Page 97 of Choosing You

“Then it’s settled. Saturday night sleepovers are our second tradition. You figure out the midweek one since I made the other two.”

The way he says it makes me laugh. “Okay. I can do that.”

I turn over on my side and he does the same, my back against his front.

“Goodnight, Jade.” He moves my hair aside and kisses the nape of my neck, sending a tingle through my body. It makes me want to flip around and have my way with him, but I don’t. I’m sure he did it to get back at me for my underwear trick.

He pulls me closer to his chest and tucks his arm around me. It makes me feel warm and safe and happy. I’ve never felt so at peace.

Being with Garret all day, I haven’t even thought about my mom’s letter or my argument with Frank. He took all of the bad stuff away, at least for a little while.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

We wakethe next morning to loud knocking on the door. “Garret. Open the door! Right now!”

“Shit!” Garret quickly gets out of bed. “It’s my dad.”

“Your dad?” I whisper. “What is he doing here? What time is it?”

He checks the clock. “It’s 8. I don’t know why he’s here. Maybe there’s some kind of family emergency.” He takes his pajama pants off and puts on a pair of jeans.

“What do you want me to do?” I hurry out of the bed.

He tosses me my jeans. “Put these on. We’ll tell him we were heading out for breakfast.”

“Garret, are you in there?” his dad yells as the knocking continues.

“Yeah. Just a minute.”

I take his shorts off and pull my jeans on, then try to brush my hair with my fingers.

Garret opens the door just a crack. “Dad, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Mr. Kensington shoves the door open and storms into the room, stopping when he sees me. “What is she doing here?” he asks Garret.

“We were going to breakfast.”

“At this hour? You seriously think I’d believe you two got up this early on a Sunday to eat breakfast?”

“It’s not that early, Dad. Now why are you here?”

Mr. Kensington comes over to me. “Jade, my son and I need to talk. You need to leave.”

I glance at Garret.

“I’ll be right down, okay?” He says it, but he doesn’t sound confident.

“Don’t wait for him, Jade,” Mr. Kensington says. “He’s not going down to your room. He’s not having breakfast with you. He’s not doing anything with you anymore. This thing you have going with him is over.”

“No, it’s not.” Garret tries to keep his tone positive. “Just ignore him, Jade.”

I look at him, not sure what to do.

“Just go. I’ll be down later,” he assures me. But I don’t believe him.

I slowly walk out the door and down the hall. Garret’s door slams and I can hear Mr. Kensington yelling. “What did I tell you about that girl? From now on you’re seeing Ava and only Ava. You understand me?”

When I get back to my room, I collapse on my bed, trying to figure out what just happened. Who talked to Garret’s father? Blake? Ava? Those guys who came by Garret’s room last night? Why are all these people so obsessed with keeping Garret and me apart? Can’t they mind their own business? Why do they keep interfering?

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