He looks up, halting. “I thought…”
“No, that’s cool. Just asking.”
“’Cause you said I should sleep,” he explains.
“Right. I did.”
“So I should probably—”
“Do you maybe wanna—”
“Oh.” Garrett’s brows lift. “Were you saying something?”
“No. No, definitely not.” I wave my hands around, extra flail-y to distract from the fact that I have no idea what I’m doing. “You’re leaving.”
“I mean…” He rubs the back of his neck. “Unless you were gonna say…？”
“Who, me?” I point at myself. Yep, definitely turning into Garrett. “I wasn’t gonna say anything.”
Garrett’s head bobs slowly. “Great. Cool. Guess I’ll…leave then.”
I grin. “Grool.”
His laugh is my favorite, a hearty, warm sound, and when he tows me into him with a fistful of my shirt, the wave of emotions that hits me is truly staggering.
“Grool,” he whispers against my lips. “So grool.”
CHAPTER 28
RULES? WHAT RULES?
GARRETT
“That’s game, boys.” I sweep my hand over the table, gathering the cards.
Carter flips his upside down and crosses his arms, scowling. “It’s fucking bullshit is what it is.”
“You know what they say,” I murmur. “You have to learn to lose before you can—”
“If you tell me I need to learn how to lose in order to appreciate winning, I’ll toss you off this fucking airplane.”
“Oh, so Olivia can say it, but I can’t? Double fucking standards.”
“Olivia can say anything she wants! She’s growing my baby and sucking my dick!”
“Carter,” Adam mumbles around his sandwich, not looking up from the book in his other hand. “Stop being a sore loser.”
“I’m not a sore loser,” he grumbles, slumping in his seat.
“You are.” Jaxon and I just smoked Carter and Emmett in euchre three times in a row. It was only supposed to be one game, and then two, and, well…you know Carter. “You can’t be the best at everything.”
Carter toes at the bottom of my seat. “Emmett’s playing like shit.”
“Hey!” Emmett glances up from his phone. This might be the first time he’s realized the game has ended. “I haven’t seen my wife in five days and she’s sending me very detailed texts about how she’s going to welcome me home tonight.” His phone dings, his eyes turn feral, and he stands abruptly. “I, uh…I gotta…go. Take a leak.”
Carter stands next, stretching his arms overhead with a yawn. “I’m gonna go too. Wanna sext Ollie before I crash for the rest of this flight. Need some energy so I can rock her world when I get home. Pregnancy’s making her super horny. She’s hard to keep up with some days.” He chuckles quietly, a far-off look in his eyes. “The other day she woke me up by s—”
“Stop.” Adam holds his sandwich up like a shield. “For fuck’s sake, Carter, just stop. We don’t wanna know, and Olivia doesn’t want us to know; trust me on that.”
Carter pulls a face, gathering up the wrappers from his stress-eating when he was losing. He jabs Adam’s book. “You need to get laid. If you need some tips—”
“I don’t.”
“You sure? Word on the street is I know how to talk to the ladies.”
Adam flips a page in his book. “And how Ollie got so lucky, we’ll never know.”
“What book you reading today?” I ask as Carter disappears.
Adam flashes me the cover, and Jaxon and I laugh. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck.
“What do you wanna not give a fuck about anymore?”
“I donno. Nothing. Everything. I donno.” He drops the book to his chest and sighs. “Should I say fuck it to dating? Should I just take what all the girls seem to be offering?”
I shake my head, shuffling the cards. “Nah, you don’t wanna do that. It’s not you.”
“Maybe it should be. I’m not looking to fuck around and hurt anyone’s feelings. But none of them give a fuck about me, so why do I give so many?”
“’Cause you’re a good guy,” Jaxon says. “And you’re not the no-strings-attached-fucking kinda guy. That’s me, and while I do enjoy it and normally highly recommend it, I don’t think it’d be your scene.”
Adam’s fingers plunge into his curls. “I don’t really think it is either.”
I chuckle. “Then why are you considering it?”
He pulls his dark-framed reading glasses off and rubs his eyes. “I guess I’m not really. Maybe I’m just giving up the dating fight. All it’s doing is making me feel lonelier.”
“So take a break. You’re filling your spare time with the kids at the home, and you’re enjoying that, right?”
His smile is instantaneous. “I really am. It’s so cool to be part of the reason some of these kids are coming out of their shells.”
“Then focus on that for a while. Spend time doing what makes you happy. I know you want to meet someone, but you’re not having fun doing it right now. Revisit in a couple months.”
Adam rolls his bottom lip, then nods. “When did you get so wise?”
The truth is, talking to Jennie helps. I’m always trying to show her that I understand, and I like helping her find her way through to the other side of her problems. But I can’t tell Adam that, so I tell him the other truth.
“I have three highly emotional little sisters who fight over everything. Sometimes I need to be wise.” And sometimes I’m clueless when I should be wise, like last week when I think Jennie was trying to ask me to stay over.
Thinking about her lately has been hard. Between hockey and recital rehearsals, our schedules have been clashing. Late-night chats aren’t an option with Adam as my roommate. I’m lucky to get five minutes to see her face or hear her voice.
She’s the only person I want to spend my one night home with, so I shoot off a quick text.
Me: Home in an hour. Come over?
Sunshine: Because you miss me?
Me: Because I want a blowjob.
Sunshine: Tell the truth, Gare-Bear. I don’t hang with liars. I only hang with grool boys.
She’s not letting that whole grool incident go, but the joke’s on her. My favorite jokes are the ones we share together.
Me: Fine. I miss u & I want a blowjob. Please come over.
Sunshine: And?
Me: And I’d like to hug u because it’s been 5 days. Please come over.
Me: And I’ll tickle ur back. Please come over.
Me: And I’ll feed u. Please come over.
Me: Please. Please. Please.
Sunshine: OMG no need to be so desperate. I’m already here anyway.
I’m about to ask her what she means, when a photo of her snuggled in my bed comes through. She’s got a Pop-Tart between her teeth and she’s making the peace sign with her free hand, chestnut hair splayed over my pillow. I can’t wait to join her there, and if I’m really lucky, I’ll get to keep her all night long.