Chapter 20
Garrison
“Well, look at that. Garrison managed to move out of the friend zone. Maybe you can give Sawyer some tips,” Ryker jokes as he holds the heavy bag that I’ve spent the last hour taking out every bit of anger I’ve buried since Katelyn told me what she suffered through.
“Ha-ha. Very funny.” Sawyer rolls his eyes and racks the bar he was using. Then, he sits up and glares our way. “I’m happy in the friend zone.”
“Not a single person believes you,” Ryker retorts. “But go ahead and keep lying to yourself.”
I slam my fist into the bag. Every muscle in my body is warm, my skin slick with sweat.
While I confessed we’d actually taken a step forward, I kept everything else a secret.
Katelyn trusted me, and I won’t break that trust, even though I feel like I’m going to explode beneath the weight of the anger it caused.
How could that happen to her?
How could someone do that to another person?
“Man, that bag say something nasty to you?” Sawyer asks, likely to move the attention off of him and onto me.
“Just glad to be back in the gym,” I say. It might not be the entire truth, but it is the truth. I’ve missed being in here. There’s something about working your muscles to exhaustion. Pushing your body to the absolute brink of what it can handle—and then going over that line and starting again.
But even today, it’s not exhausting me. I’d been up all night, taunted by images of a young Katelyn bullied into submission. Of feeling like a failure for not being able to protect her, even though I know that’s in no way a logical feeling.
“Seriously, man, you good?” Ryker questions.
“Not really,” I admit. “But I’ll manage.”
“What’s going on?” Sawyer crosses over to grab a bottle of water from the small refrigerator. At this time of day, we’re the only ones here, but I still won’t divulge Katelyn’s secrets. Not even to these men who I know will hold it like a vault.
“Can’t get into it.”
“Are things okay with Katelyn?” Ryker asks.
“She’s fine. Thomas is having a blast at baseball camp.”
“But?” Sawyer presses.
“Can’t get into it,” I repeat. “So, how about you hold the bag and let me just work through it?” I ask Ryker with a forced grin that I hope diffuses the concerned curiosity written all over his face.
He obliges with a single nod, then takes his stance behind the bag, stabilizing it while I work my body into complete and utter exhaustion.
By the time I’m done, there’s not a muscle in my body that doesn’t ache. There’s a pain in my side that wasn’t there before, and the knuckles of my hands are bruised despite the tape I’d used on them. But I do feel a bit better.
What happened to Katelyn was horrific. A nightmare. But it’s in the past, and I can’t imagine she wants to relive it by rehashing it over and over again. So, as I wave goodbye to Ryker and Sawyer and step out onto the sidewalk, I decide not to bring it up again. Not unless she wants to talk.
Until then, it’ll remain buried.
Main Street is quiet this morning, so I slip into the bookstore and offer Marie a wave. She was close friends with Anastasia for years, but it seems like the two of them have drifted apart over the past few months. Likely because Anastasia spends most of her free time with Jack.
“Hey, Garrison, how’s it going?” she questions.
“Not too bad. Um, any chance you can show me where the Bibles are?”
“Sure can.” She smiles at me as she moves around the counter, leading me toward a shelf near the side of the store. “They’re organized by translation.”
“Great, thanks.” I reach down and lift one adorned with pink flowers on the front, then follow her back toward the front of the shop. Zane bought Tessa a Bible here when she was struggling with her faith.
Katelyn isn’t struggling, or at least I don’t think she is, but she’d talked about wanting one. Is it too much to get her one? Especially since I’m already trying to get her to take my apartment?
“Garrison?”
“Huh?” I look up at Marie.
“You want me to scan that?” she asks, amused, her hand outstretched for the Bible in mine.
“Oh yeah, sorry. My mind is elsewhere, apparently.”
Marie chuckles. “I totally get it.” After scanning it, she wraps the Bible in tissue paper and slips it into a plain brown bag.
I insert my card into the reader, then shove it back into my pocket.
“How are things going with the Community Center? You guys start planning for your summer extravaganza yet?”
Smiling, I shake my head. “It’s on the to-do list.” The summer barbecue cook-off is our largest fundraising event of the year.
What we earn that day typically funds most of our activities throughout the rest of the year.
Normally, I’d have already started the planning, but getting stabbed and pepper-sprayed really seemed to put a damper on it.
Or, at least I’m telling myself that’s what’s got me distracted, and not the gorgeous neighbor I am falling head over heels in love with.
“Well, let me know if I can help.” She smiles at me as she offers me the bag.
“Thanks, Marie. Will do. See ya.” After offering her a wave, I step out onto the street and head toward Anastasia’s coffee shop. I really should be getting back; Kyle will be at my apartment in less than an hour to help work on Katelyn’s, but the pull I feel toward her is too strong to ignore.
So, I make my way down the street anyway.
The coffee shop is busy this morning, with patrons coming in and out of the brightly colored door even as I make my way toward it. I count no less than six people who have exited just since I’ve been in view.
But one person pulls my interest.
A man, dressed in dark jeans and a black hoodie, is standing just out front. He has his phone up to his ear, so it’s likely he just stepped out to talk, but something about him has awareness tingling through my body.
He glances up and makes eye contact with me, then offers a slight nod and turns his back to me, returning to his call. It’s a move that should have confirmed he’s not a threat—but I can’t shake the feeling in my gut.
And then a woman strolls out of the shop on three-inch heels, wearing a black pencil skirt and a white button-down blouse. She taps him on the shoulder, hands him a coffee, and the two of them take off down the street.
Maybe I’m just on edge.
With a deep breath, I head up the steps and into Anastasia’s coffee shop.
The place is packed this morning with spring break tourists and locals alike gathered at the tables around the small café.
Katelyn is taking orders while Anastasia fills them, bustling around behind the counter with far more energy than I think I’ve ever had.
“Hey, Garrison!” she greets happily when she catches sight of me standing just inside the door.
Katelyn’s gaze sweeps over to me, and her smile falters just a bit. Did I really set her off with the apartment question? Or is it something else?
“Hey, there, Demo,” she greets playfully.
“Hey, yourself.”
“Eww, you two are so cute it’s nauseating,” Anastasia says as she makes a face.
“Ignore her,” Katelyn replies. “You want a coffee?”
“Please.” I hand her my card and wait as she finishes ringing me up, then offers me my card back. My gaze travels toward the large windows at the front, and I scan the area for that man or the woman who came out to greet him.
Nothing.
So why am I so bothered?
“You okay?” she asks.
Turning back toward her, I flash a smile. After seeing her reaction to the runner on the beach the other day, the last thing I want to do is worry her about something that, more than likely, is merely me overreacting. “Better now.”
Color dusts her cheeks. “How was the gym?”
“Eh. I’ll feel it tomorrow, but it was worth it.”
The look of concern she gives me is as appreciated as it is adorable.
“Here you go, G-man,” Anastasia says as she hands me my cup.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” Her smile widens as she looks between Katelyn and me. “You know, there’s no line; you could take a quick break.”
Katelyn looks hopeful. “You sure?”
“Yeah, go for it.”
“Okay. Be back in ten.” Katelyn hangs her apron on the hook, then comes around the counter. “Feel like taking my break with me?”
I grin at her, overjoyed at the fact that I clearly didn’t make her so angry this morning that she second-guessed what’s between us. “Lead the way.”
She turns and heads toward the back of the house that Anastasia had converted into her shop. Just past the stairs that lead up to Anastasia’s apartment is what used to be the original kitchen. It’s now been turned into a break room, outfitted with a plush couch, a set of lockers, and a bathroom.
Katelyn takes a seat on the couch and pulls out her phone. “Look what Thomas sent me today.” Her grin would have knocked me off my feet if I weren’t already on my way to sitting.
I drop next to her on the couch, trying to leave enough distance so she’s comfortable, but she completely eliminates it by scooting so close that her thigh brushes against mine.
Heat radiates up through my body, but I beat it back down.
Something that becomes a whole lot easier as she distracts me from our close contact with photos of the baseball field and Thomas with his friends.
“He looks like he’s having so much fun, doesn’t he?” she asks, turning to face me.
“Absolutely.”
She hugs the phone to her chest for a moment, then sets it aside. “I’m really glad I let him go. I was so nervous about it, but it’s been really good for him.”
“I think so, too.” I take a sip of my coffee.
“Look, about this morning,” Katelyn starts. “I’m sorry I got so defensive. It’s just—Garrison, that is your apartment.”
“It’s just a couple of rooms and a kitchen,” I tell her.
“It’s your home.”
“My home has never been a place,” I tell her.
She sighs. “It feels selfish of me.”
“I offered.”
“I know, but…” she trails off. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Absolutely delighted, I set my coffee aside and take her hands in mine.
“Okay, but I want to talk to Geoff first and confirm what you said about the rent. I refuse to let you keep paying the two-bedroom rates if you’re staying in my apartment.”
“Go right on ahead and call him.” I grin at her, glad I already made that phone call first. Geoff confirmed that he hadn’t changed prices and that he had no intention of doing so.
Since he inherited the building from his late mother, his only goal is to make sure it doesn’t get sold to a builder who will tear it down and turn it into condos or a multi-purpose structure.
“You’re sure?”
“Positive.” I lean in and press my lips to hers. “I think we should go out tonight and celebrate your new apartment.”
“Go out?”
“Why not? Dinner, maybe some dancing? If you’re up for it.”
She stares at me. “Like a date?”
“I never got the chance to date.” Those words are a kick in the gut. “Exactly. So, Katelyn Ellis, would you care to go on a date with me? I promise to be nothing but a gentleman.”
She continues staring at me for so long, I’m genuinely not sure she’ll say yes. And then, she smiles. “I would love nothing more, Garrison Holt.”
“Good.”
“Oh, but I have to work tonight.”
“We can go out late. When do you get off?”
“Eight.”
“Then when you get back home, you can get changed, and we’ll head out.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Reaching forward, I cup her face, then draw her in for a kiss. It’s slow, a reverent meeting of our lips, but it stirs a hurricane within me. I pull away before I completely lose myself in it. “So, are you interested in a good steak for dinner?”
She arches a brow. “What do you have in mind?”
“Well, all that talk about Steel & Salt the other day made me hungry.”
“That sounds wonderful. And I promise not to make any mooing sounds at you.”
I laugh, then stand and pull her to her feet. “That would be much appreciated.”