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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“Garret, look!” I nod back toward the giant wave, my arms gripping his neck so tight I’m practically strangling him.

He glances back at it then back at me, smiling. He’s not the least bit concerned. “Close your eyes and hold your breath.”

He holds me tighter as the wave descends over us, covering us in water. I feel our bodies being dragged to shore as Garret loses his footing. But he doesn’t drop me. As the wave recedes, he lets it pull us back a little, then his feet find the sand again and he stands up.

“See? Nothing to be scared of. I think you even liked it.” He kisses the ticklish part of my neck making me laugh.

“I guess it was okay.” I wipe the water from my eyes. “It was kind of fun the way it pushed us to shore like that. It’s like being on a ride or something.”

“Exactly. That’s why I like surfing. You should try it.”

“Garret, another one’s coming!” I point behind him, panicking again.

He doesn’t even look. “Yeah, there’s a lot of them out here. And they just keep coming. Weird, huh?”

“Not funny, Garret.” I watch as it gets closer.

Again, he doesn’t look. He can feel the force of it as it approaches us. “Get ready.”

The wave hits. It isn’t as strong as the last one, but it still carries us to shore again.

“Okay, that time it was really fun,” I tell him as he tries to get his footing in the sand. “Can we do it again?”

He laughs. “Yes, but I might need to give my arms a rest after the next one. It’s kind of hard to hold on to you when the water’s forcing me down.”

“Oh, then go ahead and—” I see a huge wave coming. “Holy crap!”

Garret looks back at it. “Shit! Hold on.”

It hits us before we’re ready, knocking me out of his arms. I panic as I get disoriented under the water. I feel Garret’s arms around me just as I’m about to hit the shore. He lands underneath me, hugging me into him as the water recedes.

“Are you okay?” he asks, out of breath.

“Yeah, are you?”

“I think I got a little scraped up but it’s no big deal.”

I get off him and we move farther back on the shore. I go around and see trickles of blood on his back where the water dragged him along the sand.

“Garret, you’re bleeding! What should I do?”

“Relax. It’s just a little scrape.”

“Are you kidding? It’s a huge scrape. Why did you swim under me like that?”

“Because I could tell you were freaking out when the water separated us and then I could see that the wave was getting ready to slam you into the sand.”

“How did you see all that?”

“You think I’d ever take my eyes off you? I told you I’d keep you safe. You’re my number one priority, remember?”

“But you hurt yourself.”

“It’s just part of the job.” He smiles. “I knew keeping you safe wouldn’t be easy. I mean, shit, I already took a bullet for you. This was nothing.”

“So not funny.” I stand up, holding my hand out. “Come on. Let’s go home so I can put something on that.”

“We don’t need to go home. There’s a first aid kit in the tent.”

“Then let’s go inside.”

We walk back to the tent. He gets the first aid kit from his bag and we sit down. The blood is dried now but his back still has a big red patch where he landed on the sand.

“This looks really sore. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I get scraped up all the time when I’m out there.” He flips around as I’m putting antiseptic cream over the scrape. “You know what we should do?”

“I’m trying to fix your back here. Would you turn around?”

He doesn’t. “We should go bodyboarding. It’s kind of like surfing but not as extreme. And you still get the feeling of riding the waves.”

“Do I need a surfboard?”

“No, you need a bodyboard. You’ve seen them before. They kind of look like a mini surfboard.”

“Aren’t those just for kids?”

“Adults use them, too. I’m going to get us some. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before.”

“Because I told you I wouldn’t go past my waist in the water.”

“Yeah, that’s probably it. But now you’ve conquered your fears of the water so we’re going to try this. We’ll try it next week on our extended honeymoon.”

I smile. “I see what you’re doing. You can’t go a week without surfing and this is your way of kind of surfing, even though it’s really not.”

He rolls his eyes. “No, that’s not what I’m doing. If you don’t want to try it, we don’t have to. But I saw how much fun you had out there just now and I think if you tried the bodyboard, you’d like it.”

“Okay, I’ll try it.” I kiss him. “Now will you turn around so I can finish taking care of your back?”

He flips around just as his phone rings. He reaches for it, causing the cream I was carefully dabbing on one of his cuts to spread all over his back. “Garret, stop moving.”

“Hey, Harper.” He puts the phone on speaker. “Jade’s here. You’re on speaker.”

“Hi, Jade. How’s everything going?”

“Good. Except my husband just scraped his back on the sand and now I’m playing nurse.”

“That sounds fun,” she says, as if I meant it a different way.

“No, not like that.”

Garret laughs. “That does sound fun.”

“I know where you can get one of those sexy nurse costumes,” Harper says.

I shake my head. “Would you guys stop? I meant that I’m taking care of his back. That’s all.”

Harper laughs. “Okay, well, I don’t mean to interrupt but I just wanted to let you know that Frank called and said he’ll be over with Ryan around 1:30. And Pearce said he’d be over around 1 with Lilly and Grace. Sean’s making everyone lunch so if you guys want to stay there longer, Sean and I will take care of keeping people fed and entertained.”

“No, we’ll be over there. What time is it now?”

“It’s 11:30.”

“Okay, we’ll back soon.”

“No need to rush.” She giggles. “I think Garret really wants to try out this nurse thing.”

“Goodbye, Harper.” I feel my face heating up.

Garret tosses his phone aside and turns to me, laughing when he sees my red cheeks. “Jade, seriously? Why are you blushing? We’re married now. Everyone knows we’re having sex. You don’t have to be embarrassed about it anymore.”

“I don’t want people talking about it. Or thinking about it.” I cover my face with my hands. “Crap! Everyone’s going to know what we did last night. They’re going to be thinking about it when they see us. I can’t have Frank and Ryan thinking about that!”

He pulls my hands back. “I’m sure if that thought even enters their heads they’ll get rid of it as fast as possible.”

“How do you know?”

“Have you ever thought about Ryan having sex with Chloe?”

“No!” I shudder. “As far as I know they’re not even doing it.”

Garret laughs. “They’ve dated for a year.”

“Yeah, okay, so maybe they are, but I don’t want to think about it.”

“And Ryan doesn’t want to think about us doing it. So I’m telling you, Jade, nobody is thinking about that.”

“I guess. Do you ever think about people you know having sex? Like your dad and Katherine?”

“Are you trying to make me vomit here?”

I laugh. “No. I just wondered.”

“Obviously, they’ve had sex or Lilly wouldn’t be here, but I’m sure they’re not doing it now. And if they are, I don’t want to know. We need to talk about something else.”

“Okay,” I say, still laughing. “Should we head back? I want to clean up before everyone starts arriving. What should we do with all this stuff?”

“I’ll pack up everything except the coolers and the tent. Sean and I will come back later for those. You can go ahead and walk home. Or do you want me to walk with you?”

“You’re going to carry all this stuff back?”

“No, the car’s here. Harper and Sean brought it over when she brought us breakfast.”

“Then I’ll help you pack up.”

“You don’t need to. It won’t take me long.”

“Don’t be crazy. I’m helping.” I pick up a blanket and start folding it. As I’m doing so, a flashback pops in my head of me doing this exact same thing back in May in the tent in Connecticut. Folding up blankets and sleeping bags before I had to say goodbye to Garret.

“Jade?” Garret’s staring at me, his face full of concern.

I look down and see that the blanket I was folding is now in a heap on the ground. “Maybe you could fold the blankets and sleeping bags. I’ll pack up the other stuff.”

“Jade.” He holds my chin with his hand, his eyes on mine. “Don’t think about that anymore, okay? I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere. We’re married and we’ve got our whole future ahead of us.”

I nod. “Yeah, I know. It just reminded me of . . .”

He pulls me into a hug. “I know. Me, too.”

I hug him back really tight, remembering last spring and realizing how lucky we are to be together.

Garret doesn’t let me go until I let my arms fall back down at my side.

“Why don’t I walk you back?” He wraps his hand around mine. “I can clean this up myself.”

“No, I’m fine now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” I smile at him. “I don’t know why I was freaking out like that. You’re not going anywhere. You promised me 80 years, right?”

“It wasn’t really a promise. It was more of an estimated guess of my lifespan based on the Kensington family genes.”

“Still. Nobody can take you away. You’re mine now.”

“And you’re mine.” He leans down and gives me a slow, sweet kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

We finish packing up all the stuff, load it in the car, and drive home. When we get there, Sean is outside. He comes up to the car.

“Need some help?” Sean’s dimples appear as he smiles. He’s in a good mood, as usual.

“Sure. Thanks,” Garret says. “Jade, you can go in and get ready.”

“I’ll just get my bag.” I grab it from the back seat.

Harper comes out her door just as I’m going into mine. She runs over, meeting me inside and giving me a hug. “So? How was it?”

“It was great! Thanks for helping Garret do all that.”

“I had fun setting it up. Sean and I might do the same thing before the summer ends.” She follows me upstairs to the bedroom. “Come on, Jade. I need details! Did you guys get any sleep? Or did you just do it all night? How many times did you do it?”

“Harper!” Her questions just prove that people are thinking these things about Garret and me. That’s just great. Now I’ll be blushing the rest of the day whenever anyone looks at us.

“What? You’re not going to tell me?” She sits down on the bed, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to her chest.

“No. I’m not giving you details. You know how embarrassed I get about this stuff.”

“Did you wear the lingerie I packed?” She watches as I take some clothes from the bag and toss them in the hamper.

“Um, no. I never had a chance to.”

She takes a moment to think about what that might mean.

“Just forget it, Harper. I don’t want your mind even going there.”

She laughs. “Too late.”

“I hope you don’t talk with Sean about this stuff. You don’t, do you?”

“No, this is just between you and me. So did the juice work?”

Now I’m laughing. “Would you please not talk about this?”

“It worked for Sean. We were up all night.”

I shake my head. “I’m gonna go take a shower before you start giving me details.”

She hops off my bed and disappears into the hall.

“You’re such a prude, Jade!” I hear her yelling from downstairs.

“I am not a prude!” I yell back. “I just don’t like talking about my sex—”

I stop when I see Garret walking in. “Who are you talking to?”

“Harper. Why?”

“She’s outside.”

“How’d she get out there so fast?”

“I don’t know. Hey, Sean and I are going to run down and get the tent and the coolers so we don’t have to do it later. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“All right. I’m going to shower quick.”

He turns to leave, then stops. “What were you saying when I came in here?”

“Harper was asking how many times we had sex last night and I told her I wouldn’t talk about it.”

He laughs. “She asked me that, too.”

“When did she ask you?”

“Just now as she was leaving. She didn’t actually ask me, but Sean said she was dying to know and when I saw her I could tell she was about to ask so I just said a number and came upstairs.”

“You did not!”

“I did,” he says, smiling as he leans against the door frame.

“What number did you tell her?”

“Eight.” He keeps smiling.

I walk over and stand in front of him. “You told her we had sex eight times? We only did it four times.”

“Guys always up the number when it comes to sex. And I wanted her to think her juice drink worked. Sean said she drove like 20 miles to get whatever herbs she put it that drink.”

“You said it did work.”

“I didn’t need it.” He flashes his cocky smile.

“Eight times? You seriously said eight times?”

“You should’ve seen her face when I told her. At first it was shock, but then I think she was impressed.”

“Thanks a lot, Garret. Now she’ll ask me even more about last night. Don’t tell her anything else, okay?”

“I won’t.” He kisses me. “I gotta go. Sean’s waiting.” He takes off.

Eight times. I can’t believe he told her that.