Page 45 of Objection to Love

Attempting to relieve himself of some stress, he rolled his shoulders back and pasted a smile on his face as his ex-girlfriend sauntered up to them. “Jenica. Noah didn’t mention you’d be joining us.” Garrett refrained from glaring at his friend, but gestured toward Em instead. “Em, this is Jenica Reams, an old friend from high school.”

Jenica laughed her perfectly crafted laugh and flipped her straight blonde hair over her shoulder. Her hip popped to the side as she placed a manicured hand on it. “Oh, come on now, Garrett, we’re more than that.”

He gave her a tight smile. “No, we aren’t.”

She laughed again, and Garrett took a steadying breath. This was going to be a long day. “Well, should we head up? I’ll grab our stuff, Em.”

He felt Em’s eyes on him as he stalked around to the side of the truck and pulled open his door to retrieve their bags. His had towels, sunscreen, his swimsuit, and water bottles, and, judging by how light Em’s was, hers only had a swimsuit. He inhaled sharply through his nose and shook himself. Having his ex show up had not been in the plans, but he could deal. He just needed to ignore her.

With more than a little force, he slammed the door shut and turned back to the group, which was now hidden partially behind his truck and the grim figure of Noah coming toward him.

“I’m sorry, man; she forced herself on me,” Noah said in a low tone.

“Then you should have forced her off. A cliff.”

Noah chuckled, but Garrett didn’t see the humor in the situation. His friend sobered.

“You’re right. You are. But I’ve never been as good as you at keeping the adoring crowd away.”

Garrett slung the bags over his shoulder, ignoring Noah’s ribbing. “Seriously though, how did she even end up here?”

“We ran into each other yesterday at the grocery store. I was picking up a few things for my mom. I was just trying to be nice, man. But she just kept talking. I ran out of things to say, so I mentioned I was going hiking with you today. And she latched on. Like a leech. I swear I tried everything to change her mind, but she was adamant about tagging along. I couldn’t flat out tell her no.”

“Yes, you could have,” Garrett grumbled, glancing over Noah’s shoulder to ensure Jenica hadn’t eaten Em. Em seemed to be holding her own just fine though.

Noah speared him with a look. Garrett sighed.

“Fine. Fine. But you still should have told me.”

“Sorry, man. I’ll make it up to you.”

“Please don’t. With your track record, you would probably buy me a pet alligator as recompense. And that would rival having to spend the day with Jenica.”

With a clap to Noah’s shoulder to indicate he wasn’t really mad—thatmad, at least—he returned to the women. He was happy to see that Em looked perfectly content, though Jenica was pouting a bit.

“Alright, let’s head out.” And with an almighty tug to Em’s arm, he left Noah to fend for himself.

“So, when… exactly… does the fun… start?” Em huffed from a few paces behind Garrett.

He glanced over his shoulder at her. They should slow down. But then Noah and Jenica might catch up. Still, Em was clearly struggling, and he wasn’t being the best instructor of fun at the moment.

Despite his misgivings, he slowed his stride, moving to the side of the trail so Em could walk up beside him. “Sorry, I forget my legs are longer than yours.”

“Not by much,” Em muttered while she unscrewed the lid to her water bottle. She wasn’t wrong—she was only a few inches shorter than him—but he was trying to be nice.

“You’re right; I’m just in better shape.” He grinned at her, but she was looking around them.

“Clearly. Do you mind if we sit for a bit?”

Wow. She must really be feeling crummy if his goading wasn’t aggravating her.

“Sure.” He looked around for a flat rock or something. “I think there’s a few rocks we can sit on just around that bend.” He pointed.

Em looked over his shoulder and shook her head. “Yeah, no, the ground will do.” With that declaration, she sat straight down, pulling her legs up to rest her arms on her knees. She looked pretty adorable like that, all curled up in a ball and red-faced. Not a trace of the attorney to be found.

Garrett shifted his weight, glancing down the trail to see if Jenica and Noah were catching up. He couldn’t see them, and the relief at that was like bricks tumbling off his shoulders. He turned back to Em to find her watching him.

“Sorry to have set such a fast pace. I sometimes forget how strenuous this hike can be.”

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