Knowing You (The Jade Series #2)

by Everhart, Allie

  A few minutes later, an older couple comes and sits at our table. They’re probably in their eighties. They hold hands as they eat, which works because the old man eats with his left hand.

  “Are you two going steady?” the old lady asks Garret.

  I almost choke as I laugh while drinking my water.

  Garret just smiles and says in a serious tone, “Yes. We are going steady.”

  The old man glances up at us, then goes back to eating. He’s far more interested in the food than us. His wife continues. “We got married when we were about your age. We’ve been married 64 years now.”

  “Congratulations,” Garret says. “That’s great, isn’t it, Jade?”

  “Yes. Congratulations.”

  She smiles at both of us. “You think you two will get married soon?”

  What is with people thinking we’ll get married? First the mariachi guy and now the old lady?

  “I don’t know.” Garret looks at me, a mischievous grin on his face. “Do you think we’ll get married soon, Jade?”

  The old lady smiles even wider as she awaits my answer. “Um, no. I don’t think so. We’re too young.”

  “Love knows no age, dear.” And with that, she goes back to eating like the conversation is over.

  “You hear that, Jade? Love knows no age.” Garret tries to be serious, but can’t when he sees me ready to burst out laughing. He gets up, pulling me up as well.

  “Don’t laugh at the old lady,” he kiddingly scolds once we’re in the hallway. “She obviously knows what she’s talking about if she’s been married that long.”

  “I wasn’t laughing at her. I was laughing at your reaction to her. Acting all serious about that marriage crap. It’s just like at the Mexican restaurant.”

  “Maybe I was being serious.”

  “Yeah, right. Like we’re going to—” I stop when I see Katherine, Garret’s stepmom, walking up to us. I try to let go of Garret’s hand, but he won’t let me.

  Katherine glares at Garret and me, daggers in her eyes. “Jade. I didn’t expect to see you here this evening.”

  “Ava and I are no longer together,” Garret says, glaring back at her. “Jade’s my girlfriend now. I thought you knew, but apparently my dad forgot to tell you.” He glances around the room. “So where are all the photographers tonight?”

  “Mr. Sinclair wouldn’t allow them in until he gives his speech later.” Her tone is cold as ice. “He wanted to enjoy the party without cameras following him everywhere.” She turns to me. “So, Jade, how is school going?”

  “Fine.” I look right at her and smile, not letting her get to me.

  “Did Lilly go to bed, yet?” Garret asks, taking the attention off me. “I wanted to say goodnight to her.”

  “She’s already asleep.” The Lilly question took Katherine by surprise and now she doesn’t seem to remember what she was going to say to us.

  “Tell her to call me this week. Goodbye, Katherine.” Garret quickly walks away, still holding my hand. “That wasn’t so bad,” he says as we enter yet another huge room. This one has a dance floor and a band playing off to the side.

  “She gave us the death stare, just like your dad gave you earlier,” I remind him.

  “They give me that look all the time. That’s nothing new.” He turns to face me. “Do you want to dance?”

  The dance floor is full of couples who are much older than us. “I don’t know. I’m not very good.”

  “It’s not that hard, Jade. You just sway side to side while a hot guy holds you in his arms.”

  “So we’re not even dancing together?” I tease.

  “You see?” he says as he finds us a spot on the dance floor. “Shit like that’s why I think you don’t like me.”

  “I was joking. Now show me what to do.”

  “Haven’t you been to dances before?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t really dance. I just hung out there.”

  He places my hands on his shoulders, then puts his hands on my hips. “Start with this.”

  The longer we dance the closer we get. After a while, my head is resting on his chest and his arms are fully around me. I close my eyes, pretending nobody else is around. But then I feel Garret’s muscles tense up and open my eyes to see his dad standing there, grabbing Garret’s arm.

  I quickly pull away from him.

  “Garret, I need to talk to you.” Oddly, his dad almost sounds more concerned than angry.

  “Dad, I know what you’re going to say. And I’m not going to have this conversation with you anymore. Jade and I are together. Deal with it.”

  “Come with me to the study.”

  “I’m busy right now. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Listen to me!” His dad raises his voice. “We need to talk. Now!”

  “Come on, Jade. Let’s go.” Garret grabs my hand and starts walking out, with Mr. Kensington following right behind. “And by the way, Dad, I’m not going to the Caymans for Thanksgiving. Tell your wife. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled.”

  “Garret!” Mr. Kensington almost yells it. He stops following us, but I glance back and see him watching us leave.

  We get our coats and wait outside for the car to be brought around. “Sorry about that,” Garret mutters. “I was hoping he wouldn’t act like that with so many people around.”

  “It’s okay.” A cold gust of wind blows and I reach for my scarf but it’s not there. “My scarf is missing. I have to go back and get it.”

  “We’ll get it later. I don’t want to go back in there.”

  “I have to get it. It’s not my scarf. It’s Harper’s. Just wait here. I’ll be right back.”

  When I go back inside, I spot the woman who took my coat earlier. “Excuse me, but I’m missing my scarf. Can I go check where you had the coats?”

  “Wait here. I’ll go get it.” She takes off, not even asking for a description of the scarf.

  I stand there, hoping Mr. Kensington doesn’t appear. The foyer is empty now. Most people are either eating or dancing in one of the side rooms. I turn and look out the window. Garret’s car is now sitting in the circular driveway and he’s standing there talking to Paul.

  Someone touches my shoulder. I turn, expecting to see the lady who was getting my scarf, but instead it’s Mr. Sinclair. “Are you leaving already?”

  “Yes,” I say, noticing he’s standing way too close. I back away slightly, hoping it’s not too obvious.

  “Are you interested in politics? Because I’m giving a speech shortly to talk about the campaign. Maybe you’d like to stick around.”

  “Um, no. I need to go. But good luck with everything.”

  “Perhaps you could ask your parents to vote for me in the caucus. You said you’re from Iowa, right?”

  “Yes, I’ll tell them,” I lie.

  He looks at me, not saying anything. It creeps me out. I wonder if he’s some pervert who likes teen girls.

  “Royce, there you are.” A thin woman with overdone makeup and hair walks up to him. “Your speech is in a few minutes. You should really get in there.” She notices me and puts her hand out. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Victoria Sinclair.”

  I shake her hand. “Hi. I’m Jade. Nice to meet you.”

  “She’s dating Garret,” Mr. Sinclair says.

  “Oh. I see.” Victoria glares at me. She must be mad that Garret is no longer dating her daughter. “I don’t think you mentioned your last name.”

  I purposely avoided saying my last name because people here judge you by your last name. By asking for my name, Victoria is trying to gauge how much money I’m worth.

  “It’s Taylor. Jade Taylor.”

  She pauses to search her mind’s rolodex for a Taylor. “Yes. Your father owns Taylor Investments in Greenwich.”

  “No. Must be a different Taylor.”

  Mr. Sinclair takes hold of his wife’s arm. “Dear, as you said, we need to get going. The speech starts soon.” He smiles at me. “Enjoy the rest of yo
ur evening, Jade.”

  As they walk off, the woman finally arrives with Harper’s scarf. I hurry outside where Garret is waiting.

  “What took you so long?” He opens the car door for me.

  “I was talking to your girlfriend’s parents.”

  “My girlfriend doesn’t have parents,” he says once he’s in the car.

  “Well, your ex-girlfriend’s parents. They seem pretty upset you’re not still dating her. At least her mom does.”

  “You met Victoria? Ugh, I can’t stand that woman. She’s so phony. She’s just like Katherine. Somehow Sadie didn’t turn out like her. But her sisters did.”

  “How many kids do they have?”

  “Four. All girls. Sadie’s the oldest.”

  “I didn’t like that guy. There’s something weird about him.”

  “All politicians are like that. You feel like you can’t trust them.”

  “It wasn’t that. I felt like he was checking me out.”

  “I told you. You’re hot. Every guy in there was checking you out.”

  “But that guy was really checking me out. Which is disgusting because he has a daughter my age.”

  “Well, you never have to see him again. So anyway, I was thinking we should go somewhere. It’s only 10. Do you want to get dessert? We could stop at the diner by campus.”

  “Dressed like this?”

  “Sure. Why not?”

  “Okay. But I’m not getting that giant sundae this time.”

  The diner is the one he took me to my first day on campus. We shared this huge sundae that could easily feed four or five people.

  After stopping for dessert, we go back to campus and up to his room. As he opens the door, he kisses me and we keeping kissing as we move inside his room. His one hand grips my waist as the other one shuts the door.

  He slides my coat off, letting it drop to the floor, then takes the scarf from my neck. I feel his hands touch the skin on my back and a tingling sensation rushes through me. I’m really loving this backless dress thing.

  After a few minutes, he breaks away from the kiss to take off his coat and tuxedo jacket. Then he turns on the blue ceiling lights and comes back, stopping for a moment to look at me. “Did I tell you how gorgeous you look in that dress?”

  “Yes, Garret. You’ve told me several times. I’m starting to think I must look really bad all the other times you’ve seen me.”

  He laughs. “No. I don’t mean it like that. You always look good, but it’s nice to see you in something other than a black or white t-shirt.”

  “Well, I didn’t think I’d ever wear purple but I really like this dress. I guess I like dark purple or plum or whatever this is.” I glance down at the fabric.

  His hand cups my cheek. I lift my head to see him gazing at me. “You’re so beautiful, Jade.”

  I look away. “You don’t need to keep saying that. I’m not beautiful. I’m not even that pretty. And I’m fine with that because I’m not really into my looks. I mean, I care how I look but I’m not obsessed with it, I just—” I stop because I realize I’m rambling on like an idiot. I’m not at all good at accepting compliments. Probably because I don’t get them very often.

  Garret turns my face back toward his. “I hate to break this to you, Jade, but you’re more than pretty. You’re beautiful.” He kisses me. “And gorgeous.” His lips travel down my neck. “And sexy.” His mouth trails back up to my ear and his voice drops to just above a whisper. “And so. Damn. Hot.”

  He brings his lips back to mine and gives me a kiss that’s even better than the one we had in the pool a week ago. I slip my heels off as we continue to kiss. He slowly leads us over to his bed.

  As we lie down next to each other, I wonder if he thinks we’re going to have sex. We’re officially dating now so maybe he thinks it’s time. I know we haven’t done much more than kiss up till now, but maybe he just wants to skip all the in-between stuff and move straight to the sex. I really wish he would tell me. I know it’s supposed to be spontaneous, something that just happens, but I’m too much of a sex newbie for that. I need to know if it’s going to happen or not. Otherwise, I’ll keep worrying about it.

  I stop kissing him. “Are we having sex tonight?” Someone else must have taken over my brain because it just comes out without warning.

  He pulls back a little and laughs. “What? Where did that come from?”

  “I’m not sure. Just answer the question.”

  “No. We’re not having sex.”

  “Why not?” I say it as if I’m offended by his answer. I swear, sometimes I can’t even understand my own brain. First I’m worried he wants sex and now I’m mad because he doesn’t?

  “Jade, I told you before. I don’t want to rush things. We have plenty of time. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Okay.” I take a deep breath and let it out.

  “You seem relieved. Did you think I was going to make you have sex tonight?”

  “No.” My eyes dart away. “I mean, maybe.”

  “Hey.” He waits for my eyes to return to his. “I’ll never pressure you into anything, okay? We’re not going to have sex just because I want to. We have to both want that.”

  I sit up slightly. “I do want it. I’m just not ready yet. I’m not experienced like you.” Again, the private thoughts in my head somehow escape out my mouth.

  “I don’t care that you haven’t had a ton of experience. I like that about you. Besides, you really don’t need much experience. Sex isn’t that complicated. It’s what comes after the sex that’s complicated.”

  “Yeah. That’s true,” I say, wondering if, or how, our relationship will change once we finally do it. “Garret, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure. What is it?”

  “Have you really been with 10 girls, like Blake said? Or more than 10?”

  Garret tips his head back toward the ceiling, then brings it down again. “Ask me anything but that.”

  “I want to know.”

  “What difference does it make?”

  I search for a reason. “You could have an STD sleeping with all those girls.”

  “I don’t have any STDs.”

  “Still, I want to know. I told you how many people I’ve been with.”

  “Yeah. One. That makes my number look pretty bad.”

  “So you have been with 10. Or more than that?”

  He sighs. “None of them mattered, Jade. I know that makes me sound like a total ass, but half the time I didn’t even know what I was doing. Back in high school, I used to hook up with girls at parties when I was drunk. It was stupid.”

  I keep quiet. I’m not sure what to say. The random hook-ups explain how he got such a high number of sex partners but it also makes me uncomfortable knowing he used to be that way.

  He sits up. “I know what you’re thinking. I knew I shouldn’t have told you that.” He sounds a little angry. “And you never should’ve asked. It’s the past. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  “It does matter. How do I know you weren’t still doing that when you were going to all those parties with Blake on Friday nights?” I regret it as soon as I say it. I know he wasn’t doing that. Harper was at those same parties and she said Garret barely even talked to girls when he was there.

  Garret gets up off the bed, now definitely angry. “How could you even say that? God, Jade, after everything we’ve been through together I can’t believe you’d accuse me of something like that.”

  “I know how girls act around you. I’m sure they made offers.” I have no know idea why I’m continuing to push the issue.

  “Yeah. And I told them I wasn’t interested. Plus, I wasn’t even drinking at those parties. Not even a beer. That’s all because of you, Jade. Because I knew how disappointed you’d be in me.” He stands there, looking so incredibly handsome in his white shirt and tux pants. “I thought you trusted me. I know I lied to you when we first met but since then, I’ve been completely honest with you. I haven’t kept st
uff from you. And you still don’t trust me.”

  His tone reflects how much I’ve hurt him, with accusations I never should have made. I swear something is seriously wrong with me. Why would I say something like that to him when I know it’s not true?

  I get up and stand right in front of him. “I do trust you, Garret. I don’t know why I said that just now. I guess I just can’t believe that someone like you would want me. And only me.” There goes my mouth again, speaking without my brain’s permission. Letting all my secret thoughts spill out.

  Garret’s anger fades. He lifts my chin up and our eyes meet. “I only want you. Nobody else. What do I have to do to make you understand that?”

  I glance down, not sure how to answer him. I’m afraid to speak, knowing I’ll probably screw up again and say something I don’t really mean.

  He puts his arms around my waist.

  “Jade. Look at me.” I slowly lift my head and our eyes meet again. “I love you.”

  13

  My mouth goes dry and my legs feel weak. I’ve never heard those words before. Not from my mother. Not from Frank or Ryan. And certainly not from a boy.

  He waits for me to speak but I can’t. I’m too stunned.

  “Did you hear me? I said I love you.”

  The words shock me again. Am I dreaming this? It feels real.

  “Jade. Do you have anything to say?” Garret looks concerned.

  “Um, thank you.” It is the absolute worst thing to say but the words just came out before I could think.

  He lets me go and takes a seat on the bed. “I shouldn’t have said it. It’s too soon, isn’t it? It’s just that I’ve been wanting to tell you that and, I don’t know, it seemed like the right time. But I guess it wasn’t.” His forearms rest on his knees as he stares down at the floor.

  I finally wake up and realize I need to respond with more than a stupid and meaningless thank you. I go and sit next to him. “I’m happy you said it. I’m just surprised. That’s all. Nobody’s ever said that to me.”

  Garret’s quiet, his eyes still on the floor.

  “I don’t mean other guys. I mean nobody. Not even my mom. I’m not even sure I know what those words mean.”

  He sits up and turns to face me. “I think everyone has their own meaning for those words.”