Meet Me Halfway(45)

“I was going to go outside and ask you if we could play one more game, but Layla told me not to bother you. She said you were having a mental crisis and would come back in when you were done asking the sky for the answers to life.”

I slid my eyes to the woman behind that statement. I was going to kick her in the ovaries when she least expected it. I opened my mouth but didn’t get the chance to reprimand either of them when Garrett’s rumbling laughter echoed out right behind me, sending shivers up my spine.

I glanced back, but he was standing so close, I only got an eyeful of chest. Tipping my face up, I squinted my eyes, but that only made him laugh harder.

“That sounds about right, J-man.”

I flung my hands up in defeat. “I hope you all get restless leg syndrome the second you try to fall asleep. Which, speaking of sleep, you seriously need to finish up and get ready, bud. It’s past your bedtime, and you have school tomorrow.”

He grumbled, flicking the remaining plastic figures down and loading the game back into its box. I watched him shuffle to his room, Sadie at his heels. She’d taken to sleeping with him lately, and although he wouldn’t admit it, he was eating it up.

“Coffee still okay with you, Garrett? I could also do tea or a glass of water?” He looked down at me, close enough I could feel the heat from his chest, and I fought the urge to press my chilled body against him for warmth.

“Coffee’s fine.”

I gave him a thumbs up, setting to work and chatting with him and Layla about their plans for the weekend. Layla seemed to be the only one with anything exciting happening.

“You sure you don’t need me to stay home to watch Jamie for you Saturday?”

I waved a hand near my head. “Nope, my parents are excited to have some extra time with him. You and Rick go off and have fun. Hike, get some vicious leg cramps, sweat profusely, attract mosquitoes, all that fun outdoorsy stuff.”

She gave me an unimpressed look. She and Rick were not, in any way, the outdoorsy type. They’d probably stay in and write new, amazing music all day.

Garrett had moved to the bar to watch me work. He looked so out of place with his huge mass of a body trying to get comfortable on our cheap barstool. “Which jobs do you do on the weekend?”

Grabbing the finished pot, I poured it into the two mismatched mugs I’d pulled out. “Payroll on Sunday and waitressing each night. Although, I honestly think I might call out from the restaurant. Someone recently told me I look awful so I think maybe I should pull back a bit.”

I winked at him over my shoulder and swore his eyes flared in response. But by the time I turned to slide him his mug and creamer, he was back to his normal, stoic expression.

“I actually start a new position Saturday as well.”

He wrapped his long fingers around the cup, and my gaze was drawn to his full lips as he pursed them to blow across the top. “Another one?”

“Kind of. I’m just a fill-in, nothing permanent.” I leaned back, gesturing to my body with an exaggerated wave, “You’re looking at a newly licensed, unarmed guard. Saturday’s my first solo shift.”

His mug hit the counter with an abrupt thunk, causing my head to jolt back. I could practically see the anger seeping from his pores. The man’s moods were going to give me serious whiplash one of these days.

“You’re fucking with me.”

I grimaced, unsure what to do with the unapologetic audacity he was flaunting at me. “No.”

“You have no business being a guard.”

“Excuse me?” He was one-hundred percent correct, because I was a complete scaredy cat. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to agree with him to his face. Not after he’d just laid my pride on a log and slammed a freaking sledgehammer into it.

“You want to explain that one to me?” I tightened my hold on my mug, trying to keep my voice low so Jamie wouldn’t come running out of his room.

Garrett didn’t back down. “You’re what, five foot three? A buck thirty, soaking wet?”

“Five foot five, actually.” As if that tiny detail mattered in the least.

“Where.” The word was wrapped in aggression, and it made the air around us thicken to an almost unbearable level. My shoulders drew up, and in my peripheral, Layla straightened to attention.

Fighting back my body’s conditioned response to livid men, I took a shaky sip of coffee. It was still too hot and burned my tongue, but I ignored the pain, refusing to let him see how much his tone had unsettled me. “The community college.”

“And what exactly will you be doing?”

“Patrolling the campus.”

“Alone.”

It wasn’t a question, but I answered like it was anyway. “Yes.”

“Unarmed.” Another statement.

“I’ll have Mace,” I snapped. He was hitting on every insecurity I already had about the job, and it pissed me off. I didn’t need to be reminded that I was doing something I didn’t feel qualified to be doing.

“Mace,” he scoffed, shoving off the stool and prowling around the counter toward me. I retreated a step, heart rate increasing, but he kept stalking closer until we were chest to stomach, my back pressed against the fridge.

“Go ahead, Madison.” His face loomed inches above my own, “Reach for an imaginary Mace canister at your side. Let’s see if you can do it before I incapacitate you.”