Chapter Seven
Kiersten waited in the car for Garrett and Mike to end their “man talk.”
No girls allowed, my ass
. She clenched the steering wheel tightly, sighing with impatience. Chris was old enough to be left home alone for a little bit, but he was also old enough to not be left alone for too long. Teenagers got into trouble. She remembered that all too well. Twelve years ago, she’d been one of the biggest troublemakers there was.
But then Sue had died, and Chris had needed a mom…and everything had changed.
And now she was changing again. Morphing into something she didn’t want to be. She hadn’t planned on stopping by here, but when Garrett hadn’t answered his phone she drove to the gym without really thinking it through. Expecting to find him boozing it up with some secretary slut or something. Like Pete.
Was she being too girlfriend-ish in even caring? By checking on him like this? Should she back off? Probably yes to all of those questions. Especially the last one. But she didn’t exactly know the proper etiquette for when she couldn’t get ahold of her baby’s father. Maybe that newspaper column “Miss Manners” that ran in the
Sunday Post
could tell her.
Until then…she had a kid to get home to.
She laid on the horn and motioned Garrett over. He said something to Mike, and then came jogging to her window. She rolled it down and he leaned in. His blue eyes were bright and wary. And he looked so damn handsome with his curls flopping about his head every which way. Every time he moved too close to her, it grew harder to resist touching him.
Which was all the more reason to keep her distance.
“What’s up?”
She fidgeted. “I need you to come over tonight. I want us to tell Chris about the baby together.”
“Okay.” He looked at her closely. “You could have just called.”
“I did.” She lifted her chin. “You didn’t answer, so I stopped by here on my way home from the store.”
“Shit, I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you pick up?” She gripped the wheel so tightly her hands ached. “Last time the man in my life didn’t pick up his phone, it was because he was busy picking up someone else. Namely, his secretary.”
His brows lowered. “I’m not him. I was just playing ball.”
“Well next time, keep your phone on you,” she said. “I need to know I can count on you.”
Even as she demanded this of him, she knew she was being unreasonable. He didn’t owe her a damn thing, least of all his complete attention. If he wanted to unplug after work, she had no reason to yell at him. None at all.
Yet her mouth just blurted the words out.
He eyed her. “I will. And you can count on me, Kiersten.”
“I hope so,” she said, her voice wooden.
But deep down, she knew he spoke the truth. Knew she could count on him not
to be the jerk Pete had been. She’d flipped out at him for daring to set his phone down to play a game of basketball with her
brother
. She had known where he was, yet she still came here expecting to find him missing.
Expecting him to let her down like Pete had. Like life had.
She had to pull herself together.
He scrubbed his hands down his face. “I’ll be more careful with my phone from now on. It might have been an emergency. I’m not used to other people needing me 24/7 yet.”
Was he already feeling the weight of it on his shoulders? Was he already regretting moving in with her? Wanting to be with her? She went back to gripping the steering wheel, her heart twisting. “Do you want to back out? It’s not too late.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “No. I. Do. Not.”
A strange surge of relief shot through her. Though she hadn’t been counting on having him around in the beginning, she couldn’t picture doing this alone anymore. She…needed him. How odd it felt to admit that to herself. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure.”
“I’m going to say this again and again until you believe me. I am not leaving you.” He leaned in, his nose touching hers, and laid his hand on her stomach. “No matter how much we fight, or how many times I forget my phone in my bag, or how tough things get—and they will get tough, believe me—I’ll be here by your side. I’m not pretending it will be easy, but I’m not leaving or running. Got it?”
She swallowed her doubts and fears. He made her want to believe him. Maybe, in time, she could. If she tried really hard to stop comparing him to Pete…maybe she could learn to start over. God, she hoped so. “Okay.”
He looked at her for another second, the hard line of his jaw relaxing a little bit. “I’ll follow you back to your place in my truck.”
She licked her lips. “Not my place. Our place.”
“Right.” He blinked at her. “
Our
place,” he said softly, his voice washing over her like a gentle tide.
He pulled back out of her car, his hand brushing her breast
as he did so. She shivered and pressed her legs together. Why were they not touching each other again? Oh. Right. Rules.
She waved at Mike as he pulled out of the parking lot, and he held his hand up to his blond head in the “call me” signal. She shook her head and pointed to her watch.
Yeah
.
Maybe later
. That was a conversation she wasn’t exactly looking forward to. Instead, she picked up her phone and dialed Brianna. She might as well tell her before Mike could.
“Hello?” Brianna said.
“Hi, sis.”
Brianna laughed. “A visit one day, and a call the next? What’s the occasion?”
Kiersten flinched. There shouldn’t have to be an occasion for two days of contact in a row. “Well, I have some news.”
“Okay.”
“I…uh…” Kiersten tried to think of a good way to say it. A way to spin it in a good light that didn’t look like she’d messed up—but she came up dry. Like, Sahara Desert dry.
Brianna cleared her throat. “You’ve been quiet for a while. I’m getting nervous. What’s wrong? You’re not…sick or something, are you?”
“No. God, no.” She took a shaky breath. Time to just spit it out before Brianna thought she had cancer like Michael had. “Or at least, not for long. For about nine months.”
Dead silence. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
More silence. “Garrett?”
“Yep.” Kiersten held her breath. Now came the moment of truth. Would Brianna cry, yell, or be happy? “Say something.”
“Do you love him?”
Of course she would have to ask that. “We’re not together. We’re just going to live together and raise the baby as partners. That’s all.”
Brianna snorted. “You didn’t answer my question.”
Kiersten hesitated, turning left down her road. “All I know is we had one night together, and now I’m pregnant. And he’s ready to be here for me. For us.”
“He has feelings for you.” Brianna fidgeted with something that sounded like a chip bag. “You know that, right? Real feelings.”
Kiersten bit her lip. “He says he doesn’t anymore.”
“He can say it all he wants. But he cares about you. Just make sure…”
When Brianna didn’t finish, Kiersten prompted, “Yeah?”
“Don’t break his heart.”
Kiersten flinched. Even Brianna knew that they were doomed. Kiersten was no good for Garrett. Look what happened the last time she opened her heart to a man. Her fiancé slept with his secretary. No, Chris—and now her baby—were the only ones she could focus on. “I won’t. We’re keeping it platonic. No feelings involved.”
“That’s not possible.”
“It will be.”
Kiersten could practically hear Brianna rolling her eyes. “If you say so. But he likes you. And you don’t like him the same way.”
“I care about him,” she said, shifting in her seat.
“Those are two completely different things.”
Brianna said something to Thomas, something that sounded a lot like
bed
and
ten minutes
, and she heard Thomas’s responding chuckle. A small ping of jealousy shot through Kiersten. She wished that she could have that.
“How do you do it?”
Brianna didn’t even ask her what she meant. “Believe it or not, there are happy romantic relationships in this world. I’ve had two.” She sighed. “Thomas doesn’t just keep me satisfied in life. He makes me smile when I’m sad. He makes me laugh when I want to scream. And he’s there for me no matter what. I mean, I broke his nose the night he proposed to me—and he still wanted to marry me. That’s love.”
“That’s love,” Kiersten echoed. She choked on a laugh. She knew that story all too well. “Sometimes, late at night, I think I kind of want that. But then morning comes, and I remember why I don’t.”
Brianna made a small sound. “Maybe you already have it, minus the broken nose.”
“I doubt that.” Kiersten pulled into her driveway and looked in her rearview mirror. Garrett parked on the street and hopped out. She didn’t have any love in her life from anyone besides her family. If so…wouldn’t she know it? “Okay, I have to go.”
She could practically hear Brianna’s nod. “Promise me you’ll think about your feelings without fear? At least consider the possibility you might grow to love him someday?”
“I promise,” Kiersten whispered. “Bye.”
She hung up without waiting for a reply, and reached for the knob. Garrett beat her to it, opening the door and holding his hand out for her. “Who were you talking to?”
“Brianna.”
He nodded. “She knows?”
“She does.”
“And?”
“She took it well.” Kiersten slid her hand into his and stood. His fingers swept over hers gently, and she wanted to continue to hold his hand. Didn’t want to let go. But she slid her hand free and shoved it in her pocket. She tipped her head toward the house. “Now we just have to tell him.”
“Right.” He dragged his hand through his hair. For a second, he didn’t look as confident as he’d been the past week. He looked…scared. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” She led the way, making sure she kept her hands in her pockets so they didn’t touch him. It was that hard. “Let me do the talking initially. Then you can join in.”
“Okay.”
They went inside. The sound of the PlayStation filled the living room. “I hear you playing in there. Are you done with your homework?”
“Yeah.” The TV paused, and Chris flopped back on the couch. “It’s all on the table waiting to be checked.”
Garrett stepped in front of her, making himself visible. “Even your math homework?”
“Uh, yeah.” Chris looked at Kiersten with his lips pursed. “You brought my teacher home to check on me? I got my grade up to a B. Why are we having a parent/teacher meeting
here
?”
Kiersten laughed, but it sounded fake even to her ears. “No. It’s not a meeting. But we do need to talk.”
Chris eyed them both. “O…kay.”
“It’s nothing about school,” Garrett added, sitting down on the couch. He looked entirely uncomfortable and ready to run. “Relax a little bit, bud.”
Chris nodded, but still looked nervous. He’d seen Garrett at family events, and he’d even come to a few of Chris’s birthday parties before he’d become his coach. But not lately. Every time Garrett had come over, it had been after Chris went to bed. Or when Chris was gone. “What’s up, then?”
Kiersten took a deep breath. “You know Coach Garrett and I went to school together, and remained friends afterward. Right?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “In high school, but that was ages ago.”
Garrett chuckled. “Easy there, bud. I’m not
that
old.”
“Why are we talking about this with Mr. Kelly?” He gave him a weird look. “Or should I call you Coach Garrett instead?”
“Call him Garrett.”
“Garrett?” Chris looked between them with wide eyes. “Why?”
Kiersten cleared her throat. “Well…”
Chris paled. “Please tell me you’re not dating. That would be gross. What would my friends say?”
“No,” Kiersten said.
“Yes,” Garrett said.
They both froze and looked at the other. Crap. They were screwing this whole thing up, and Chris’s face was turning red. “It’s complicated,” Kiersten finally said.
Chris leaned forward, his eyes on Kiersten. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This isn’t happening.”
Garrett white-knuckled his knees. “Nope. Not kidding. And there’s more.”
“More?” Chris turned on Garrett, his whole body tense. “So you’re not dating, but you are…and I’m supposed to call you Garrett now? And there’s still
more
?”
Kiersten flinched and answered for Garrett. He was way out of his league right now, and she knew it. “Right.”
Chris raised his brows. He looked like his mother when he did that. She rubbed her chest where the hollow ache always seemed to be when she thought of Sue. “Okay. What is it?”
When Kiersten froze up again, Garrett sighed. “Look, bud. You’re mom’s having a baby, and I’m moving in.”
Kiersten gasped. He couldn’t just blurt out something like that without warning. It was huge news. You had to work up to it. Make a few tries before you found the perfect way to say those words. Chris could get upset and—
Chris shrugged. “Okay.”
“
Okay
?” Kiersten rubbed her eyes. “That’s it? Okay?”
“What did you expect?” Chris lurched to his feet. “It’s not like you can take away what you did. You slept with my freaking coach, and now I’m going to be a big brother. Hey, my friends will laugh at me and accuse me of getting played in the game because of Garrett, but whatever. As long as you’re happy.”
Kiersten winced. Yeah. He wasn’t okay. “Don’t be mad. It wasn’t planned. It just kind of happened.”
“Really?” He clenched his fists, looking far too old for his years. “I took sex ed. I know how it happened, and it takes two to get jiggy. It’s not an
accident
, so don’t say it was.”
Garrett stood up, too. “Sometimes, adults do things they don’t think through all the way. Just like kids.”
“Yeah, well.” Chris spun on him, his arms akimbo. “I wish you two would have thought this one through. And what it meant to
me
.”