Page 20 of Hard To Stay

Chapter Seven

Lexi

“Lexi, wait.”Faith’s arm wrapped around mine, slowing my progress of breaking away from the group. “I don’t know what’s going on, but,” she paused, shaking her head.

“That man you just saw is not Brad Morgan. He and Garrison have issues, and it was clear that Garrison was doing everything he could to provoke him. Don’t hold it against him.”

Deep down, I knew what she was saying was true, but the entire conversation gave me a moment of pause. I’d been running pretty low in the trust department lately with the men in my life. How was this the first time I’d heard about this woman? Either she really wasn’t anybody important, or he was hiding something from me.

“I’m not sure what to think right now. Do you know anything about this Samantha?”

Faith looked hesitant to answer, but I pressed her with my stare letting her know that I wasn’t going to let it slide. I was probably overreacting but I couldn’t ignore the jealousy that flowed through my body. I felt like I had no control over my feelings, even though logically I knew I had very little reason to feel that way.

“Yes, I know about her. From what Sawyer told me, it wasn’t serious at all.” She clarified, and I didn’t miss how she phrased that sentence in past tense. But it still wasn’t enough to stop the questions from worming their way inside my head.

“We’ve been hanging out non-stop for two weeks now. Why didn’t he ever mention her to me? I thought we were friends.”

Faith smiled at me looking amused. “Friends, huh?”

“Yes, friends.” I shifted on my feet and looked around, avoiding her intense stare.

“Hmm,” she paused. “I’m not trying to put my nose in where it doesn’t belong, but that sure didn’t seem like ‘just friends’ to me.”

I shook my head in denial, hoping if I said the words out loud again I would start to believe them. “We’re just friends.”

Now, if only my heart would get the memo, everything in my world would be right again.

“Okay. If you say so.” She didn’t look convinced, and judging by her expression, there wasn’t anything I could say to make her believe otherwise. I guess I couldn’t blame her given my over-the-top reaction.

She obviously knew Brad well, and she apparently cared enough about him to defend his actions to me. Given that she had been dating one of his closest friends for the last five years, I should have expected as much. Which brought me to my next question.

“Can you tell me about his ex, Emily?”

Faith pursed her lips together like she was thinking it over. Unlike her immediate reply when talking about Samantha, I got the sense that this topic was so much more than that. Her chin dipped down to the floor, and the tight expression on her face only confirmed my theory. “I’m sorry. That’s not my story to tell. You’ll have to ask Brad.”

This topic exasperated me for some reason. “I tried, but he practically snapped my head off, telling me he didn’t want to discuss it.”

Her smile softened in understanding. “He will… when he’s ready. Brad is one of the good guys. They don’t come much better than him. Don’t forget that.” She reminded me. My cheeks flamed as I looked away because in my heart I knew she was right. He’d already done so much for me in the short period of time we’d known each other. I just wished he would trust me enough to open up to me.

Faith squeezed my arm and then walked away leaving me alone with my thoughts. I stumbled down the hall, waiting for my turn to use the bathroom. While standing in line, I pulled out my phone and shot Abby a text:

Me: Where are you?

Abby: Sorry, I’m at the bar across the street. I knew you were safe with Brad. I’ll be back over shortly.

What the hell! She just up and left me. Who the hell does that? I was so annoyed I didn’t even respond. I lifted my head to see that the line had not moved an inch since I took my spot at the end. Seeing that the line was moving so slow, I decided that I needed another drink more than I needed to pee. I slid my phone back into my wristlet and headed back to the bar.

Sawyer and Faith were standing in the exact same spot where I had left them earlier. Thank God, because the size of the crowd seemed to have grown quickly. As I pushed my way through the throngs of people, I felt my heart sink when I saw Gage waiting for me instead of Brad.

He held out a drink, which I presumed was his attempt at a peace offering. “Will you accept my apology?” he asked, with a hint of hesitation while dangling a freshly poured glass of Chardonnay in front of me.

“That depends, are you going to attack any more of my friends tonight?

He smiled at me in a way that most women would find attractive, but honestly, it did nothing for me. “I’ll do my best to behave,” he replied. “Now are you going to accept this or make me grovel a little more?” I could tell Gage was unaccustomed to groveling with a woman over anything, but I enjoyed seeing him squirm just a little bit.

“Who am I to say no to a free drink?” I teased, trying to cut through the tension. Even though Gage and Brad didn’t seem to like each other very much, Gage had been nothing but nice to me the entire time.

It also helped that I wasn’t drawn to Gage like I was to Brad. And my stomach didn’t flip-flop whenever he was near me. Which, ironically made Gage Garrison even more appealing and much safer for my heart.

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