Page 192 of Promising You
“What did you say?”
“I know everything, Garret. I put the pieces together and figured out part of what was going on and your dad filled in the rest.”
“What do you mean when you say you know everything?”
“I know about the plan they have for you. I know about the organization. I know about your dad’s marriage to Katherine.”
“What about their marriage?”
“That it was arranged. He never wanted to marry her and now he can’t get divorced. Didn’t your dad tell you that?”
Garret shakes his head no. He’s not as drunk anymore, but he doesn’t look good. His eyes are red and puffy and he’s rubbing his head like he has a headache.
“Do you know about my mom?” he asks quietly.
“Yes. And I’m so sorry, Garret.” I reach over and hug him. At first he’s tense, but then he relaxes and hugs me back like it’s the last hug we’ll ever have.
“They killed her. They killed my mom. She’d be alive right now if they hadn’t—” He stops and it sounds like he’s softly crying behind my shoulder. I’ve never seen him cry and even if it’s a hungover, still-partially-drunk cry, it breaks my heart and fills me with overwhelming sadness. And because it’shissadness I feel, it hurts ten times more than if it were my own.
I used to be able to push away sadness and all the other painful emotions and bury them deep inside, but now I feel all of them. And I’m finally okay with that, because feeling them is part of living and I never would’ve realized that if it weren’t for the man who’s now holding on to me so tight I can barely breathe.
I want him to keep holding on but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes hold of my arms and pushes me back so we’re face to face. “I’ll never let them hurt you. I’ll do whatever they say. I’ll do anything . . . anything at all to make sure they leave you alone.”
“We’re not letting them do this, Garret.”
“You can’t stop them. At this meeting they had all these charts and graphs and all these projections. Every part of my life will be planned out. And you’re not in it, Jade. You’re not allowed to be. You have to leave. If they did that to my mom, they’ll do it to you, too.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m not leaving.”
He holds my face in his hands, forcing me to look at him. “You have to.”
I shove his hands away. “I’m not leaving so stop telling me to!” I swallow hard past the lump in my throat and take a deep breath, determined not to cry. “You’re one of the few people in the world I can stand being around. And even when you piss me off, I still want to be with you.” I don’t know why I’m joking at a time like this, but it makes Garret’s eyes soften just a tiny bit so I continue. “It’s true. You know how much I don’t like people. And I liked you from the first day we met.”
He takes my hand, holding it gently in his. “No, you didn’t. You said I annoyed you at first.”
“You annoyed me because you made me feel something. And I hate feeling shit. You know that.” I get serious again. “Garret, I know for a fact I’ll never find someone like you again. And I don’t want to. You’re it. You’re all I want. And I’m not letting you go.”
He holds my hand tighter. “Jade, you know I want that more than anything but—”
“Then we’re fighting this! We’re not just giving up.”
“You can’t fight these people.”
“Yes, we can! We just need to think. Go take a shower and wash all that alcohol off you and then we’ll talk.”
He lifts my hand up and kisses it because he knows I don’t want his alcohol-smelling mouth on my face. “I had this whole welcome home thing planned for you. I was going to fill your room with flowers, but then the meeting happened and well…”
“Go shower, Garret.” The lump in my throat keeps getting bigger as tears well up in my eyes. I need a minute to get myself together but he keeps talking.
“I ordered you more of those Belgian chocolates. They’re in my room at school if you want them.” His gorgeous blue eyes are so full of hurt and sadness I almost can’t look at them.
Dammit, he’s going to make me cry.
“I was going to take you out for a really nice dinner tonight. And I had this box made for you. It’s filled with stuff for California like sunglasses and flip flops and . . . maybe it was stupid, but I wanted to do it because you were so excited about living there, which made me excited and . . . anyway, it’ll be delivered on Monday, but I guess you won’t be here so—”
“Stop it! I’m not leaving on Monday! Just take your damn shower.”
He goes in the bathroom and I slide off the bed and onto the floor, hugging my knees and letting my tears finally fall. When I hear the shower shut off, I stand up, wipe off my face, and plaster on my best fake smile as he walks back in the room.
