well as to the person I was meant to be with.

It was all I had left—fate. So, I clung to it like it was the only lifeline I had left to weather the storm.

Nerves raked up my spine as I adjusted myself in the uncomfortable wooden chair outside the counselor’s office. My appointment time was ten minutes ago, and there were several students sitting in the row of chairs lined down the hall. It was the first step toward my new future, and the anxiety was playing tricks on me.

Another minute ticked by as I looked down at my phone that just vibrated. A text from Garth blinked across the screen.

Garth:Hi, beautiful. Meet me at the president’s office in five.

Me:Um, why?

Garth:Well, I’d like to introduce you to my mother. And she can get things done a lot faster than you sitting in line at the counselor’s office. I’ll meet you outside her office.

Me:Great. I wish I would have known about this sooner so I could have dressed better.

Garth:You look gorgeous in everything you wear…and don’t wear.

I rolled my eyes with a grin on my face and tossed my phone into my bag and headed toward the president’s building across the lake.

As I rounded the corner, Garth was at the end of the hall, leaning against a desk with a gray-haired woman behind it. My favorite pair of his jeans hugged the curve of his perfectly sculpted ass, and his broad shoulders flexed under a white V-neck t-shirt. It was sinful how incredible he looked. Especially since I now knew just how little effort he put into his appearance. He just wasn’t one of those guys who spent a lot of time in front of the mirror. And he just happened to be one of those few who didn’t have to.

As I neared the desk, he turned and saw me. His bright hazel eyes took my breath away as he walked toward me.

Butterflies swarmed in my stomach as he planted a kiss to my forehead.

“How’s your day been so far? I’ve missed you,” he whispered into my ear.

Leaning into the sturdiness of his chest, I let his warmth ease my nerves of meeting his mother, and the president of my university, for the first time.

“I’ve missed you too. Just feeling a little nervous.”

“What about?” He smirked.

“Oh, you know…changing the course of my future…and meeting your mother.”

Garth chuckled and took me into a giant bear hug. He kissed the top of my head before releasing me.

“She’s not as scary as she looks. I promise.” He released me from his hold and walked me toward the desk and the woman behind it.

“Yeah, easy for you to say,” I murmured under my breath.

With his hand at the small of my back, Garth stopped in front of the desk just as the woman looked up at us with bright-blue eyes that knowingly held a lifetime of wisdom.

“Cecilia Parker, this is Eva Barnes,” Garth said.

“Well, it’s about damn time you brought her around here, Garth. I was thinking I would die of old age before I got to meet the lovely young woman who stole your heart.”

I blushed at her words just as Garth tucked me under his arm.

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