“Really? You’re coming home!”
“I’m coming home.”
“Oh my God!” I squeal because, hell’s bells, this is the best news. “Thank God.”
He laughs. “Can I take that as an answer to my unasked question?”
“What question? I know I maybe should be getting this on my own, but I’m too excited. If you’ve got a question for me, you’re going to have to ask it out loud.”
He chuckles. “How about I head home and shower and then pick you up for a date tonight?”
I look down at the bag in my hand and the leggings and spandex covering eighty percent of my body.
Then I glance to the clock on the microwave.
I’m the one who asked Holley to get together tonight. To go to an adult gymnastics class, which is completely out of her comfort zone, and then dinner afterward, so we could take our burgeoning friendship to the next level.
She’s expecting me to pick her up for class in twenty minutes, and I would feel awful if I canceled on her.
And beyond that, I would feel awful if I canceled on me.
If there’s any chance at all that a relationship is going to work with a guy like Garrett—a guy who’s sometimes gone more than he’s there and has to drop everything in the blink of an eye—I’m going to have to maintain a life of my own of some sort.
That means keeping plans and promises to myself. That means carrying on with my life whether he’s there or not in the same way. That means going to this gymnastics class and dinner with Holley and enjoying myself without guilt or regret even though Garrett has been gone for almost a week.
I miss him. I like him.
But I can’t drop everything to go running to him every time he comes home. Just like he can’t drop everything to stay with me.
And dear God, I want this to work. I need it to work.
“Garrett, I would love to. I mean, I want to see you badly. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too—”
“But I can’t.”
He’s quiet on the other end of the line, so I carry on.
“I didn’t know you’d be back today, and I have plans. I can’t cancel them. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry, Lauren. I don’t want you to cancel plans for me just because my schedule isn’t much of a schedule at all.”
“It’s a clusterfuck,” I supply helpfully, and he laughs.
“It is. And I don’t expect you to cater your every whim to me. I want to see you, of course, but I’ll fit myself into the time you have. Not the other way around, okay? Never the other way,”
“Garrett, I don’t know—”
“It’s the truth, babe. You’ll have to make a lot of sacrifices in a relationship with me—I know it’s not easy. I know. So, I won’t let you sacrifice even one thing more. Not ever. I’ll fit my way into your time, okay? Not the other way around.”
“Okay,” I agree because, well, this is how it should be. For me. And for him.
If I don’t have a life of my own and I’m always just waiting for him to come back from the next fire, the guilt he’ll have to carry because of that burden and the sadness I’d feel from a situation of my own making wouldn’t be good on either of us.
“Now, I have the kids tomorrow,” he continues. “But if you’re free, we’d love to have you join us for projector movie night. It should be a rousing good time. In fact, I’m not sure if you remember, but Jake’s daughter Chloe is going to be home from college, and Sarah has already invited her to join us. Plus, it is Valentine’s Day, and I figure it might be nice to actually spend it with my girlfriend, even if it’s in a different capacity than traditional.”
Holy shit, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day? How in the world did I miss that little diddy? After spending so many of them single over the last decade or two, I guess I finally just gave up on keeping track or something.
“I wouldn’t miss it.” In fact, I’m almost glad we’re going to be spending it with the kids. It really takes the pressure off. Sure, there are a few aspects that would make it nice to be alone, but all in all, I’d rather it be this way.
“Good. And don’t worry, we can celebrate just the two of us on Saturday night.”
I smile. He really might be the perfect man.
“Garrett?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Thanks for understanding about tonight.”
“Of course. Though I suppose I maybe should have asked if your plans are with some other dude,” he remarks good-naturedly.
I laugh. “They’re with Holley.”
“That’s almost as bad.”
“How is that almost as bad as another guy?” I ask, flabbergasted.
“Because Holley is a troublemaker.”
“No, she’s not. And I thought you were all excited about me hanging out with Holley. In fact, if I remember correctly, you whooped and told me it was the best news ever.”