Page 96 of Finding Us

I shake my head. “Would you guys stop? I meant that I’m taking care of his back. That’s all.”

Harper laughs. “Okay, well, I don’t mean to interrupt but I just wanted to let you know that Frank called and said he’ll be over with Ryan around 1:30. And Pearce said he’d be over around 1 with Lilly and Grace. Sean’s making everyone lunch so if you guys want to stay there longer, Sean and I will take care of keeping people fed and entertained.”

“No, we’ll be over there. What time is it now?”

“It’s 11:30.”

“Okay, we’ll back soon.”

“No need to rush.” She giggles. “I think Garret really wants to try out this nurse thing.”

“Goodbye, Harper.” I feel my face heating up.

Garret tosses his phone aside and turns to me, laughing when he sees my red cheeks. “Jade, seriously? Why are you blushing? We’re married now. Everyone knows we’re having sex. You don’t have to be embarrassed about it anymore.”

“I don’t want people talking about it. Or thinking about it.” I cover my face with my hands. “Crap! Everyone’s going to know what we did last night. They’re going to be thinking about it when they see us. I can’t have Frank and Ryan thinking about that!”

He pulls my hands back. “I’m sure if that thought even enters their heads they’ll get rid of it as fast as possible.”

“How do you know?”

“Have you ever thought about Ryan having sex with Chloe?”

“No!” I shudder. “As far as I know they’re not even doing it.”

Garret laughs. “They’ve dated for a year.”

“Yeah, okay, so maybe they are, but I don’t want to think about it.”

“And Ryan doesn’t want to think aboutusdoing it. So I’m telling you, Jade, nobody is thinking about that.”

“I guess. Do you ever think about people you know having sex? Like your dad and Katherine?”

“Are you trying to make me vomit here?”

I laugh. “No. I just wondered.”

“Obviously, they’ve had sex or Lilly wouldn’t be here, but I’m sure they’re not doing it now. And if they are, I don’t want to know. We need to talk about something else.”

“Okay,” I say, still laughing. “Should we head back? I want to clean up before everyone starts arriving. What should we do with all this stuff?”

“I’ll pack up everything except the coolers and the tent. Sean and I will come back later for those. You can go ahead and walk home. Or do you want me to walk with you?”

“You’re going to carry all this stuff back?”

“No, the car’s here. Harper and Sean brought it over when she brought us breakfast.”

“Then I’ll help you pack up.”

“You don’t need to. It won’t take me long.”

“Don’t be crazy. I’m helping.” I pick up a blanket and start folding it. As I’m doing so, a flashback pops in my head of me doing this exact same thing back in May in the tent in Connecticut. Folding up blankets and sleeping bags before I had to say goodbye to Garret.

“Jade?” Garret’s staring at me, his face full of concern.

I look down and see that the blanket I was folding is now in a heap on the ground. “Maybe you could fold the blankets and sleeping bags. I’ll pack up the other stuff.”

“Jade.” He holds my chin with his hand, his eyes on mine. “Don’t think about that anymore, okay? I’m here now. I’m not going anywhere. We’re married and we’ve got our whole future ahead of us.”

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