Page 74 of Promising You
“What? You’re not happy to see me?” Blake yells out, his voice rich with sarcasm. “I thought we were friends.”
Blake and Garret are now face to face. This is not good. It’s really, really not good. Garret ended up in jail last time he fought with Blake. He got out thanks to blackmail and backroom deals, but if he beats Blake up again Garret will serve time. Blake’s dad will make sure of it. He’s attorney general for the state of Connecticut and I’m sure by now he’s figured out a way to avoid being blackmailed again.
“Come on, Garret. So I slept with Ohio. The bitch asked for it.”
Shit! That’s the absolute worst thing Blake could’ve said. One, it’s a complete lie. Two, he’s implying I’m a slut. Three, he called me Ohio, which Garret knows I hate. And four, he called me a bitch, which makes Garret even more enraged than it makes me. He’s told Blake repeatedly to never call me that again.
Blake isn’t as dumb as he looks. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
“Garret, stop!” I yell it as I watch him take a swing at Blake who steps back to avoid being hit.
Decker suddenly appears, putting his short, stocky body between Blake and Garret, his arms stretched out on each side. “You know you can’t do this, Garret. Just stop before you do something you’ll regret.”
Blake shoves Decker aside like he’s swatting a fly. “Get the fuck out of the way, Dek!”
Garret’s fist goes up again. Then out of nowhere, Carson appears behind Garret, grabbing hold of his arms as two other guys work to hold back Blake.
I move in front of Garret and talk directly into his ear. “Just calm down. Don’t do this. You’ll go to jail. You won’t get out this time. Please don’t do that to me. To us.”
Garret relaxes his arms, then yanks them from Carson, his eyes still locked on Blake. He grabs my hand and heads toward the door, his shoulder colliding with Carson’s as we leave.
I hear Blake laughing above the music. The crowd noise returns to a low roar.
When we get to the car, Garret opens my door and slams it shut. Then he gets in the driver’s side, slamming that door shut. He says nothing, his jaw clenched, his breathing heavy.
There’s a tapping sound on my window and I look out to see Carson standing there. The car’s not turned on, so I can’t get the window down.
I crack open the door and Carson takes hold of it, opening it more as he leans down to talk to me. “Are you okay? Do you need a ride?”
“No, she doesn’t need a fucking ride,” Garret says. He’s now gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles are white.
Carson pokes his head into the car. “Hey, man. You seem a little out of control. I’m just trying to make sure Jade is safe.”
Garret glares at him. “Are you serious? You think she’s not safe with me? You don’t even know me. AlI I do is worry about her safety.”
“I’m fine, Carson,” I reassure him. “You can go back inside.”
He doesn’t. He just continues to stand there.
I turn back toward Garret, who’s shaking his head side to side. He notices me watching him and looks at me. “You’re not even gonna explain what happened? You just want this guy accusing me of being some psychopath? Like I get in fights every day?”
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just go.”
Carson opens my door even farther. “I don’t think you should ride with him.”
Garret jumps out of the car, slamming the door again. He storms over to Carson, getting up in his face. “Maybe you should get your fucking facts straight before you go accusing me of shit.” He points to the house. “A few weeks ago, that guy in there almost raped my girlfriend. Did you hear me asshole? He almost raped her. And just now, he had his hands all over her again. How the fuck is a guy supposed to react to that? Just stand there and do nothing?”
Carson backs away. “Um, yeah, man. I get it. I didn’t know.”
I’m so embarrassed. The attempted rape is not something I want people to know about, especially my chem lab partner. Now every encounter I have with Carson is going to be awkward. He’ll always be thinking about this. About me. With Blake.
“You can leave now.” Garret goes back around the car to the driver’s side. He gets in and starts the engine. Carson stands there, still looking concerned for my safety. I close the door and we drive off.
“I fucking hate that guy,” Garret says as he turns onto the main road.
“I hate Blake, too, but you can’t beat him up again.”
“I wasn’t talking about Blake.”
