Page 5 of Garrett's Obsession

"Coach Marsh, I…"

"Garrett."

"Garrett," she whispers, laying her hand flat against my chest. She sways toward me as if in a trance.

I groan, wrapping a hand around her hip. She's so thick, so curvy. I tug her toward me, caught up in her spell. Entranced with the overwhelming urge to taste her perfect lips just once. I need to know if they're as soft as I imagine they are. If she tastes as sweet as I dream she does. If she moans as quietly as I think she will.

She clutches a handful of my shirt, drawing me closer.

"Coach?" Todd calls from inside the house.

Ciara jumps out of my arms as if I burned her.

"Fuck," I growl, letting her go. Now isn't the time or place for any of this. She just cried on my shoulder. Kissing her right now would be damn near like taking advantage of her. I can't—won't—do that. I'm an asshole for being tempted. And yet I am tempted.

She's like a drug to me, powerful and potent. Five minutes in her presence, and I forget everything but how badly I want her. Nothing else matters nearly as much as that. Not my job, not the boys counting on me, nothing.

Maybe Cash was right today. I don't need to find a way to date her. I need to find a way to marry her. Pronto.

"Let's get inside and talk, Cherry," I murmur, striding to the door to hold it open for her. "I made dinner if you're hungry."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." She latches onto the return to normalcy with sheer gratitude in her voice.

"You’ve gotta eat, and I wouldn't trust anything coming out of Leone's kitchen."

She smiles as she ducks under my arm and heads into the house. "Trust me, I don't. I've seen the state of that kitchen. I'd prefer not to die of food poisoning." Her gaze lands on her brother, who is standing at the entrance to the hallway, his hair ruffled from sleep. "You are in so much trouble, Todd Alexander Marsh."

Todd instantly comes wide awake. His eyes pop open wide. He hunches his shoulders, his expression falling. He and Ciara look just enough alike to make it obvious they're siblings. They share the same green eyes, the same nose. But Todd is dark whereas Ciara's light. I'm guessing he takes after one parent, and she takes after the other.

"You stole my car and wrecked it," she growls, stomping forward to pull him into a fierce hug. "You're lucky you didn't kill yourself or someone else."

"I know," he whispers. "I'm sorry. I tried to talk Grady and Lincoln out of it, but they kept riding my ass, saying I was a little bitch. I just wanted to shut them up."

"You aren't hanging out with them again." Ciara steps back, hitting him with a no-nonsense look. "I don't care if they are the coolest guys on the team or if they're the most popular kids in the school. I will boil you alive if I even hear that you're hanging out with them again."

"I don't think that'll be a problem."

Ciara glances back at me.

"He can kiss his dreams of a social life goodbye," I say, eyeing Todd. "Until he pays off the MC, he'll be working for them nights and weekends. And once he's done working off his debt to them, he gets to work off his debt to me."

"What debt to you?" Ciara demands, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"The repairs to your car," I murmur gently. "I asked the shop to bill me for the repairs."

Her eyes widen. She stands stock still for a minute and then turns to look at Todd. "Can you go wait in the kitchen, please?"

"Yep." Todd walks backward out of the room as if he'd rather be anywhere but here right now. Before he disappears, he sends me a look that screams I fucked up.

"I'd like to speak to you outside, please," Ciara growls at me.

"We can talk here, Cherry."

"Fine. This isn't what we discussed at the bar, Garrett," she says, exasperated. "We agreed to discuss the situation."

"You're right, but you have enough on your plate right now. I know the owner of the shop in town. He'll discount the work for me. Once Todd finishes with the MC, he'll work off the cost of the repairs by helping me out during the off-season."

"Helping you how?"

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