Free Hidden Fire: Fire, Book 2: Red Hot Weekend by Jess Dee

me.”
    Jenna bit her lip. She wanted to talk to him. Didn’t want to zone out. But she didn’t know how to behave any differently. She wanted to break down that protective wall, but didn’t know how to put her fear of being hurt again aside.
    Instinct told her Garreth would never, ever hurt her. Experience had taught her anyone was capable of inflicting pain.
    “We’ve come too far for this, Jenn. You love me, you told me as much. Don’t pull away now.”
    She opened her mouth, tried to say something, anything. Nothing came out.
    “Talk to me,” Garreth insisted. “Stay with me. With us. ”
    She wanted to talk to him. So badly. Wanted him to know what she was going through. Jenna took a shuddery breath. “I-I’m scared.”
    He nodded. “I can see that. Tell me what you’re scared of so I can help you get past it.” He didn’t take his gaze off her.
    Tell him. Be honest. This is Garreth. You can say anything to him. “I’m scared of…you,” she whispered.
    Garreth blinked. “Me?”
    “You’ve seen so much of me…”
    “…And everything I’ve seen just makes me love you more.”
    God he was so nice, so genuine. But still— “You can hurt me.”
    Garreth’s eyes filled with pain. “I love you too much to hurt you. I respect and admire you too much to ever do that.”
    He did love her. And admire and respect her. She could see it all shining in his face. It reminded her of the way he’d held her hand one night when she’d cried during a sad movie. There’d been nothing sexually overt about his action. He hadn’t laughed at her silliness. He’d merely given her comfort when she needed it. Just like he’d done the morning she’d twisted her ankle while jogging with him. He’d carried her home. Carried her for more than a kilometer, and hadn’t complained once.
    God, she’d felt safe in his arms. Secure. Certain that no matter how much her foot ached, he wouldn’t allow her to suffer any further pain.
    Which made it difficult for Jenna to believe him capable of treachery of any sort now. Garreth simply wasn’t capable of hurting her. Emotionally or psychologically. “It’s not just you I’m scared of,” she confessed quietly. “I’m scared of me too.”
    “You?” He looked confused.
    Oh God, oh God, Oh God.
    Tell him. Be honest.
    No matter how humiliating it might be.
    “I don’t know what to do now.” Heat flooded her cheeks. “How to act.”
    “Don’t act,” Garreth shrugged. “Just be you.”
    She shook her head and frowned. Under any other circumstances she would have laughed at his logical response, but she was confessing too much about herself to feel humorous right now. “It’s not that simple,” she tried to explain. “I don’t know who me is anymore.”
    Even admitting this much embarrassed Jenna. She hated sharing her feelings. Didn’t know how. Hadn’t tried with anyone but Rachel and Jackson for years. But if she and Garreth were ever going to have a real relationship, she had no choice. She had to try with him too. “See, I’m so used to controlling my every emotion. So used to hiding every thought, every desire, it’s all I know how to do. I… I don’t know how to behave any differently. I’ve spent twelve years pretending I don’t feel things I do feel, and telling myself I don’t have the needs or desires I do have. It got me through the last year of high school, and it got me through the last twelve years of my life.”
    She closed her eyes, too inhibited to face him as she spoke so openly. So honestly. “Now you’re making me feel things and want things and desire things, and I can’t suppress it all. I, er, I don’t want to suppress it—but it’s the only way I know of behaving. My head is telling me to hide it. To pretend I don’t love you, to pretend I don’t want you. B-but I do. I love you and I want you.”
    “I love you too, Jenn.” His words and his tone were so lovely and warm it made her want to cry.
    “But loving me