Page 89 of Objection to Love

Nope. The man was even more attractive in the scant light from inside his house, with his hair wet from a shower. In his house. His house.

“Hey.” A smile lit up his face, and Em’s chest physically hurt. “Want to come in?” he asked, humor lacing his words, clearly aware of his effect on her.

Em averted her eyes. “No, actually, I wondered if we could talk for a sec? On the porch maybe?”

“Oh. Sure, let me just grab a shirt real quick.”

Thank the heavens.

Less than a minute later, he stepped onto the porch. His newly donned shirt did nothing to reduce his appeal, and Em’s resolve cracked.

But then she remembered April and the trial and the fight with her parents, and she regathered her determination.

He motioned for the porch swing—the only seat on his porch. It wasn’t until they sat that she realized how small it was. There was space between them, yes, but only about an inch and a half. And that inch and a half seemed to carry a current of energy between them, pulling them together. Em cleared her throat, shifting and trying to face Garrett without actually touching him. It was nearly impossible.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

She froze in her awkward attempts of moving on the swing. Her thoughts grasped unsuccessfully at the rehearsed speech she’d crafted over the last several hours. Instead, all that came out was, “I think we should break up.”

Silence beat uncomfortably, and Em couldn’t look over at Garrett. Then he sighed. Em had always assumed sighs were meant to sound… pathetic. But Garrett’s sounded disappointed. And unsurprised. “Is this about your trial?”

Em opened her mouth but didn’t say anything. Yes, it was, but also it wasn’t. She swallowed. “Not really, no. I just think… I think we have different goals in life, and I can’t have the distraction of a… of a relationship right now.” She’d been saying that since the beginning. She’d had aplan. He couldn’t blame her for something that she’d been clear about since they first met.

He couldn’t.

“Okay.”

She looked sideways at him. His expression showed no feeling outside of a clenched jaw. He caught her watching, and his jaw tightened even more.

“Okay?” she asked.

“I’m not sure what you want me to say,” he said with an exasperated shrug. “I happen to know arguing with you is essentially pointless, and I don’t particularly want to have to argue you into dating me. That’s pretty pathetic.” His voice grew in bitterness until Em was wincing. He sighed again. “Sorry. This isn’t how… this just…” A groan slipped from him and he rubbed both hands down his face. “If this is what you want, then okay. But thisisn’twhat I want.”

He looked at her then. Really looked at her, with a fierce stare that Em wanted to avoid but couldn’t look away from.

“You understand that, right?” he asked. “You understand this isn’t okay with me?”

Em swallowed against the sudden surge of emotion. It wasn’t what she wanted either. But it was what needed to happen. She nodded. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

He shook his head and stood. “Then I’ll say again… okay. Okay, Em.” His entire person emanated his wish to leave her presence as soon as humanly possible.

Em stood as well, biting her lip. Had she made the wrong choice? How could a person as full of life and fun as Garrett look so… hurt?

“I’m sorry,” she said again, not sure what else to say.

He nodded and walked to his door. He pulled it open, and Em was sure he wouldn’t look back. But he did. Abruptly, he spun around to face her, his hand flexing on the door.

“I’m not sure what exactly prompted this, but you say we have different goals in life. Yes, we do. At least on the outside. But the September I’ve come to know in the last couple of months onlythinksshe needs the goals she’s made. She thinks she needs to be perfect and successful in every aspect of her life. I’m not sure why… but I can guess. And I’d guess you think you’re only as good as your outward success.”

His eyes pierced hers, and she wanted to back away. From him and from what he was saying. But she couldn’t get her feet to move.

“Well, that’s not true. It’s a load of bull, actually. I just hope you realize you don’t need that outward validation to be worth something. I hope you realize it soon. Because, Em, you already matter. A lot. Outside of work or any other success. You matter just because you’re you. That’s it. That’s—” He cut off and stared at her for a moment, then shifted his weight, suddenly appearing uncomfortable again.

The silence between them stretched. She wanted to say something. Anything. But her throat refused to work, and she was pretty sure the stinging in her eyes was about to become tears.

His jaw tightened one more time. “Bye, Em.” He closed the door just as she got her throat to work.

“Bye,” she said. And underneath the canopy of stars, her voice sounded really small. She stared at the door and willed the tears to stop crowding her vision.

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