Page 33 of Choosing You

Garret shoves Blake’s arm off his shoulder, then grabs hold of it and twists it back. “What did you just call her?”

Blake yanks his arm away from Garret and rubs his shoulder. “What the fuck did you do that for?”

“You’ll never call her that again. Understand?”

A disgusting grin crosses Blake’s face. “So you’re sleeping with his girl? That’s why you’re never around?”

I can feel the tension in the room as Garret’s temper rises. “I’m seriously gonna hurt you if you don’t get the fuck out of here.”

“Fine. I’m going.” Blake stumbles into the hallway. “I should go anyway. I’ve got some tequila waiting for me at home.”

“Is he driving?” I whisper to Garret. “He can’t drive like that.”

Garret sighs. “I’ll go drop him off and be right back, okay?”

“I’ll go with you.” I grab my purse and follow him out into the hall.

“We’re taking you home, Blake,” Garret says.

“I can drive.” He yawns. “I’m just tired.”

“You had too much to drink. You’re not driving.” Garret and I walk past him.

“I need my car to get to orientation tomorrow.”

“Then Jade will drive it and I’ll take you in my car. Give her the keys.”

“Shit, no! I’m not letting Ohio drive my car. There’s no fucking way. No girl drives my car.”

Garret gets up in his face. “Then givemeyour keys and she’ll drivemycar. Now let’s go.”

“You’re really pissing me off.” Blake reaches in his pocket and gives Garret the keys. “Ohio better be worth it.”

We walk down the hall and outside to the parking lot. Garret tosses me his car keys. I stare at the keys like I’m not sure what to do with them. I’ve never driven a BMW. I’m almost too scared to drive it. What if I wreck it?

“Just follow me, Jade,” Garret says. He’s standing next to a red Porsche. Blake is already inside. “His place is just a few minutes from here.”

I get in Garret’s car and adjust the seat. Then I search for the lights and put on my seatbelt. I can’t believe he’s letting me drive his BMW. He barely knows me. This car is worth more than the house I grew up in.

The Porsche starts driving off so I hurry up and follow it. We go down the main road then turn off onto a dark narrow side road lined with trees. It’s so dark that I need the brighter headlights, but I can’t figure out how to turn them on.

We come to a stop at a gated entrance and Garret says something to the guard. When I get to the gate, the guard waves me through. Garret parks in front of a two-story condo. I was imagining a tall building filled with tiny, crappy apartments. But rich boy, Blake, wouldn’t live in a place like that.

Garret gets out of the Porsche and slams the door shut, tossing the keys to Blake. Drunk boy can’t catch and searches the ground for his keys.

I get out of Garret’s car and get back in on the passenger’s side.

Blake stands up again, shoving his keys in his pocket. “Wait ’til your dad hears about this,” he says to Garret. “You can kiss that trust fund goodbye.”

Garret ignores him and joins me in the car. He backs up, then speeds off, stopping abruptly to wait for the gate to open.

“Is something wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” he snaps.

“You seem really mad. We can just go back to the dorm if you want. We can skip dinner.”

“We’re not skipping dinner. Blake just pisses me off. I’ll be fine in a minute or two.”

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