Page 72 of Silver Spoon Falls, Vol. I

FIFTY

GARRETT

I'm waiting for Ciara on the porch when her friend pulls into the driveway ten minutes after one in the morning. She looks exhausted as she climbs from the car, calling her thanks to her coworker, who makes a point to narrow her eyes at me through the windshield as if to say she's watching me.

I lift my hand in a wave of acknowledgment. Ciara is safe with me. She'll always be safe with me.

"I'm so sorry I'm so late," she says, hurrying up the driveway toward me as her friend backs out and drives off. "Leone made me stay late to make up for the time I was outside talking to you, and then a big group of bikers came in and he wouldn't let me go."

"Prick," I mutter. Leone Bellotti is a fucking asshole.

I'm still pissed that he's taking their tips every night.

I've already been on the phone with Dillon about that bullshit.

He's dropping a dime with the labor board.

Unless Leone can cough up a whole helluva lot of cash to pay back everything he's taken over the years, his bar will crash and burn soon.

I'm not sorry about it. I'll do whatever it takes to get Ciara out of there.

"Thank you so much for watching Todd for me." She tips her face back to look up at me when she reaches the top step. Her pink cheeks and shimmery eyeshadow give her an ethereal, otherworldly glow under the porch lights.

Even after working in that hellhole all night, she still smells like tart cherries. I bite back a groan, fighting the urge to take a step toward her to bury my face in her hair. My dick reacts to her nearness, though, turning to steel in my pants.

"He wasn't any trouble," I rasp, wrapping my hand around the porch rail as if that'll keep me from dragging her into my arms. I've been fantasizing about this girl for the last year, obsessing over her, driving myself crazy with thoughts of her.

Now she's on my doorstep, so close I can touch her…

and her little brother is passed out on my couch.

"He stole my car and wrecked it. I'd say he was plenty trouble," she snorts, and then her eyes well with tears.

Shit.

"Hey." I pull her into my arms to comfort her. "It's okay, sweet Cherry. He's okay."

"I'm failing him," she mumbles through a choked sob.

"You aren't failing him," I growl, rubbing her back. What the fuck? She's doing an amazing job with him. Every one of his teachers is impressed with how well she's held it together for him. "You're doing fucking phenomenal, Ciara. He made a stupid decision, that's all."

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't be crying on your shoulder. You've done more than enough already." She sniffles and pulls back, dabbing at her eyes. "The last thing you need is me crying all over you."

"Hey." I tilt her head up until her eyes meet mine. "Holding you isn't a hardship on my part, Ciara. Don't ever think it is."

"I…" She trails off, her pretty eyes flickering across my face. Her lips part, confusion overtaking her expression.

Yeah, baby. You see it now, don't you? How fucking gone I am over you? I've tried to hide it. I've tried to fight it. I don't know what the hell I'm fighting for anymore.

"Coach Marsh, I…"

"Garrett."

"Garrett," she whispers, laying her hand flat against my chest. She sways toward me as if in a trance.

I groan, wrapping a hand around her hip.

She's so thick, so curvy. I tug her toward me, caught up in her spell.

Entranced with the overwhelming urge to taste her perfect lips just once.

I need to know if they're as soft as I imagine they are.

If she tastes as sweet as I dream she does.

If she moans as quietly as I think she will.

She clutches a handful of my shirt, drawing me closer.

"Coach?" Todd calls from inside the house.

Ciara jumps out of my arms as if I burned her.

"Fuck," I growl, letting her go. Now isn't the time or place for any of this. She just cried on my shoulder. Kissing her right now would be damn near like taking advantage of her. I can't— won't —do that. I'm an asshole for being tempted. And yet I am tempted.

She's like a drug to me, powerful and potent. Five minutes in her presence, and I forget everything but how badly I want her. Nothing else matters nearly as much as that. Not my job, not the boys counting on me, nothing.

Maybe Cash was right today. I don't need to find a way to date her. I need to find a way to marry her. Pronto.

"Let's get inside and talk, Cherry," I murmur, striding to the door to hold it open for her. "I made dinner if you're hungry."

"Oh, you didn't have to do that." She latches onto the return to normalcy with sheer gratitude in her voice.

"You’ve gotta eat, and I wouldn't trust anything coming out of Leone's kitchen."

She smiles as she ducks under my arm and heads into the house.

"Trust me, I don't. I've seen the state of that kitchen.

I'd prefer not to die of food poisoning.

" Her gaze lands on her brother, who is standing at the entrance to the hallway, his hair ruffled from sleep.

"You are in so much trouble, Todd Alexander Marsh. "

Todd instantly comes wide awake. His eyes pop open wide.

He hunches his shoulders, his expression falling.

He and Ciara look just enough alike to make it obvious they're siblings.

They share the same green eyes, the same nose.

But Todd is dark whereas Ciara's light. I'm guessing he takes after one parent, and she takes after the other.

"You stole my car and wrecked it," she growls, stomping forward to pull him into a fierce hug. "You're lucky you didn't kill yourself or someone else."

"I know," he whispers. "I'm sorry. I tried to talk Grady and Lincoln out of it, but they kept riding my ass, saying I was a little bitch. I just wanted to shut them up."

"You aren't hanging out with them again." Ciara steps back, hitting him with a no-nonsense look. "I don't care if they are the coolest guys on the team or if they're the most popular kids in the school. I will boil you alive if I even hear that you're hanging out with them again."

"I don't think that'll be a problem."

Ciara glances back at me.

"He can kiss his dreams of a social life goodbye," I say, eyeing Todd. "Until he pays off the MC, he'll be working for them nights and weekends. And once he's done working off his debt to them, he gets to work off his debt to me."

"What debt to you?" Ciara demands, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"The repairs to your car," I murmur gently. "I asked the shop to bill me for the repairs."

Her eyes widen. She stands stock still for a minute and then turns to look at Todd. "Can you go wait in the kitchen, please?"

"Yep." Todd walks backward out of the room as if he'd rather be anywhere but here right now. Before he disappears, he sends me a look that screams I fucked up.

"I'd like to speak to you outside, please," Ciara growls at me.

"We can talk here, Cherry."

"Fine. This isn't what we discussed at the bar, Garrett," she says, exasperated. "We agreed to discuss the situation."

"You're right, but you have enough on your plate right now. I know the owner of the shop in town. He'll discount the work for me. Once Todd finishes with the MC, he'll work off the cost of the repairs by helping me out during the off-season."

"Helping you how?"

"Basketball. Since he doesn't play, he'll help manage the team, run practices, clean the locker rooms, do whatever I need doing.

" I lean against the wall, my arms crossed.

"We'll set a little cash aside for him each week to ensure he's earning while he's paying off his debt.

The rest can go toward repairs if that's what you really want. "

"It's what I want," she says without hesitation. "I don't need charity."

"Taking care of you isn't charity," I say softly. "It's an honor. Don't ever let yourself believe otherwise."

"It's my job to take care of myself and Todd." She stubbornly clings to the argument, refusing to relent. "I won't let him end up in foster care because I couldn't do it."

Well, shit. Is that why she works herself so fucking hard? She's afraid she's going to lose the only family she has left? She's afraid she'll let him down and he'll end up in foster care? I will never let that happen.

"Hell will freeze over before I let that happen," I growl, striding toward her.

She throws up a hand to halt me, taking a quick step back. "I appreciate that you care so much about him, but he's my responsibility, not yours."

I stop walking, staring at her. She has no idea, does she? Fuck, she doesn't. She thinks I'm doing all of this for Todd. Even after I almost kissed her on the porch, she has no idea how far I'd go for her.

She will soon enough.

"How many people does Leone employ?" I ask.

"There are eleven of us. Why?"

"I've got a job lined up for you at the Park Avenue Bar," I explain quietly.

"Razor Montgomery is part owner. He's also my brother-in-law.

He'll pay double what Bellotti was paying, and you'll keep your tips.

He'll talk to anyone interested in finding more suitable employment.

If he can't use them, he'll help get them set up somewhere else. "

"What? Why ?" She gapes at me as if I've grown two heads.

"Because what Leone Bellotti is doing to all of you is illegal. The money he's taking from you every night is your money. And the way he treated you tonight is unacceptable. He's lucky I didn't plant my fist in his face."

She stares at me for a full five-count and then sighs. "I don't understand you at all, Garrett. Why do you care so much? Football is just a game, and he's just one kid."

I stalk toward her. This time, I don't stop when she takes a step back. I crowd her up against the far wall, getting up in her personal space. I want her to see me. I want her to feel me. And I want her to hear me.

I tip her head back, cupping her cheek to keep her eyes focused on me. She's so damn beautiful. Even exhausted, she's pretty enough to tempt a saint. I'm far from one of those.

I've been fucking my hand to memories of her for the last year.

"I'm not just doing it for Todd, Cherry. I'm doing it for you. You’re mine. You just don’t know it yet," I murmur, tipping my head down to brush my lips across hers.

I linger for a moment, just long enough to ensure she feels me, and then I back off.

"Come on, let me feed you, and then I'll get you home. "