Fighting To Stay by P. J. Belden

you did that. That girl is my world, sight unseen.”
    “I know and you are hers,” I say as I walk over to the side table and grab his phone. “I love you brother. Remember to take it easy. Hay won’t let me take you to my house so it looks like you’re going to hers. She said I’ve got too much on my plate right now,” I roll my eyes.
    “She’s right. Now shut up and let me call my woman,” he smiles at me.
    Kissing him on the forehead, I tell him I’m going to go check on where Garrett is. It wasn’t until Josh mentioned Pollyanna that I realized how much time has passed and he still wasn’t back yet. Checking at the nurses’ station, they hadn’t seen him come back up. Heading downstairs, I check the front waiting area and the parking lot, his truck wasn’t where we parked earlier.
    Sitting down on a nearby chair, I drop my head to my hands and let the tears fall. He’s gone. Garrett must have realized what it’d be like dating me. He couldn’t handle the pain that would be my life. My heart was breaking with the loss of losing him so soon. Never fully knowing what it was like to be loved so completely as he’d shown me the past couple of days.
    “Donna? What are you doing down here? Is Josh okay?”
    My head snaps up and I lock eyes with my heart. Jumping up, I run to him, throwing my arms around him. He stumbles backwards a little bit and lets out a huff of breath as he catches me. The rustling of a bag fills my ears a moment before both his arms wrap around me tightly.
    We stand there for a long moment. Garrett just holds me as I cry into his neck. Thinking that he left, really makes me see that there was no hiding from this, Garrett owns me in a way that I never thought imaginable.
    “Hey,” he pulls back, brushing the hair from my face. “What’s wrong?”
    Holding his gaze steadily, I take a deep breath. “I love you, Garrett. I know I shouldn’t right now, but I do. You deserve someone better than me, someone whose life is not up in the air. But I can’t let you go,” my voice breaks off in a sob. “I love you, Garrett.”
    His hands quickly push into my hair and he’s kissing me like there’s no tomorrow. My heart races as a tingling sensation runs through my body. His tongue pushes into my mouth for a brief moment our teeth connect. It is hunger and lust unlike I’ve ever felt before and I’m loving it.
    “Geez!” We jerk apart. “Get a room guys,” Hailey huffs as she grabs the bag off the floor next to Garrett and starts toward the elevator.
    We look at each other. “Wow,” we say in unison.
    Blushing brightly, I look down as I head back into the elevator with my sister. Garrett follows wordlessly behind me. Once we climb on the elevator, Hailey steps back off.
    “I think y’all need these few minutes alone,” she smirks as the doors close.
    The elevator floors tick past and soon we arrive on my brother’s floor. Walking out, we start down the hall to my brother’s room when Garrett suddenly pulls me into an empty room of some sort. Shutting the door, I hear the lock click into place. Turning around, he practically stalks toward me.
    “Did you mean it?” His voice is deep and raspy.
    Swallowing hard, I try to keep from backing up. “I… I did.”
    “Say it again,” he growls.
    “Uh-huh,” I smirk, biting my lip.
    “Say it,” he demands again.
    Playfully stepping back, trying not to giggle, until my back hits the wall, I gasp. Unable to speak, I shake my head keeping my eyes on his. His hands rest on my waist as he pulls me into him. Garrett vigorously claims my mouth filled with lust. Moving his hands from my waist to my face, he leans into me, pressing me against the wall.
    Grabbing his butt in my hands, I pull him tighter against me. Lifting my leg up to his waist, much needed friction greets me as I grind against him. His growl vibrates through me before pooling between my legs.
    Breaking from the kiss, he slowly and carefully removes my shirt taking