hell out of you for trying everything you could until you couldn’t anymore. I know for a fact that you gave it more than I would have.”
He pulls his foot to his ass to stretch his quad and laughs a little. “Thanks, man.”
“That said, you know I’ll do everything I can to help support you and the kids while this is going on. No matter what, you can call, yeah?”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” Garrett jerks up his chin in affirmation. “So, can we go for a run now? I need my lungs to burn.”
I don’t waste any time, turning and taking off down the beach without warning. I turn to yell over my shoulder, “I’m ready when you are!”
His glare is almost brighter than the moon as he takes off after me at a sprint. I return to facing forward, stop smirking, and put my ass in another gear. Otherwise, he’s going to smoke me in no time.
I’m usually able to run without losing my breath at all, but Garrett is like a rabid dog today, nipping at my heels with questions and comments every step I take.
“How have the dates been going?”
“It seems weird that you’re going on so many. Where are you finding the women? Is there an actual swimming pool full of them?”
“I don’t understand why you’re going out on, like, Tuesday nights? Do these chicks work weekends?”
“How did you meet them?”
I screech to a stop, bending over and putting my hands to my knees, and he comes around in front of me, jogging in place while he does, the bastard.
I don’t think he’s beat me in a run—or any athletic competition of any sort—in years. I didn’t realize it until now, but apparently a simultaneous interrogation is the tool he needed to give him an edge.
“All right, all right, Jesus.” I run a hand through my hair and sigh. “You’re right, okay? It’s not just an uptick in my dating. I’m…I’m kind of doing a thing with the SoCal Tribune. Have you heard of the Bachelor Anonymous contest?”
Garrett’s smile is annoyingly pervasive. I bet if the astronauts at the Space Station looked down here, they’d be able to spot the glow of it. “I haven’t, but I can tell you, hearing it now is probably the best thing ever.”
I flip him off.
“So, what? How does this work? And how in the fuck did you end up doing it? A newspaper contest called Bachelor Anonymous. I’m dying, dude.”
I scowl, trying to think of the most succinct way to explain the whole fucking cluster. I only half understand why I’m doing it myself. Explaining it to someone else feels nearly impossible.
“Chloe entered me without telling me, and I got picked to be…the main guy or whatever.”
“And what?”
“I go on dates with five different women who applied to be a part of it, and at the end, I’m supposed to pick one to continue dating.”
“Holy shit.” His nostrils flare as his eyes widen in delight, so rather than pause to listen to anything he might be close to saying, I carry on.
“Anyway, this woman…Holley…she’s in charge of the whole thing and writes articles about all of it as it goes along.”
“That’s amazing. So, you just date multiple women and don’t feel bad about it?”
I shake my head. “It’s not really like that. I go on one date with each of them. It’s not like it’s super deep. And some of them, man, you wouldn’t be into. They’re attractive, but like I told Holley…” I laugh as I think of some of the jokes Holley and I came up with during dessert at MoMo Milan after dinner with Bianca. “…Dumber than a bag of rocks.”
Garrett’s eyebrows draw together as he considers me. “And this Holley lady? What’s she like?”
I smile. Thinking of all the things that Holley is and how best to describe them in a way Garrett will understand. “She’s fun. We get along really well even though she’s kind of a mess.” I laugh as I think of her wrecking the four-wheeler on my date with Rachel over the weekend. She seemed a little sore Saturday night but otherwise okay. And I texted her yesterday to see how she was feeling, but she just sent me a GIF of Kim Kardashian lying in bed with the covers up to her chin followed by the thumbs-up emoji. I took her ability to joke about it as a good sign. “But she has a good sense of humor and has