Page 114 of Choosing You

“We’re going bowling.”

Lettuce almost shoots from her mouth as she laughs. “Garret Kensington is going bowling? Are you kidding me? Has he ever been to a bowling alley? Does he even know how to bowl?”

“No, but I can teach him. It’s not that hard.”

“And he agreed to wear those shoes?” She’s still laughing.

“Yes.” Now I’m laughing, too. Imagining Garret at a bowling alley wearing those checkered shoes is pretty funny. “If you see him, don’t make fun of him. I don’t want him to back out and not go. He’s only going because I suggested it.”

“Knowing how stuffy and snobby his parents are, it’s just funny to think of their son being at a bowling alley. I hope they don’t find out. They’d totally die of embarrassment.”

“It’s just bowling. What’s the big deal?”

“Bowling is beneath them, Jade. They only do things like play golf or tennis or croquet. Rich people sports.”

“Your family’s rich. Did you guys ever go bowling?”

“Sure. We used to bowl all the time. But I told you, West Coast rich people are different. We actually have fun.” Harper’s phone rings and she looks to see who it is. “It’s my mom. I have to talk to her. She’ll be out the rest of the day and I’ve got to tell her about Sean.” She gets up from the table. “I’ll see you later.”

“Hi, Mom.” Harper takes her tray in one hand while holding her phone with the other. “So I met this guy last night. He’s a chef. How awesome is that?”

I watch her walk away. Her family is so different than Garret’s. And yet her parents are super rich, just like his.

I didn’t tell Harper, but a few months ago, I did some research on her family and her dad is really well known. He’s worked on all these blockbuster movies. Her parents are even on those richest people in America lists. But unlike Garret’s parents, they’re not telling her who to date or who to be friends with. And now she’s telling her mom about this guy she likes who isn’t even in college. Her mom’s probably excited about it. Maybe Garret’s family needs to move to California to loosen up.

After lunch, I work on my paper some more until Garret arrives. I just saw him a few hours ago and yet I get butterflies in my stomach when he appears at my door. What the hell is wrong with me?

“Ready to swim?” he asks.

“I’m not swimming. I’m bringing a book. I’m just going to read.”

“You said you were swimming. You’re backing out now?”

“I said Imightswim. It wasn’t definite.”

“When’s the last time you went running?”

“I don’t know. Probably a week ago. The weather’s been crap. I haven’t been able to get out.”

“Then you need a workout. You need to get in the pool and do some laps.”

Itistrue. I feel the need to burn off some stress. Usually I do that by running, but since I haven’t been able to run, the stress has been building up. “Okay, but I’m not swimming the whole time. Let me grab some stuff.” I throw some books in a bag and get my coat.

Warm humid air greets us as soon as we walk into the pool area. It feels good after being outside in the cold wind and rain. We go in the locker rooms to change. As I put my swimsuit on I start to get nervous. Last time I was here I broke down. I completely lost it. But there’s no reason for that to happen now. So much has changed since the last time Garret and I swam together. We’re closer now and he knows my past.

Garret’s already swimming laps when I get to the pool. Last time I took forever to get in the water and Garret made fun of me for it. So this time I jump in, holding in my scream as the cold water shocks my system.

“Going all in today, huh?” He swims over to me.

“The slow approach wasn’t working for me. So are we racing or what?”

“We don’t have to race. Just do what you want.”

“I want to race. It’s not fun if you’re not competing.”

He smiles. “All right. If you really want to. Do you want to warm up first?”

“Yeah, okay.”

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