Page 182 of Choosing You

“I just need a minute to de-stress. That last one sucked. I hate finals.”

“But they’re over! We’re done. Now we have almost four weeks of no studying. No homework. No tests.”

“No Jade.” He holds both my hands and gives me his sad face.

“I know, but we’ll talk on the phone all the time.”

“Why won’t you let me come to Iowa and see you over break?”

“Because it’s too weird with Frank and Ryan there. And there’s no room at Frank’s house for you to stay.”

“I’ll stay at a hotel.”

“Yeah, great. And then they’ll think we’re doing it whenever I’m there to see you.”

“I think they know we’re doing it. We’ve been going out for months.”

“Then it would be even more weird for you to be there. I try to keep the two of them out of my love life.”

“Four weeks is too long to go without seeing you. And what am I going to do on New Year’s Eve? Can’t you come back after Christmas?”

“I have to work around Ryan’s schedule. You know that.”

“Jade, I can’t go four weeks without kissing you. It’s not possible.”

“Oh really?” I lean down again, hovering over his face.

“Yes. In fact, I’m almost certain it’s bad for my health.” He gives me a serious look. “Aren’t you concerned about my health, Jade?”

“I am, but I think you’ll be okay.”

“Trust me. I won’t be.” He pulls me down to his soft, perfect lips and kisses me. He’s right. Four weeks is way too long. I don’t how I’ll survive without his kisses.

I sit up again. “Ryan’s not picking me up until Saturday, so we have two whole days together before I leave. We’ll just have to get a lot of kissing in before then.” I smile as I run my hand under his shirt. “Along with some other activities. But we can do that later. Let’s go out and do something. You want to go see a movie?”

Before he can answer, the phone rings. It’s my room phone, which hasn’t rung since I gave Frank and Ryan my cell phone number.

Garret and I look at each other. We’re both thinking the same thing. But it doesn’t make sense. The threatening phone calls ended after the break-in. I get a sick feeling in my stomach as it continues to ring.

CHAPTERFORTY-EIGHT

Garret liftsme off him and gets up to answer it. I run to the phone before he can reach it.

“Hello?” My heart’s beating out of my chest.

“Jade. It’s Ryan.”

“Why did you call this number? I told you to call the cell.” I don’t mean to scold him, but having this phone ring has me on edge.

“I couldn’t remember the cell number. I can’t find where Dad wrote it down.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, I was just going out. Can I call you back?”

“No. We need to talk. I can’t come out there and get you on Saturday.”

I sit down at my desk. “Why? Did your car break down?”

“No.” He’s quiet for a moment. “Dad’s in the hospital again. It’s pretty bad, Jade.”

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