# Chapter 29: The Truth Beneath the Masks
Hello everyone, it's me again! How are you all doing? Today I will continue to walk with you and review Chapter 29 of "The Deal: Off Campus." This is the chapter where the masks come off, where two people who have been circling each other finally stand in the raw, painful truth of their pasts. It is tender, devastating, and surprisingly hopeful all at once. So grab a cozy blanket, because we are about to step into one of the most intimate chapters of Garrett and Hannah's story.
We open with Garrett waiting for Hannah, half expecting her to show up in some ridiculous Halloween costume and drag him to a dorm party. But when she walks in, she is just Hannah. Regular, gorgeous, impossible-to-ignore Hannah. Low ponytail, bangs swept to one side, loose red sweater, black yoga pants, and neon pink socks. Garrett's body reacts instantly, but more than that, his heart seems to recognize her. He kisses her cheek, and it feels natural. She doesn't pull away, doesn't tease him for being boyfriend-like. That small absence of resistance says more than words ever could.
She asks why he skipped the party. He jokes that he kept picturing her crying alone, and pity won. She fires back that she wasn't crying. He points to the television, where a dull milk documentary is playing. He claims he was learning about pasteurization. Hannah stares at him, incredulous. Then he admits the truth: the remote batteries died, he was too lazy to get up, and before cow udders took over the screen, he had been watching an amazing Civil War miniseries. They fall into easy banter about history, about what is interesting and what is not. She rests her head on his shoulder, and Garrett plays with a loose strand of her hair. It is soft, domestic, and quietly perfect.
Then Hannah confesses that her mom bummed her out that morning. Her parents might not be able to leave Ransom for Christmas either. Garrett doesn't know what Ransom is. She tells him it is where she is from. Ransom, Indiana. Her own personal hellhole. Garrett's mood shifts immediately. He asks if it is because of the rape. Hannah gently points out that he can say the word. It is not contagious. But Garrett admits he doesn't like saying it because it makes it real, and he cannot stomach the thought that it happened to her. Hannah, with painful honesty, says it did happen. He cannot pretend otherwise.
Then she explains the money. She is at Briar on a full scholarship and gets financial aid. Her family is broke. Garrett jokes that she should get out if she was only with him for money, but the humor fades fast. He tells her he doesn't care how much money her family has. She calls him a millionaire. He stiffens and corrects her: his father is the millionaire. There is a difference.
Hannah's voice grows heavy as she admits her parents are buried in debt. And then comes the confession that cuts deepest: she believes it is her fault. Her parents had to take out a second mortgage to pay her legal fees after the case against Aaron. Garrett immediately says he hopes Aaron is in jail. But Hannah tells him the truth. Aaron didn't go to jail. When she got home that night, her parents knew something terrible had happened. They called the police and took her to the hospital. She had a rape kit done. She was interviewed, interrogated, and humiliated. Her mother told her to be brave and tell them everything so Aaron could never do it to anyone else. Aaron was arrested, then released on bail. He came back to school even though he was supposed to stay a hundred meters away from her. His mother was the mayor of Ransom. His father was the parish leader. His family practically ran the town.
There were preliminary hearings and depositions. Hannah had to sit across from Aaron in court and look at his smug face. After about a month, the judge decided there wasn't sufficient evidence to take it to trial and dismissed the case. The medical exam showed blood and tearing, but because Hannah had been a virgin, Aaron's lawyer claimed losing her virginity could have caused it. It became Aaron's word against hers. Actually, it was her word against his and three of his friends, who lied under oath and said she willingly took drugs and had been throwing herself at Aaron for months. They painted her as a slut, a liar, a girl who framed him. The town turned against her and her parents. She had to be home-schooled for the rest of the semester. Then Aaron's parents sued her family for emotional distress and slander. The judge didn't give them everything, but he ordered Hannah's parents to pay Aaron's family's legal fees. That meant two sets of legal fees. Their lawyer charged two thousand dollars a day, and he was the cheap one. Her parents had to get a second mortgage and take out a loan. They are trapped in Ransom because of her.
Her dad works at a lumberyard in the next town over. They cannot sell the house without losing money. They cannot afford to visit her. And Hannah cannot go back. She has returned only once, and during that visit, she and her dad ran into two of the fathers of Aaron's friends. One of them made a cruel comment, calling her a slut who likes to get nailed. Her dad snapped and smashed the man's face before the fight was broken up. A deputy happened to be walking by and arrested her dad for assault. The charges were later dropped when the hardware store owner said her dad was provoked. But Hannah hasn't been back since. She is afraid that if she sees Aaron again, she might kill him for what he did to her family.
Garrett is flooded with rage, but he doesn't run. He understands. He knows what it is like to hate someone that much, to run away because you are scared of what you might do if you see that person's face. Then he gives Hannah something no one else has ever been given: his own truth. The first time his father hit him was on Halloween. He was twelve, a year after his mom died. He came home from trick-or-treating. He doesn't remember what happened, what was said, what went wrong. All he remembers is the black eye, the broken nose, and the shock that his father had actually laid a hand on him. After that, it happened regularly. His father never broke bones because he needed Garrett able to play hockey. It went on for three or four years, until Garrett got big enough to fight back. His mother lived through it for fifteen years. When she died of lung cancer, Garrett felt relief, because it meant she didn't have to suffer anymore. He explains that his father is a narcissist, a monster who pretends to be a family man and hockey star for the world. He doesn't drink. He doesn't have substance problems. He is just sick, a man who solves problems with his fists and sees his wife and son as trophies. Garrett has never told anyone this before. Not Logan, not Tuck, not even Birdie. But he trusts Hannah. And as the confession leaves him, it feels like a weight has been lifted.
Hannah doesn't pity him. She strokes his jaw and tells him something her therapist used to say: the best way to forget a bad memory is to replace it with a good one. Garrett thinks that is easier said than done, but Hannah is already moving. She climbs into his lap. The kiss is soft and sweet. Then she kneels in front of him, and the heat between them becomes impossible to ignore. Garrett stops her before things go too far, though, because his roommates could come home from the party at any moment. He takes her hand and leads her upstairs.
In Hannah's point of view, the bedroom is dark. Garrett locks the door. He strips so fast it makes her laugh. Then he helps her out of her clothes, kissing her skin as he goes. What follows is intense and intimate, a blur of hands and lips and whispered needs. Garrett carries her to the bed as if she weighs nothing. They lie facing each other, naked and laughing, and then he says something completely unexpected: he thought her name started with an M. For almost two months, he didn't even know her name. He sounds genuinely upset about it, and Hannah kisses him and tells him it doesn't matter now. He knows her now. And he proves it. He knows how she moans. He knows how her hips move. He knows he likes her. He really, really likes her.
After that, everything becomes a rush of pleasure and connection. Garrett reaches for a condom, but instead of taking control, he lies back and hands Hannah the reins. She climbs onto him, and they move together in a rhythm that is desperate and new. Garrett, trying to keep himself from losing control too soon, asks her about her grandmother. Hannah, breathless, tells him about Sylvia in Florida. The absurdity of the conversation makes her want to laugh, but the pressure and pleasure are too overwhelming. When her orgasm hits, it catches her by surprise. Garrett follows soon after, his body tightening beneath her. Then they lie together, Garrett spooning her, his arm wrapped around her waist, his lips at her neck. Hannah thinks she has never been more content.
Garrett asks her to stay over. She can't. She has to return Tracy's car. He offers to tell Tracy it was stolen and vouch for her. She laughs and declines. He jokes about her sweet ass, and they settle into a warm silence. Then he asks if she works Friday night. She doesn't. He hesitates, then invites her to his game against Harvard. Hannah hesitates too. She feels like she is getting in over her head. She has told him things no one else knows, and she suspects his confession about his father isn't something many people know either. She is terrified of reading too much into it, of making it real. But Garrett offers her his Jeep, tells her to bring Allie, and admits that away games suck because nobody ever cheers for them. Hannah swallows the lump in her throat and agrees. Then she feels his obvious erection against her, laughs, and asks, "Round two?" His answer is immediate and enthusiastic.
This chapter is a turning point. It is not just about attraction anymore. It is about trust, about two people choosing to show each other the ugliest parts of their lives and finding acceptance instead of judgment. Garrett and Hannah stop being just a deal, just a tutor and a hockey player. They become something real, something fragile, something worth fighting for.
Reader's Impressions & Star Rating:
I absolutely loved this chapter. It hurt to read, but in the best way. Hannah's story about Aaron and the town that failed her made my blood boil. The injustice of it all, the way his family's power crushed hers, the way she was blamed for her own assault, is devastating. And then Garrett's confession about his father broke my heart all over again. The fact that he has never told anyone, not even his closest friends, but he tells Hannah, shows how much he trusts her. Their intimacy in this chapter isn't just physical. It is emotional. It is two wounded people deciding they can be safe with each other. The banter about the milk documentary and the grandmother distraction added lightness without undermining the seriousness. It felt real. It felt human. And that final invitation to the Harvard game feels like the beginning of something bigger, even if Hannah is scared. I am scared for them too, but in the best way.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5.0 / 5 Stars
Next Chapter Prediction:
I predict the next chapter will take us to the Harvard game. Hannah will show up with Allie, maybe feeling out of place among the hockey crowd, but she will watch Garrett play with new eyes. The game will be intense, and Garrett will be desperate to win, especially because it is Harvard. But I also suspect something painful will happen off the ice. Maybe Garrett's father appears. Maybe Garrett sees him in the stands or after the game, and all those old wounds reopen. Hannah will have to decide whether to run from the intensity of his life or stand beside him. There may be a confrontation that forces Garrett to face his past in public, and Hannah to prove that she is not going anywhere. Either way, the emotional stakes are about to rise, and their relationship is heading toward a moment that will either break them or bind them tighter.
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