Just as soon as he could break away from this madness.
Garrett had learned that women appreciated honesty, even if it was at their own expense. Better to keep it real than to have Lila believing she had a chance in hell of getting Garrett in bed. Or, God forbid, that he’d invite her to join him and Jessa. Fuck that. If Lila was looking to get laid, she’d better move on.
There was only one women Garrett wanted.
Running, was she? He’d just see about that. The more he’d thought about it, the more he knew they could make it work.
He’d been over it in his head a hundred times today. Studying it from every angle, working it out with each swing of his bat, each race to the bag as he ran through his drills.
He’d convince Jessa and then he’d convince her dad. TJ was a reasonable man. Garrett would make him see how much Jessa had come to mean to him. Sure, it was fast, but there were some things a person just knew.
And Garrett knew he wouldn’t let Jessa go without a fight.
So, let her run. She couldn’t, wouldn’t go far enough for him not to catch up. And when he did, they were going to get a few things straight.
Starting with who she belonged to.
Chapter Seventeen
“Sweet Jesus, Dad!” Adrenaline pushed her heart into overdrive. “You scared the ever-loving crap out of me. What are you doing here?”
She looked around, checking the floor for shards of glass. Feeling relatively safe that she could move without slicing her feet open, she grabbed the wastebasket and pulled it closer.
“I came to see what the hell was going on.” His voice was calm. Too calm.
She straightened, hoping she didn’t look as guilty as she felt. “What do you mean?”
Not wasting any time, TJ waved a newspaper before slapping it down on the coffee table. “This is what I mean. You want to explain that?” He jabbed a finger at the offending paper.
Time seemed to stand still as Jessa went to the table. She didn’t take her eyes off her father as she reached for the paper, gauging his mood.
TJ Montgomery was a large, opposing man. He was usually even-tempered, but Jessa had seen him angry before.
Once.
She’d defied him and snuck out of the house when she was fourteen. It was the first time she’d done anything reckless. A girl at her school had invited her to a party. The girl’s parents had been away. Jessa had wanted to fit in. To be accepted.
She should have known better. The girl had only invited her because she’d wanted a pass for her and her friends to get into the restricted areas of the stadium.
Jessa had been used, and it had landed her at the police station when a neighbor, complaining about the noise, had called the police. Her father had been furious that night. His eyes filled with anger and the muscle in his jaw twitched as if it would jump from his skin at any moment.
Kind of like right now.
Dread filled her as she glanced at the paper, instantly recognizing the photo on the front.
Under different circumstances, she’d have been pleased. They looked so happy. Sitting in the bakery, heads huddled close together as they ate from each other’s forks. Two young lovers sharing a peaceful moment. One of her happiest memories, immortalized in living color on the front page of the sports section. As innocent as it had been at the time, the picture spoke volumes as to the nature of her relationship with Garrett.
How had she not known about this? Because she’d stayed in all day, away from the ballpark and the media, while she prepared herself to leave tomorrow. That’s why.
Did Garrett know about this? He couldn’t have. He would’ve told her, warned her. Something.
There was no way she was getting out of this one. It was damage control time.
“This is nothing.” She’d need to be more convincing if she was going to save Garrett’s job and her ass.