Page 146 of Choosing You

I smile back. “I know. You told me last night.”

He kisses me. “I’m going to tell you all the time now, so get used to it.”

Hearing those words is still foreign to me. It’ll take a long time to get used to it.

“I like your shirt. It’s really soft.” Garret gave me one of his t-shirts to sleep in. His t-shirts are way more expensive than mine, which explains why mine feel scratchy not buttery soft like his.

“You can have it if you want.”

“That’s okay. It looks better on you. I’ll just sleep in it when I come over.”

“Are you planning to stay over more now?“

“No. Once a week is plenty. Maybe twice. Even though I love you, I still need my space.” It doesn’t even sound right when I say those three words. It’s like it’s not me.

“I can’t believe you love me, Jade. All you do is make fun of me.”

I kiss his cheek. “I guess that’s how I express my love.”

“Then you’ve loved me since the first day you met me.”

I make a face. “No way. I found you totally annoying when we first met.”

He backs away like he’s insulted. “Hey, I helped you unload all your stuff. And then I invited you out. And took you to the grocery store. That’s not annoying.”

“I don’t like people following me around and bugging me all the time. Which is exactly what you were doing.”

“I was just trying to get to know you. I’d never met anyone like you and I had to see what you were all about.”

“So when did you know?” I blurt it out then quickly regret it.

“When did I know what?”

“That you, um . . . that you loved me.” I turn away. “On second thought, you don’t have to tell me. It’s none of my business.”

He nudges me. “Well, given that you’re the person I’m in love with, it kind ofisyour business.” He pauses. “When I told you about my mom. That’s when I knew I loved you.”

I turn back to face him. “Why? I didn’t do anything.”

“I never talked about that with anyone. Well, except for my counselor. I didn’t even talk to my dad about it. But I was able to talk to you about it. And you listened. You really listened. You didn’t just pretend to listen. And then you gave me that hug, even though you didn’t like hugging, at least not then.”

I think back to that night when he told me how his mom died. As I listened to him I felt the huge loss that still lived inside his heart. I felt it like it was my own. Somehow he must have sensed that.

“When did you know, Jade?”

“Ididn’tknow. Well, not until you explained it to me last night. I had all these feelings for you but I wasn’t sure what they meant. So I guess, looking back, it was when I told you aboutmymom. How she gets in my head sometimes. I swore I’d never tell anyone that, but then I told you. And I wasn’t even nervous about it. I wanted to tell you. And that’s not at all like me, Garret. I don’t tell people stuff.”

He smiles. “Yeah, I know.”

We’re both quiet for a moment. Then Garret nudges my arm to get my attention again. “Actually the mom thing was just part of it. Ever since I met you you’ve been doing things to make me fall in love with you. Did you plan that or something?”

“I didn’t do anything,” I insist.

“Yeah. Whatever.” He pretends to be annoyed.

“What exactly did I do?”

“Let’s see. The way you got so excited about those cheap-ass lights I put on your ceiling. And that concession stand I made for you. You couldn’t stop thanking me for that. It was just some candy and potato chips. And then the pancakes at Al’s. And the snow.”

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