Page 18 of Hard To Stay

Garrison wore a cocky smirk on his face and I could tell he knew he had already crawled under my skin. “Jesus, Morgan! It sounds like someone around here needs to get laid.” I felt my frown lines deepen. “Speaking of getting laid, how is Samantha, by the way?”

Lexi’s head snapped to mine. “Who’s Samantha?” She asked tilting her head to the side with her forehead wrinkled in confusion. Surprise was edged in her voice and not in a good way.

“Oh.” Gage exclaimed, barely being able to contain his eagerness. “Didn’t Brad tell you? Samantha’s his girlfriend.”

I slammed my beer on the counter and watched as the amber liquid bubbled out of the top of the bottle. I clenched my teeth and tried to regain my composure, but my words came out way more defensively than they should have. “No Garrison. Samantha is not my girlfriend.” My eyes cut to Lexi noticing her disappointment. We had resigned our relationship status to friends, but it was easy to tell that she was hurt. Things may have been casual between us up until now, but there was no denying that there was definitely more here than we wanted to admit to. And this conversation was not helping.

“Right.” Garrison snorted. “Well, what is she then? A fuck buddy?”

My hands automatically balled into fists as I lurched off the bar stool I was sitting on. I barely got my ass off the seat when I felt the force of Lucas’ meaty paw grab my shoulder. Garrison’s last comment was meant to start a fight, and we both knew it. Garrison and I had bad blood between us and he would like nothing better than to have me throw the first punch. He was goading me and I had clearly taken the bait.

“You know what, Gage? You really are a classic asshole. But that’s no surprise to the rest of us.” I tried to take the moral high road and calmly insult him without putting my complete and utter rage on full display. He was proud that he angered me, but it was clear he understood how inappropriate his comment really was. I was beginning to think that maybe his arrogance was just a mask that he wore to hide what a dipshit he actually was.

Breaking the ice, Lucas cut in with a warning tone directed towards Garrison. “I’m really not sure why you’re trying to start shit, but Brad and Samantha haven’t been an item for a while now, they broke up.”

Garrison took a sip of his drink, seeming unfazed by the rebuke he just received. “Not according to her, they haven’t.”

What was it with this guy? He must either have a death wish or he was banking on the idea that I wouldn’t confront him in front of Lexi. I was known to be calm, cool and collected under pressure. It pissed me off to no end that Garrison had calculated my reaction correctly.

“I’m confused, Brad.” Lexi said. “Why am I just hearing out about this ‘Samantha’ girl now? How come you never told me you were seeing someone?”

“I never told you, because there’s nothing to tell.” I snapped defensively, instantly regretting my tone. The last thing I wanted her to do was to doubt me in any way, shape or form. It didn’t matter what kind of bullshit rationalization I gave myself. I couldn’t deny that I had strong feelings for the woman.

“I guess I’m just surprised, is all. I thought we were friends. We’ve spent so much time together over the last couple weeks. You never mentioned you were seeing someone.” It was clear to see by the hurt look in her eyes that Garrison had caused the rift between us that he had intended.

“Samantha and I were never all that serious and I haven’t been with her in a while.” I offered a weak explanation, wishing I could discuss this in private instead of in a crowded bar in mid-town Manhattan. There was so much more that I needed to tell her, but now was not the time or place.

“Well, Samantha says otherwise.” We all turned our heads to Garrison who was looking all too smug, and completely ignoring our collective stares.

Sawyer held his hand out, blocking my path when he realized I was about ready to take him out. “Garrison, you’re being an exceptional asshole tonight, much more so than normal. I know for a fact that Brad ended things with Sami a few weeks ago. I’m not exactly sure what kind of game you’re playing, but for fuck’s sake, will you knock it the fuck off?!”

Lexi bent her head sideways looking like she was working out the timeline in her head. “A few weeks?” She questioned. The timing was purely coincidence, but I heard the questioning in her tone. “I hope our friendship didn’t have anything to do with your break-up.”

“It didn’t.” I stated, hoping to make myself perfectly clear. This was not the time or place to get into this. Seeing that that there was no other option I gave her as much as I could. “In spite of whatever Garrison was told, Samantha was way more invested in our relationship than I was, so I ended it.”

Lexi knew I had a past. She just didn’t know how much my break-up with Emily had affected me. How could I possibly explain that once things became more than physical with a woman, I’d make a clean break and head for the exit, without sounding like a total douche? It was a topic I went out of my way to avoid. Actually, I dreaded talking about my past at all. Even a year later, my emotions were still too raw to share with anyone.

My ears burned when I heard Garrison laugh, ratcheting my defenses up. “Oh, that’s right. Brad’s still pining for Emily. The one that got away. According to Samantha, he’s still waiting for her to come back to him.”

I’d had enough. I moved in, bumping my chest up against his. “You need to shut your fucking mouth, or I will shut it for you.” I said, seething with anger. I was two seconds away from laying him flat on the floor.

Garrison turned towards Lexi and rocked back on his heels with his thumbs hooked through the belt loops of his jeans. “Looks like I hit a nerve with you, Morgan.” He turned away and replied. “My bad. I forgot that the subject of Emily is off limits.” He raised his eyebrows with a self-satisfied smile taking over his face. He was so damn stuck on himself. “I don’t blame you though, she was one fine looking piece of ass.”

My temper exploded. I grabbed the pretentious son of a bitch by his shoulders and shoved him back against the wall. I instinctively drew back my right hand and raised my fist. “You’re a piece of shit, you know that?” I said with my fist headed for the bridge of his nose. Before it had a chance to connect, Sawyer and Lucas stepped in, grabbing the back of my arms and holding them in place.

The bar grew silent. Everyone seemed to be focusing on the scene unfolding in front of them. I glared into Garrison’s face and felt my jaw pulse when I noticed the small glint in his eyes. He had finally gotten the confrontation that he was seeking. Lucas placed his hands on my shoulders and calmly pulled me away. I knew I just fucked up royally.

“Brad, come on man, calm down. He’s not worth it.” I heard Lucas say against my ear.

“Chill dude. You’re scaring the shit out of Lexi.” With that, I looked over only to see her big, beautiful blue eyes filled with panic. I did not like seeing that look on her face and it made me feel like shit knowing my actions had put that there.

“Are you all good now?” Lucas asked, patting my shoulder one last time before he let go completely.

It took a moment to get my breathing in check. Once I was sure it was back to normal, I looked over to Lexi and softened my voice. “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“You don’t owe me an explanation. I’m just surprised, I’ve never seen this side of you before.” The disappointment in her tone came out loud and clear. Then she turned her concerned eyes to Garrison. “Are you okay?”

It made me angry that she was the slightest bit concerned about his wellbeing. And that’s when it hit me. That is exactly what he wanted. It pissed me off that I’d just allowed Gage Garrison to play me like a Stradivarius.

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