What did he know about that shit?
He’d been trying to keep his cool around Kiersten, but inside he was panicking. He had to live with her, but not touch her. Pretend to be with her, but not be. Be a dad to two kids, but stay single for the rest of his life. He didn’t miss the repercussions of his actions when he agreed to the plan. Sure, he could fall in love and get married to another woman. That’s what Kiersten inferred.
But he couldn’t really.
If he left them and married another woman, how would the kids react? What would Kiersten do? How would their little family recover?
There were only two options available to him. Find a way to show Kiersten that maybe she could love him if she opened her heart to the idea, or stay a bachelor who only had meaningless flings when the opportunity presented itself.
He much preferred option one.
The feelings he had for Kiersten weren’t fading. If anything, they were getting stronger. But he had to find a way to make her feel the same way, and he wasn’t sure that was even possible.
“Go ahead, head on out,” Mike said to Riley and Stephen, who were still eyeing Garrett cautiously when he returned to the present and out of his f**ked up future. “I’ve gotta talk to Garrett alone.”
Great. Just great. Everyone wanted to talk to him alone lately. And usually it didn’t involve good news. “See ya guys later.”
Riley and Stephen plodded wearily to their gym bags, whispering and looking over their shoulders as they went. Once they left the gym, Mike turned on him with a glare. “What the f**k is wrong with you tonight?”
“What do you mean?” Garrett asked, dreading what he knew was coming. He busied himself with wiping his face with the white towel on the bench. He wished he could keep it over his face so that Mike wouldn’t be able to read him so well. When would Kiersten let him tell Mike? This evasion was killing him. But she wanted to tell Chris first. Then Mike and Brianna. “I’m just energetic.”
Mike yanked the towel off of Garrett’s face and threw it across the gym. The custodian tossed him a dirty look, and then bent to pick it up. “Who is she? Do I know her?”
Garrett opened his mouth to deny there was a “she,” but thought better of it. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I know you’re seeing someone.” Mike shoved his stuff into his bag and then gave Garrett a once-over. “What happened with her? You look like a kid who just discovered Santa is fake.”
“How do you know I’m even dating anyone?” Garrett watched him, unable to believe that his ass**le of a best friend paid that much attention to his damn feelings. “And why the hell do you know that much about my love life?”
Mike rolled his eyes. “You haven’t scored at the bar with me for months. I know you well enough to know you’re not being celibate for nothing, so it’s easy enough to figure out. There’s gotta be a girl.”
He couldn’t lie to Mike. He didn’t have to give the whole truth, but he could give a little bit of it. Withhold names or some shit like that. “There is a girl, but that’s not why I’m worked up,” Garrett muttered, his heart picking up speed. “I just found out that I’m going to be a dad.”
“What?” Mike blinked and sat down, looking slightly green. “Aw, shit, man. Who is she? Do I know her? Is she keeping the baby? Do you love her? Are you getting married? Who is she?”
The one question he couldn’t answer, Mike had asked twice. Fucking awesome. Garrett shook his head and sat beside his best friend. “She doesn’t want to be with me…but I plan on trying to change that. Yes, you know her, but I’m not ready to talk about it yet. I’ll be moving in with her, so you’ll find out soon en—”
“Wait.” Mike held up a hand. “She doesn’t want you, but you want her, and you’re moving in with her? How long have you known this woman?”
Too long. Garrett swallowed and covered his face with his hands. “Long enough to get her pregnant,” he said dryly.
Mike leapt to his feet and paced, his face intent. Garrett groaned at the determined expression on Mike’s face and began collecting all of his stuff. Mike would go postal once he figured out who he was talking about, and with good reason. Mike was extremely protective of his sisters, and had been since their parents died.
The only person he was more protective of was Chris.
“Well then I have to know her. Who the hell is she? Is it—?” Mike broke off and choked on his words. “What is she doing here? Something’s gotta be wrong for her to stop by like this.”
“Who?” Garrett asked, not bothering to look as he shoved his water bottle into his bag. Any distraction from Mike’s current line of thought was a welcome one in Garrett’s book.
“Kiersten. How did she know where we were?” Mike already headed her way, his stride quick and determined. “Hey, is Chris okay?”
Garrett forced himself to take a deep breath in and out. Just because she was here didn’t mean anything was wrong with her or the baby. She could have come because she needed to talk to them about something completely unrelated to that. Garrett sprinted to her side, passing Mike. “Hey, is everything with…you okay?”
His voice must have come out harsh, despite his intention to keep himself calm and collected, because Mike shot him a surprised look. “Why do you care so much?”
“I’m fine. Chris’s fine, too. He’s at home finishing up his homework.” Kiersten flushed and she smoothed her hair. She always did that when she felt uncomfortable. Her eyes flitted from Mike to Garrett. “Uh, Garrett, can we talk for a sec?”
“Why do you need to talk to him again?” Mike looked first at Kiersten, and then at Garrett incredulously, his green eyes round. He backed away from the pair of them and shook his head, turning red. “You’ve got to be f**king kidding me.”
Garrett shoved past Mike and grabbed Kiersten by the elbow as he strode past. “Sure, let’s go. Quickly.”
Kiersten’s cheeks flushed and she looked over her shoulder as he shuttled her outside. “Does he know? Did you tell him?”
“No,” he ground out. “But you just did by asking me that.”
“I’ll kill you, you son-of-a-bitch!” Mike shouted, running after them looking way too alive and enthusiastic for Garrett’s liking. So he’d gotten over his shock already. Excellent. “Get back here so I can kick your ass properly.”