Page 147 of Promising You

“Sometimes. But it’s not just me. A lot of people live that way.” I pull him back down on the bed and kiss him. “So what are we getting? Pepperoni?”

“What?” He’s in a daze.

“The pizza. Are we getting pepperoni?” I laugh. “Are you still asleep or something?”

“No. I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“I didn’t realize how bad things were for you growing up. I mean, I know living with your mom was bad, but I didn’t think about things like not having food.”

“It doesn’t matter. It was a long time ago.”

As I start to make the bed, he stops me. “Jade, you’ll never go without anything ever again. I promise.”

I kiss him again, then push on him to get up. “Well, you already broke your promise because I’m going without pizza and I’m starving.”

“I’m calling right now.” He gets his phone out to call in the order. “Shit! How did this get out so fast?” He’s swiping through messages on his phone.

“What are you talking about?”

“My phone number. My email. I just changed all that and now I have over 800 new text messages and almost 300 emails.”

“More naked pictures?”

He swipes the screen. “Yep.” He stops and looks.

I grab the phone. “Garret! You’re supposed to delete those, not look at them.”

“I’m a guy. Of course I’m going to look.ThenI’ll delete them.” He gets his wallet from the desk as I flip through some of the emails.

“You got another marriage proposal. Actually you’ve got one, two—at least five marriage proposals. And lots of girls asking you to take them to prom. You probably have 100 of those.”

“Come on, let’s just order the food. I’ll delete those later.”

When the pizza guy arrives, Garret meets him outside, then comes back shaking his head. “The delivery guy asked for my autograph. Can you believe that?”

“So now you have male fans, too?”

“The autograph was for his little sister. Apparently, she has pictures of me all over her bedroom wall.” He sets the pizza on his desk and gets some sodas from the fridge.

“Did you give him the autograph?”

“No. If I did, his sister would tell her friends and then they’d start following me around town asking for one.”

I don’t mention it to Garret, but I’m starting to get a little worried about his fans. A few preteen girls is one thing, but some of the girls who emailed him sounded more like stalkers than fans.

This reality show can’t get over fast enough. Only three more weeks and everything will go back to normal.

* * *

Later that nightI consider Carson’s offer to drive me home and decide to accept it. I know Garret won’t like it but I don’t always like his decisions either.

Wednesday morning I call Frank and tell him about my change in plans. He insists that Ryan drive to Carson’s house in Illinois to pick me up instead of making Carson drive another four hours, and I agree.

I call Carson and tell him the plan. He’s really excited. Almost too excited, which makes me think Garret’s right and Carson wants to be more than just friends, which could make this an awkward trip. But Carson knows I’m committed to Garret and I’ll remind him of that if necessary.

At dinner I tell Garret the news. “So I’ve decided to let Carson give me a ride home.”

---