The Bet (Book 1 in The Deception Series)

Chapter 32: bears and silence

Garrett

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"Iris"- The Goo Goo Dolls

I watch as Taylor chugs down her iced coffee as we walk around the outside mall. It was freezing but here she was, chugging down her iced coffee. I laugh as I watch her focus on finishing her drink.

"You're gonna choke." I tell her.

She shakes her head and looks at me, "I wanna finish it so I don't have to hold it. It's making my hands even more cold."

"Then why'd you get an iced drink?" I ask her.

"Because I love iced coffee. And I always burn my tongue when I drink hot coffee." She explains.

I smile and shake my head before taking her iced coffee and holding it for her to drink. She smiles at me, "Thank you."

"Your welcome, baby." I say as I watch her drink from the cup I was holding.

We continued to walk around and eventually she finished her drink and I tossed it away for her. I took the opportunity of my free hand and put it over her shoulder, pulling her close to me. I just wanted to feel her touch. I was addicted to it. It was like a drug.

"Oh my god! Build-A-Bear!" She cheers as she points to the store across the street.

I smile, "Wanna go?"

She looks at me, her eyes filled with joy, "Really?" She asks.

"Come on." I say as I take her hand and pull her to the store.

We crossed the street and ran inside the store and Taylor was the happiest girl ever. She was looking around at all the bears and the small acessiories. As I watched her, I thought about how I've never had a girl like this in my life before. Someone who I always had with me, it was strange. She was my person, my girl, my favorite person.

I knew the secret I was holding inside was bad. It was terrible. I told myself I would never tell her but keeping it from her was worse. I was going to tell her about the bet. I wanted her to hear it from me before she found out from anyone else.

"Can we get this?" I hear her voice, snapping me back into reality.

I look over and see her holding a deflated brown bear. She was smiling at me with so much joy, I wanted to fall onto one knee and ask her to spend the rest of her life with me. Maybe I could tell her once we got back to New Jersey.

"Yeah, sure. Come on. Let's record something to put in it." I say as I grab her hand and lead her to the recording machine.

I grab one of the white recorder boxes and hit the record button, "Penis." I laugh.

Taylor shakes her head before leaning close to the speaker, "Titties." She says.

I chuckle, "Poo Poo."

She laughs at me, making me smile. I loved her laugh so much.

"Dodo." She laughs.

I look at her frown, "What's dodo?"

"Doesn't it mean poo?" She asks.

I shrug before I start laughing at our stupidity. We felt so right, everything felt like it was falling in place for me.

"Stripper ass." I say into the recording.

"What?" Taylor laughs.

"You have a stripper ass." I tell her.

"Oh my god." She groans.

"My girlfriend has a stripper's ass." I say into the recording.

"Oh god, enough!" She laughs as she takes the recorder and turns it off.