Page 50 of Choosing You

As I head for the door, Garret steps in front of me. He reaches around me and pulls me into a hug. I stand there with my arms stiffly at my sides.

He’s laughing. “Jade, you’re doing the exact same thing you did after the pool that night. Don’t you know how to do this?”

“Do what?”

“Give a person a hug.”

“I’m not much of a hugger.”

“Well, you need one, so don’t just stand there. Put your damn arms around me.”

I wrap my arms loosely around him.

“What the hell? Tighten your arms. I’m not going to break.”

I bring my arms closer to his body.

“That’s better.”

After a few seconds, I start to pull away. Garret tightens his hold.

“Nope. You’re not done yet. You need more time.”

“What? No. I’m done.”

“You don’t like this?”

“I like it, but I’m done.” I’d have no problems being this close to him if we were making out, but this hug thing is totally different. It’s too intimate.

“You need at least a minute.”

“How do you know what I need?”

“I can tell. You were all tensed up before. You’re starting to get less tense, but you’re not relaxed yet so we’re staying here until you are.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Whatever, but I’m not letting go until you relax.”

I sigh and resume the hug. My mother was not a hugger. Frank and Ryan aren’t huggers either. Ryan’s farewell hug when he dropped me off here was only the second hug he ever gave me, the first one being at my graduation. I am not at all good at this.

“Are we done now?”

“Yes, we’re done.” He lets go. “See? You’re way more relaxed now. Although I’ve never had to work so hard to get a girl to hug me.”

I notice some candy wrappers and a couple empty soda bottles lying around and go to pick them up. “Why did you get back so early?”

“I was up at 7 so I left. Normally after one of those events I’m out until noon, but not today.” He catches my arm as I drop a candy wrapper in the trash. “I was up early because I wasn’t hung over. I didn’t drink last night, Jade. I didn’t drink the whole day.”

“You didn’t? Seriously?” I hug him again. I have no idea why. Maybe this hug thing is contagious.

“Oh, now you hug me?” He hugs me back. “Anyway Blake gave me shit for it. He was on my case the whole time trying to shove shots down my throat.”

“Really?” I let go of him.

“Not literally, but he was holding them up to my face all night. He was so pissed. That boy doesn’t like to drink alone.”

“Well, thanks for doing that. I know it seems stupid but it’s a big deal to me because of, you know, how I grew up.”

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