Page 12 of Dare to Need

“And here I was thinking we could go for round two.” Garth wrapped his arm around me and pulled me against him. I could feel how ready he was as he ground his hips against my thigh.

I playfully shoved against his chest. “My parents are going to wonder where we are when we don’t show up for dinner tonight. Andyouwill be the one to explain why we were late.” I arched a brow at him just as he dug his fingertips under my arms and tickled me.

A stream of giggles and crude chastisements rang through his loft as I batted him away fruitlessly.

“Stop, Garth!” I laugh-cried between gasps for air.

Tucked tightly against him, he finally relented, allowing me to catch my breath. I knew we were already hours behind schedule and that I would have to tell my parents that we were running behind, but something in my heart nagged at me to stay in his arms. To savor this moment for all it was worth—and it was wortheverything.

A familiar melody sounded from the kitchen as Garth’s phone rang, breaking through my thoughts.

“Are you going to get that?” I asked as Garth pressed his lips against my neck, taunting me for another round.

“Mmm. Let it ring,” he murmured against my skin.

His phone stopped ringing and I turned in his arms, nuzzling against his warm chest. I planted my palm against his skin and grazed my fingernails along his abdomen knowing how my touch always made him lose control.

But just as I reached the ridge of his v that led straight down to his growing length, his phone rang again. I wasn’t sure if it was intuition or just knowing that people didn’t often call Garth two times in a row, but I knew in my gut that something was wrong.

“Babe, I think you should get that.” My heart started hammering in my chest and it wasn’t from Garth’s kisses.

A slight crease formed between his brows as he noted the worried look I knew was on my face.

“Don’t go anywhere, beautiful.” He grazed his lips over my temple then headed toward the kitchen just as his phone started ringing for the third time.

Pulling the covers around me, I tried to swallow against the lump forming in my throat. I never once took my eyes off him as he finally tapped the screen of his phone and brought it to his ear.

“Mom, is everything alright?” The edge in his voice made my stomach clench.

Whatever his mom said on the other end of the phone made his face go slack, his other arm dropping to his side and his bright hazel eyes grew wide. Every muscle in my body went rigid as I saw my strong man crumple to the floor, his knees hitting hard against the wood planks.

I threw the blanket off me and half stumbled, half ran toward him. His phone lay in a shambled heap next to him, shards of the broken screen glittered in the stream of sunlight from the window as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

I could feel my heartbeat in my ears as I pulled back, taking his face in both of my hands and angling it up so I could look into his eyes.

“Baby, what happened?” I croaked out against the dryness of my throat.

Silent tears escaped from his hazel eyes—eyes that were so fearful it felt as though I was looking at a stranger. They were not the eyes of the man I loved. The man who taught me to be strong and courageous. The man who wasn’t afraid to go against the grain and be himself. The man who wasn’t afraid of anything.

No.

They were the eyes of someone who, in a single moment, forgot everything that made him who he was.

And in that same moment, I knew that our lives would never be the same again.

ChapterFive

GARTH

Silence thrummed through my mind. I couldn’t think. I could barely breathe.

The sound of my mother’s strangled voice as she sobbed into the phone had my heart pounding through my entire body—I could feel it thudding against my chest like a wild animal in a cage.

Edges of the world I once knew started to blur as tears clouded my vision. Were they tears? Or was the world just going dark? I couldn’t be sure. I couldn’t be sure of anything anymore.

In the briefest moment of clarity, I could hear her words as she said that my father had a massive heart attack.

“I need you, Garth.” My mother sobbed into my ear.

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