Running Forever

by Emily Camp

  “Oh,” he took in an audible breath, “okay.”

  Normally, this would be where she would ask if he needed to talk to her, but given that she already knew the answer, she’d rather not start that conversation.

  “Hey, I’m late for class.” She motioned to the door that she wasn’t all that anxious to go in, but it was better than risking Spencer bringing up something she hoped he never would.

  He held his side and nodded, “I kind of don’t remember anything.”

  “Good thing I was the one who went home with you.” She gripped her backpack straps. “No crazy girl will be stalking you this time.”

  “Right,” he said, but didn’t move, only stood there, blocking her way, and stared.

  “So…,” she lifted an eyebrow. She hoped he would get the point.

  “Did I …,” he tilted his head like a confused puppy. “Did I thank you for driving me home?”

  “A million times. You also told me how great I was.” Bree watched a couple others file into the classroom. She wasn’t the only one late. “See you later.” This time, she stepped away from him before he could stop her.

  Bree sunk into the seat and hooked her backpack on the back of her chair then pulled out her notebook. She’d already missed some of the instruction. Why not pull out her cellphone and see if she had any messages? Since her morning classes, she’d forgotten to turn it back on.

  Her heart sank when she saw the text pop up from Carly. Garrett just showed up looking for you. Told him you were at Spencer’s. He didn’t take it well.

  Of course he wouldn’t take it well. That’s why he’d been so cold to her. If he thought she slept with him yesterday afternoon when Bailey was with them, he was sure to think that now. The first reaction she had was to be mad at Carly for telling, but it wasn’t like she planned on keeping it a secret. Spencer was her friend and she wanted to help him like he helped her. But Garrett wouldn’t see it that way, and the truth was, she wouldn’t like it if he’d stayed with a girl.

  Chapter 10

  When Garrett dropped off Bailey, she cried as usual. But what made it even worse was when he came out of the daycare and went to find Bree. He’d felt bad about being short with her, that was, until he spotted her talking to Spencer right in the middle campus.

  Coach made a comment the minute he got to the locker room, asking him if he was ready to be a man. Garrett shoved his things in his locker and headed toward the weight bench. As long as he was left alone, it would be therapeutic. He pushed earbuds in and cranked his iPod on high. He picked up the hand weights and sat on the edge of an empty bench. His muscles burned with each rep to the beat of the song.

  As loud as the music was, it still couldn’t drown out the thoughts of Bree. Even though they broke up two years ago, he always believed they would get back together. There were times she made him feel that way…when she laughed at his jokes or when she smiled at him, or leaned against him when they were putting Bailey down.

  Especially the other night when she was in his bed. He should have known it’d make her run away. That’s what she did, she ran. But he didn’t expect her to run straight to Spencer, as much as she’d said over and over they were just friends, that Spencer was like a brother to her. But Spencer wasn’t her brother, he was a womanizing jerk. Maybe that’s what Garrett should be. He gave one final, labored rep before he sat the weights down.

  “Light!” He somehow managed to hear through his headphones. Garrett looked up and removed an earbud when he saw Hudson and a couple of other guys walking his way.

  “Yeah?” Hudson straddled the bench beside him. Ezra stood behind Hudson to spot and the other guys seemed to just gather around in a circle.

  “We saw your girl last night,” Hudson said.

  “Probably.” Garrett ignored the twist in his gut.

  “You wanna know where?” Hudson said.

  Garrett two guesses, but he was sure it wasn’t at Hudson’s house where she was supposed to be staying with Hudson’s sister. He just shrugged.

  “We saw her with Spencer Harris.” Hudson leaned back and lifted the bar.

  “You know they’re friends.” Garrett said.

  “Two in the morning friends?”

  “I don’t know.” Garrett mumbled and started to lift again.

  “Even though you keep your distance, we’re still a team and we stick together. If you need us to show that to pretty-boy Harris, we will.”

  “Thanks, but I’m just going to let this one go.”

  “You gonna go out with out with us then?”

  Garrett thought about it, and he wanted to say sure, but he still had responsibilities. “I can’t.”

  “You’re the one missing out.” Maybe he was, but it wasn’t like he had the flexibility any of them did either. A part of him was jealous of that.

  ****

  Normally, walking out of the locker room to be greeted by Bree would have been enough to make Garrett’s day better. But just looking at her now, all he could think about was her with Spencer…even with Bailey standing beside her, holding her hand.

  He hitched his bag over his shoulder. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

  “Daddy.” Bailey reached for him.

  Garrett bent down and lifted Bailey to his hip. “Bailers, how was daycare?”

  “Good.” She clasped her hands.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “Yes.” The wispy bun on top her head bounced as she nodded.

  “Me too, let’s go see what Grandma made for supper.”

  “Gamma supper,” Bailey spoke, wide-eyed.

  “The daycare said she went potty,” Bree said.

  “You went potty?” He spoke to Bailey, but couldn’t look at Bree. Even if he was mad enough to yell at her, he didn’t want to. She was still Bailey’s mom, no matter what happened between them.

  “Yesh,” Bailey said. “Bailey pee in potty.”

  “Wow, that’s a big girl.”

  Her smile beamed and she held her shoulders high. Garrett’s car beeped as he unlocked it. Out of the corner of his eye, he felt Bree watching him as he put a jabbering Bailey in her car seat. She talked about the snack she had and the bug on the window and the trees again.

  Garrett responded every other syllable so she knew he was listening even though he couldn’t completely understand everything she said.

  When he finally had her buckled and stood upright, Bree’s hand fell on his arm. He glanced down. He wanted to pretend it didn’t affect him. Moving on might be harder than he thought it was going to be, but he had to for his sanity.

  “We need to talk.” Bree’s voice was soft.

  He looked back at his car. Bailey swung her feet and sang at the top of her lungs.

  “We have an hour drive to talk,” he said.

  Bree blinked and nodded, though she didn’t take her eyes off him.

  He stepped around her and made his way to the driver’s side.

  “Daddy dribe,” Bailey said when he got in.

  “Yeah, Daddy’s driving.”

  “Mommy tar broke.”

  Bree sighed as she sunk into the passenger side. “Mommy’s car is getting fixed.”

  “Mommy tar fix.”

  “Not yet.” Bree leaned around, facing Bailey, her shoulder brushed against Garrett.

  He turned the engine on and pulled out of the parking lot as Bree settled back into her seat, sliding on her seatbelt.

  Bailey continued to talk from the back. This time Garrett didn’t respond, neither did Bree, who stared at him again, her arms across her stomach. “Garrett I …”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Garrett pulled up to the stop light.

  “Daddy dribe,” Bailey cooed.

  “Did she have a nap today?” Bree asked.

  “No,” he said.

  “I don’t care about Spencer like that,” Bree’s voice cracked.

  The light turned green and Garrett sped through. “Sounds like Spencer has the same problem I do.”
/>   “What? No,” she said. “My feelings for you are …”

  “Are what? ‘Cause I’m not the one you spent the night with last night.”

  “I slept in his bed. He was passed out on the couch,” she grabbed his elbow, making him flinch. “I want to be with you someday.”

  Garrett merged on the highway. “If you want to be with me, why not now? I can understand why you don’t want to get married yet, but why can’t we at least be together? Afraid of hurting Spencer’s feelings?”

  “Pence,” Bailey chimed, only adding more injury to Garrett’s wound, “See Pence.”

  “Not today, Bails,” Bree turned toward her. “We’re going to see Grandma and Grandpa.”

  “Gamma, Gampa,” Bailey cooed.

  Bree turned back toward Garrett, he felt her staring again. “I don’t want to rush into anything with us.”

  Garrett let go of the steering wheel with one hand and motioned to the backseat. “We have a two-year-old together. I think we’re past rushing it.”

  “I don’t want to be like my mom, you know that.”

  “And how is being with me like your mom?” He glanced toward her as a car whizzed by him in the passing lane. “She’s not with one of her four kid’s dad’s.”

  Bree blinked at him with watery eyes and he turned back toward the road. Traffic was busier than normal.

  “Why are you being mean?”

  “Why do you care?”

  “Mean. Mean. Mean,” Bailey cooed.

  “I do care,” her voice was choppy now.

  “Doesn’t seem like it.”

  She sniffed and a muffled sob came from her, only irritating him more.

  He white-knuckled the steering wheel. “You were never going to give us another chance.”

  “You don’t know that,” she sobbed.

  “Mommy sad.” Bailey’s little voice pulled at him. They shouldn’t be fighting in front of her.

  Garrett sighed and ran his hand over his head before turning to Bree, the back of her head now turned toward him.

  “Can we talk about this later?” he said.

  Her shoulders lifted and she sniffed.

  That wasn’t a clear answer, but he figured it was done for now. When he turned back to the road, the red brake lights of the car in front of him were way too close. His heart jumped to his throat as he slammed on his breaks.

  The only thing he could hear was the screeching of tires and crunching metal as he rammed into it.

  He shouted and turned toward Bree, who was turned completely around in her seat reaching for Bailey, whose cries were just reaching him.

  ****

  Bree stood on the side of the road for the second time this summer. After several minutes of crying, Bailey finally calmed. Not only did the crash scare her, but she wanted her Daddy, who was busy filling the accident report.

  When Randy pulled up, she was relieved to see him. Bree had a scratch on her forehead. She and Garrett had looked Bailey over; she was injury free. Garrett was okay, too.

  “Gampa,” Bailey wiggled in Bree’s arms. One thing Bree knew for sure was she never wanted to stand by the side of the road holding Bailey ever again.

  Randy emerged from his SUV and stretched his arms out toward Bailey, “Sweetheart.”

  Bailey lunged toward her grandpa. He took her in his arms and adjusted her on his hip. “Everyone okay?”

  Bree touched the sore spot on her head. “I think so.”

  Randy tilted his chin up and squinted, “You didn’t get away without a battle scar.”

  “It’s nothing,” Bree said. “I’m just glad Bailey’s all right.”

  “Where’s Garrett?”

  Bree pointed toward the silver police cruiser. “Filling out the report.”

  “You can sit in the Tahoe.”

  Bree nodded. “They said we can’t use the car seat again.”

  “Garrett told me. I stopped and got one on the way.” He motioned toward the car, “Go rest. I got Bailey.”

  “Gampa dot Bailey,” Bailey patted her chest.

  From the time of the accident, Bree hadn’t had a chance to think of everything. Garrett was shaking right after the wreck and it scared Bree, that was, until he had Bailey scooped up in his arms, squeezing her tight to his chest. The front end of the car was banged up and the single man that was in the vehicle in front of them was injury free as well. All in all, they were lucky. It wasn’t a horrible accident, but it was going to be an inconvenience. She placed her hand over the bump on her head just as her phone chimed.

  Glancing down, the text from Spencer read, Carly told me about the accident, are you and Bailey okay?

  Of course, Carly knew. Bree texted her brother and she was sure Carly was with him.

  She sent a quick text back letting him know she was fine. At least physically. Not emotionally, but that had nothing to do with that accident.

  Chapter 11

  “Mom didn’t show for her visitation.” Parker took a sip of his water. Her older brother had custody of her other two siblings; Maggie, just a couple years younger than Bree, was sixteen and Bryson only twelve.

  Being the core that held their little dysfunctional family together, Parker took them all out to eat a least once a month. Parker decided to take the small window of Maggie and Bryson going to the bathroom to share this.

  “Does that surprise you?” Bree said, taking a scoop of mild salsa.

  Carly sat on Parker’s right, his arm draped around her, because if they were near one another they couldn’t go without touching one another. It wasn’t that Bree didn’t love her brother and her best friend, and she was glad they were together, but sometimes Bree was a little jealous of their relationship, herself.

  “Not really.” Parker picked up a chip and dipped into the hot salsa.

  “But she called today and expected to see them.” Carly reached across Parker for the basket of chips.

  “Her visitations are supervised, though,” as if Bree had to remind him.

  “Yeah,” he nodded as he chewed his chip. “She expected me to make an exception for her…just this once.” He made air quotes.

  “She wants you to do favors for her when she cussed you out last month?”

  Parker nodded, crunching another chip.

  “Don’t eat all the chips,” Bryson’s loud voice carried as he hopped into the seat next to Bree, his brown, shaggy hair disheveled. Bree tried to talk him into a haircut last week, but he said he likes it like that. Bree had a feeling it was more him not wanting to leave his video game at the time than liking the hair do.

  “I’m not,” Parker held up his hands. Bree was surprised he let go of Carly long enough for that.

  Parker slid the hot salsa toward Bryson. “You should try this stuff.”

  Bryson wrinkled his nose and peered at Bree behind the long bangs falling over his eyes. “Is it hot?”

  Bree nodded. Her little brother was like her when it came to spicy foods. They’d rather not.

  Parker chuckled and messed Bryson’s hair. “Can’t fool you.”

  “Where’s Maggie?” Bree said looking behind her.

  “Probably talking to boys.” Bryson rolled his head as he reached for the mild salsa.

  Parker’s jaw jerked. It’d been a full-time job taking on his younger siblings and even more of a challenge keeping their boy-crazy sister under control. “I’ll be right back.” He slid out of the chair.

  Carly sighed and placed her hand under her chin. “Spencer asked Parker about you yesterday. I thought you guys talked all the time?”

  “I’ve been busy,” Bree looked over her shoulder again, this time spotting Maggie as she stood near a table. Bryson was right. Three boys sat there, all laughing along with her bubbly red-headed flirty sister.

  “Are you sure that’s it?” Carly asked.

  Bree shrugged. No, that wasn’t it at all. Things with Garrett weren’t good and hadn’t been in the last week. Her relationship with Spencer only made things wors
e.

  Parker slid beside Maggie and draped his arms over her shoulders. Where was he three years ago when Bree was the boy-crazy one? If only he would have been back a little sooner, she might not have gotten in the mess she did with Garrett. Bree felt guilty for thinking of Bailey that way. She’d lived with her dad at the time, and though his rules were strict, he never paid enough attention to her to enforce anything. That was, until she found out she was pregnant. Then the punishment was homelessness. She wouldn’t trade Bailey for the world, but there were times she wished she was older and married before she had her.

  With a scowl on Maggie’s face, and a grin on Parker’s, they made their way back toward the table. The boys she’d left behind turned back to their own conversation. Maggie slid into the seat on the other side of Bree with an exaggerated huff and crossed her arms. Parker took his place by Carly again, sliding his arm around her.

  “You know I’m older than she was when you two got together,” Maggie glared at Carly.

  “Oh, Magpie, not all boys are as noble as me,” he held a hand to his chest and lifted his chin.

  Carly nudged him with her elbow and smirked.

  “You’re noble?” Maggie huffed. “You can’t keep your hands to yourself.”

  “You two are gross.” Bryson wrinkled his nose toward the happy couple.

  “We don’t …,” Carly started.

  “I’m saving you from guys like Spencer and Garrett,” Parker interrupted.

  “Garrett’s a good guy,” Bree dropped the chip she was dipping and snapped her face toward Parker.

  He lifted a brow. “Quick to defend him.”

  “What about Spencer? He’s your friend,” Bryson said then turned to Parker, “and your brother.”

  “Spencer is a womanizer,” Parker said. “Most guys are.” He waved a chip to Bree. “I want to keep Maggie away from guys that get girls pregnant.”

  “Parker,” Maggie’s voice was shrill, almost piercing Bree’s ear drums, and she turned to look at the table of boys, “you’re so embarrassing.”

  The waitress arrived with their food and Bree was thankful for the change in subject. Not that it was her, but she was the one being used as an example. She was quick to defend Garrett because it wasn’t all his fault that she got pregnant and, after all, he didn’t have to stick around and he did.