MoreJade_LPavlov-eBooks

by Pavlov, Laura

“Yes. He used to cry when Mom would leave for weeks at a time. I became a parent to him in a sense. How about you, do you have siblings?”

  “Nope. My parents planned on having more kids, but my mom got sick, so it never happened.”

  “Hence your best friend, Sam. Friends become family, right?” he said.

  I’m shocked that he remembered Sam’s name. “Yep. We were raised together.”

  His phone vibrated on the table and I startled. He pulled two hundred-dollar bills from his wallet and handed them to me before sending his call to voicemail. “Sorry, I kept you way over today.”

  I tossed one of the bills back. I wasn’t even comfortable taking one, I certainly wasn’t taking two hundred dollars for studying with Cruz.

  “Absolutely not. The second hour wasn’t work,” I said, smiling as I pushed to my feet.

  The truth was, neither hour was work. I looked forward to my sessions with Cruz. And somehow, learning that his life wasn’t perfect either, made me feel a small connection to him. Because whether or not someone you love passed away or chose not to spend time with you—loneliness was loneliness. And just like certain objects were drawn together by a gravitational force, wounded souls tended to seek comfort in one another. It was human nature. And Cruz Winslow may look like perfection on the outside—but he was just as bruised on the inside as I was.

  Chapter Six

  Cruz

  I was a confident guy. Always had been. I knew if I wanted something—I had the resources to make it happen. I had a badass house, a budding music career, and I was attending one of the most prestigious universities in the country. If I wanted a chick, I usually got her. And yeah, I was a good-looking dude. My mom was a model and my dad’s a handsome motherfucker, so go fucking figure. Things had worked in my favor. But as I sat here waiting for the TA to hand me my bio test, I didn’t have a fucking clue. I didn’t know if I failed it or nailed it. It could go either way. For the first time in my life, I was working really hard at something. I was invested. And I felt like a ticking time bomb was going to detonate in my body. If I failed again, it would be even more challenging to pass this class.

  Professor Lockhart handed Jade her test. She flipped it over quickly, which pissed me off. If anyone in this class deserved to hold their test up and shove it in everyone’s face, it was her. She worked her ass off. She was so disciplined. She had a reason and a purpose that drove her. I respected the shit out of her. I turned her paper over, and I kid you fucking not—I was happy to see she got a ninety-eight percent. Probably the highest score in the class. It was a hell of a test. She deserved it. I almost forgot I was still waiting for my own score because I was having an out of body Hallmark-movie-moment, being caught up in someone else’s success. It was not a common occurrence for me. Aside from my brother, I usually looked out for number one. The TA handed me my test.

  Eighty-seven percent was scribbled across the top.

  Fuck, yeah.

  My internal cheerleader did some serious high kicks when Jade shouted out, “Yes.”

  Everyone laughed, including the professor, but they didn’t even know the best part. She was staring at my test, not hers. The girl with the near-perfect score was celebrating my subpar score in comparison to hers. And it was genuine. Hence the nickname, More Jade. I couldn’t get enough.

  Maybe this was a form of Stockholm syndrome. She’d sucked me into her nerdy little world, and now I wanted more. Like a psychological phenomenon, I’d developed positive feelings for my captor. A girl I had nothing in common with. Nada. Zilch. She would despise my world. She was sunshine and rainbows and I was booze and sex. Speaking of sex—wouldn’t mind having some with my captor. Something about her goodness screamed virgin, which was not something I ever wanted to mess around with. There were girls who took that shit seriously, and many who didn’t. I tended to stick with the latter. She was probably saving herself for something or someone special. That was definitely not me. But I guarantee if I spent one night with her, I’d want to tattoo More Jade across my body. After I rocked her fucking world, of course.

  “You did it.” She beamed. The girl literally beamed. Her face flushed, and those jade eyes were brighter than I’d ever seen them.

  “Thanks to you. This is why you aren’t allowed to quit on me. I’m going to need to suck some of that intelligence from your oversized brain for the rest of the semester,” I said.

  “We can figure that out later. Today you need to celebrate. This is huge.”

  Professor Lockhart handed back the last exam to someone in the back row and said something about watching a riveting movie about cells. Was there such a thing?

  “Celebrate? You mean get drunk because I passed the test?” I asked, studying her.

  “First off, you didn’t just pass. You nearly aced this test. And if getting drunk is your thing, more power to you. Just seems like a terrible plan. You’ll wake up hungover and miserable. What’s the point?”

  “Says the girl who’s probably never gotten drunk nor had a hangover. FYI, they’re usually worth it,” I said.

  She turned her body to face the front of the room. “Suit yourself.”

  Was she mad? Did she want to celebrate with me? I could think of a million ways I’d like to celebrate with more Jade. And getting drunk wasn’t one of them.

  “How do you celebrate?” I whispered close to her ear, and it took all my strength not to take a nibble. Her scent was intoxicating. She smelled like sunshine. And goodness. With a side of snark.

  “My dad and I do this thing. I can’t really explain it,” she said, biting down on her full bottom lip as she stared straight ahead at the movie screen.

  “Try. I’m curious.”

  “I can show you. What time are you done with class?” she asked.

  “Four o’clock.”

  “Can you pick me up at four fifteen?” she whispered, her gaze searched mine. I wondered if she felt the pull between us, or if it was a figment of my imagination.

  “Yep. I’ll be there.”

  A grin spread across her face. “You’ll never go back to just getting drunk once you get a taste of Jack and Jade Moore’s celebration ritual.”

  I couldn’t agree more. Minus the part about her dad. If I got a taste of More Jade, there’d be no turning back.

  I texted her when I pulled in front of her dorm, a.k.a. Fort Knox. She came jogging out wearing distressed skinny jeans and a purple Northwestern hooded sweatshirt. She carried a black fleece blanket and a portable speaker. What the hell was she up to?

  “Thanks for picking me up. Are you ready?”

  “I can barely contain my excitement,” I said. Sarcasm dripped from my tone, and she laughed.

  I loved messing with her, and I actually couldn’t wait to see how she celebrated. She navigated as I drove, because she wouldn’t tell me where we were going. But we were headed in the direction of the city. She insisted I stop in front of a little hole in the wall pizza place, and she ran in while I waited in the car. She came out with a large pizza and two waters, and we drove a bit farther downtown.

  “Pull in up here on the right. Go all the way down to the end of the parking lot. It’s private down there,” she said.

  “Oak Street Beach? I’ve heard of it, but I’ve never been.”

  Holy shit. Maybe we were going to play seven minutes of heaven on a private beach and she’d rock my world? If so, hell yes, I was down.

  “It’s my favorite place,” she said, looking out the window.

  I walked beside her down the sandy beach, and she spread the blanket out close to the water. I set the pizza and drinks down and settled beside her on the blanket. She rolled her jeans up at the ankles, which led me to believe sex was not on the table. The jeans should be coming off, not rolling up. It was cooler beside the lake, but Jade was unfazed. She turned on the speaker and did something to her phone before p
ushing to stand.

  “Okay, Cruz Winslow. Are you ready to see how I celebrate?”

  I laughed. “More ready than you know.”

  “Normally you would join in. And, being a musician, you should catch on quick. So just jump in any time.”

  I didn’t know what she was talking about, but I nodded.

  “Okay.”

  Jade hit play on her phone and stepped a few feet in front of me, she was ankle deep in the cold water, and music boomed through the speaker beside me. I glanced around. She was right. No one was down on this end of the beach. I recognized the acoustics to “Shining Star” by Earth, Wind and Fire right away.

  Holy.

  Shit.

  More Jade started belting out the lyrics right along with the soulful voice coming through the speaker. Her hand was a make-shift microphone, and she was in full-blown performance mode as she twirled and danced with her feet in the water.

  “When you wish upon a star, your dreams will take you very far, yeah.” She walked toward me, pointing her finger my way. “When you wish upon a dream, life ain’t always what it seems, oh yeah. What’d you see on a night so clear, in the sky so very dear.”

  She did it all. She sang lead and did her own back-up vocals. It was ridiculous and fucking amazing at the same time. She started doing some sort of chorus line dance moves, shaking her hands in the air. Her voice was kickass. Her dance moves—were not, but it made her all the more appealing. It was the best fucking thing I’d ever seen. And I’d seen a lot.

  “You’re a shining star, no matter who you are. Shining bright to see, what you can truly be. What you can truly be.”

  She missed the high note and just laughed at herself. She spun in circles and clapped during the instrumental portion of the show, and then did some sort of wannabe Michael Jackson dance move before playing air guitar. I was completely mesmerized.

  Now she stormed toward me all serious, still singing into her hand. Her hair was blowing back in the breeze and her face flushed.

  “Shining star come into view. Shine its watchful light on you. Give you strength to carry on.” She flexed her arms like a heavyweight wrestler would, and made her voice ridiculously deep, like a little girl imitating Santa, “Make your body big and strong.”

  I laughed hysterically, and she reached for my hands and pulled me to my feet. Her little hands were in mine, and then she released them. She jumped and sang, and the shallow water splashed around our ankles. I didn’t sing along with her, because I wasn’t taking one ounce of her light. Instead, I was reveling in it.

  In her.

  She broke out in the chorus again, dancing and laughing, and fuck if I didn’t enjoy it. She collapsed on the blanket, and she was panting. I was thankful I wore joggers and a long windbreaker as I watched her gasping on the blanket so she didn’t see the reaction I had to her. I was a typical dude, I reacted to naked women. But a girl dancing to Earth, Wind and Fire at Oak Street Beach shouldn’t draw this type of reaction. It was like I’d just watched the best porn of my life.

  She caught her breath and sat forward. We locked gazes, and I was sure she didn’t miss the heat in mine.

  “Fucking awesome, More Jade.”

  “Why do you call me that?”

  “This is a perfect example. Watching you perform made me want even more Jade.” My tone was all tease, and her cheeks pinked.

  She fell back in laughter. “Next time you have to join in. You’ll feel great. Although, I guess you perform all the time. But there’s something freeing about singing ‘Shining Star’ at the beach.”

  “I’ll join in next time. But today I wanted to just enjoy the show. Thank you. And you’re right. It was much better than getting drunk.” I lit up a smoke, because I needed a couple drags to calm down my raging boner.

  She opened the pizza box and took out a few napkins. Once I snubbed out my smoke, she handed me a slice of pizza and she took a bite of hers.

  “Damn. This is some good pizza.”

  “It’s the best,” she said.

  The breeze swept through and her hair moved around her face. I wanted to brush it back with my fingers, but I didn’t dare touch her. I was in uncharted territory. I didn’t know what we were. I’d never had a close female friend, and I’d never hung out with a chick this long and not hooked up with her. Ever. I leaned forward and grabbed another piece of pizza just as she did, and our faces were close enough for me to feel her warm breath on my cheek. I wanted to kiss her. But I sensed her hesitation, so I pulled away. Hooking up with More Jade was a bad idea.

  Her phone buzzed from her bag, and she reached over. “Oh. I have three missed calls from Sam. Do you mind if I call him back? It’s not like him to call so many times.”

  Yes, I mind. But instead, I said, “Of course not.”

  I watched as she talked to him. I could only hear one end of the conversation, but I was already annoyed.

  “You are? You’re here? No way,” she said, gathering her hair in one hand to keep it from blowing around.

  “I’m not at my dorm. Cruz did so good on the test. We came to Oak Street Beach to celebrate,” she said. It might not be a date, but Sam didn’t know that. The dude should bow out. Bro code. “Of course. Sure. Come meet us. Yes, there’s plenty of pizza.”

  Dick.

  She ended the call and made no apologies for Sam crashing our party. After all, we were just friends.

  “Sam drove in for the night. He and his girlfriend Cara broke up a week ago and I think he’s having a hard time.”

  “He doesn’t just want to drink it off?” My voice was all tease, but I was completely fucking serious. Get a bottle and get over yourself, asshole.

  “He probably already did that,” she said. “So, did you phone your parents to tell them about your test?”

  A loud laugh escaped me. “No. That’s not really their thing.”

  “They don’t care about your grades?”

  “My mom thinks it’s cool I want to get my degree, but she’s wrapped up in Dad’s world. My dad wants me to pursue music, so he doesn’t even want me to attend school at all. He’s pushing for the band to sign with a label and go on tour.”

  “Before you graduate?” The expression on her face was sad. Like I just told her I ran over her puppy.

  “I hope not.”

  Someone shouted in the distance. Jade was on her feet and jogging toward the dude. He hugged her and spun her around, and it felt like I was in the midst of a romcom gone bad. I hated him already.

  “Sam, this is Cruz, the biology prodigy.” She flashed me a smile, and all I saw was those full, kissable lips.

  I stood and extended an arm. “Nice to meet you. She’s tutoring me in bio, so I’m far from a star student.”

  The dude didn’t smile. He just stared at me. I sat back down on the blanket beside Jade.

  “Yeah, she mentioned that. You’re paying her an awful lot of money.” Sam quirked a brow like we were having a fatherly chat.

  “He got an eighty-seven on the test. The class average was a fifty-eight. He got one of the top scores in the class,” Jade said. This must be what it was like to have proud parents. Someone who wanted to talk you up.

  “What did you get, J-bird?” he said.

  J-bird? What was with the stupid fucking nickname? At least More Jade had a purpose, because I actually wanted more Jade. J-bird? Like coo-coo bird? What was the fucking point?

  She didn’t answer, instead she scowled at him. Of course, Jade didn’t want him to rain on my parade, but what she didn’t get was that I only came here to hang out with her. I wasn’t big on celebrations. I just wanted to pass the class. I came here for her.

  “She got a ninety-eight. Highest score in the class,” I said, taking a swig of water.

  “What’s in the bottle, chief?” the pompous ass asked.

 
I screwed the lid on slowly and looked up at him. “It’s water, chief.”

  “Ah, good to know. I know how easy it is to hide booze in water bottles, and seeing as you got J-bird a fake ID, I’m just making sure you aren’t bringing her out here to get her drunk.” Sam chuckled, trying to act like he was kidding. But he wasn’t. He was pissing all over his turf and acting like a little bitch.

  “Well, seeing as I’m twenty-one, I don’t need to hide liquor in a water bottle, because I can go to a store and buy it. Legally. But, thanks for your concern.” I stared at him hard.

  “Sam, stop it. I’m the one who invited Cruz here. This was my idea. I wanted to show him how Dad and I celebrate.”

  “Wow. You got the live version of ‘Shining Star?’ I had to wait eighteen years to finally see it,” Sam said, his tone cautious as he glared at me.

  That’s right you J-Crew looking motherfucker. I sure as shit got the live version. And I fucking loved every minute of it.

  “Yeah, it was something,” I said, because things just got way fucking awkward.

  Jade looked puzzled, but they were obviously close enough that she could tell something was up. “Okay, well, it’s getting cold out here. Should we pack up?”

  I pushed to my feet. I wasn’t sure who Jade was riding with. I didn’t want to end our conversation, but I couldn’t do another minute with this dude looking like he wanted to pounce me.

  We walked toward the parking lot and Jade broke the silence. “I can’t remember if I told you Cruz is the lead singer of Exiled. They’re amazing. Have you heard of them?”

  “Nope. Can’t say I have,” Sam said with a smirk.

  Asshole.

  We got to my car and there was an uncomfortable pause. I finally said, “Do you need a ride back?”

  Jade looked between us, shifting the pizza box in her hands. “Ummm…”

  “Ride with me, J-bird. I’m going to stay the night, so I’m heading to your dorm anyway.” Sam stood behind Jade, and I couldn’t figure out if he was trying to be her father or her boyfriend.

  Jade didn’t look happy about him telling her what to do. She turned back to look at him, handing him the pizza box and the blanket. “I’ll meet you at the car. Give me a minute.”