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CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

GARRET

“I was just leaving,” Jade says. She holds on to my arm as she gets down off the high stool.

“Are you okay to drive? You said you felt dizzy this morning.”

“That was before I ate breakfast. I just needed to eat. I feel fine now. I drove here without any problems.”

“Excuse me, but are you Garret Kensington?” An older man asks it. He’s sitting a few seats down from where Jade was sitting. I’ve seen him in here before.

“Yeah, why?”

Jade squeezes my arm. I look over at her but her eyes are on the old man.

“I’m Walt Payson,” he says when I look back at him. “I’m a business consultant and I’ve been following your father for years. The way he’s grown Kensington Chemical since he took it over is truly impressive.” Walt glances at Jade, then back at me. “You two know each other?”

“This is my wife, Jade.”

Jade squeezes my arm again. That time it hurt.

“We need to go,” she says, taking my hand.

“Nice to meet you, Jade,” Walt says.

Jade ignores him. She grabs her purse and pulls me toward the door, not stopping until we’re outside and a few feet down the sidewalk.

“What are you doing? Why’d you yank me out of there like that?”

She points to the coffee shop. “That guy in there—Walt whatever—was trying to get all this information out of me. I didn’t like him.”

“What kind of information?”

“He wanted to know my last name. And after I told him, he asked if I was one of THE Kensingtons, and I said no.”

“Why did you say no?”

“Because he was being nosy and it was a weird thing to ask.”

“No, it’s not. People ask me that all the time.”

“Whatever. I didn’t like him. I mean, he seemed like a nice guy but I don’t trust him.”

“What else did he ask you?”

“I don’t remember. He just bugged me. And now he knows I lied to him. He’s always in there when I go to get coffee so now he’ll be asking me why I lied.”

“Just ignore him. You don’t have to answer his questions.”

We’re at Jade’s car now. I click the key remote to unlock it and open her door. “You sure you’re okay to drive? I could run you home quick.”

“I’m okay.” She gives me a kiss. “I’ll see you tonight. Love you.”

“Love you, too. If you need me to stop and get you anything on the way home, just let me know.”

She gets in the car. “Would you bring home some ice cream?”

“Sure, what kind do you want?”

“I want a sundae from that ice cream shop.”

“What do you want for dinner?’

“Just the ice cream. With my stomach all messed up, ice cream is the only thing that sounds good.”

I lean into the car and kiss her. “Then I’ll get you ice cream. Maybe we’ll both have ice cream for dinner. See ya tonight.”

She drives off with a huge smile on her face. Jade’s smiled more in the past few days than she has in weeks and it’s all because she dropped those two classes. Last Saturday when we had a fight and she kicked me out of the bedroom, I was lying on the couch thinking I needed to convince her to drop a class. I knew she’d get mad at me for even suggesting it, but I was going to do it anyway. Luckily, she came to that conclusion herself.

But I didn’t know she felt that way about med school. That was a surprise. Truthfully, I never felt that being a doctor was the right choice for her. I knew she could do it and I knew she’d be a good doctor, but I didn’t think she’d be happy doing it. When she talked about it, she never seemed that excited. And she seemed unsure. She’d never commit to going to med school. She’d always say she was still thinking about it. I should’ve taken that as a sign she didn’t want to do it.

I’ve found that I have to really push Jade to figure out what she wants. Most of the time she won’t even let herself think about what she wants because she doesn’t think she can have it, or that she’s allowed to have it.

It goes back to her childhood again. As a kid, she wanted the things all kids want, and I don’t mean toys and bikes and stuff like that. I mean things that should be a given, like love, a safe home, parents who’d take care of her. When she never got those things, she learned to stop wanting them. She learned to stop trying to get them. Then her mom made her feel like she didn’t deserve those things. Like she was a bad person for even wanting them. Because of that, Jade has a hard time figuring out what she wants and when she finally does figure it out, she tries to deny herself from having it because she doesn’t think she deserves it.

It took me a while to learn this about her but I gradually figured it out last year when she kept pushing me away. I knew she wanted us to be together. I knew she was happy when I was around. But she kept pushing me away because she didn’t think she deserved the friendship and the love that I kept trying to give her, or the happiness she felt when we were together.

It’s such a foreign concept to me that I have to keep reminding myself that she thinks like that. And now that I know that about her, it’s my job to push her into doing what makes her happy. As odd as it sounds, she’s much more comfortable making herself miserable than making herself happy. It’s something I have to continually work on with her. It’s not easy because she’s good at hiding what she really wants. I should’ve picked up on her clues about not wanting to go to med school but I didn’t. I’m just relieved she opened up to me now instead of waiting years from now to tell me this.

I have 10 minutes until my next class starts so I’m sitting by the fountain in the middle of campus and soaking up some sun. I’m freaking exhausted after missing so much sleep last weekend taking care of Jade. I should go to the pool later and work on my shoulder, but I’m too tired to do it.

My phone rings. It’s Harper. Usually she calls Jade, not me, so this is surprising.

“Hey, Harper, what’s going on?”

“Hey, how’s Jade? Is she any better? I didn’t want to call and wake her up.”

“She’s a lot better. She’s going back to class tomorrow. You can call her. She’s not sleeping.”

“Okay, but before I do I wanted to ask you something. Sean and I want to fly out there next week for Jade’s birthday. Moorhurst doesn’t have classes Friday and we really want to see you guys.”

“We’d love to see you guys, too. How long can you stay?”

“We’d fly home Sunday night and take the red eye back. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, it’s great. Frank and Ryan will be here, too. And I invited Grace but I’m making that a surprise.”

“I want Sean and me to be a surprise, too. Don’t tell Jade we’re coming.”

“I won’t.”

“What are you planning for her party?”

“I rented a private party room at a restaurant just up the coast. It’s a steakhouse I took Jade to when we first moved here. She really liked it. The private room overlooks the ocean.”

“Do they let you decorate or bring your own cake in?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Give me the number and I’ll call and ask. Or do you not want me to? Sorry, I kind of took over, didn’t I? I couldn’t help myself. You know how much I love planning parties.”

Once Harper gets an idea, she runs with it.

“If you want to take over the party plans, I’m totally fine with that. I’m sure you’d do a better job than I would. I’ll send you the phone number for the restaurant.”

She squeals. “This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait! And I can’t wait to see you both. Sean and I really miss you guys. I wish we lived out there.”

If Sean would just tell her about his job offer, maybe they could live out here.

“I’ll let you go, but I’ll call later with any party updates. Bye, Garret.”

Jade is going to be shocked when Sean, Harper, and Grace show up next Friday. She’s already excited about Frank and Ryan coming. She thinks we’re just going out for dinner here in town, but I wanted to do something special since Jade’s never had a birthday party. That’s why I reserved the private room at the restaurant. But I didn’t plan to decorate it. I knew I wouldn’t have time with everyone flying into town that day, so I’m glad Harper offered to take care of that.

On the way home from class, I stop and get two big ice cream sundaes. Jade won’t be able to eat all of hers but I got her the big one anyway.

As soon as I walk in the door, Jade runs up and gives me a hug.

“You brought me ice cream!” She takes the sack from me and sets it on the kitchen table.

“Didn’t you ask me to?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t sure if you’d remember.” She comes back over and kisses me. Like really kisses me.

I smile. “You must be feeling better.”

“A lot better. I finally have some energy.” She pulls me to the table and takes the sundae containers and spoons out of the paper sack. “We’re having ice cream for dinner. Isn’t this great?”

“It’s a perk of being a grown-up. Dinner can be whatever you want.”

“Tomorrow we should have donuts for dinner. Like all different kinds. A donut smorgasbord.”

I laugh. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll get you donuts for your birthday breakfast. How does that sound?”

“I get a birthday breakfast?”

“Of course. The celebrating starts as soon as you wake up.”

“I thought we were just going out for dinner.”

“A birthday is an all-day event, Jade. Last year you screwed everything up by not telling me it was your birthday. If you’d told me sooner I would’ve planned out the entire day. But instead I had to try to salvage the last few hours with a movie and ice cream.”

“That was a great birthday.” Jade takes a bite of ice cream and sits back in her chair. “Except you almost ruined it when you gave me that lame kiss on the cheek.”

“Hey.” I kick her foot. “I was respecting your friends-only rule.”

“Yeah, well, I needed more than that.” She sets her spoon down and leans over the table. “I wanted more than that.”

“And I gave it to you.” I keep my eyes on her as I eat my ice cream.

“You could’ve made it longer. Or kissed me more than once.”

“I didn’t know that was an option. You said you wanted a birthday kiss. As in one, not several.” I smile. “And besides, the one I gave you was damn good.”

“And how do you know it was good?”

“Because you grabbed my shirt and wouldn’t let go. I had to practically pry you off me. I’m surprised you didn’t rip my shirt.”

I try not to laugh. I know that even now, Jade’s still embarrassed by that. We were supposed to be just friends but we shot way past the friend zone with that kiss. She didn’t want it to end but I purposely cut it short so she’d come back for more. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and the next day we went back to being just friends.

She’s laughing. “Okay, I admit, it was a good kiss but you don’t have to be so cocky about it.” She gets up from the table, taking her ice cream with her. She only ate a few bites. Then she takes mine and walks away.

“Hey. I was planning on finishing that.”

“I’ll put it in the freezer. You can finish it later.”

I get up from the chair and she appears right in front of me. She slips her hand under my shirt, rubbing it along my abs, just above my belt.

My body instantly reacts. I really hope this is going where I think it’s going.

She gives me her flirty smile. “Did I tell you how much I’ve missed you?”

“I’d rather have you show me.” I reach around her waist and pull her into me and kiss her. Her mouth is still cold from the ice cream, but it quickly warms up as I run my tongue over hers. She grabs hold of my hair, keeping me at her lips, her tongue tangling with mine.

We haven’t kissed like this for a week, maybe longer. I don’t even remember. I know that sounds crazy but she wouldn’t let me near her when she was doing her nonstop studying. And then she got sick. So yeah, it’s been a while. And the last time we had sex? Who the hell knows? It’s been way too fucking long.

I walk her to the bedroom and take her clothes off. I strip my own off as she rips the covers back and lies down on the bed.

“You sure you’re up for this?” I hate to even ask because I really don’t want her to say no, but I also don’t want to do this if she isn’t feeling well.

“Are you kidding? I’ve been waiting all day for this.”

I’ve been waiting weeks for this, but I don’t tell her that. She knows.

I join her in the bed and run my hand over her smooth legs and kiss her flat stomach. I take a moment to look at her. She’s so damn beautiful. Every time I look at her like this, I’m amazed at how beautiful she is. Her body is perfect, at least to me it is. I love every inch of her. I love touching her, sliding my hands over her curves, feeling her soft skin, making her react when I hit certain spots.

I move down, reaching under her and gripping her ass as I lightly kiss the sensitive skin along her lower abs. Her breath catches and I see her smiling, her eyes closed. She loves being kissed here. It totally turns her on. I slowly make my way up her chest and when my lips reach her breast, she arches back, begging for more. She doesn’t need to beg. I’m not going anywhere. I could stay here all night. I love her breasts. I love all of her. And I’ve missed her. Damn, I’ve missed her.

My mouth remains at her breast, my tongue doing the things I know she loves. Her arms are at her sides, her hands gripping the sheet, her breathing heavy. I know she’s getting impatient, wanting to move this along, but I’m not done with her yet. I need to get her close because it’s been weeks since we did this and right now, I want to be with her so damn bad that once I’m inside her, I don’t know how long I’ll last.

I slide my hand down her stomach and keep going, stopping at the spot that makes her moan in pleasure. God, I love that sound. So I keep my hand there, making her do it even more.

“That feels sooo good,” she whispers.

I slowly take my hand away and kiss her neck, and then her lips.

“You ready for something else that feels good?” I lower myself over her, letting her feel me between her legs.

She nods, smiling, and opens her legs some more.

I tease her by entering just a little, then pulling out. She sucks in a breath and I know I’m torturing her so I do it again. The more build-up there is, the more turned-on she gets, and I really want to turn her on.

I do it once more. I can tell she can’t take it anymore, so I thrust all the way in. And shit. She feels so freaking good. Why the hell did I let us go so long without doing this?

I move in and out slowly, giving her time, but I can’t hold out much longer. She grabs my ass, pushing me deeper and making the sounds that mean she’s close. I speed my pace and within seconds I feel her releasing. Fuck, that’s a good feeling. Between that and one last deep thrust, I get my own release.

As we catch our breath, I gently kiss her shoulder and along her collarbone. She smells fresh and flowery, like she showered right before I got home. The fact that she was waiting for me, thinking about me, wanting me, makes me want to do it again. I love it when she tells me she wants me. And when she tells me she’s been waiting for this? Looking forward to it? Preparing for it? It’s even hotter.

I hear her softly talking. “If you keep kissing me like that, I’m going to want to do it again.”

“Then I’m going to keep kissing you, because I already want to do it again.”

“So do I.” I look up and see her smiling. “I want to do this all night.”

I smile back, then kiss her and roll over on my back, taking her with me. She straddles me and we kiss some more and then do it again. Usually I need more recovery time but it’s been so freaking long I have pent-up reserves.

We don’t actually do it all night, but we do set a new personal record. And I loved every damn minute of it.