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CHAPTER TWENTY

GARRET

When Jade told me she wanted to get a costume, I figured she’d get one of those long black dresses with the crooked hem that come with a witch’s hat. So the cheerleader costume was a huge surprise. I didn’t think Jade would go for something like that. She always said those types of costumes make girls look slutty, but I guess she changed her mind. Or else she thinks they’re only slutty if you wear them in public.

Once I saw her in that costume, I couldn’t wait to get her out of it. I admit, the cheerleader thing does turn me on. Big time. Which explains why I had sex with so many cheerleaders back in high school. So seeing Jade in a cheerleader costume? Shit, I could barely control myself. She looked so fucking hot. She’s definitely wearing that again.

After the sex and the hot shower I’m so relaxed I just want to lie on the couch and watch movies all night. But she’s making us go to this party and I have no idea why. I know she won’t like it.

We arrive at Kyle’s place around 8:30. People are standing out on the lawn, drinking, and some of the girls are dancing to the music that’s blaring from the wireless speakers on the porch. I spot a girl wearing the same cheerleader costume that Jade bought. It looked a thousand times better on Jade.

Kyle comes out of the house as we’re walking up the porch steps. “Kensington, you actually came.”

“Yeah, we thought we’d stop by.”

Kyle’s wearing a black t-shirt, a bandana around his head, and a patch over his eye. “Go on inside. The keg’s over by the bar. And Niki’s mixing drinks for people. She made some kind of Halloween cocktail.”

I don’t know who Niki is—maybe his girlfriend? Or girl of the week? Kyle doesn’t date girls for very long.

The inside of the house is already crowded. The music is so loud you can feel the bass thumping through the floor. In the middle of the room people are dancing, if you want to call it that. It’s mostly girls in skimpy costumes waving their arms around while guys grind up against them.

I’m not judging here. I’ve been those guys. I’m just over it now. I’ve already lived this scene many times.

“So what do you want to do?” I have to practically yell it for Jade to hear.

“You want to dance?”

“It’s too crowded.”

“But you’re good at it. Come on.” She waves her hands around like the other girls are doing, but it doesn’t look right. I’d never tell her this, but Jade’s not a very good dancer. She has no problem with slow dancing, but faster, club-style dancing? Not so good.

“You’re not dancing.” Jade puts her hands behind my neck and sways side to side.

“Yeah, I don’t feel like it tonight.”

“Garret.” Someone says it from behind me. Jade lets me go and I turn to see Nate there.

“Hey, Nate. I didn’t know you were friends with Kyle.”

“We’re more like acquaintances. I go to his parties sometimes.”

“Nate, this is Jade. Jade, this is Nate.”

“Hi.” Nate shakes her hand. “So you’re the wife?”

“That’s me. And you’re the one who plays five hours of video games every day?”

“Three hours, not five.” He shoots me a look. “Don’t be making up shit about me, Kensington.”

I shrug. “Hey, man, I’ve heard from multiple sources that it’s five hours a day.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to cut down.” He notices someone behind me. “I gotta go. I’ll see you guys later.”

I look back and see him chasing down some girl with red hair wearing a devil’s costume.

“Hi, Garret.” A girl steps between Jade and me and gets right in my face. It’s Brook, but I couldn’t tell at first because she has a mask over her eyes, like the kind you wear at masquerade balls. She’s holding a drink in her hand and her breath smells like rum. Yeah, she’s so close I can smell her breath.

“Hi.” I back up and hit a wall of people. “Where’s Dylan?”

“He didn’t come. He says he’s too old for college parties. Sometimes I think he’s just too boring for me.” She leans forward and I move to the side before her breasts collide with my chest.

Jade taps Brook on the shoulder. “Hi, Brook.”

Brook checks behind her and turns around. “Have we met? You look familiar.”

Seriously? This girl is such a bitch. I don’t know why Harper was ever friends with her.

“We had lunch together,” Jade says. “I’m Jade Kensington .” She emphasizes the last name. That’s my girl.

“Oh, yeah. Harper’s friend.”

“Yeah. And Garret’s wife.”

Jade goes around Brook and over to me. I put my arm around her and kiss her.

Jade smiles at Brook. “So have you talked to Harper lately?”

“No, but my mom talked to her mom just the other day. She said Harper did something to her shoulder.”

“She tore her rotator cuff and—” Jade stops, because Brook is waving at someone in the crowd and not even listening.

“I have to go. Tell Harper I said hi.” Brook holds her drink in the air and squeezes between the people next to us, trying to get through.

When she’s gone, Jade says, “She doesn’t seem like someone who’s ready to get married. She was totally hitting on you again.”

“Not just me.” I see Brook in the crowd, latched onto one of the football players, rubbing her chest against his bicep and talking really close.

“What do you mean?” Jade follows my gaze and sees Brook, who is now saying something into the guy’s ear. He smiles and jerks his head toward the hallway that leads to the bedrooms.

I watch as Brook and the guy head back there. “Poor bastard.”

“Which one? That guy? Or Dylan?”

I laugh. “Both of them. Thank God I found you and don’t have to deal with girls like her anymore.” I lean down and give Jade a kiss. “You want to get a drink?”

“I’ll take a soda if they have any.”

“Aren’t you coming with me?”

“It’s too crowded. I’ll just wait here.”

I’m not sure if I want to leave her. The bar has a long line. It’ll take forever to get a drink. But I’m tall enough that I’ll be able to see her from the bar.

“I’ll be right back. Don’t move.”

Jade starts dancing again and waves at me to go. I laugh as I walk away. She really needs to work on her dance moves.

A new song starts and enough people migrate to the dance area that I’m able to quickly sneak through to the bar.

The bar looks like a tiki hut. It’s one of those portable bars that people set out on their patio. Sitting next to it on the floor I see two big white coolers. One of them has cans of soda so I grab a couple Cokes and head back toward Jade. Except now I can’t see her. She’s so short and the people around her are tall. Plus, she’s wearing black, which half the people in here are wearing.

I make it through the crowd and see her in the same spot where I left her. A guy is talking to her. He’s standing way too close and as I approach them, the guy puts his arm around Jade and stares down at her breasts.

Great. Now I have to kill him. Okay, so I won’t actually kill him but it’s not like the thought didn’t cross my mind.

“Get your hands off my wife.” I give Jade the soda but my eyes are on the guy. He’s about my height but he looks older than me. He’s probably a senior.

“Your wife?” He takes his time removing his arm.

Jade holds up her hand, showing off her ring.

“No, shit?” The guy laughs. “Fuck. I thought you were joking.”

“Thanks for the soda, honey,” Jade says to me as she imitates what Brook did with the football player, pressing her breasts against my arm and rubbing my chest with her hand.

The guy turns and walks the other way.

Jade laughs. “Did you see his face?”

“What did he say to you?”

“He said I was a good dancer.”

That just confirms the guy was hitting on her.

“You ready to get out of here?” We’ve only been here 20 minutes but it feels like it’s been an hour.

Jade looks around at the crowded room as drunk people stumble past us, their drinks spilling out of their cups. “Yeah, let’s go.”

I knew she wouldn’t like being here. I don’t either. We’re totally out of place. College parties aren’t for married people. I used to love parties like this, but now I have no interest in them.

As we’re walking to the car, Jade takes my hand. “Your Halloween parties are way more fun.”

“You mean the one I had last year?”

“Last year and this year.”

“We didn’t have one this year.”

“Yeah, we did. Maybe it wasn’t a party but it was still fun.” She swings our arms as we walk. “The chocolate. The costume.”

“And we still have to celebrate our sleepover anniversary.”

“See? Way more fun than some college house party. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

We’re at the car now and I open Jade’s door, but she doesn’t get in.

Instead, she gives me a hug. “I love you.”

I love it when she does stuff like this. When she just hugs me out of the blue for no particular reason. Or kisses me. Or tells me she loves me.

“I love you, too.”

“We’re still watching scary movies, right?” She gets in the car.

“It wouldn’t be Halloween without them.”

When we get home, we only watch one of the scary movies. Jade’s too sleepy to watch any more. But she perks up when we head to the bedroom to relive our first sleepover, which this time involves a lot less sleeping.

This was a damn good weekend. Jade got to hang out with her relatives, we were given a piece of oceanfront property, and we spent most of Sunday having amazing sex.

* * *

The next few weeks are uneventful, which is nice for a change. No school drama. No family drama. Nothing. Jade and I just go to class and spend our nights studying, watching TV, and having sex. We’re finally getting into a routine that seems to work for us.

During the week, I’ve been meeting Jade a couple times for lunch, but other than that I don’t see her much on campus. Since dropping those classes she has such a light class schedule that she spends more time at home than at school.

Jade’s counseling seems to be going well. I think she even likes going. She said in the last few sessions she started talking about her mom. She doesn’t tell me any more than that, which is okay. At least she’s finally opening up to Jennifer.

I’ve been going to the gym and the pool a lot more, trying to get my shoulder back in shape. I saw the doctor last week and he said that, according to the tests he ran, my shoulder’s finally healing. It definitely feels better. My range of motion is back and the pain is almost gone.

Now the physical therapist wants me to focus on building back strength in my chest and shoulder muscles, which means I have to work out a lot. I go to the gym in the mornings before class and the pool late afternoon. That way Jade and I are able to spend our evenings together.

Everything’s going so well that it almost seems like we’re due for something bad to happen. I hate to say that, but given all that’s happened the past year, it’s always in the back of my mind.

I did get a little on edge during the election a couple weeks ago. When I saw Kent Gleason up at the podium, waving to the crowds before his acceptance speech, I had flashbacks of being at the meeting last March, being told I’d be president someday. As I watched Gleason give his speech, I kept thinking that could’ve been me in 20 years; standing at a podium, with gray hair, a phony smile, and a wife I didn’t choose.

I didn’t even vote. It’s bad, I know. But what’s the point? I knew Gleason would win. Jade voted, but only because she wanted to vote for the politicians in the local races. I told her those elections are probably rigged, too, but she still went and voted.

It’s now the Friday before Thanksgiving. I’m done with class for the day and sitting out on the deck. Jade’s out with Sara and Caleb at the park. Jade used to only see Sara at the coffee shop, but lately the two of them have been doing stuff when Sara gets off work. Sara will never replace Harper but she’s still a good friend. Jade and her get along really well.

I flip through my phone messages and decide to call Sean. I’ve been calling him every few days instead of waiting for him to call me. We mostly talk football and now we’ve added basketball since the season just started.

As I’m getting ready to call him, my phone rings. Speak of the devil. It’s Sean.

I answer it. “Hey, man, you read minds or something? I was just about to call you.”

“You got a minute? Or actually, you got more than a minute?” Sean doesn’t sound right. His voice has a serious, heavy tone.

“Yeah. I’m just sitting outside waiting for Jade to come home.”

“Does she know?”

“Know what?”

“Then I guess she doesn’t.”

“What’s wrong? Did Harper get hurt again?”

“No. Her shoulder’s the same as it’s been.”

“Then what is it?”

I hear him take a deep breath. “Fuck.”

“Sean, what’s going on?”

“Harper, uh. . .” He pauses. “She broke up with me.”

Shit. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Actually I’m kind of shocked. I thought Harper would fight harder against her parents. She keeps telling Jade she doesn’t care what her parents think and that she loves Sean and isn’t breaking up with him. And so far, her parents haven’t tried that hard to break them up, so I thought maybe my theory about Kiefer joining the organization was wrong. But if so, then why would Harper do this?

I get up and go inside so I can hear him better. “What the fuck happened?”

“Exactly what I’d like to know.”

“Did you have a fight?”

“No. Everything was good. She’s been practically living at my place ever since she hurt her shoulder. And then she just breaks up with me.”

“When did she tell you this?”

“Earlier today. She came here after her morning classes and told me. Then she packed her stuff and left. I tried to get her to talk to me, but she wouldn’t. She just left.”

“What was her reason? She had to have given you a reason for doing this.”

“She said we needed some time apart. She said she’s confused and needs time to think.”

“So this isn’t a break-up. She just wants some time apart.”

“Garret, you and I both know what that means. That’s just a nicer way of telling me she’s breaking up with me.”

He’s right. I was just trying to stay positive for him.

“What did she say she needs to think about?”

“Something about how she thinks she’s too young to be in a serious relationship. How she isn’t sure if she sees a future with us. Who the hell knows? By that point, my mind was all over the place. I wasn’t really listening.”

“Sean, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“At least her parents will be happy. They showed up yesterday.”

“Why? They’ll see her next week when she’s in LA.”

“They wanted to meet with the doctor she’ll be seeing when she’s back here after the surgery. They’ll probably decide he’s not good enough for their daughter either.”

“Have you seen her parents since they got there?”

“No. The three of them went to dinner last night. I wasn’t invited. Of course they didn’t bother to tell me this until after I’d asked my boss for the night off. Now I have to work double shifts this weekend. Guess it doesn’t matter. I don’t have a girlfriend anymore. My weekends are free.”

“This sucks, man.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Hey, you know anything about pawning engagement rings?”

“Sean, don’t sell it. Keep the ring.”

“Why? So I have a constant reminder of her? No, thanks. Besides, I need the money to help pay it off. I know I won’t get much for it at a pawn shop but at least it’s something.”

“How much was the ring? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“It was $10,000.”

Shit, that’s a lot of money for Sean. It’s probably half of what he makes in a year.

“Just let me give you the money to pay it off.”

“I told you I can’t take your money. I don’t want to feel like my best friend bought my girlfriend’s engagement ring.”

“Yeah, but she’s not your girlfriend anymore.” I sigh. “Sorry, that came out wrong.”

“No, you’re right. She’s not. It just hasn’t sunk in yet.” He gets quiet, then says, “Let me think about the money. Maybe I’ll take you up on the offer.”

“Just don’t sell the ring.”

“Garret, I don’t need it anymore.”

“You don’t know that. Harper could change her mind. Maybe she really does need time to think. She’s been going through a lot. Not being able to play tennis anymore is a big deal. When I hurt my shoulder and thought my swimming career was over, I fucking lost it. I was yelling at Jade, then I wouldn’t talk to her. We were fighting all the time.” It’s a bit of an exaggeration, but Jade and I did fight. “And the thing was, none of it was her fault. She didn’t do anything wrong. I was just pissed about not being able to swim and I took it out on her. Harper might be going through the same thing.”

“I guess it’s possible. She has been really down ever since they told her she can’t play tennis. And she’s really nervous about the surgery next week.”

“Which is why you can’t sell the ring. Let her have the surgery and recover for a week or two and then talk to her. See if anything’s changed.”

“I want to be there for the surgery, but if I show up at the hospital her parents will be pissed. What do you think I should do?”

“I don’t know. I can’t decide that for you. If it were Jade, there’s no way I wouldn’t be there, even if she told me not to. But she doesn’t have parents to yell at me.”

“If she did, would you still go?”

“Yeah. I would. I love her too much. I’d have to be there.”

“I feel the same way about Harper.” He pauses. “Fuck it. I’m going. Which means I’ve gotta scrape up some money for a hotel room. I won’t be staying at the Douglas mansion.”

“You can stay at my dad’s apartment.”

“He has a place in LA?”

“It’s downtown in one of those hi-rise buildings. The doorman can give you the key.”

“That would be awesome. You sure your dad would be okay with that?”

“I’ll ask him, but I know he won’t care. It’s not like he’ll be using it over Thanksgiving.”

“Shit, it’s after seven. I was supposed to be at work 10 minutes ago. I gotta go.”

“I’ll let you know about the apartment.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“And Sean, call me anytime, okay? Even if it’s the middle of the night. Doesn’t matter.”

“You’re a good friend, Kensington.”

“See ya, Sean.”

I call my dad. He’s probably having dinner but I’ll leave him a message. It rings eight times and then he finally answers.

“Hello, Garret.”

I hear noise in the background. Maybe the TV? I can’t tell.

“Where are you?” I ask him.

“In the game room. Lilly and I are playing your race car game. I was in the final lap when you called so I couldn’t answer right away.”

“I’m winning!” I hear Lilly yell.

My dad laughs. “Yes, honey, but you practice a lot more than I do.”

I hear Lilly again. “I could beat you, too, Garret!”

“Since when did she get so competitive?” I ask my dad.

“She’s a Kensington. It’s in the genes.” I can hear him better now. He must’ve gone out in the hall. “So are you just calling to check in?”

“Actually I wanted to ask if Sean could use the apartment in LA next week. He’ll be there for Harper’s surgery and he needs a place to stay.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea, Garret.”

“Why? I already told him he could stay there.”

“Harper’s parents don’t approve of him, and as you know, we’re good friends with the Douglas family. If they found out I was enabling Sean to be there for the surgery when I know they don’t want him there, it could cause problems.”

“What the hell? That’s ridiculous. First of all, they don’t have to know he’s staying there. And second, since when are you such good friends with Kelly and Kiefer?”

“We’re becoming more involved with them. That’s all I can say.”

If he can’t tell me, then it means this involves the organization. So I was right. Kiefer’s been asked to be a member, which means he has to get Sean out of Harper’s life. Shit. I was really hoping that wasn’t true.

“Dad, Sean is my best friend.”

“I know he is, and I’m sorry but I can’t help you out here. Just give Sean some money and have him stay at a hotel.”

“When there’s an apartment sitting there empty?”

“Garret, you know how this works. This isn’t about me. I would be more than happy to let Sean stay there, but I can’t, given the circumstances.”

“Why is he doing this?”

“Who are you talking about?”

“Kiefer. Why is he doing this? And who asked him to?”

“You know better than to ask those types of questions.”

“I just don’t understand it. I don’t know why he wants to do this, especially knowing what it means for his daughters.”

“It’s complicated. Just leave it alone. And tell Jade to stay out of it.”

“You know she won’t do that.”

“Then it’s your job to convince her to let this go.”

“I don’t think I want to. This is stupid. Why can’t Sean and Harper just be together?”

“You know the rules.”

“They’re already breaking the rules by letting Kiefer in, so why not break the rule that says Harper has to marry—”

“We can’t talk about this. Just give Sean some money so he can get a hotel.”

“He won’t take money from me. I’ll have to figure something else out.”

“I’m sorry, Garret. I really am.”

I hear Jade’s car in the driveway. “I gotta go. I’ll call you next week before you leave.”

“We’re not going. We’re staying here for Thanksgiving.”

“Why aren’t you going to St. Croix?”

Katherine decided she wants to stay here in town. She didn’t tell me this until yesterday. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have canceled all my meetings on Friday.”

“Why does Katherine want to stay home?”

“She wants to spend the weekend with the man she’s seeing. She’s with him right now. That’s why Lilly and I are having pizza and game night.”

“You’re eating pizza and playing video games? I swear, sometimes I don’t even know you’re my dad.”

He chuckles. “Yes, I’ve changed a little the past year, haven’t I?”

“Just a little.”

“Daddy, would you play with me, please?” Lilly yells it from the game room.

“I’ll be right there,” he yells back.

“I’ll let you go. Tell Lilly she’s going to need a lot more practice if she thinks she’s going to beat me in that race car game.”

“I will. Goodbye, Garret.”

Jade walks in the door. She’s not going to like what I’m about to tell her.

Harper broke up with Sean. And Kiefer’s joining the organization.

So much for everything going well. I knew it couldn’t last.