The Libby Garrett Intervention (Science Squad #2) (15 page)

“Kitten…”

“Don’t you dare try to
kitten
me right now, you condescending
Hominoidea!
I am so over you.”

“Libby…” Owen was quiet for a minute, and when he spoke again his voice was soft, pleading. “Baby, don’t do this. I don’t want to lose you.”

It was the most insecure I’d ever heard him, and it was torture. To my horror, a tear rolled down my cheek and I had to sniff when my nose started to run. “I
have
to do this. I’m through being with someone who’s embarrassed of me. I can’t be your dirty little secret anymore. I’m sorry, Owen.”

I hung up before he could argue, and quickly wiped away the incriminating moisture on my cheek. “Did I miss my dad?”

“No. He’s coming up any minute now.”

We fell silent until after my dad’s run. He killed it—as always—and the crowd went crazy, but I couldn’t cheer along with them. This was my dad’s last run in a professional competition, and it was completely marred by Owen’s phone call. It was just another thing I now hated Owen for.

Adam stayed quiet next to me. It was only after the crowd settled down that I realized I was still gripping Adam’s hand as if it were the Holy freaking Grail. “Sorry,” I muttered, and let go.

“It’s all good.” Adam winked at me as he massaged the life back into his fingers. “I think it’ll survive.”

“I thought you said the hand-holding was supposed to be metaphorical.”

Adam’s lips twitched. “I guess it seemed like one of those literal occasions.”

For a second, my heart was lighter. I managed a faint smile but couldn’t keep it there. “I want to call him back,” I blurted out of nowhere. “I want to apologize and try to work something out.”

Adam looked at me without judgment in his expression. “If you do that, he’ll only hurt you again.”

I shook my head, even though he was probably right. “But he was upset. He begged me not to let him go. He has other girls besides me. If he didn’t care about me, he wouldn’t bother with me anymore. He’d just move on to one of them.”

“Do you hear yourself?” Adam was still calm, still speaking without accusation. “If he really cared about you, he wouldn’t have any other girls to move on to. He wouldn’t be able to treat you the way he does. He’s only thinking about himself. He only cares about what
he
wants. It may suck right now, but trust me: being alone
is
better than staying in an abusive relationship.”

When I started to speak, Adam cut me off before I could say anything. “Not all abuse is physical, Libby.”

He gave me a look that I couldn’t argue with, and again I got the feeling that he was speaking from personal experience. I wanted to ask him who had hurt him, but before I could work up the courage, the competition came to an end. I let the conversation drop and dragged Adam off to find my parents before they announced the winners.

Adam

I was in over my head
. I knew we would be dealing with some heavy topics, but I hadn’t expected Libby to be so real with me. I never dreamed she would open up the way she had.

The day had been one of the best of my life, but it had also been one of the saddest and most frustrating. Hearing Libby talk about herself in such a negative way—so casually, as if it were just common knowledge—killed me, but I couldn’t exactly tell her how wrong she was, either.

I knew Libby was drowning in her relationship with Owen. After watching that awful phone conversation and seeing her basically turn into a zombie afterward, I realized she was a lot further under the water than I’d thought.

I was going to have to be more careful with her than I had been so far, and my personal interest in the matter was only going to complicate things. I had to keep my own feelings out of this. With Owen out of the picture, Libby was going to be a vulnerable mess. She needed to heal. She needed to rebuild her self-confidence. She
didn’t
need some asshole coffee man trying to start something with her and messing everything up.

This relationship had to stay completely platonic, but I had no idea how I was going to do that. I’d gone from bringing her to near tears to holding her hand. Even though she grabbed onto me first, I knew I’d changed things when I laced our fingers together. I’d seen the shock and panic in her eyes and knew damn well the significance of what I’d done. Hell, I did it on purpose because I wanted to see how she’d react, and I loved every second of it. I’m certain I was the first guy to ever hold her hand like that.

Then, when she started spouting off the statistics of every competitor as they hit the half-pipe, I knew I was a goner. There aren’t enough girls in the world that appreciate extreme sports. Having her explain snowboarding to me was just
fun
. And the fake cursing by using scientific terms! I didn’t even know what the hell she was saying half the time, but it was the most adorable thing I’d ever seen.

I really was a giant
gluteus maximus
, because I wanted her. Badly. And I was scared to death that her parents would see right through me the second we met. If her dad tried to kick my ass, I’m not even sure I’d try to stop him, because I deserved a good beating for all the inappropriate thoughts I’d had about Libby today when I was supposed to be helping her.

Libby dragged me out of the stands down to the base of the half-pipe, where all the snowboarders were mingling. She knew her way around, but I was completely out of my element. I’d never been any kind of VIP before—except maybe to my sister Kate. Libby introduced me to some of the guys who’d competed. She laughed and joked with them, congratulating some and trash-talking with others. I was starstruck by it all. It was the closest I’d ever come to meeting any kind of celebrity. In fact, this whole day had felt like a bit of a fairy tale.

I’d never done anything like this. It made me realize how different Libby and I were. We came from completely different worlds. That actually helped me keep my feelings in check. Libby was used to so much more than I could ever give her. She deserved so much more.

I was pulled from my pity party for one when Libby shouted, “Dad!”

Swallowing hard, I tried to suppress all my nerves as Libby jumped at her dad and gave him a hug. Sean Garrett’s face lit up brighter than the sun when he saw Libby. He grabbed her up into his arms. “You came!”

“Of course I came,” Libby replied. “I couldn’t miss your grand finale.”

I wondered if her dad noticed the way her cheeks turned pink, as if she were ashamed by his surprise to see her. And he
was
surprised. He hadn’t thought she was going to be there today. That was sad, but at least she’d eventually made the right choice. I could tell that they were both really glad she hadn’t missed it.

Libby’s father squeezed her once more while she congratulated him and assured him that he’d definitely placed in the top three. When he set her down, he immediately turned to me.

I’d seen Sean Garrett a number of times around town, but I’d never met him. He skateboarded and freeboarded a lot in the off-season, and my buddies and I had gone out to watch him a few times. The guy is just as awesome on any board with wheels as he is on a snowboard.

I’ve always looked up to Sean, so I’d have been a little nervous to meet him anyway, but it was a million times worse being introduced to him by his daughter. I’d seen them together before. I knew they were close. Sean was going to hate me. He smiled, but it was a little strained as he held his hand out for me to shake. “Thank you for bringing her up today. I know you guys had other plans, but it means a lot to me—” He stopped mid-sentence and glanced at my forehead. I thought he was frowning at my piercing by the way he was looking at the top of my head, but he said, “No offense, but I thought a college basketball player would be taller. You must have one hell of a jump.”

He thought I was Owen. That explained the wariness. Libby quickly came to my rescue. “Um, yeah, actually, Dad, this isn’t Owen.”

She looked mortified by her dad’s mistake, but I wasn’t nearly as worried about it. This was probably the one instance when it was better to be me than Owen Jackson. I’m not usually a parent pleaser, but I got the feeling that Libby’s parents would take
anyone
over Owen.

“Not Owen?” Her dad’s frown deepened. “But I thought you said—”

Libby shook her head. “Nope. Not Owen. No more Owen. Ever again. Actually, Owen is dead.”

Her dad stepped back, confused, and her mom immediately slid up next to him, sharing his look of concern.

“Okay, maybe he’s only dead in the metaphorical sense,” Libby corrected. “Though, I wouldn’t mind if the lines between
metaphorical
and
literal
blurred in this case. The point is, I made it here today, and this is Adam.”

Both her parents looked at me again. I waited for their expressions to change, for them to look at me the way most parents do, but they didn’t. Sean gave me an easy smile as he held out his hand to me, and Libby’s mother’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Adam Koepp,” Libby said, beaming a bright, proud smile at me, “meet my dad, Sean Garrett, half-pipe master, and my mom, Makayla Garrett, the EMT who patches him up when he biffs it on the mountain. Not that he does that often.”

We all shook hands, and then Sean and Makayla looked to Libby for more of an explanation. She shook her head, sucking in a deep breath through her nose. “Long story.”

One that I was not looking forward to explaining. I wondered how Libby was going to tackle the subject, and how her parents would react. Hopefully they’d be supportive, because Libby was going to need all the help she could get, but I didn’t really expect them to take what we were trying to do seriously.

“We’d love to hear it,” Mrs. Garrett said. “If you feel like sharing.”

Libby debated a moment, then grinned. “If you want to hear the story, then we’ll tell you. Over dinner. Someplace nice.
Your
treat.”

When Sean smiled again and quickly said
deal
, Libby groaned. I didn’t understand her disgust until she said, “Ah, man. You were going to do that anyway!”

Sean’s devious grin made me smile. Libby was right; her father loved to drive her crazy. It was strange to watch the family interaction, but fascinating at the same time. I’d never really had a father, and I may as well have not had a mother. I was a little envious, but relieved that, at the very least, Libby had great parents who obviously loved her. I was glad she had that.

The judges announced the scores after that, and Libby was right; her dad placed in the top three. He came in second after Scott Stevens, and Libby couldn’t have been more proud of him.

Dinner turned into a celebration, and we ended up going to a restaurant so nice Libby was surprised they’d been able to get a table. Her dad confessed that he’d made the reservation weeks before, when he entered the competition.

I’d never been to a place that needed reservations. I’d never even been to a place that gave you menus. Kate and I considered fine dining ordering something that wasn’t on the dollar menu. “Are we dressed okay for this?” I muttered to Libby as some guy in a tux held the front door open for the four of us.

“Don’t worry. I guarantee you my dad is in jeans and a T-shirt under his coat.”

Libby’s answer and her easy smile helped a little, but I still wasn’t entirely convinced. “I’m wearing short sleeves. People aren’t going to be offended by my tattoos, are they?” I didn’t mention that I was mostly worried about her parents.

“So what if they are?” Libby asked. “I think they’re hot. Besides, my dad has a couple, too. Mom has one too, but you won’t see hers.”

I stumbled to a stop. Libby thought my tattoos were hot? The thought made my stomach flip. I hadn’t known she appreciated body art. It was just one more thing to add to my list of reasons why Libby was perfect for me. And both Sean and Makayla had tattoos? I’d never dated a girl whose parents had ink. That was so cool.

As we were shown to a table that was lit with actual candles, I was so nervous my palms were sweating, and I couldn’t hold still. I’d always been nervous to meet parents, but I’d never wanted them to like me as much as I prayed I could make a good impression on Sean and Makayla Garrett. Libby nudged me in the side with her elbow as we reached the table. “Relax, Coffee Man.”