The Bet (Book 1 in The Deception Series)

Chapter 11: he cares

Taylor

~~~~~~~

"I can't believe you spent the night at Garrett's house and now he's inviting you to celebrate his team's win today," Lily says as I finish curling my hair.

I roll my eyes at her.

"He's trying to show me that he's not a bad person, apparently," I explain.

"Oh my god, this just keeps getting better." She says from my bed.

"How are you and Jake?" I ask, trying to change the subject.

"Good, but not as interesting as you and Garrett." She says.

"Garrett and I are friends, he might want to hook up but I certainly do not," I tell her.

"That's what they all say. But anyway, me and him are good, I'm hoping he tries something tonight." She explains.

"I'm sure he will." I tell her as I unplug my curler.

I stand up and look at myself in the mirror. Lily gave me one of her tight red dresses to wear tonight so I had no choice but to wear it.

"Let's go?" I ask, turning towards her.

"Yup!" She says.

We book an Uber and head over to the guy's house and the second we get there, the house is packed. There were cars all around the driveway and you could hear music blasting from inside. We make our way inside and it's full of college students.

"Definitely a celebration!" I yell to Lily over the music.

"I know right!" She yells back.

We push through the people and make our way to the kitchen, where I run into Brennen.

"Hey, Tay-Tay!" He yells as he hugs me.

"Hey! Congrats on your win!" I yell.

"Thank you!" He says before taking a sip of beer.

"Want a drink?" He asks.

"Uh, I'll have one later! Do you know where Garrett is?" I ask.

"I don't know, probably off fucking some chick!" He slurs out.

I feel a little bit of uneasiness knowing that Garrett could be with another girl.

"Hey, I see Jake! I'll be back!" Lily yells before she runs off.

"So do you want a drink?" He asks again.

"Sure." I say.

He walks away for a second and comes back with a red solo cup. I thanked him before taking it from him.

I take a sip of my drink before Chris comes running up to us.

"Taylor!!!" He cheers.

He pulls me into a bear hug and I laugh at his drunk ass.

"Hi, Chris." I smile.

"I missed you, I told the whole team about how tiny Garrett's underwear was and they started making fun of him." He explains.

I laugh and shake my head at him.

"You know what, Tay-Tay? I love you, you're amazing." He says as he throws his arm over my shoulder.

"I love you too, Chris." I tell him.

Brennen chuckles as he chugs down the rest of his beer.

"Do you know where Garrett is?" I ask Chris.

"Oh he just was with me but then his dad called him and he went upstairs to his room." He explains.

I feel a rush of relief as I hear that he wasn't with another girl.

"Thanks, I'll see you guys later." I say before I make my way upstairs.

I stop in front of the master bedroom and knock on the door before I walk in.

I walk in and see Garrett sitting on the edge of his bed, holding a beer in his hands.

"Garrett?" I ask as I close the door behind me.

He looks at me and then backs down at the floor. I walk over to him and sit down next to him.

"I love hockey, it's the one thing that makes me feel alive. Like, when I'm on the ice I feel at home. And my Dad knows that, he knows how much winning means to me. But no matter how many wins I get, no matter how hard I try. I can never be enough for that man. It's impossible to please him." He went on, I could hear the pain in his voice which made my heart ache.

He chugs down the rest of his beer and I could tell that he had way more than one beer.

"I just want to be good enough for him." his voice cracks a bit.

"You're so much more than just hockey, Garrett. And you've definitely proved that in the short amount of time I've known you." I reassure him.

He looks at me with his drunk eyes and I feel bad for him. He always seemed so happy and fun like he didn't have to worry about anything. But I guess I was wrong.

"I hope you know that I care about you, Taylor." He whispers.

I frown.

"Yeah, because we're friends." I smile.

"Sometimes I wish we weren't just friends." He mutters.

I stare at him as yawns.

"Go to bed, Garrett." I tell him.

"Mhdsuefklds." He slurs.

I laugh as I help him get under the covers.

I take the beer bottle and place it on the nightstand that has a bunch of other empty drink cans on it.

I look at him and pull the cover over him.

"Lay on your side." I tell him as I help him roll over.

"Thank you for giving me a chance, Tay-Tay." He mutters before he falls asleep.

I sigh before I begin to gather all the drink cans and take them to the trashcan in his bathroom before I bring them out to the bedroom and place it next to his bed for him just in case he throws up. I look down at him and feel scared to leave him here alone, so I walk over to the couch and turn on the TV and just watch some YouTube before I go sit on the bed next to Garrett.

I texted Lily and told her that I was gonna be here late until the party ended because Garrett was wasted. She didn't respond so I figured she and Jake finally took another step forward.

I try to fight my sleep as I feel more tired and tired throughout the night.

Before I knew it, I was out cold.