Waiting for Love ((Waiting) Book 2) (12 page)

“I don’t know if this relationship will work for me,” I say, glancing at him. He has a concerned look on his face as he waits for me to continue. “Your cooking is too good and I’m going to gain too much weight if you keep spoiling me.” He laughs, looking relieved. He gazes at me and his eyes sparkle mischievously.

“I’ll help you get plenty of exercise.”

Chapter - Ten

Mid November 2012

     The past few weeks have absolutely flown by. Garrett and I have been spending a lot of time together and things are great between us. So far he’s been very understanding about my need to have my own space. I’ve been sleeping over his condo on the weekends and staying at my place during the week. He’s been cooking me dinner every Wednesday night, as well. If he can continue to be patient with me and not push for more, then I can see us lasting indefinitely. I really care about him, but I’m not willing to label what my feelings for him are. He hasn’t told me he loves me, probably because he’s afraid I’ll run screaming out the door. He shows me how much he cares about me through the sweet things he does and the romantic things he says. I’ve never been with anyone like him. He showers me with compliments and he always makes me feel like I’m the most important thing in the world to him.

     We’re sitting on my couch watching DVR episodes of Suits and my mind is wandering and thinking about the fact that Thanksgiving is next week. Garrett hasn’t mentioned what his plans for the holiday are. I know my father is expecting me at home for the weekend and I also know that all of my brothers will be there. As much as I’d like to spend the day with him, I actually prefer we do our own thing instead. It’ll be easier than having to deal with all four of my brothers giving him the third degree. Plus, I just don’t feel like I’m ready to introduce him to my family and it may be a while before I want to. I hope he can be understanding about that.

     “What are you thinking about, doll? You seem like you’re a million miles away.” I lift my head up from his shoulder that I’m cuddled against.

“I was thinking about Thanksgiving and wondering what your plans are. We haven’t talked about it yet and I’m not sure why.” My brow is furrowed as I sit up and turn myself to face him.

“I honestly forgot all about it,” He says. “I just assumed you’d come with me and meet my parents. I’ve told them all about you and they’re excited to meet you.”
Oh shit.

“I have to go home for the weekend Garrett. My father expects me to be there and so do my brothers. I haven’t seen them since the end of August.” I nervously chew on my bottom lip as I wait for him to reply.

“I guess I can come with you. My family will understand.” My eyes get wide as what he said registers.

“Garrett, I care about you more than I’ve cared about any guy before. I’m thrilled with the way our relationship is progressing and I appreciate how understanding you’ve been with me so far.”
Shit.
I don’t know how to say this without upsetting or hurting him. “As great as things have been, I’m not ready to introduce you to my family.” I pause and notice a few different emotions passing over his handsome face. I see surprise, anger and finally sadness. As much as I want to spare his feelings, I have to be honest with him.

     He rises suddenly from the couch and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

“Wow, I never saw that coming. Maybe I’m stupid or just clueless for not anticipating this very thing happening. I should’ve known that you wouldn’t want to spend the holiday together.” He shakes his head in anger. “You know what? You go spend the weekend with your family and have a great time. I’ll be fine with my family. It’ll give me a chance to spend some time with some of my friends.” He starts walking toward the front door so I jump up off the couch and hurry to catch him.

“Garrett, can we please finish talking about this?” I ask, grabbing his arm.

“What’s there to talk about? You already had your mind made up before we even started this conversation.” His eyes flash disappointment in my direction as he pulls free of my grasp.

“Why are you so upset? I’m not sure why you think you need to meet my family so soon. It’s not like we’ve been dating for a year; it’s only been a month. We have plenty of time to meet each other’s families.”

“You’re completely right, Shelby. How can we possibly mean anything to each other after only a month? I’ve been trying to make this relationship more than it is. Now that you’ve pointed it out to me, I won’t make that mistake anymore. I’m leaving now. I’ll see you in class.”

“Garrett, don’t go.” I say, but he doesn’t listen.
Fuck. What just happened?

***

     When I got to class this morning, Garrett wasn’t here and we have a substitute professor. I haven’t heard from him since he left my place on Wednesday night. I tried to call him a few times and he never answered so I’ve decided to leave it alone. He knows where I am if he wants to talk to me. I know he was upset, but I think he totally overreacted and he obviously still is. I tried to extend an olive branch to him, three times in fact. Now the next step is up to him.

    As I’m packing up my things and getting ready to leave class, I get a text from Hailey.

Wanna go out tonight?

I could really use a night out. It would be a great distraction from all my drama.

HELL YEAH!

J.J.’s?

Sounds good.

    
The afternoon flies by and I’m getting excited to hang out with Hailey. We haven’t had a chance to spend time together lately and we need to catch up. I haven’t filled her in on the Garrett situation and I want to know what’s going on with her and Lee. She’s been staying over at the frat house with him most nights and lately it seems like I no longer have a roommate.

    Hailey and I get ready together, like we used to, in our pre-boyfriend days. I let her straighten my hair and it looks amazing once she’s finished. I’m wearing my favorite, tightest pair of skinny jeans, paired with a tight black V-neck tee. I put on my favorite ankle boots, the same pair I wore with Garrett when we first started dating. I really don’t want to be thinking about him right now, so I decide to focus on picking out a jacket. The weather is starting to really cool off and it feels more and more like winter every day. I settle on my short black motorcycle jacket, which, unfortunately, also reminds me of Garrett, but it seems like everything is reminding me of him right now...even sleeping in my own bed. That could have something to do with the fact that I’ve been sleeping on the pillow he uses because it still smells like him.
I’m so pathetic.
I really miss him, though. I don’t know what to do about it, either. How many times can I try to contact him without giving up hope? I’m not sure if I’ll give it another shot. I don’t want to seem pathetic and I definitely don’t want to come off like I’m harassing him or stalking him. I’ve never been one to chase a guy that wasn’t interested and I’m certainly not going to start now.

    Hailey and I walk into J.J.’s and pause for a moment. It’s a full house in here tonight and the path to the bar is blocked by wall to wall people. The overwhelming smell of body odor and beer is making my stomach queasy. I try to breathe out of my mouth without looking like a weirdo, hoping it will settle the churning that’s going on. I guess it’s better to look like a mouth breather than to lose my cookies all over the floor.

“Come on.” I grab Hailey by the wrist and tug her along with me as I squeeze through any available opening I can find in the sea of bodies. As we make our way across the sticky beer covered floor, I keep up a constant litany of “excuse me,” as we bump our way to the bar. If looks could kill, we’d be dead right now, with some of the daggers being thrown our way. It always seems to be the cheapest looking girls that act the nastiest toward us, but that could just be some strange coincidence.
All I’m trying to do is get to the bar people and I’m doing it politely too
. After a few minutes and a handful of elbow jabs that will leave bruises, we’re finally there.

     Angie, our bartender friend, is working. As soon as she sees us she smiles and makes her way over.

“Hey, girls. I haven’t seen you guys in ages. What can I get for you?” I snort out loud.

“What can you get for us? Is that supposed to be a dig at us over how long it’s been since we’ve come in here?” Hailey rolls her eyes.

“Okay, you caught me. Shots of tequila it is.” Angie says as she grabs the bottle of Jose’ Cuervo. She pours four shots and pushes them across the bar top toward us. We each down two of them, immediately.

“Are you guys all set for now?” Angie asks, quirking her eyebrow. I give her a thumbs up as I enjoy the aftertaste of the tequila on my tongue.

“Let’s go dance,” I shout to Hailey over the continuous noise now assaulting our ears. Between the dull roar of the patrons talking and the loud music being played by the D.J., I can barely hear myself think. That might be a good thing, though, I’ve been thinking way too much lately. Tonight I need to have fun and lose myself in the music. I find a small open space on the dance floor that’s not too far from the bar and turn to face Hailey as I begin to move my hips to the thumping beat. I love to dance, especially when I have alcohol in me. It makes me less reserved and self-conscious about what I look like. Tequila seems to work best because it makes me not give a fuck. We continue dancing through a few more songs before grabbing four more shots. After I knock those back, I’m feeling really good about myself and my dancing ability as Hailey and I shake our butts all around the dance floor. My hands are in the air and my eyes are closed as I roll my hips and drop it down, all the way to the floor. As I undulate back upright, a pair of large, manly hands grip onto my hips. Hailey’s eyes open wide as she sees who’s behind me, but before I can even turn and look, I hear Jeff’s voice in my ear.

     “Looking good Shelb.” I smile up at him over my shoulder as he begins to move along with me. Jeff and I have danced together a lot so I’m completely comfortable with him pressed against me. We continue to grind against each other and I tell myself that it’s fine to be doing this with him. As far as I know Garrett and I are over and I’m a free agent.
What harm is there in a little dancing between friends?
Jeff wraps his arms around my stomach and pulls me back toward him. I can feel him pressing against my ass and I know he wants more from me than just dancing. I’m not prepared to go that far with him. I need to see if this mess with Garrett can be resolved before I burn any bridges. He spins me around and presses his thigh between my legs as we continue to move. His arms are locked, tight around my waist, holding me close. I’m not unaffected by his touch. He and I have always had good chemistry and it obviously hasn’t gone away. His thigh is rubbing against the seam of my jeans and it feels better than I want it to. I look up at his face and notice how he won’t take his eyes off of mine. As I stare into his beautiful blue, heated gaze, I realize how much I’ve missed his friendship. He’s been someone I could always count on and there’s a definite gap without him in my life. I wonder if he feels the same or if he just misses the sex we had? I know I don’t have any right to ask him. I’m the one that put an end to our arrangement. I’m suddenly pulled from my thoughts as Jeff grabs my hand and tugs me toward the side of the room. There’s a hallway lined with restrooms on each side. I follow him, staying close, using his broad size as a blocker for my much smaller one. My strategy works like a charm and I make it safely across the dance floor completely unscathed. No more elbow jabs or rude looks for me.

    Jeff keeps moving down the hallway in the direction of the back exit, pushing the door open and tugging me outside with him. Once the door shuts and he sees that there’s no one else around he spins me around and pushes me against the outer wall of the bar. I let out a gasp of surprise. I can feel the brick exterior scratching my back through the thin cotton of my tee shirt and the chilly temperature causes goosebumps to break out all over my arms. He slides his hands into the sides of my hair, tipping my head back and locks his eyes on mine before he breaks the silence.

“I miss you and I need you in my life, Shelby. I’ll have you in whatever way I can. If you’re involved with someone, then I’ll be your friend and if you want more, that works too.” I smile up at him.

“I’ve missed you so much, Jeff. I’ve been feeling like I lost my best friend. I definitely want you back in my life.” His answering smile is radiant, even in the darkness. The evening shadows being cast from the large building I’m pressed against gives a feeling of privacy to this alleyway that runs behind the bar. He pulls me into his arms, holding me close as he kisses me on top of my head. My arms are wrapped around his waist, squeezing him tight.

"Are you still involved with that guy?" He asks without letting go of me. I'm not sure how to even answer that question, at this point.

"We’re spending the holidays apart. I have to go home and see my father and brothers and I didn't want to subject him to all that they’d put him through. He wanted to come with me, but I think it's too soon. You know how my brothers are. They would harass him and ask him a million overly invasive questions. I'm an adult and I don't need my brothers involved in my love life. That’s the last thing I want and they’re worse than a group of gossiping girls when they get together." I shudder at the thought of what they’d do to Garrett and me if they had an inkling that we were involved. "So what are you doing for the break?" I pull back from his embrace after realizing how long I was in his arms for. I don't want to be inappropriate with him or give him false hope.

"I'm staying here. My parents are going to visit my sister in Florida." I frown at the thought of him spending Thanksgiving by himself.