Page 35 of Family Bonds- Garrett & Justine

“See you soon, Justine.”

“The same, Garrett,” she said, smiling.

Her heart was racing and she had the biggest urge to run back home herself.

11

TWISTING HIM UP

Garrett jogged back home faster than he’d planned on running today.

But he didn’t expect he’d get a dinner invitation either.

He knew Justine didn’t want to hear anything about the lore of the island, but he couldn’t get it out of his head over the number of times the two of them just ran into each other.

As his mother would say—it was almost like fate.

Did he think he was in love with her?

No. That would be crazy.

But he enjoyed being around her and wasn’t ready to concede to just being friends.

The fact she asked him to dinner gave him some hope she felt the same.

He got back to his house in seven minutes.

“Garrett.”

Shit. It was Vanessa. He hadn’t even seen her in the driveway, but she had mail in her hand, so she must have gone out to get it.

“Hi,” he said, moving up the stairs fast.

“How are you doing?”

“Good,” he said. “Got to run. I’ve got to be somewhere, sorry.”

He unlocked the door fast with his phone and slid inside.

Maybe he felt like a coward always trying to outrun her rather than just saying he wasn’t interested.

But he didn’t want to deal with that awkward conversation. How many times could he tell her no or make up excuses before she got the hint?

He jogged to his room, grabbed a change of clothes, then jumped in the shower.

Ten minutes later he was out the door and didn’t care if Justine thought it was funny that he was there in less than thirty minutes from when they ran into each other.

He parked his SUV and was going to buzz Justine’s place but noticed her coming down the stairs.

“I saw you pull in,” she said.

She held the door open for him. “You took your hair out of the ponytail.”

“It barely fits. I just like it out of my face when I’m walking or exercising. Not that I thought I’d get that sweaty, but I like to see if traffic is coming.”

“Or a friendly face,” he said, laughing.

He’d been hoping she still had it up. He liked her shoulder-length hair pulled back, showing her features more.

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