Page 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

I throw my hands in the air, mouthing I told you to Garret.

“Sadie, you know I’m with Jade now.”

“Yes, but you’re not serious with her, are you? She’s not even one of us. I thought you were just dating her to piss your dad off.”

The one and only time I met Sadie I thought she was nice. But apparently she was just putting on an act. If she only knew that we shared the same father. That I actually am “one of them” or least half of me is. I open my mouth to say something, but Garret puts his hand up, shaking his head side to side. I cross my arms over my chest and gaze out the side window.

“I’m not dating Jade to piss off my dad.” He pokes my arm to get my attention. “I love her.”

Sadie doesn’t respond.

I turn back toward Garret, my arms still crossed.

He keeps his eyes on me as he continues. “And it’s not fair to Jade for you and me to keep talking like this. I’m sorry, Sadie. I really am. But you can’t keep calling me.”

We hear her quietly crying now. I’m not sure if it’s an act to get Garret to change his mind or if she’s really crying. But now that I know she’s trying to steal my boyfriend, I don’t care if she really is crying. She can go cry on Evan’s shoulder. The guy she’s supposed to be dating.

“Last summer, we had something, Garret. It was real. I never should’ve broke things off like that. It was a mistake. Can’t we just meet and talk this out?”

“Sadie, did you not just hear what I said? I love Jade. Nothing’s going to change that. You and I are over. You have a new boyfriend now.”

“But he’s not like you. He doesn’t listen to me. He doesn’t even care that my dad died.”

“Then dump him. Find someone else.”

“ You’re the someone else. I want us to be together again.”

I roll my eyes. Garret reaches over for my hand which is still tucked under my crossed arm. He manages to free it and hold it in his.

“It’s not going to happen. I told you. I’m with Jade now.”

“Yeah, and I liked Jade. She seemed nice. But she’s not for you. She doesn’t fit in our world. I mean, come on, it’s not like you’re going to marry the girl.”

Garret locks his eyes on mine as he gently squeezes my hand. “I am going to marry her. If she says yes.”

My jaw practically drops to the floor. I can’t believe he just said that! Out loud! To his ex-girlfriend! And me!

There’s silence on the other end of the phone. Then Sadie finally speaks. “So when is this happening? Did you already propose to her?”

He smiles at me. “Jade would kill me if I proposed now. She thinks we’re too young. So I’ll wait. I’ll wait until she’s ready.”

“She’s not racing to marry into the Kensington fortune? That’s a shock.”

“She’s not like that. Jade doesn’t care about money.”

“Everyone cares about money, Garret. She just won’t admit it to you.”

“I need to get going and you should get back to Evan. I really am sorry about your dad and I hope things start getting better for you.”

“Whatever, Garret.” She hangs up without saying goodbye.

Garret turns his phone off. “Jade, I seriously didn’t think she wanted to get back together. I thought she just wanted to talk. And I can’t believe she said that stuff about you. She’s never acted like that before. I didn’t think she believed in all that dating-within-your-social-class shit. Or at least she didn’t act like it when we were dating. She’s always been—”

I lean over and kiss him before he can finish. I don’t want to talk about Sadie anymore. Garret made it clear that she’s his past and I’m his future. That’s all I needed to hear. Whenever I think things won’t last between us, he does something like this and I have faith in him again. I wish I could stop doubting him and just accept that he wants to be with me.

I sit back, keeping hold of his hand.

“Does that mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” he asks.

“I don’t know. Do you have any other ex-girlfriends trying to get back together with you? Any other secret phone calls to tell me about out?” I say it kiddingly but Garret looks serious.

“No. And I never should’ve hid that from you.”

I smile, trying to lighten the mood. “Let’s go inside. We’ll get our stuff later.”

We run through the frigid wind and sleet to the dorm. The inside of the building is almost as cold as the outside and Garret’s room feels even colder than the hallway.

“Did they forget to turn the heat on?” I grab an extra blanket from his closet and curl up on his bed, wrapping the blanket around me.

“They turn it way down during breaks.” He takes his coat off and drops his keys on his desk.

“Get over here. I need your warmth.”

“You’re so demanding,” he kids. “You could at least ask, especially when you’re just using me for my body.”

“I’m not using. I’m just borrowing.”

“You’re borrowing my body heat?” He laughs as he joins me under the blanket. “So you plan on giving it back someday?’

“Yes. Now let me in.” I sit up a little, waiting for him to move his arm.

“Let you in where?” He smiles and remains on his back, keeping his arms at his sides.

I make a circle in the air below his shoulder where his arm meets his chest. “That little nook area that’s all warm and cozy.”

He’s laughing at me again. “Little nook area? I’m sorry. I don’t have one of those.”

“Yes, you do. Now come on. I’m freezing here.”

He puts his arm out and I slide up next to him, wrapping my arm around his chest and resting my head in that spot just below his shoulder.

He closes his arm around me. “Better now?”

“Much better.” I pull the blanket over us. “So about that proposal thing. I probably wouldn’t kill you if you proposed. Kill is kind of a strong word.”

“Well, you’d definitely freak out. Look how freaked out you got when I asked you to get an apartment with me.”

“I didn’t freak out. I just thought this semester was too soon. Plus I’m not ready to take the bus to class every day. It’s easier living here.” I move even closer to him, trying to steal some of his warmth. “So what are your plans for the summer?”

“I don’t know yet. Why?”

“It’s not that far away and we’ll have almost four months off. I’m just trying to figure out when we’ll see each other. Are you staying in Connecticut? Or going somewhere for an internship like last summer?”

“I might stay in Connecticut, but I really don’t know yet.”

I was sure Garret would tell me he wanted us to spend the summer together, but he didn’t and now I’m confused. Does he really want to be apart for four months? We could barely stand being apart for one week.

My finger starts making small circular movements on the blanket. It’s what I do when I’m not sure what to say.

“What are you thinking, Jade?”

“I just don’t want us to be apart all summer. That’s a long time.”

He picks my hand up to stop the circling. “So what are you suggesting?”

I hesitate, unsure how to answer. Why isn’t he suggesting something? Why is he asking me?

And then I finally get it. He wants me to be the one who finds a way for us to be together. Because if he does it, he knows I won’t be as committed to whatever he suggests. I’ll come up with an excuse for why it won’t work. Damn, he’s good. He knows me way too well.

The old Jade would be stubborn and refuse to admit what she wanted. But now, my stubbornness is losing out to my strong desire to be with Garret.

“I was thinking we could share an apartment this summer.” There I said it. For once I finally asked for what I want. “We could test out living together. If we decide it isn’t working, we’ll just stay in our dorm rooms next fall.”

He sits up, forcing me to sit up with him. “That’s an interesting idea.” He acts like he needs to consider this, totally getting me back for all the times he’s asked me to do stuff and I’ve turned him down.

“Never mind. It was a stupid suggestion.” I wait for him to protest and tell me how it’s a great idea and that we should definitely do it.

“Then forget the apartment. I’ll just try to fit in a couple trips to Iowa this summer.”

He starts to lie down again, but I yank on his shirt.

“Garret, what the hell? Are you saying you don’t want to spend the summer with me?”

He’s trying not to laugh. Seeing me work this hard to be with him is apparently funny.

“Jade, are you asking me to get an apartment with you this summer? Because I really can’t tell.”

I take a deep breath, setting aside my tough girl, doesn’t-need-a-guy attitude. “Yes. I’m asking you to get an apartment with me this summer. Are you happy now?”

He pulls me into his chest and kisses the top of my head. “Very happy. And my answer is yes. I would love to get an apartment with you this summer.”

My heart practically leaps for joy. Like it actually skips a beat I’m so happy. What the hell is wrong with me? I never in a million years thought I would act this way over some stupid boy and now here I am, asking said boy to share an apartment with me for an entire summer.

“So do you want to get a place close to Frank’s house?”

Garret’s question knocks me out of my euphoric high and back to reality. “Well, no, I wasn’t planning on going back to Des Moines. I mean, I’ll go visit Frank and Ryan in May when school’s out, but I don’t want to live there.”

“Really? Why not?”

“That’s my old life. I want to try something new. I never planned to go back there after college. Frank and Ryan know that. They’ll understand if I don’t spend the summer there.”

“Then where do you want to live? Here in Connecticut?”

“I don’t know. Maybe we should pick an entirely new place. Maybe a town near a beach. Some place that attracts tourists. I’ll get a waitressing job. People always leave big tips when they’re on vacation.”

“You don’t have to get a job. You have the rest of your life to work. Let’s just have fun this summer.”

I lift my head off his chest and look at him. “I’m getting a job, Garret. I need money.”

He shakes his head but moves past the topic. “West Coast or East Coast?”

“What do you mean?”

“You said you wanted to live on the beach. Do you want to live on the Atlantic or the Pacific?”

“I wasn’t saying we’d live on the beach. Just near the beach.”

“You can’t be that close to the ocean and not live on the beach. We’re living on the beach. I’m deciding that right now.”

“I can’t afford a place on the beach. I need someplace cheap.”

He flips me on my back and hovers over me. “We’re living on the beach, Jade. I want to wake up every morning with you in my bed and the cool ocean breeze blowing through our window. I want you to fall asleep in my arms every night listening to the waves crashing against the shore.”

I laugh. “Are you writing a romance novel here?”

“We’re not getting some shitty place miles from the beach. If we’re doing this, we’re getting a place on the ocean.”

His cheesy romance novel description did sound appealing. I could almost see it in my head. Why fight him on it? I’ve always dreamed of living on the beach, never once thinking it would actually happen.

“Okay. Let’s do it. Let’s get a place on the beach.” Just saying the words out loud has me smiling so much my cheeks hurt.

“I’ll start looking this week.” Garret’s smiling, too. I’m sure he thought I’d never agree to this. “Beach rentals fill up fast. Tell me which coast you want and we’ll go from there.”

“Um, I don’t know. You pick. I’ve never actually been to a beach. I’ve never even seen the ocean, so I really shouldn’t be deciding that.”

He stares at me. “You’ve never been to the ocean? How did I not know this?”

“I grew up in Iowa. When would I have gone to the ocean? Coming here to college was the first time I ever left the state.”

“Shit, I didn’t even think about that. Why haven’t I taken you to see the ocean? We’re less than an hour away from the damn ocean and I’ve never even taken you to see it.” He gets off the bed and holds out his hand. “Get up. We’re going.”

“Going where?”

“I’m taking you to see the ocean.”

“It’s winter. The weather’s crappy. I don’t want to see it right now.”

He glances out the window at the icy rain. “Classes don’t start until Tuesday. We’ll get on a plane and fly down to Florida.”

I yank him back under the blanket with me. “We’re not going to Florida. The ocean can wait. It’s not going anywhere. Now let’s figure out this summer. I think West Coast. California. Maybe we could go see Harper while we’re there.”

Garret considers it. “California, huh? I like it. Maybe an hour or so up the coast from LA. They have some great beaches and it’s not as crowded. My dad has a real estate agent out there. I’ll call her and see if she handles summer rentals.”

“I want input, Garret. Don’t just pick a place.”

“She’ll give us options and we’ll pick the place together.”

I wrap my arm around his chest and squeeze him. “I’m so excited about this. I just want the semester over so we can go right now.”

“You see? It’s better to just say what you want instead of trying to make me guess. Or pretending you don’t want something when you really do.”

“But I didn’t know I wanted this. I just knew I didn’t want to be away from you all summer.”

“And you never would’ve told me that if I hadn’t forced you to.”

“Well, you almost had me convinced you didn’t want to see me this summer.”

“You know there’s no way in hell I’d go four months without seeing you. I love you, remember?”

“I love you, too.” I shiver, burrowing deeper under the blanket.

“Let’s get out of here. It’s too cold. I hear the heat running now, but it’ll take forever to warm up. Let’s go eat and come back later.”

I get up, keeping the blanket wrapped around me. “Maybe we could go to your house and watch a movie in the theater room.”

“You’re not worried about seeing Katherine?”

“I’m done worrying about her. I don’t care if she hates me. She’ll have to get used to me because I’m not going anywhere.”

Garret smiles. “It’s good to hear you finally say that.”

It’s good to finally think it, too. With our recent plans to live together, I feel even more secure in my relationship with Garret. And it certainly didn’t hurt to hear him tell Sadie that he planned to marry me someday.

Katherine can try to break Garret and me apart all she wants, but it won’t work. So let her try. I’m not afraid of her anymore.