Garret

by Allie Everhart

  “No, not at all.”

  “We can go soon. I just need to do a few more laps.”

  “That’s fine.”

  I finish my laps, then get out of the pool. “I’m done. I’ll go get dressed and be right back.”

  When we’re back at the dorm, Jade goes to her room to drop off her stuff. I go to mine and change into a different shirt. I laugh when I see all the candy I bought. My desk is covered with it. Jade’s gonna love it. She’s a total sugar addict.

  A few minutes pass and she still isn’t up here so I leave to go check on her. I walk out of my room and see her in the hall. Shane, a guy who lives on my floor, has his arm hung over her shoulder. I tense up when I see it. Shane does this to every girl who comes up here, but it fucking pisses me off when I see him touching Jade.

  “Shane, get the hell away from her.” I storm toward him and shove his hand off her.

  Shane stumbles forward, then catches himself. “I was just being friendly. Shit, can’t a guy be friendly?”

  “Go be friendly to someone else.” I take Jade’s hand. “Come on, Jade.”

  “Where did you find her?” Shane yells as we walk away. “Does she go here? She’s got a nice ass on her.”

  “Ignore him,” I say to Jade. “He’s been drunk for hours. He doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

  “Are you saying he was wrong about my ass?” She smiles. “Because I took that as a compliment.”

  I smile back. “You do have a nice ass, but I don’t want him looking at it. That’s my job.”

  “Oh, really? Because I don’t think you should be checking out your friend’s ass.”

  “Speak for yourself, there, Jade.” I give her a look, letting her know I caught her. She blushes, which just confirms she was checking me out at the pool.

  We stop at my door. “Okay, are you ready?”

  She nods and I open the door and lead her inside. “I told you it wasn’t that great, but it’s Halloweeny, right?”

  “Totally Halloweeny! I love it! This is way more than I was expecting.” She lies on my bed, staring up at the orange lights. I have my drapes closed so the room is dark other than the bright orange glow from the ceiling.

  “I’m glad you like it.” I lie next to her on my side, resting my hand on her abs. It’s another thing I do to flirt with her, testing the limits of our friendship. My hand is on the middle of her stomach so it could be completely innocent, but given our attraction to each other, innocent touches seem not so innocent.

  I feel her ab muscles tighten, then relax as I leave my hand there. Her eyes remain on the lights.

  “Do you want to look through the movies I rented?” I ask. “I don’t know anything about horror movies so I got like 10 of them. You can pick what you want.”

  She flips on her side, facing me, and I move my hand to her hip. “Garret, thanks for doing all this. The movies. The decorations. The food. The lights.” She smiles as her eyes scan the room. “This is so great.”

  I kiss her cheek. “I love how excited you get over stuff like this.”

  “What can I say? You combined junk food and movies, my two favorite things.” She tugs on my shirt. “You even wore Halloween colors.”

  I look down at my black thermal henley. “Yeah, I guess I did. I wasn’t even thinking about that when I put it on.”

  I get off the bed and go over to my desk, where the movies I rented are stacked up.

  “Okay.” I bring the movies over to Jade. “We have zombies, ghosts, vampires, witches, or the classic psychotic killer who lives next door. What do like?”

  “Zombies.”

  I sigh. “I was afraid you were going to say that. Don’t you think it’ll be boring? I mean, zombies don’t even talk, right?”

  “Then how about witches instead?”

  “We have all day and night to watch these, so if you want, we can start with zombies.”

  The zombie movie is boring and stupid but it’s short and Jade and I make it entertaining by coming up with lines for the zombies to say. Next we watch the witch movie, then the vampire one. Then we have our pizza and watch the ghost movie. The ghost one really freaks Jade out and she clings to me the entire time, which makes the ghost movie one of my new favorites. I might have to buy that one.

  Around 10, we start another movie. It’s about a psychotic killer and I know it’ll scare Jade but she insisted on watching it. That’s fine with me because I know she’ll be all over me again during the scary parts.

  Just as the movie’s starting, someone knocks on my door.

  “Kensington, get your ass out here.” It’s Tyler, a guy who lives at the end of the hall. He went to a different prep school than me but I used to see him at parties. The guy drinks even more than I used to drink. He’s always trying to get me to go to parties with him, I think because I tend to attract girls. In high school, he’d hang around me and hit on the girls I turned down, telling them we were friends, which we’re not.

  “Just ignore him,” I say to Jade.

  Then I hear Lucas, who lives in the room next to Tyler’s. “We know you’re in there. Hurry up.”

  “Just talk to them,” Jade says. “Otherwise they’ll never go away.”

  I get up and go out in the hall, closing the door behind me.

  Lucas is messing with his phone and Tyler’s just standing there.

  “What do you want?” I ask Tyler.

  “We’re leaving for the party. Let’s go.”

  “I’m not going. I told you that earlier.”

  “What do you mean you’re not going? Do you know how many girls are gonna be at this party? I just talked to Aiden and he said the girls are all wearing costumes and they’re practically naked.”

  “I told you I’m not going.”

  “Why? You got some girl in there? Well, finish up with her and let’s go.”

  “Don’t be an ass. Just get out of here.” I put my hand on the doorknob so Tyler won’t try to open it himself.

  “Who’s in there? Ava?”

  “It’s none of your damn business. Just go.”

  “Whatever, man.” They walk away. “You used to be fun, Garret. Now you’re just a fucking loser.”

  I go back in my room, locking the door in case they come back. I take my seat next to Jade. “Sorry about that. They’ve been drinking so were even more obnoxious than usual.”

  She turns down the volume on the TV and slides closer to me. “You know, those guys are right. You should be out at one of the gazillion parties going on right now. You’re missing out on all those girls in sexy nurse costumes, not to mention all the half-naked angels, witches, devils—”

  I put my finger over her lips. “This is where I want to be, Jade. Right here.”

  She pulls my hand from her mouth and looks at me like she wants me to kiss her. But I don’t know if I should. I’ve been thinking about this and I don’t want us to become friends who make out. If we’re going to do that stuff, I want us to be dating. I want Jade to be my girlfriend. I want her to feel like I’m committed to this, because I am. And I think it would be good for Jade to have that commitment. To know that I’m not going anywhere and that I want to be with her and nobody else.

  Jade always acts like I’m going to leave her. Like one day I’m just going to walk away and never talk to her again. I know part of that is my fault for telling her we couldn’t be friends after my dad showed up here. But I think it’s also how Jade feels about everyone. That everyone she cares about will eventually leave her, so she pushes them away before that can happen.

  I want to prove to her that it won’t happen with me. She can keep pushing me away but I’m not leaving. I want to be with her and I know she wants to be with me. She’s just too afraid to let it happen.

  I’m afraid of it, too. I’m afraid of getting even closer to this girl who’s made her way into my heart and made me do things I never thought I’d do and made me feel things I never thought I’d feel. I risk getting hurt just as much as she do
es. But I’m willing to take that risk and I want her to as well.

  She’s still waiting for the kiss, so I give her one, but make it quick. “So what’s going on with this one?”

  “The psychotic killer met this girl on an Internet dating site.” Jade shudders. “It’s totally freaking me out. Look at that guy. Look at his eyes. I feel like he’s watching me.”

  I laugh. “I’ll protect you. Come here.” I hold my arm up and she snuggles into my side and a few minutes later she’s asleep.

  I fast forward through most of the movie, then watch TV for a couple hours. Jade’s still sleeping, but now she’s resting on my arm and it’s starting to fall asleep. I take my arm away, which wakes her up.

  “Jade, I can’t sit here any longer. I need to move.”

  She slides over on the chair. “Have you been awake this whole time?”

  “Yeah, the movie ended and I’ve been watching TV.”

  “You should’ve woke me up.”

  “Nah. I like it when you sleep on me, but my arm was starting to go numb.”

  “Oh. Sorry about that.” She sits up. “I should go.”

  “Do you really want to go?”

  “Well, it’s kind of late to start another movie.” She yawns and rubs her eyes. Sleepy Jade is so damn cute.

  I shut the TV off. “I wasn’t going to watch another movie.”

  At first, she doesn’t get what I’m asking, but then she smiles. “Are you inviting me for another sleepover?”

  “The night’s practically over. You might as well stay.”

  “Yeah, because my room’s so far away. It’ll be morning before I make it back.”

  “I’m not trying to get you to have sex with me, if that’s what you’re thinking. I just want to sleep next to you again. Sleep. That’s it. But if you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

  “Okay, I’ll stay.” She stands up and takes her jeans off and gets into my bed.

  “What are you doing?” I meet her at the bed, standing next to it.

  “Going to sleep.” She yanks the sheet and blanket over her.

  “But you’re not wearing anything.”

  “I’m wearing a shirt.”

  “Yeah, but nothing else. You want a pair of my shorts?”

  She sits up on her elbows. “I’m wearing underwear. I’m not going to wear my jeans to bed. What’s your problem? You can’t sleep next to me like this?”

  “Uh, no. Definitely not.”

  She smiles at me, her head cocked to the side. “And why is that? We’re just sleeping, right? Nothing else? You won’t even notice what I’m wearing because you’ll be asleep.”

  “Trust me. I won’t be sleeping if that’s all you’re wearing. I’ll go get you something from your room.”

  “You’re being crazy. Just go to sleep.” She lies down, her back to me.

  I sigh as I change into my pajama pants. Jade’s doing this on purpose. She knows how turned on I get just being around her. And now she’s challenging me, seeing if I can resist her when she’s half naked in my bed. And although I’ll accept the challenge, I already know I’m going to lose. It’s hard enough controlling myself when she’s lying next to me fully clothed. But now? When she’s only halfway dressed? Yeah, this isn’t going to work.

  I get in the tiny twin bed and our bodies touch. The bed’s just too damn small to avoid it. I try to at least move the lower half of my body away from her but she’s in the middle of my bed so I can’t go too far back or I’ll fall off the edge. I swear she keeps scooting closer to me, because now I can’t even lie on my back. If I do, my shoulder will be off the mattress.

  I remain on my side and her ass brushes against me, as in the part of me I can’t control. I’ve been trying to control it. I really have. But then she rubs her ass against it and what the hell am I supposed to do? It reacts when it encounters a hot girl’s ass, especially when that ass is only covered with a very thin piece of fabric.

  “What is going on back there?” Jade asks. “I’m trying to sleep.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t do this. You need to put something on.” I go back to my dresser and find a pair of fleece athletic shorts.

  Jade’s laughing. “Are you saying you can’t resist me?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” I toss the covers back and drag her legs to the edge of the bed. Her shirt rides up and I see her black silk panties. “Damn. And then you have to wear sexy underwear? Did you do this on purpose?”

  “Nope. This is my normal underwear.” She yanks her shirt up even more, showing them off. She sees the movement in my pants. She knows the trouble she’s causing.

  I don’t know what she’s expecting tonight but it’s not going to happen. She’s going out with me first and I’m going to convince her to be my girlfriend. After that? I’ll be more than happy to take things to the next level.

  I slip the shorts over her legs. “You were not wearing underwear like that when you were running last night.”

  “Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. For someone who isn’t dating me you’ve sure seen me naked a lot.”

  I yank the shorts up as far as I can, then Jade stands up and yanks them the rest of the way on.

  “There. That’s better,” I say as I see my shorts on her. They’re so big they go past her knees. And the fleece is so thick it’ll be a good barrier between her ass and the front of my pants.

  This is the first time I’ve ever put clothes on a girl instead of taking them off. But I can’t sleep next to a half-naked Jade. She’s too fucking hot and I want to be with her so damn bad. But I’ll never pressure her into that, not even if she’s my girlfriend. If sex is in our future, which I hope it is, I want Jade to decide when we do it. And since I’m almost positive she’s a virgin, I’m sure sex is a long ways off. Which is why I need to keep that hot body of hers covered up.

  We’re in bed now and I’m lying on my back with Jade nestled against my chest.

  “You know,” she says, “I wouldn’t care if you tried some stuff.”

  I kiss her forehead. “I know. But that will lead to other stuff. And I want us to start dating first, like a real couple.”

  “Then let’s go out on this date you keep talking about.”

  “Okay, next Saturday night we’ll go on real date. As in go out, not sit in my room.”

  “Saturday? But that’s so far away.”

  “Are you in a hurry or something?”

  “Um, no. I guess not.”

  She’s lying. From her comment just now, it’s clear she wants us to hurry up and start dating. I didn’t think she would. I thought she’d tell me she wasn’t ready to, or try to convince me to become friends who make out instead of something more serious. But I guess she’s been hiding her feelings because she seems to really want to move this relationship forward, which is good. It’s exactly what I want, too.

  “So I think it’s time to make another tradition,” I tell her.

  She lifts her head up to look at me. “Like what?”

  “I think we should have one of these sleepovers every Saturday night.”

  “Hmm.” I catch her smiling as she lays her head back on my shoulder. “But we already have a tradition for Sunday morning.”

  “Yeah? So?”

  “I’m just saying if we did this, we’d have two traditions in a row, really close together.”

  “We could add another one during the week if you feel the need to even things out a little.”

  “Yeah, I guess we could do that.” Her tone is light. Happy. She likes the idea of traditions. And even better, she likes the idea of doing those traditions with me.

  “Then it’s settled. Saturday night sleepovers are our second tradition. You figure out the midweek one since I made the other two.”

  She laughs. “Okay. I can do that.”

  We both turn on our sides and Jade scoots back against my chest.

  “Goodnight, Jade.” I brush her hair aside and kiss the back of her neck. Then I draw her a
little closer, my arm around her middle.

  Damn, I love this girl. I don’t know how it happened, or when, or why. But it did. And now I want her next to me, every night, just like we are now.

  What the hell have I gotten myself into? I never wanted a girlfriend. I never wanted a wife.

  And now? I want both.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  In the morning I wake up to someone knocking on my door.

  “Garret. Open the door! Right now!”

  “Shit!” I bolt up, shoving the covers back and racing out of the bed. “It’s my dad.”

  “Your dad?” Jade whispers. “What is he doing here? What time is it?”

  I glance at the clock on my way to the closet. “It’s 8. I don’t know why he’s here. Maybe there’s some kind of family emergency.” I rip my pajama pants off and grab my jeans, putting them on as fast as possible.

  “What do you want me to do?” Jade gets out of the bed.

  I toss her jeans to her. “Put these on. We’ll tell him we were heading out for breakfast.”

  “Garret, are you in there?” My dad is now yelling and knocking and probably waking up the whole damn floor.

  “Yeah. Just a minute.”

  I wait for Jade to put her jeans on, then I open the door, keeping it mostly closed.

  “Dad, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

  He forces the door open and storms into my room. He already looked pissed, but when he sees Jade, he looks even more pissed. “What is she doing here?”

  “We were going to breakfast.” I say it casually, trying to sound believable.

  “At this hour? You seriously think I’d believe you two got up this early on a Sunday to eat breakfast?”

  “It’s not that early, Dad. Now why are you here?”

  He goes over to Jade. He’s even taller than me and he towers over her. “Jade, my son and I need to talk. You need to leave.”

  Jade looks at me and I can see she’s worried, panicked, and a little scared. I feel the same way but I try to convince her this is no big deal.

  “I’ll be right down, okay?” I smile at her.

  My dad keeps his focus on Jade. “Don’t wait for him, Jade. He’s not going down to your room. He’s not having breakfast with you. He’s not doing anything with you anymore. This thing you have going with him is over.”