Marley.
“The robbery was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I moved to Seattle with grand plans to start a tech company and be all kinds of amazing. I learned a lot and don’t regret being there, but it didn’t satisfy me the way I hoped. Sometimes you need to take a breather to find out what you want. The robbery gave me that chance. You’re not me, but maybe you should stop worrying about answers right now. From what Gage has told me, it’s not like you can’t afford not to work. I’m sure Gage already told you, but you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.”
Garrett took a slow breath, the tension in his chest easing slightly. “Since I can’t seem to find the answers, I’ll try to take your advice.”
The door swung open and Gage walked through. “Hey man,” he said, slapping Garrett on the back as he walked by to drop a kiss on Marley’s cheek.
Conversation moved on to lighter matters. Hours later, Garrett lay in bed, Delia lingering in his thoughts. Any moment he was alone, she was on his mind. And any moment she was on his mind, lust streaked through him. He was rock hard. He kicked the covers off and strode into the bathroom. His hand was nothing like what he hoped to experience with Delia, but the release was enough for him to fall asleep.
Chapter 6
Delia’s phone chirped insistently. She came to a lurching stop in the parking lot and fumbled in her purse, not bothering to check the screen and see who was calling.
“Hello,” she said quickly. There was a long enough pause that she repeated her greeting. After the next pause went a beat too long, she sighed and started to pull the phone away when she heard her name.
“Yes?”
“Delia, it’s Terry.”
Her stomach lurched and dread filled her followed with flashing anger. Terry was Nick’s ever-absent father whom she hadn’t seen or heard from since the week after she told him she was pregnant. At the time, she’d been in her senior year in college and believed herself in love with Terry. Or so she’d thought. She’d bitterly come to learn the man she thought she loved wasn’t the man he was. She’d been in the untenable situation of only discovering she was pregnant when she was more than three months along. She’d been on the pill and rarely had her period anyway. She hadn’t even blinked when she didn’t have her period for three months straight. She’d been buried in classwork and working a full-time job at a local restaurant in Juneau.
After weeks of feeling nauseous every morning, her roommate, Sarah, had given her a long look and come home later that night with a pregnancy test. When Delia sputtered and told Sarah she was being ridiculous, Sarah had arched a brow and asked her if she’d forgotten to take her pills here and there. She’d missed a whopping total of two pills the month she’d gotten pregnant, but it was more than enough.
Delia remembered her last conversation with Terry more vividly than she’d like. Not because it was hazy with lost-love memories, but because it was the day she learned the sharp difference between perception and reality and came to learn how easily some people could lie. She swatted the memory away and focused on now. For a second, she tried to stay calm, but then decided it didn’t matter. She’d never had her chance to let loose on Terry for leaving Nick to wonder who his father was and why he was never around. It would be hard for her to care less about Terry being a part of her life, but his absence mattered a lot to Nick, if only because it left a giant, gaping question mark in his heart.
“What the hell do you want, Terry?”
Silence greeted her, so she barreled onward. “It’s been six years and you just pick up the phone and call? I don’t know what you want or why the hell you’ve bothered to call now, but you’d better not think you can just waltz into our lives like this!” Her heart hammered, and she felt sick with anger.
“I, uh… Look, Delia,
“The robbery was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I moved to Seattle with grand plans to start a tech company and be all kinds of amazing. I learned a lot and don’t regret being there, but it didn’t satisfy me the way I hoped. Sometimes you need to take a breather to find out what you want. The robbery gave me that chance. You’re not me, but maybe you should stop worrying about answers right now. From what Gage has told me, it’s not like you can’t afford not to work. I’m sure Gage already told you, but you’re welcome to stay here as long as you need.”
Garrett took a slow breath, the tension in his chest easing slightly. “Since I can’t seem to find the answers, I’ll try to take your advice.”
The door swung open and Gage walked through. “Hey man,” he said, slapping Garrett on the back as he walked by to drop a kiss on Marley’s cheek.
Conversation moved on to lighter matters. Hours later, Garrett lay in bed, Delia lingering in his thoughts. Any moment he was alone, she was on his mind. And any moment she was on his mind, lust streaked through him. He was rock hard. He kicked the covers off and strode into the bathroom. His hand was nothing like what he hoped to experience with Delia, but the release was enough for him to fall asleep.
Chapter 6
Delia’s phone chirped insistently. She came to a lurching stop in the parking lot and fumbled in her purse, not bothering to check the screen and see who was calling.
“Hello,” she said quickly. There was a long enough pause that she repeated her greeting. After the next pause went a beat too long, she sighed and started to pull the phone away when she heard her name.
“Yes?”
“Delia, it’s Terry.”
Her stomach lurched and dread filled her followed with flashing anger. Terry was Nick’s ever-absent father whom she hadn’t seen or heard from since the week after she told him she was pregnant. At the time, she’d been in her senior year in college and believed herself in love with Terry. Or so she’d thought. She’d bitterly come to learn the man she thought she loved wasn’t the man he was. She’d been in the untenable situation of only discovering she was pregnant when she was more than three months along. She’d been on the pill and rarely had her period anyway. She hadn’t even blinked when she didn’t have her period for three months straight. She’d been buried in classwork and working a full-time job at a local restaurant in Juneau.
After weeks of feeling nauseous every morning, her roommate, Sarah, had given her a long look and come home later that night with a pregnancy test. When Delia sputtered and told Sarah she was being ridiculous, Sarah had arched a brow and asked her if she’d forgotten to take her pills here and there. She’d missed a whopping total of two pills the month she’d gotten pregnant, but it was more than enough.
Delia remembered her last conversation with Terry more vividly than she’d like. Not because it was hazy with lost-love memories, but because it was the day she learned the sharp difference between perception and reality and came to learn how easily some people could lie. She swatted the memory away and focused on now. For a second, she tried to stay calm, but then decided it didn’t matter. She’d never had her chance to let loose on Terry for leaving Nick to wonder who his father was and why he was never around. It would be hard for her to care less about Terry being a part of her life, but his absence mattered a lot to Nick, if only because it left a giant, gaping question mark in his heart.
“What the hell do you want, Terry?”
Silence greeted her, so she barreled onward. “It’s been six years and you just pick up the phone and call? I don’t know what you want or why the hell you’ve bothered to call now, but you’d better not think you can just waltz into our lives like this!” Her heart hammered, and she felt sick with anger.
“I, uh… Look, Delia,
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