Page 42 of Objection to Love

Garrett laughed. “Okay, okay. I was going to head in soon anyway. Be ready to go in, say, three hours?” He stood to leave.

“What are we doing?” Em asked, only half hoping he’d tell her this time. Also half hoping the question would keep him around longer.

He ambled over to the edge of his porch closest to hers and leaned against the railing. “You know I can’t tell you that.”

“Can’t you, though? You didn’t tell me last time, and look how that turned out.” She stood and leaned against her own railing, offering him a challenging look. His bruise had started to heal, but it still had a nasty yellow tinge to it. And the cut was now a dark red slash.

“No, I’m pretty sure we’ll be fine this time around. I won’t be putting my life in your hands anymore.”

“But what about my life?”

“It will be infinitely better following our outing.”

“Better? As in, in a better place? As in dead?”

His laugh seemed to take him by surprise. “You’re funny, September Miller.”

“No, I’m serious. I don’t particularly want to die today. Or anytime soon, preferably.”

He pushed away from the railing and turned to his door. Em did not watch him walk away, eyes lingering on the expanse of his shoulders or the way his pants hung just a bit low on his hips.

At his door, he paused, looking back. Her eyes snapped up. “Wear something you would work out in again. Oh, and bring a swimsuit.”

Em groaned as he stepped back into his house. Not only did that mean she would have to be active again, it meant she had to do laundry. That or go buy new workout clothes.

And while that sounded more fun, it also meant accepting that she might need more stretchy pants in her wardrobe. Which wasn’t really something she was ready to accept.

But she might need to go to the store after all. She hadn’t been in a pool since high school and wasn’t sure she owned a swimsuit from this decade.

“So did this friend of yours decide not to come?” Em’s voice sounded hopeful, even to her ears.

“Nope, sorry.” Garrett grinned at her from the driver’s side of his truck. “He’s going to meet us there.”

Em deflated somewhat. “And there is...?”

“I’m not telling you.” His sing-song voice softened the blunt words.

“Worth a try.”

Silence fell between them. It was the comfortable sort of silence, where you didn’t need to rack your brain for something to say. After a few minutes, Garrett turned onto a highway that headed out of town in the opposite direction of Woodcastle. Em had lived in Greenbank for a few years now, and she’d never actually taken the time to figure out what was on this side of town. She hadn’t particularly cared, but now she was a little annoyed with herself, since it meant she had no clue where the heck they could be going.

Though she still didn’t trust their adventures, she was beginning to trust that Garrett really wasn’t trying to kill her. So she let it go for now, switching to a different topic. “You said it was just you and your mom?” Small talk. Also a small attempt to learn more about him.

“Yup. For thirteen years now.”

“What…” She wanted to ask what happened, where his dad was, but she didn’t know how to phrase it.

“What happened to my dad? It’s okay, I don’t mind talking about it anymore. My dad died when I was seventeen. He had a heart attack.”

Em stilled. “I’m so sorry; I had no idea.”

“It’s okay.” He glanced at her with an easy smile, but she saw the way his hands tightened on the steering wheel.

“You miss him?”

“Every day.”

“Will you tell me about him?”

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