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Four years ago.

“I CAN’T WAIT TO MOVE OUT of my parents’ house,” Isla said as she rested her head on Garrett’s chest.

“I know, baby. It will happen. We’ll get a place of our own one day.”

Garrett held her hand as they as they watched a movie on the flat-screen TV he’d saved months of pizza delivery tips to afford. That was one of the many things that he loved about her: she never judged him for being poor in a town of wealthy snobs. They weren’t all snobby...there were exceptions like Isla after all.

“I can get my trust once I turn eighteen, and I’m out of there. My mother is trying to get me to join all of the same clubs and teams that she was in. I am not Chrissy. When is she going to get that?”

“You don’t have much longer,” Garrett said. “But, you can stay here if you want.”

“Are you serious? Won’t your mom mind?”

He shrugged. “My mom likes you. I don’t think she’d care.”

“Well, that’s a good idea. But my parents would flog me if they ever found out.”

“Well, you’ve stayed here the past couple of nights already. Just keep telling them that you’re staying with Robin.”

“Garrett,” Isla called, lifting her head from resting on his chest.

“Yeah, babe?”

“I’m tired,” she said, yawning. “Can we go to bed now?”

A smile came to his lips as she gazed at him from beneath thick dark lashes. Her eyes, they were magical, the blue a shade that made her look like an ethereal being from a fairy tale. He’d sketched her. Many times. And could never capture her essence.

“Okay,” he said, turning off the TV and reaching a hand to help her from the leather sofa in the basement where he kept all of his art and supplies. This special place was his retreat, a place where he could paint, write, and just reflect on where he was going to take his life.

Garrett pursed his lips. He knew what his next move would be. He just hadn’t gained the courage to tell Isla yet.

He was nineteen. It was time to be a man. He could hear his father saying that to him, even though they hadn’t spoken in years. Garrett knew that his father was too ashamed of his actions to face his only son. So, he wasted away in a prison, alone.

They walked up the steps to the main floor of the house where his mother was already asleep. She knew that Isla was there, and didn’t care that she was staying over. Isla was one of the only girls that his mother actually liked.

Once they were in his bedroom, he closed and locked the door behind them. The room was dark, and cool, the ceiling fan on full speed just how he liked it. He’d washed the sheets and his blanket in preparation for their sleepover. He wondered if her parents really believed that she was staying with her best friend, Robin.

She grinned at him, sheepishly as she crossed his room in her shorts, tank top, and slouchy socks that reached to her knees. She climbed into his neat four post bed and took her socks off. Why was he suddenly shy as he watched her pull her hair into a high ponytail?

He’d dreamed of this moment when they could sleep together for the first time, not because he anticipated being intimate for the first time, but he never felt more at peace than when alone with her.

“Come on, silly. Aren’t you tired too?”

Garrett nodded, smiling. He took off his shirt, noting how her eyes lingered on his abs. He’d worked hard on them, for her. He saw how the guys at her school had bodies like they were preparing for their roles in the next 300 movie. He’d always been slim, but had started training at the local boxing gym.

As he climbed into bed with her, he couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have one of the most beautiful girls in Laguna Beach fall in love with him. No matter what, as long as she wanted him...he’d never let her go.

She rested her head on his pillow, facing him, a smile still on her small face.

He laid down beside her and pulled her closer until their noses touched.

“Garrett,” Isla whispered. “I have a confession to make.”

“What is it?”

He pulled back to see her smile turn into a mischievous grin, her white teeth shining in the moonlight.

“I lied. I’m not tired,” she said, her hand going to the drawstring at the front of his boxer shorts. “I’m not tired at all.”

Garrett slid his hand along her waist and under her shirt to smooth the soft skin of her back. He leaned in for a kiss and closed his eyes when her hand slipped into his boxers.

It didn’t take but one touch for his manhood to awaken. He kissed her neck, sucking her clavicle as she tugged at his boxers.

“Impatient,” he joked and she giggled.

“I’ve waited long enough,” she said and pulled her shirt over her head.

It wasn’t a secret that Isla was promiscuous around town—that she’d slept with a few guys that couldn’t keep such things to themselves—but Garrett didn’t care about her past. She was his now and knew that she’d never stray.

“You saved me,” she said to him once.

He believed that.

They saved each other.

He took off his boxers and she licked her lips at seeing him in the nude. Garrett sucked in a breath, wanting to rip her shorts off, but restraining himself as he pulled them from her thin legs, revealing pink bikini-cut panties.

Garrett’s eyes flickered up to hers as he leaned over her. Her lips were parted as she watched him take off her panties and kiss her freckled inner thigh. He wrapped his arms under her thighs and pulled her closer. She shuddered beneath his tongue as he lapped at the warm wetness between her legs. Her wetness was sweet, the tiny nub of her clit erect as he licked and sucked it.

“Dear God,” she moaned, grabbing the pillow and covering her face. “Oh, Garrett,” she said through the pillow, her voice muffled as she writhed on his bed.

Garrett smiled. Seeing her in pleasure only made him harder. Before long she couldn’t take the intense sensations his eager tongue elicited. She came—hard—against his tongue as he cupped her butt and pressed her core to his mouth.

He nearly came himself just at the sound of her cries.

He lifted himself up to face her and covered her mouth with his own, drowning out her moans. “Shhh,” he said with a laugh. “You trying to wake up my mother?”

She grinned, her chest heaving, her face flushed as she caught her breath. “We’re adults,” she said in between breaths. “What can she say?”

Garrett laughed again, kissing her plump lips. “She can say that this is still her house.”

Isla wrapped her arms around his neck, gazing into his eyes. “Okay, baby,” she whispered. “I promise I’ll be quiet.”

She guided him into her and he closed his eyes, burying his face into the warmth of her neck.

Nothing felt as good as making love to Isla Maxwell.

He should have never left her.