Page 76 of Promising You
“Garret, you’re like a movie cliché. The quarterback who wins homecoming king and is also rich and super hot. I’m dating a teen movie cliché.”
It makes us both laugh.
“I never thought about it that way. I played football because I liked it, not to be popular or get girls. And I wasn’t trying to be homecoming king.” He gets serious again and reaches over for my hand. “Jade, did Blake do anything to you tonight? Did he say anything?”
“Not really. He put his hand on my shoulder. That’s about it.”
“He never should’ve touched you. We had a deal. He’s not allowed to come near you.”
“Well, you knew he wouldn’t listen.”
“So are you okay?”
I shift in my seat and gaze out the side window at the dark woods that line the parking lot. “I guess.”
“Jade. Are you okay?” He asks again, more forcefully this time.
I turn back to him and shake my head no. A tear runs down my face as I think about Blake and what he did to me that night. Dammit! I will not let that bastard make me cry. He’s not worth it.
Garret places his hand on the side of my face. “Talk to me, Jade.”
I take a deep breath, trying to get control over my watery eyes and shaky voice. “I could smell him. And then I heard him. And that’s all it took. It was like I was back in my room, reliving the whole thing all over again. I could feel him on top of me. I could feel the weight of him pushing me down. And I couldn’t move. I tried. I did everything Ryan taught me, but I couldn’t get Blake off me.”
Now I’m full blown crying, which doesn’t make sense. I’m angry, not sad. So why the hell am I crying?
Garret gets out of the car and comes around to open my door. “Back seat.”
We both sit in the back, just like we did at the hospital when I broke down after seeing Frank in the ICU. Garret holds me against him and my body finally starts to relax.
“I’m fine.” I wipe the tears from my face. “We don’t need to do this.”
“You’ve never talked about it. You haven’t said a word about it since you talked to my lawyers. And even then, you described it like it happened to someone else.”
“It doesn’t matter now. I’m over it.”
“If that were true you wouldn’t have felt that way when he approached you tonight. And you wouldn’t be reacting like you are now.”
He’s right. I’m not over it. I still have nightmares about it. I just don’t want to admit it. If I do, people will think I’m weak. And I’ll be giving Blake too much power.
Garret holds me closer and threads his hand with mine. “Jade. Just talk to me.”
There’s something about this moment, just the two of us sitting in the back seat of the car, that makes me want to tell Garret everything. So I do. I tell him how scared I was that night. How helpless I felt. How I felt like it was somehow my fault. And how I keep reliving the whole thing, thinking I could have done something different.
“Jade, you should’ve told me this sooner. Why were you keeping all this to yourself?”
“Because I don’t like feeling shit. And I especially don’t liketalkingabout feeling shit. And now you’ve got me doing both, you big idiot.”
The way I say it makes him laugh which makes me laugh. “Sometimes you’re really funny when you’re yelling at me.”
“I wasn’t yelling. I’m just annoyed that you’ve turned me into this crying, feeling, hugging mess.”
“I’m sorry.” He lifts my head off his chest. “Forgive me?”
“I guess. I do feel better finally saying all that.”
“So don’t keep stuff to yourself anymore. If I made you this way, the least I can do is always be here to listen. And give you one of those hugs I taught you.” His arms tighten around me.
“Can we go home now? It’s starting to get cold in here.”
