I went inside and found Garrett tying his shoes. He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower, his blond hair wet and slicked back from his face. It made him look younger somehow.
“Hey,” he said softly as I came in. I dropped the keys into a bowl on the counter and practically collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs.
“Hey,” I said tiredly, resting my head in my hand. Garrett finished tying his shoe and sat up.
“How’s your dad?” he asked.
“He just got out of bypass surgery. He made it through but the next twenty-four hours will be critical,” I parroted the doctor’s words, feeling my exhaustion settle into my bones. I was about to collapse.
“You need to sleep. Come on,” Garrett helped me to my feet and then did something that had I not been close to a coma, would have totally freaked me out. He reached down and swept me up in his arms. He carried me down the hallway to the spare bedroom where he had slept earlier.
He laid me down on the freshly made bed and with surprising tenderness, smoothed my hair away from my face and re-positioned the pillow under my head.
“I thought you would have left by now,” I stated as Garrett started to take off my shoes and socks, placing them on the floor.
Garrett shrugged. “I didn’t want to leave until I knew you were okay,” he said matter a factly, as though it were an obvious answer.
I didn’t know what to make of him and the way he had shown me in a hundred tiny ways that he cared. This person who had I had spent a good deal of time detesting, was in truth one of the most decent guys I had ever met. I had totally misjudged him.
“I’ll let you rest. I really hope your dad is okay,” Garrett said, getting to his feet.
I reached out and grabbed his hand before he could walk away. “Please don’t leave. Not yet,” I said with more feeling than I thought I was capable of in my exhausted state.
Garrett’s brow furrowed but he sat back down on the bed. “Riley, you need to rest,” he said more firmly.
I tugged his arm. “Just lie down with me for a little while,” I pleaded. Yes, I was practically begging this guy who I had rejected at every turn, to cuddle with me. But I was an emotional mess right now and his company was something I craved.
Slowly, Garrett kicked off the shoes he had just put on and lay down beside me. I scootched over to make room on the double bed. Garrett stretched his arm above his head, his other arm laying awkwardly beside him as though he didn’t know what to do with it.
I rolled onto my side and pressed my back into him and then he got the hint. He slid over and wrapped his arm around my waist. This spooning thing really was an uncomfortable business. You never knew what to do with your arms or legs. It took forever to find that spot where you felt like you weren’t a human pretzel.
But when you found that spot, it was pure bliss. And when I found that spot with Garrett I never wanted to move again. Our bodies synched up and we sort of melted into each other. Garrett tucked my head under his chin and I felt warm and secure wrapped up in him like this.
“Will you be here when I wake up?” I asked almost fearfully. I couldn’t figure out why it was so important for him to be here with me. But right now it was the most necessary thing in my world.
“I’ll be here as long as you want me, Riley,” he whispered, his breath stirring my hair. And that’s all I needed to fall into a restful sleep.
True to his word, Garrett was still there when I woke up three hours later. I probably could have slept longer but my mind wouldn’t let me rest that long. I sat up with a start, jolting Garrett awake with my sudden movement.
I reached over top of him to grab my phone; scared to death I had missed a call or a text from my mom or one of my siblings. I quickly checked but lay back down when I realized they hadn’t tried to get a hold of me.