# Chapter 24: The Trust Exercise
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 24 of "The Deal: Off Campus." This is the chapter where Hannah and Garrett finally arrive at the bedroom door—but what waits inside is not just heat. It is fear, memory, laughter, and one of the most vulnerable trust exercises either of them has ever attempted.
Hannah spends the drive to Garrett's house fighting nausea. She almost throws up three times, but she chokes it back because she is driving Tracy's car, and she refuses to pay to have vomit scrubbed out of the upholstery. Her shift at Della's and her rehearsal with Cass are blurs. Every conscious thought has narrowed to tonight. She is nervous—really nervous—but beneath the nerves is excitement. She is wearing matching black lace beneath her waitressing uniform, her skin smooth and ready to be touched.
When she walks into Garrett's house, it is silent. She wonders if he told his roommates to disappear. Then she hopes he didn't, because that would be like holding up a neon sign announcing what they are about to do. In his room, Garrett is freshly showered, clean-shaven, and waiting. Hannah immediately starts rambling, asking how he wants to do this, offering to take her clothes off, then warning him not to ask for a striptease because she is too nervous to dance even remotely sexy. Garrett bursts out laughing. "You have no idea how to set a mood, do you, Wellsy?" She moans miserably and admits she is freaking out.
But Garrett doesn't push. He cups her chin, tells her to relax, and says he doesn't expect a striptease—at least not tonight. Then he tosses her the same T-shirt she slept in the night before and tells her to change out of her Grease costume while he gets the next episode ready. Hannah is incredulous. He wants to watch TV? But then she realizes what he is doing. He is trying to put her at ease. And it works.
They settle on the bed, his arm around her, his familiar scent relaxing her. They watch the show, but Hannah is only half paying attention. Garrett rubs her shoulder, kisses her neck, rests a hand on her bare thigh. Arousal begins deep in her core and spreads outward. When their mouths meet, the kiss is slow, skillful, teasing, and absolutely incredible. He asks if he is going too fast. She tells him no. Keep going.
His hands move over her, under her shirt, between her legs. She whimpers when he touches her over her panties, then gasps when he moves the fabric aside and presses directly against her clit. She feels wet, aching, close to something she has never quite reached before. Then she notices how hard he is and reaches for him. Her hand finds his erection, and she blurts out a joke about a "man monster" and her "lady canal." Garrett laughs so hard he cries. The mood shatters—and then, because they are Garrett and Hannah, it rebuilds.
But when she gets close again, she opens her eyes and sees him watching her. The past crashes in. She remembers Aaron. The rape. The paralysis. The wild eyes. The weight. The inability to scream. Her body goes cold and stiff. Garrett feels the change and stops. He says this isn't working. She apologizes, but he doesn't blame her. He says she doesn't trust him enough to fully let go. Sex, he tells her, is about trust. Even a hookup requires opening yourself up to a vulnerable place, and nothing is more vulnerable than coming. He admits he researched it because he has never slept with someone who has been through what she has. He asks if she was a virgin. She nods.
Then he proposes something that makes her want to die of embarrassment: instead of him giving her an orgasm, she should give herself one in front of him—and he will do the same in front of her. It will be an exercise in trust. She jokes about hanging herself from mortification, but Garrett doesn't back down. He gets off the bed, peels off his shirt, then his pants. She sees him fully, and her body tingles, but more importantly, she sees no cruelty in his eyes. Only desire and encouragement. He is not Aaron. He tells her to take off her shirt. She smiles despite herself. He coaxes her: show me what you do when you're alone, and I'll show you. He wraps his hand around himself. And Hannah, trembling, pulls her T-shirt over her head. Then she takes off her bra.
The chapter ends with Hannah bare from the waist up, standing at the edge of a new kind of intimacy—one built not on performance, but on trust.
Reader's Impressions & Star Rating:
This chapter is a beautiful turning point. It balances heat with emotional realism, and it refuses to let Hannah's trauma disappear just because she wants to be close to Garrett. Garrett's laughter is a lifeline, and his patience is deeply attractive. The "man monster" and "lady canal" jokes could have ruined the mood, but instead they reveal how safe Hannah feels with him. The chapter turns a sex scene into a lesson about vulnerability, and it handles Hannah's memories of assault with care. I felt her fear, her shame, and her small spark of courage. Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.9 / 5 Stars.
Next Chapter Prediction:
Next chapter, I predict Hannah will struggle but eventually follow Garrett's lead. She will touch herself while he watches, and he will keep his promise, making himself vulnerable too. This will be a breakthrough—maybe not full intercourse yet, but her first orgasm with a partner's presence, or at least a moment where she doesn't shut down. Garrett will prove he can be her safe place, and their relationship will shift from fake-dating chemistry into real intimacy. There may still be awkwardness and laughter, but that is exactly what makes them work.
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