Page 64 of Promising You
“Can I get your phone number?” Carson calls after me as I’m leaving.
My phone number? He just met my boyfriend. Why is he asking for my phone number?
I turn back and see him holding his phone. “We should exchange numbers in case one of us has to miss lab or needs help with the homework.”
I give him my number, then race off to European history, my next and last class of the day. Afterward I go back to my dorm and collapse on my bed, wondering how to handle the Garret situation. It’s 4 and Garret should be back from class by now. He hasn’t texted or called me since I saw him last. I decide to go up to his room and talk to him.
It takes him forever to answer the door. He finally does, but he’s on the phone. He motions me to come inside.
“Yeah, Thursday at 3. Got it.” He hangs up. “Physical therapy appointment,” he says, dropping the phone on his desk.
“Garret, you don’t have to explain every phone call you get. I’m over the thing with Sadie. I’m not monitoring your calls. And you don’t have to report back to me every time you talk to someone.”
“Are you sure you’re not saying that for your own benefit?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Seems like you didn’t want to tell me about that guy you met today.”
“Carson? I just met him this morning. If you hadn’t stopped by earlier I would’ve told you about him now or at dinner tonight.”
“So whose idea was it to have lunch? Yours or his?”
“His. He wanted to ask me stuff about Moorhurst. That’s it.” I go up and give Garret a hug, but he doesn’t hug me back. Not a good sign. I pull away. “Why are you mad at me? I just had lunch with the guy.”
“I wouldn’t be mad if you’d told him you had a boyfriend. But according to Carson, you didn’t even mention it. Why is that, Jade? Did it just slip your mind?”
“It wasn’t relevant to the conversation. We talked about school, not our relationships. I didn’t talk about you and he didn’t talk about his girlfriend.”
“Because he doesn’t have a girlfriend. If he did, he wouldn’t be trying to date mine.”
“He’s not trying to date me.”
Garret shakes his head. “A guy doesn’t ask you to lunch and then follow you back to your room if he’s not interested in dating you.”
“It’s not like that. He’s just looking for a friend. And I could use more friends.”
“That guy isnotgoing to be your friend.”
His forceful tone pisses me off. “You can’t tell me who to be friends with. I’ll be friends with him if I want.”
“Really? Because if that’s how this works, then I’ll go back to being friends with Sadie. How would you feel about that, Jade?”
“Yeah, like that’s comparable. Sadie made it clear she wants to date you. Carson has shown no interest in dating me. Besides, the girls on my floor couldn’t take their eyes off him. If he doesn’t already have a girlfriend, I’m sure he’ll have one by the end of the week. I’m telling you, he only sees me as a friend. And we have a lot in common, so I’d like to be friends with him. I’d like the three of us to be friends.”
“I don’t think that’ll be happening.” Garret crosses his arms over his chest. “What exactly do you have in common with this guy anyway?”
“Well, he’s from the Midwest, which you already know. And he likes to run. He does 10-mile runs like me. He was asking me about the trails around here and wanted to know if I’d go on a—” I stop.
“On a what? On a run? He invited you to go running with him?” Garret rolls his eyes and laughs to himself.
“What? It’s just a run.”
“You’re considering this? You’re kidding me, right?”
“You know I don’t feel safe running on the trails by myself and you’ll never run that far with me. So now I’ll have a running partner.”
“Jade. He’s asking you out. The running thing? It’s a date.”
