When we get back, I go with Jade to her room. “So I know it wasn’t much, but did you at least have a little fun?”
“Yeah, I had a great time. Thanks for taking me out.”
“I can’t believe you were just going to sit here and do homework. Thank God I stopped by and took control of the situation.”
She punches me. “You didn’t take control. I’m the one who decided to go. And I almost told you no until you lured me in with the offer of free birthday food.”
“Well, I was hoping my mere presence would convince you to go. When that didn’t work, I had to pull out the birthday freebies.” I smile. “I know how to get to you.”
She rolls her eyes. “Whatever.”
“Do you want to watch a movie upstairs?”
“No, I think I’ll go to bed. I have class early tomorrow.”
“All right. See ya later.” I kiss her cheek and walk to the door.
“That was kind of lame,” I hear her say.
I turn around. “What was lame?”
“That kiss.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? We’re friends, right? Nothing more?”
“Yeah, but it’s my birthday. A birthday kiss has to be better than that. That was like a grandma kiss.”
I stand there, trying to figure this out. So she wants me to kiss her? Like for real kiss her? But I thought she just wanted to be friends. In fact, she said she’s not even ready for that. So what is she doing here? I need to clarify.
“So you’re saying I can kiss you and you won’t get mad? Even after—”
“Would you just kiss me before my birthday is over?”
I wait a moment to see if she’ll change her mind. And when she doesn’t, I decide to give her the best damn kiss she’s ever had.
I place my hands on the sides of her face and put my lips to hers, but just barely. I want her to wonder where I’m taking this. And I want to tease her to the point she wants more.
I kiss her again, adding a little more pressure, but still keeping it gentle. Then I open my mouth enough for her to feel my breath over her lips and when she does the same, I slip my tongue in her mouth. I keep hold of her face as I take the kiss deeper, going slow, because if I only get one kiss I’m going to make it last.
The way she feels. The way she tastes. It’s freaking hot. It reminds me of that day in the pool, only this time Jade isn’t pushing me away. This time, she’s gripping the back of my shirt and pulling herself into me.
As much as I’d love to continue this, I want to leave Jade wanting more. I want her to do this again. I want her dying to do this again. Because I sure as hell am, and I don’t want to have to wait weeks, or months.
So with my hands still holding her face, I give her two soft, short kisses, then pull away and say, “Happy Birthday, Jade.”
And then I leave.
I go upstairs to my room and all I can think is, What the hell just happened?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
I see Jade the next day at lunch in the dining hall and she invites me to sit with her. I treat her like the kiss never happened. Like we’re just two friends having lunch.
I don’t know what that kiss meant last night but she was as into it as I was, so I take that as a good sign. She may not be ready to date me but she can’t deny the attraction we have to each other. I feel it whenever we’re together and I know she feels it, too.
After lunch, Jade goes to class and I stop by Harper’s room.
“Hey, Garret,” she says when she sees me at her door. “Are you looking for Jade?”
“No. I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?”
“Sure.” She steps aside and I go in her room. The whole place is pink. It reminds of Lilly’s room. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I just wanted to let you know that yesterday was Jade’s birthday and—”
“Wait. Yesterday was Jade’s birthday?”
“Yeah. She didn’t tell anyone. I only found out because I stopped by her room and saw the presents she got from Frank and Ryan.”
“Why didn’t she tell me? I would’ve taken her out and got her something.”
“I took her out. We went to a movie and out to eat. But anyway, I stopped by because I need you to get her out of her room tonight. I want to put some lights up and surprise her.”
Harper sits on the edge of her bed. “Lights? What kind of lights?”
“Blue Christmas lights. I have some along the ceiling in my room and I know Jade really likes them so I’m going to put some up in her room. She wouldn’t let me spend more than $5 on a gift so the lights were the best idea I could come up with.”
Harper laughs. “She limited you to $5? You? A Kensington? Does she know how much money you’re worth?”
“She doesn’t care. She’s got this thing about not letting me buy her stuff.”
“I know. Me too. She never lets me pay for anything.” Harper hops off her bed. “I’ll take her out for a birthday dinner tonight. I’ll invite some of my tennis friends so it’s more of a party. I’ll make sure we’re out for a couple hours. Is that enough time?”
“Yeah, that should be good. Thanks.” I walk to the door.
“Oh, and Garret?” Harper meets me by the door.
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for ending whatever fight you had with Jade. She’s happy again, even happier than before you had the fight. This morning she was practically bouncing down the hall. Maybe because you took her out for her birthday last night.” Harper smiles, like she thinks Jade and I did more than just hang out.
“Yeah. Maybe.” I grin, because I’m pretty sure the kiss last night is what had Jade bouncing down the hall. Not to be cocky, but I know how to kiss. And last night, I didn’t hold back.
Harper holds the door open for me. “Anyway, I’ll take her out tonight. Text me when you’re done with her room so I know it’s okay to come back.”
She gives me her number, then I go to the store to get the lights. They didn’t have any left at the place I bought mine so I had to drive to another town. I found some at a dollar store. I’d never been in one of those places before but it worked out well because I was able to get five boxes of lights for my $5 limit.
After my afternoon class, I track down the maintenance guy to get a ladder. Then once Jade’s gone, I convince Jasmine, her RA, to let me in Jade’s room.
Putting up the lights takes longer than I thought it would because I tried to make a pattern with the lights, but it didn’t work so I just strung them up because I was running out of time.
Around 9:30, Harper texts me and tells me she’s back with Jade. I go down to her room and see the door open. Jade has her back to me and is looking up at the ceiling. She’s in the same black dress she wore to my dad’s house for dinner. The dress clings to her curves, showing off her perfect body and making me want to put my hands all over it. Her long brown hair flows down her back in soft waves. It looks different than she normally wears it. It’s like she curled it or something.
I stand at the door, leaning against the frame. “You like it?”
She turns back and I see she has makeup on tonight. I like her without it, but she just has a little on so it looks natural not overdone. She also has earrings on. She normally doesn’t wear earrings so I’m wondering if those are Harper’s. I like Jade in earrings. It’s feminine and pretty. I think I need to get her some earrings.
“You did this?” Jade’s face is lit up even more than when I took her for pancakes. I knew she’d like the lights.
“I did.” I go in her room and shut the door.
“How did you get in here?”
“I have connections.”
She waits for me to explain.
“Jasmine let me in. When Harper told me she was taking you to dinner tonight, I took over your room for a couple hours. And no, I didn’t go through your stuff.”
I stand right next to her, my eyes on the ceiling as I slip my arm around her narrow waist. She tenses
up at first, but then relaxes, not saying a word.
I gently squeeze her waist. “You didn’t answer me. Do you like it or not?”
“Yeah. I love it.”
I slide my hand down the thin fabric of her dress, resting it on her hip. Her breath catches and I smile, knowing just that small movement got to her. It’s one of those things I do to test her. I touch her in a seemingly innocent way and see how she reacts.
“Good. Because I almost fell off the ladder getting that middle section tacked up.” I point to the area above the bed.
“Why did you do all this?”
“It’s your birthday gift. With your insane budget, I had to go to this store that sells everything for a dollar. These lights were so cheap they may not work for very long.”
“I buy stuff at those stores all the time. I’m sure they’ll last.”
“I knew how much you liked mine, so I had to get you your own.” I kiss her cheek. “Happy Birthday, Jade.”
“Thanks.” Her eyes return to the ceiling. “You see? You really can make someone happy with just a few dollars.”
I face her, my arms around her waist. “I made you happy? With these cheap ass lights?”
“Very happy. I love the lights. They’ll make me happy every time I look at them.”
When she says stuff like this, and acts so grateful and so appreciative of the smallest things, it causes this warmth to fill my chest and I can’t help but smile. “It doesn’t take much with you, does it, Jade?”
“Nope.”
I gaze down at her face. She’s so beautiful. I don’t think she has a clue how beautiful she is. I just want to keep looking at her, staring into those deep green eyes. And I want more than anything to kiss her. Normally, I would just do it, but I want her to come to me. I have to know she wants this. I want more than just a friendship, and I think she does, too, but she hasn’t told me she’s ready for that. So as much as it kills me, I’ll wait. But that doesn’t mean I won’t flirt with her.
She glances down and I gently lift her chin up so I can see her face. “You look amazing tonight, Jade.”
“It’s just a dress. You saw me wearing it at your parents’ house.”
The girl cannot accept a compliment. The girls I’ve dated in the past would constantly ask me how they look in order to get a never-ending stream of compliments. But not Jade. She can’t even handle one.
“I know,” I say. “And you looked nice then, too. But now you’ve got your hair like this and, I don’t know, it’s just different. Probably because you’re not glaring at me from across the dinner table.”
She laughs. “Yeah. That’s probably it.” She pulls away and goes to the bed to sit down. “So you’re going out with Blake tonight?”
“That’s the plan.” I sit next to her. “But if you want me to stick around, I can skip the party and do something with him tomorrow instead.”
“You should go since you told him you would.”
“I guess, but I really don’t want to hang out with him.”
“Garret, you made a deal with the guy.”
“And I shouldn’t have had to. He should keep his mouth shut if he thinks we’re friends.” I kick my shoes off and lie down on the bed. “Hey, check this out.”
She lies next to me, but keeps some space between us. “It’s even better from this view.”
“See that section right there?” I move closer to her as I point to the spot on the ceiling right above us. “I wanted to make a constellation with the lights but I ran out of time.”
As I put my arm down, I slide over a little more so that our bodies are touching.
Jade flips on her side, putting some distance between us. “You should really get going.”
I also turn on my side, but put myself right up next to her and casually rest my hand on her hip. “Are you trying to get rid of me, Jade?”
“No, but you have to go to that party with Blake. And I should get to sleep.” I notice she’s breathing fast. I’m getting to her. And I love it.
I lean in until our faces are so close I can feel her breath. “It’s not even 10.”
“Really? It seems later.” She’s breathing even faster, but she hasn’t moved away. “It’s probably 11 by now.”
I fix my eyes on her. “It’s 9:40. I can see the clock from here. So are you sure you want me to leave?” I smile, because I know she wants me to kiss her. But she’s not getting one if she sends me away. I want her to ask me to stay. Because if I stay, she’ll get her kiss. She’ll get more than one. A lot more. And I’m pretty sure she knows that, given how I’ve been flirting with her since the moment I got here. So if she tells me to stay I’ll know she’s ready to take this beyond a friendship.
“Positive,” she says.
So she’s telling me to leave, and yet she shuts her eyes, anticipating the kiss she thinks is coming.
“Okay. Then I’ll leave.” I jump over her and off the bed. “I’ll see you on Sunday.”
Her eyes pop open. “Sunday?” She quickly stands up, her cheeks bright red.
“Pancakes. We’re still going right?”
“Well, yeah. But what about tomorrow?”
“What about it?”
“Don’t you want to do something?”
I notice her eyes on my lips and it almost makes me laugh. She wanted that kiss so damn bad and yet she wouldn’t make a move. My lips were right there in front of her. All she had to do was lean in and kiss me and I would’ve taken her signal and kissed her back. Or she could’ve asked me to stay. Either one would’ve been the answer I needed.
“What do you have in mind?” I ask her.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”
“Well, think about it and if you decide you want to do something, you know where to find me. Goodnight, Jade.”
I leave and go up to my room. The ball’s in her court. I’ve made that clear tonight. She told me she just wants to be friends so that’s what I’m doing. When she’s ready for more than that, she needs to tell me. And tonight she could’ve, but she didn’t. So I left.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
I go to the party and find Blake so drunk he doesn’t even notice I’m there. I could’ve just skipped this party, but I didn’t want to risk it.
I need to follow the rules and the rules of blackmail are simple. The person with the power sets their demand and if you do as they say, they keep your secret. So I know Blake will shut up about Jade if I keep showing up at these parties.
But I’m already tired of going to them. I’m still not drinking and I’m not looking to hook up so there’s no point in being here. I spend the time standing around watching drunk guys make asses of themselves as they hit on girls. I hope I didn’t look that stupid when I was doing it.
“Hey, Garret.” A girl comes up beside me, smiling and showing off a dimple in each cheek. “Remember me?”
She does seem familiar. She’s shorter than Jade, and small, but athletic. Like a gymnast. Shit. She is a gymnast. I remember her now. I slept with this girl two years ago.
“Hi—” I stop because I can’t remember her name. I met her at a party and we went in a room. It was a one-time thing. I never saw her again.
“It’s Haley.” She comes around in front of me. She’s cute. Not as cute as Jade, but still cute. Long blond hair. Bright blue eyes. Nice smile. Tight little body. She used to be a cheerleader.
“Yeah. Sorry. Hi, Haley.”
“So you go to Moorhurst now?”
“Yeah. And you?”
I don’t know if she was planning to go to college. I’m sure I talked to her before we slept together but I don’t remember anything she said.
She moves closer, like she’s doing it so I can hear her better, but I could hear her just fine where she was standing before. “I go to UConn. Business major.”
“I’m a business major, too. So what are you doing at a Moorhurst party?”
“I came home for the weekend and was bored an
d heard about this party.” She glances around. “It’s kind of crowded in here. You want to leave? Go to your place and catch up?”
“I have a girlfriend now.” I know it’s a lie, but I’ve found the girlfriend excuse works better than telling girls I’m not interested. Saying you’re not interested just makes them work harder.
“Oh.” Haley steps back. “I didn’t see you with anyone. Sorry.”
“She’s not here tonight. I just came to hang out with some friends.”
“Okay, well, it was good seeing you again.”
“Yeah. Bye, Haley.”
This scene plays out every time I go to these parties, except usually I don’t encounter girls I’ve already slept with, other than Ava.
With all the offers I’ve had, I could’ve slept with a lot of girls since the start of school. And I would’ve if it weren’t for Jade. It would’ve been just like high school again. I’d get drunk, get offered sex, go in a room, and do it. I told myself I wouldn’t be like that this year but I know if I hadn’t met Jade, that’s exactly what would’ve happened.
Now I’m not interested in that. I don’t want random hook-ups with girls I barely know. The next time I do it, I want it to be with Jade. And since we’re still just friends, I think it will be a long time before that happens, if it even does.
I’m realizing that Jade is even more innocent than I thought she was when I met her. I think she might be a virgin. She told me she hasn’t dated many guys and that she’s never had a boyfriend. And the way she freaked out when I went to touch her in the pool makes me think she hasn’t ever been touched that way. Or maybe she just wasn’t ready to move that fast. I still can’t figure out what happened that day in the pool.
My phone rings and I go outside to answer it so I can hear. It’s Sadie, my ex-girlfriend. We dated last summer when I was interning for a senator in DC. My dad forced me to do the internship. I hated it. I can’t stand politics. It’s nothing but fake people, lies, and corruption. I get enough of that here in Connecticut in my own little world. The last thing I wanted to do was spend my summer surrounded by even more of it.
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