Chapter 39 Trent
Ipicked a room while I waited. It ended up being in another wing because Kratos had taken the only other guest room near Jade. Not that I’m surprised. He’s been here more often than he’s been gone, but still.
When Zan and Jade finally get back, Hazel isn’t with them.
Apparently, she had them drop her off at the house, something about going out with Leo.
I’m not thrilled about that, but given the fact that she never goes out, I try to let it go.
Leo is at least someone we know, and he beats the hell out of half the other guys on campus.
At least he isn’t Jake.
I just don’t love the idea of my sister dating, something Jade seems to find great pleasure in teasing me about.
I steal her away to the theater room to watch something until dinner. She’s been doing enough studying lately that I think she might actually be getting the hang of everything, and with Rick’s request that she be here for dinner and overnight, there isn’t much we can do today.
“How about Harry Potter?” I ask her as I go through the list of movies while she tries to remember how to use the popcorn machine.
She glances at the screen for a second before she shakes her head. “No, I tried to watch that with Haze the other night and failed, but she made me promise to try it again with her later,” she says before she smacks her hand on the glass with a groan.
“Why is this thing not working?” She growls, and I can’t help but laugh. Popcorn machines are easy once you know how to use them, but before that, they seem like a lot, so I can understand her struggle.
“Here, let me get it. Why don’t you pick something?” I say, making my way toward her. I hold out the remote to her so we can trade. She looks annoyed but takes the remote before stomping off to have a seat, muttering about how dumb popcorn is the whole way.
She picks Spiderman. Apparently, Zan had her watch some hero movies with him over the last few weeks, and this was next. Can’t say I’m surprised. Zan has always been into it, Spencer too, though I’m not sure he still is.
The chairs down here are even better than the new recliners at the actual theater, and after the popcorn is done, I grab us each a water bottle and plop down in the spot next to Jade.
She smiles at me before she swipes the whole thing of popcorn.
I try to steal it back, but she leans over, pressing a kiss to my cheek before thanking me, and just like that, I don’t even care about the damn popcorn anymore.
At some point, I ended up with the popcorn, and Jade snuggled up to my side. We push the arm of the chair up and out of the way so she can lie on my chest, and I completely lose track of what’s happening on the screen.
Zan comes down to tell us dinner is ready, but when he sees what's playing, he throws himself down next to Jade, curling up around her. I almost push him off until I see her lips pull up in a smile, and I decide to let it go.
We have dinner, and everyone goes off on their own.
Jade says she’s going to shower and go to bed, but I can see the excitement in her eyes.
I told her I had a surprise for her tomorrow, but I wouldn’t tell her what, no matter how much she begged.
At first, I felt bad for keeping it from her, but now I’m happy I did.
Her excitement is contagious, and I find myself turning in for the night too.
I rinse my plate as Zander scoops Jade up in his arms and kisses all over her face while she laughs and pretends to try and get away.
When he finally releases her, she runs damn near straight into Kratos.
He doesn’t even hesitate to grab her face and kiss her.
She lets out a squeak of surprise but quickly melts into him.
He doesn’t seem to give a fuck that she was just kissing Zan.
When he releases his hold on her, she looks up at him, breathless and starry-eyed.
He chuckles before he wishes her a good night and heads back out to the living room and down the hall.
They moved everything they were working on somewhere else before she got home, so she wouldn’t get caught up in it.
I’m not sure where they decided to work, but I can only assume that's where he’s off to.
Jade finally seems to shake herself out of it before her eyes dart around the room, her cheeks turning pink in the most adorable blush. Spencer, Rick, and I all get caught watching her while Zander’s busy filling his plate with his third helping. How he eats so damn much is beyond me.
When her eyes connect with Rick's, she looks away quickly, biting her lower lip, but she makes no move to leave. It feels like we stand frozen for ages, unable to pull our eyes away from her before she finally moves in his direction.
Rick’s still seated at one of the stools, and she doesn't hesitate to throw her arm around his shoulders as she all but jumps on his back. His eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and he turns his head to look over his shoulder at her. She presses her lips to his once he’s turned toward her, and his eyebrows climb impossibly higher before he seems to shake off the shock and kiss her back.
He reaches back before turning until she falls in his lap without breaking their kiss.
I can’t look away, and I see Spencer looks just as entranced as I am from the corner of my eye.
Hell, Zander’s even pulled his attention from his food to watch.
I notice Spencer move to adjust himself from the corner of my eye. Spencer may say he hates her, but he’s always had a thing for watching. I don't care how he feels about her. With the way they're kissing, I doubt he could fight it. I’m having a hard time, and I’m not even usually into that shit.
When they break apart, they both have dopey grins, and Rick swats her ass as she pulls herself from his lap, wishing her a good night.
She shoots him a playful look.
“Night, Ricky boy,” she says in a teasing singsong voice, causing him to glare at her, but she just laughs and continues around the counter.
“Why doesn’t she get in trouble for calling you Ricky?” Zan whines.
“She does,” Rick says without looking at him, and Jade just sticks her tongue out at him.
I snort a laugh at their exchange, but I almost choke on it when Jade comes to a stop next to me, stretching up onto her tiptoes to kiss my cheek.
“See you in the morning,” she whispers, and I nod like an idiot, unable to muster a response because, apparently, that’s what I am.
“Night, asshole,” she shouts back over her shoulder as she heads out, and there's no question in my mind who she’s talking to.
“Happy nightmares, Demon,” Spencer calls back with his gaze fixed on his laptop that now sits in place of his plate. Zander and I exchange a look, but neither of us comments.
We don’t need to.
I woke up early to make preparations, checked in with Rick about Charlotte's arrival in a few hours, and spoke with my mom.
After everything was squared away, I went to find Jade. I expected her to be up, getting coffee, since she had insisted it was required to function, but when she wasn’t in the kitchen, I went to check her room.
“Come in,” Jade calls through the door when I knock. I push the door open without much thought, only to stop dead when I find her coming out of the bathroom, wrapped up in only a towel.
Shit.
“I can come back,” I tell her, turning my eyes to the floor with much more struggle than I’m proud to admit.
“It’s fine. I was just going to get dressed. I’ll be ready in a second,” she says, and before I can think of something to say or make my way back into the hall, I watch her towel fall to the ground.
Double shit.
I keep my eyes fixed on the towel as I hear her move around the room.
It doesn’t take long before I see her feet come into view again.
This time, she wears dark jeans and high boots that cover her legs.
Taking a deep breath, I attempt to get my shit together before I move my eyes back up her body, which this time is, thankfully, fully clothed.
“Are you okay?” Jade asks, tilting her head in concern as she looks up at me.
I give her a nod, but it’s stiff and not very convincing.
“Yeah, let's get going,” I say, my voice sounding just a little too husky, but she doesn't question it as I quickly head back out into the hall, and she follows me.
We stopped for coffee and donuts on the way to my house because Jade hadn’t had time to grab any, and like I said, she requires coffee. I bought the donuts because I knew she had a sweet tooth, and I couldn’t resist the chance to make her smile.
By the time we pull up, she’s finished eating and happily sipping her coffee. A minivan I don’t recognize sits in the driveway, and when we come to a stop, my suspicion of who it might be is confirmed when Charlotte comes flying out of the back sliding door.
I watch Jade as her face lights up. She’s out of the car so fast that I’m not sure how she isn’t wearing her coffee. Charlotte slams into her arms with enough force that they should've hit the ground, but somehow Jade keeps them upright even as she drops to her knees to hug her better.
I talk to her parents while they hug, and they head out for the day, happy to let Jade have some time with her. They seem great, and when they hug Jade goodbye, I know she thinks so too, or she never would have let them have Charlotte.
It doesn’t take a genius to see how important she is to her.
We spent the rest of the day out with the horses.
I show them how to feed and brush them before helping them get comfortable enough to ride around our smaller, fenced-in area, which Hazel and my mom use for training.
Charlotte’s just as excited as Jade said she would be, maybe even more so, but Jade seems more than a little nervous at first. My mom brings us lunch, and we eat at one of the picnic tables.
Charlotte damn near inhales her food in her excitement to get back out with the horses, and Jade spends her time taking care of her.
Ripping the crust off her sandwich, making sure she drinks her water, and reminding her to chew her food and slow down.
Watching them is a lot like watching siblings, and I can see why Jade is so determined to save the girls.
We spent the whole day with Charlotte, and when her parents came to get her, she's damn near dead on her feet. She had so much energy all day that I’m not even surprised she’s ready to crash.
She hugs Jade goodbye before she runs over to me, throwing her arms around my waist and catching me off guard.
I hug her back and remind her to be good, letting her know she can come back anytime, earning a smile from both her and Jade.
When her dad scoops her up into his arms to take her to their car, I’m pretty sure she’s out before they even get there.
“Thank you,” Jade says as we stand outside one of the smaller barns, waving goodbye as they pull out of the drive.
I look down at her, throwing my arm around her shoulder to pull her into my side.
“Anything you need, Sweetness,” I tell her, and while there's a note of teasing in my voice, it’s the truth.