It was supposed to be simple.

You were there because of your brother. Living in the house with him and Garrett. That’s all. Just one more girl in the house. Just another Briar student. Just another friend of the team.

But Garrett Graham never looked at you as “just one more thing”.

And you... pretended you didn’t look either. That the heart didn’t speed up when I heard his heavy steps in the hallway at night. That I didn’t dream of the way he looked at you when I thought you didn’t see him.

That night, you went to the kitchen to get water, but you found him there, leaning against the counter, sweaty from the gym, only in low shorts, hot skin and even more eyes.

“Insomnia?” - he asked, his voice low, hoarse, almost a whisper.

You shrugged, but you knew it was more than that. It was him. It was always him.

“You too.”

Garrett approached slowly, as if he didn’t want to scare you. As if he knew that any false move would break that.

“You know I won’t be able to pretend anymore” - he whispered. - “That I don’t think about you when I’m alone. That I can’t imagine my name... written on your thigh. Here...”

He put two fingers on his thigh, very high, to the point of chilling his spine.

“As if you were mine. Even if it’s only in my head.”

You held the air, your eyes filling with something you could no longer control.

“Garrett...”

“And if I said that the way I hold you is the closest I’ve ever come to believing in something sacred?”

You closed your eyes.

“They were going to crucify us for that” - you whispered.

He touched your face so carefully, as if he was afraid of breaking you.

“They’re going anyway. So why not?”

Silence.

His body leaning against his, his heart racing. The whole world out there waiting for you to be the perfect girl, demure, friend of your brother. But no one knew how much Garrett Graham haunted his thoughts. As each part of him said he was wrong - but he felt so right.

“I choose you and me” - you said, looking into his eyes. - “Religiously.”

And then he kissed you. And there was nothing more sacred in the world.