The Bet (Book 1 in The Deception Series)

Chapter 11: drunk words and questions

Taylor

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"Look After You"- The Fray

"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 up 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. I'm happy for you. I know Garrett isn't the ideal guy for you but at least he's getting you out of your shell." 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, Lily. He might want to hookup 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 white laced tank tops which I topped off with a navy blue cropped cardigan. I paired them with a plan pair of light washed jeans.

"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 after he was the one who invited me to come tonight.

"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 eye the cup, scared to take a sip out of it. So I just hold it, hoping he doesn't notice my strange behavior. Luckily Chris spots us and comes running over to me.

"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. He was such a golden retriever type of guy.

"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, watching me over the rim of the bottle top.

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

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

I feel a rush of relief as I hear that he wasn't with another girl. At least now I wasn't a complete idiot for showing up for a guy who could've been 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. He didn't say anything, he was just staring down at the bottle in his hands. I looked at his face, he was upset. It was weird to see him like this. I've never pictured Garrett to be upset like this.

"Are you okay?" I ask, concerned.

He shrugs, "I haven't been okay in years." He reveals, I could hear the pain in his voice making my heart ache.

He chugs down the rest of his beer and I could tell that he wasn't sober once I noticed the empty vodka bottle sitting on his nightstand.

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

"For who?" I question.

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.

"You shouldn't be around me, Taylor." He whispers.

I frown.

"Why not?" I as.

"Because... I can't please you or anyone for that matter." He slurs.

"That's not true."

He shakes his head, "I'm fucked up, Taylor. My whole life is fucked up. If you knew the truth, you wouldn't be sitting here with me right now."

I look at him, confused by his words. I didn't know what he meant.

I watch as he yawns and rubs his hand over his face.

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

"Mhdsuefklds." He slurs.

I let out a small laugh as I helped him lay back in the bed.

I take the beer bottle and place it on the nightstand with the empty vodka bottle.

I look at him and pull the cover over him.

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

"I don't have anything to lose or prove. I don't know why I'm here." He mutters before he falls asleep.

I look at him and feel my heart break as I hear him say that. Why would he say something like that? He had so much going for him, he couldn't just throw it all away.

I sigh and go to his bathroom and grab the trash can. I bring it back and place it next to his bed for him just in case he throws up.

I look down at him again, my mind filled with so many questions and thoughts. I brush his hair out of his face and study his face. I didn't see him the same way anymore, I didn't see the same Garrett I first met that day at The Grill.

I go to walk away before I feel his hand catch mine, I look back at him and see him still lying there with his eyes closed, "Don't go. I don't want to be alone." He tells me.

"Okay, Garrett." I say before I walk over to the other side of the bed.

I get in and grab my phone out of my pocket. I text Lily and tell her that I was gonna be here late until the party ends because Garrett was wasted. She didn't respond so I figured her 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.