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Chapter Six
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"You should paint me."
It's late one Tuesday afternoon, a week after the conversation about starting a relationship. Jade is sitting on the back patio, painting a still-life portrait of her view of Georgia's property. Beck is on the porch swing, keeping an eye on Tiger playing in the grass. It had taken the puppy five days to realize that his squeaky, bone-shaped toy was not, in fact, going to hurt him. After the fear subsided, he had taken an absolute fascination with it.
"Paint you?" Jade doesn't stop working even as she replies to him.
"Yeah. Just my face, or something. I think it would be fun."
She snorts. "You would not have fun. You'd have to sit still for over an hour; I don't even think you can do that."
"I can too!" Beck waits until she sets her paintbrush down momentarily to sneak up behind her. "Please?" He asks, as his arms wound themselves around her waist and he kisses the back of her neck. "Please, pretty please, Jade West, will you paint me?"
"Not fair," she protests (weakly, because his lips are still on her skin and she's getting chills).
"But you'll do it?" He smiles against her shoulder and she sighs.
"Mhmm." Jade turns to face him and plants a kiss on his lips. She puts both of her palms on his cheeks to pull him closer and, after another few seconds of making out, she pulls away. "What time did Georgia say she'd be back?"
"I don't remember. They just went to get coffee; it can't be that long, right? Unless, well, unless they go back to his—"
"Ew. Ew, Beck, stop. I cannot think about my grandmother on a date with my boss."
Beck laughs and kisses her again. "Then don't. Just think about us." She shuts up then, and wraps her legs around his torso so he can pick her up. He carries her back to the porch swing and she straddles his lap. Carefully, Beck slides his hands into the back pockets of her jean shorts and squeezes gently. His hands don't move for the next minute, prompting Jade to break the kiss.
"Beck," she breathes. "You can touch me. It's okay."
Beck nods his head, but he can't help replaying what he had seen happen to her with Jordan. The way she had frozen up like a dead person scared him, and he would be horrified if he were ever the cause of provoking that reaction from her. Cautiously, he takes her words for what they are and begins moving his hands around to her stomach. He slides them up, still over her shirt, and encloses his palms around her breasts.
He shudders lightly at the sheer feel of her figure. He's never been in this position with anyone, much less with a girl that makes his head spin, and it almost doesn't feel real. Jade, for her part, is thankful for how much more gentle Beck is as compared to Jordan. Only twice had she allowed her ex-boyfriend to feel her up, and both times were unpleasant experiences with squirming and alcohol involved.
Beck is rubbing, squeezing, massaging, and Jade feels a weird kind of heat aching at the bottom of her stomach. She tugs at his scalp, lacing her fingers further into his hair, and that's when she feels him hard against her thigh.
When she breaks for air, she notices that Beck is blushing. Each of them can feel the other's quickened heartbeat, and Beck is embarrassed at the vulnerable position he's put himself in.
But then Jade laughs, and it sends a wave of relief through him because this girl that he has come to like so much doesn't hate or judge him for the part of his body that he can't exactly control. "We can stop," she tells him, and the genuine look in her electric blue eyes assures him she means it.
"I don't want to," he clarifies, because he feel like he should, "but—"
"I know." Jade lets her hands slide out of his hair and down to rest on his shoulders. "If Georgia came back..."
"She'd kill us," Beck finishes for her. He pecks her lips again and slips his fingers between hers. "Besides, I was thinking maybe Tiger's ready for his first leashed walk. We could walk into town with him and get dinner, so that Georgia doesn't have to worry about making it when she comes home."
Jade agrees, and they're walking towards town fifteen minutes later. Tiger's collar is attached to his red leash, which Beck has a tight grip on. "So," he asks, "am I allowed to hold your hand?"
Jade smirks. "No. People in this town talk; you know that. If anyone saw us, which they would, it would get back to Georgia within an hour."
"What about on our way into town? We could get a solid fifteen minutes in without anyone seeing." Beck's persistence makes her laugh, so she sticks out her hand for him to grab ahold of. He laces their fingers together and hums contently. "Yeah, this is better."
So, for fifteen minutes, they walk hand-in-hand. Tiger is excellent on his leash, and stays close to them most of the time. When they're getting close to the town center, Jade brings Beck's hand up to her lips. She kisses it and then lets him drop it back to his side.
For dinner, they choose Pickles, a dog-friendly cafe with killer hamburgers. They sit on the outside patio and Beck ties Tiger's leash to his chair. Underneath the table, he rests his foot against Jade's and she looks up at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Once they've placed their order, Jade turns back to him.
"You should work here."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, why not? You could be a waiter." She takes a sip of her soda. "You're good with people."
"I don't know," Beck hesitates. "I don't have any experience as a waiter. They probably wouldn't want to hire me."
"How hard can it be? What happened to 'I'll take any job I can get', huh?" When he doesn't reply, Jade realizes that the boy sitting in front of her has an unfortunately low amount of confidence in himself. "Beck." She puts her hand in his, ignoring the people that could possibly see them. "As scary as it is that I'm admitting this, Georgia was right in what she said about you. Any business in this town would hire you."
He smiles. "So you think I should apply?"
"No."
"What? I thought-"
"If you apply, you'll get the job. And when you get the job, we'll have even less time to spend together."
He frowns. "I know. But it's just something I have to do."
"I know," she sighs.
When their waiter returns with their food, Jade pulls her hand back into her own lap and takes one of Beck's fries from his plate. "I want to talk about what happened with Jordan," he says, earning a confused expression from Jade. "Don't look at me like that. We're—well, we're whatever we are, and I still find myself worrying about whatever it was that went down that night."
"What are we?"
Beck shrugs. "I don't really know. I guess, you're my girlfriend. Could I tell people that?"
"Yeah," Jade scoffs, "if you had anyone to tell."
"I do, actually."
"What? Who?"
"His name is Andre. He works at the Home Depot down the street, so I see him every time I have to go get supplies for Georgia's land. Last week, we even walked over here to get burgers."
"How come you've never mentioned anything about Andre before?"
"Well," Beck starts, but quickly cuts himself off. "Hold on. You totally changed the subject."
"Damn, I thought you were past it."
"Not even close, girlfriend." Jade's heart jumps and she blushes until she remembers what their original conversation had been about. "So? Come on, Jade. You can trust me."
Jade takes a bite of her burger to postpone the question just slightly further. "Nothing happened. Really. You're worrying for no reason."
"But I saw you—"
"You saw me what?" Though she poses the question for him to potentially answer, the look in her eyes and tone of her voice make Beck think twice about continuing to push the subject.
He pauses for a second more. "I just want you to be okay. You're okay since ending things with him, right?"
"I'm more than okay. Haven't you heard? I have a boyfriend now."
Beck grins and, while the itch to finish the conversation he'd started bugs him, he can't help wanting to forget about anything other than Jade calling him her boyfriend. "Speaking of that, is it okay with you if I tell Andre? I might burst if you don't let me tell anyone."
"He doesn't even know me; what difference does it make?" Beck opens his mouth to speak, and then closes it upon his hesitation. Jade kinks an eyebrow and narrows her eyes. "What, do you like, tell him about me?" He doesn't answer. "You talk about me?"
"Well," he stutters, "I—"
"What do you say?"
She seems intrigued, rather than creeped out, so Beck decides to be more honest than not. "Just stuff. I told him about how pretty you are and how much I like you."
"Oh, god," she groans, and Beck chuckles.
"He's sworn to secrecy, though. I promise. He wouldn't tell a soul."
"Alright, fine. You can tell him. But if it gets back to Georgia—"
"It won't," he swears. A tiny snore comes from underneath his chair and both of them laugh at the puppy, who is fast asleep after finishing the food they had put out for him.
When Beck looks back up from where he'd been staring at the puppy, he catches sight of someone and grins. Without really moving his mouth or even taking his eyes off of the guy walking towards them, Beck mumbles to Jade just loud enough for her to hear. "You're going to kill me."
Her eyes widen and she turns around to see who Beck is smiling and waving at. "Who is that?"
But he can't answer her question, because the guy is within ten feet of their table. "Hey, Andre!"
Jade swears under her breath and reminds herself harshly that this is Beck's only friend besides her.
"Look who it is!" Andre leans over to give Beck a side, bro-hug that women are always confused by. "How are you, man?"
"I'm good," Beck answers. Andre grins widely, and Beck can tell that he's about to make a comment about Jade, so he talks before his friend can. "This is Jade," he says, gesturing to the girl across from him.
"Ah, this is the girl."
"Girl? I'm the girl?"
Andre sticks his hand out for her to shake, which she does, and repeats his name. "Beck's told me a lot about you," he says, which causes Beck to blush and Jade to laugh.
"Oh yeah, like what?"
"Jade," Beck protests.
"I just want to hear what you've been saying about me," she says teasingly, and turns her attention back to Andre. Beck knows instantly that she's using that charm she has—that charm and that face she makes when she's trying to get what she wants. One of her eyebrows kinks up and she holds her bright, blue eyes in contact with Andre's and she rests one fist under her chin in a curious way.
"All kinds of stuff," Andre answers her. "He told me you're freakishly good at painting and that you're real sassy, and that you don't know how to work the coffee machine and, well, that you're really pretty. But that one I figured out for myself."
"Hey, easy," Beck interrupts.
"So you really do like her." Andre chuckles, and now it's Jade's turn to blush. Beck opens his mouth to speak, but Andre shakes his friend's shoulder casually. "I'm just playing with you."
Beck smiles and runs a hand through his hair. "So what are you doing here?"
"I just got off of work, so I thought I'd come grab a burger. Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention this to you yesterday. There's this bar on the strip just ten minutes from here, and I've been wanting to go."
"Bar?" Jade raises her eyebrows. "There are bars in this town?"
"Only a few good ones," Andre answers her. "This one's called The Red Bar, and apparently it's really fun on Friday nights."
"Can we even get into a bar? We're seventeen."
Andre laughs. "This town is too small for them to care about IDing. Unless you're, like, thirteen. I'm not talking about a huge night club or anything; it's just a little bar."
"I want to go," Jade decides quickly.
Andre smiles. "I like this girl."
Beck shakes his head. "Alright, I'll go. Friday?"
"Friday. We'll walk—that way no one gets stuck driving home, just in case."
"No, it's okay," Beck says, "I can drive. It'll be easier if we all have a ride."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, no problem."
"Alrighty then." Andre turns towards Jade. "It was nice meeting you. I guess I'll see you Friday! And Beck, see you tomorrow?"
"Yep, I'll stop by," he promises.
"Great." And with that, Andre says his goodbyes and walks inside to order his dinner.
"I like him," Jade informs her boyfriend.
"Really? I mean, not that I'm surprised; he's a friendly guy and, well, my only friend besides you. But I thought you might be—"
"Beck," she laughs. "I like him. He's nice. And I like think it's cute that you told him about me."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. And we're definitely going to The Red Bar on Friday night."
By the time Beck, Jade, and Tiger arrive back home, Georgia has returned from her outing with Bradley Dunne.
"There you two are. I figured you went for dinner. It's pretty inconvenient that neither of you has a working cell phone, you know. It's 2014."
"Grandma, you barely know how to use your iPhone."
"Well, at least I didn't throw mine into the dirt like it costs $5 at Walmart." Jade furrows her eyebrows and Georgia nods to the boy standing next to her granddaughter. "Beck told me."
Jade gives her boyfriend a solid elbow to the gut, and he resists the urge to get her back (which would most definitely end in him wanting to kiss her). "There was no point in keeping it around anyways. My mother cut off my service."
"So I've heard," Georgia says, and sighs.
"How was your coffee date with Dr. Dunne?" Beck asks as he pours Tiger's kibble into his little bowl.
"It was nice. And, for the hundredth time, it wasn't a date," the woman insists.
"It was definitely a date," he teases her, and Jade plugs her ears with two fingers.
"Ew, I do not want to hear about this. I actually have to see him when I go into work tomorrow, and now all I'll be able to think about is him and you on a date."
Beck laughs and Georgia rolls her eyes. "Alright, I'm going to my room to shower and get ready for bed. I'm making banana muffins in the morning," she tells them as she's turning to walk to out of the kitchen. "Goodnight!"
"Goodnight," Beck and Jade chorus. Jade scoops her puppy into her arms and walks with her boyfriend upstairs and then into her room. She sets Tiger down, and he scampers over to lie in his dog bed. Taking both of Beck's hand into hers, she pulls him towards her as she backs up to the bed.
When she sits down, she scoots backwards until he can join her. Beck cups her cheeks and leans in to kiss her, and Jade wraps her arms around his torso to begin pulling him closer. She tugs upwards at the hem of his t-shirt, and he breaks away from her lips. "Jade, wait."
She's quiet, staring into his eyes while she lets her breathing slow. "What?"
Suddenly Beck's words die on his tongue, and everything he had wanted to say—about his fears for provoking a reaction from her similar to what had happened with Jordan—seem irrelevant. "Nothing," he says quickly, and closes the space between them. As he crawls to hover over her, though, he gets a flashback of her body, completely frozen in fear underneath Jordan's. When he pulls away again, Jade sighs.
"I'm sorry," he says, in sight of her frustration. "I'm sorry. I'm just... I'm tired, and I have a long day tomorrow, and I don't want to start anything I can't finish."
Jade wants to complain that they don't get these chances often and that they have yet to do anything further than kissing, but she decides not to push the subject tonight. "Okay."
"I do have a fun idea for something we could do tomorrow, once we're done with work."
"What is it?"
"It's a surprise, but I think you'll love it."
"Ugh, you suck."
"Don't worry; it'll be fun, I promise. And we can take Tiger, too." Jade nods, and Beck kisses her again. "If I stay here, we won't get much sleep—so I'm going back to my room."
"Okay."
"Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." He presses his lips to her forehead one last time, and then stands up to walk out of the room. Every bone in his body is telling him to turn around and go back to her bed and give her what she wants—to continue what they'd started. But, hard as he tries, he can't (and refuses to) ignore the voice in his head that warns him of what he'd seen just two weeks ago with Jordan.
The next day, Jade's shift ends ten minutes early when Beck walks through the door with Tiger. Seeing how excited the puppy gets at the sight of Jade, Beck drops his hold on the leash so that Tiger can run freely to her.
"Hi, baby!" Jade swings her puppy into her arms and he licks her hand and neck. Beck smiles and walks over to his girlfriend, whom he kisses only because there isn't anyone else currently in the office.
"Hi," he says, grinning. "How's your day?"
"Considering I saw you three hours ago at lunch, I'd say nothing's changed. Still good. Dr. Dunne is seeing Mrs. Jenkins's parakeet right now, and then I can go." Right on cue, the veterinarian comes strolling out of his office with his client following behind.
"It's no problem at all, Dorothy," Dr. Dunne says as he walks the woman to the secretary desk. "I'm sure little Elvis here will be just fine in no time."
"Thank you, Doctor," she replies appreciatively. She signs the papers that Jade has set out for her, writes a check, and then turns to exit the office.
"Hey, Beck!" Dr. Dunne greets his frequent visitor with a pat on the shoulder. "How's it going?"
"Everything's great," he answers with a smile. "Just here to pick Jade up."
Bradley smiles. "As usual."
"As usual."
"Well, Jade," he tells his secretary, "you're free to go. I'll see you Friday."
"Thanks, Dr. Dunne."
"For the millionth time, you can call me Brad," he reminds her, chuckling.
"Right."
"Oh, and," he calls out as the two are walking out, "you guys say hi to Georgia for me."
"Will do," Beck promises, and waves before exiting with Jade and Tiger.
"Ugh," Jade groans. "'Say hi to Georgia for me'," she mimics. "Way to make it obvious."
"Jade, he always says that," Beck says as they get into his truck. "Even before their date. He's just being friendly."
"Uh-huh. Well—" Beck cuts her off with a kiss, which she doesn't complain about. When he pulls back, he smiles against her mouth.
"I missed you." Her stomach does a flip and she leans in to kiss him again. "Are you ready for our date?" He asks, grinning as he turns on the car.
"It's a date now?"
"It always was."
"Well, I'm ready. Let's go."
Twenty minutes later, after Jade has questioned Beck's route (down dirt roads and pathways surrounded by trees), they arrive at his planned destination.
"We're at a lake."
"Yep. Lake Eleanor."
"What? I thought Lake Eleanor was on Georgia's property."
"It's a big lake. And the part that we went fishing in is only the part that borders Georgia's land. This is the other side. And if you look across and to your right, you can see the side we went to last time."
"So... Why didn't you just go across Georgia's property?"
He smiles and shrugs. "The back road was more fun."
Tiger barks at the sight of the water, and Jade gives him his ball to play with. "What are we doing here?"
"We're swimming."
Jade snorts. "I would yell at you about how there is no way I'm getting in that water, but it's useless. I don't have a swimsuit."
"Actually," Beck says, reaching into the back seat, "I brought one for you." He plops the black bikini between them and looks at her proudly.
"Beck, I'm not getting in that water."
"How come?"
"Do you really want me to list all of the reasons?"
"No," he assures her. "I already know them. But, there are no creepy animals in this water—and definitely no dolphins." She rolls her eyes. "It's warmed up because the sun beats down on it all day, and Tiger can totally swim. So you have no excuses left."
"Tiger can't swim."
"Actually, he can. We practiced on Monday while you were at work. He's like a fish! He loves the water." Jade glares at him, but he combats it with a pleading smile that he knows can work like a charm. "Please?" He starts kissing her shoulder and then her cheek, and she needs to stop him before she gets goosebumps.
"Fine. Fine, I'll go."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Yes!" Beck exclaims. "Okay, I'll take Tiger while you change in here." She hands him the dog and he opens the driver door to exit the truck.
"This is ridiculous," she grumbles as she begins pulling her jean shorts down. Beck just smiles and grabs Tiger's ball before shutting the door and leaving her to change. While he pulls off his t-shirt and shoes, the dog rolls around excitedly. Beck throws his clothes into the bed of the truck and begins walking up towards the rocks that surround the lake.
The surfaces of some of the rocks are hot, as they've been exposed to the sun all day. Others are shaded by trees, though, so Beck places both of his feet on one of the cooler ones. Tiger has run around to the side, where there's a flat entrance to the lake, and is already treading into the water.
Beck turns around just as Jade is getting out of the car. She's now wearing nothing but that black swimsuit, and Beck feels the only body part he can't control twitch. Before anything can happen, he turns back to face the lake and jumps off into the cold water.
By the time Jade reaches the rocks, Beck and Tiger are treading happily. "You've got to be kidding me. I am not jumping off of these."
"Come on, Jade! It feels great!"
"I change my mind. I'm not getting in."
"Just get in! Jump! Ready? One, two, th—"
"I can't! I can't do it."
"Yes, you can! Come on!"
"Beck, I really can't."
"Ready?" He asks, ignoring her protests. "One, two, three!"
On his word, Jade squeezes her eyes closed and jumps into the water. When she surfaces, she's screaming and Beck is laughing so hard that he can barely breathe. He swims over to where she's starting to tread water and takes her into his arms.
"See? This isn't so bad, is it?"
Jade catches her breath and begins kicking her legs to keep herself afloat. Tiger is swimming circles around them, and Beck leans in to kiss his girlfriend. As he does, he kicks backwards until he reaches the shallower spot he knows is near. Once he can stand with just his shoulders and head above the water, he picks Jade's legs up so that she can straddle him and he can support her weight.
Beck's hands grip underneath her thighs and he starts kissing down her neck. Without meaning to, she grinds herself against his chest and he grunts. She pulls away to laugh at them, and Beck is staring at her with a look no one has ever given her before.
"I could kiss you all day," he says, "you know that?"
"I don't think I'd mind." Right as she kisses him again, Tiger paddles over to them and drops his tennis ball from his mouth. Jade laughs and moves her hands from where they'd been on her boyfriend's neck so she can massage Tiger's ears. "I'm sorry, Tig. We haven't been playing with you much, huh?" She kisses her puppy's wet nose and he licks her chin happily.
Beck grabs the tennis ball from where it's floating in the water. After jiggling it in Tiger's face, he throws it for the puppy to chase after. Tiger excitedly flops around and shows off his swimming and fetch skills by bringing it back into Beck's hand. "Good boy!" He exclaims. "Do it again!" He says, and kisses Jade for the entire time that it takes the puppy to bring the ball back.
After half an hour more of swimming around and playing with Tiger, the two swim together over to the shoreline. When Tiger follows them and crawls out of the lake, he shakes around wildly to dry himself off. Beck and Jade, meanwhile, lie down in the warm grass together. Beck's move to tickle his girlfriend results in his discovery that she is, in fact, extremely ticklish—as well as his concluding position of hovering over her. He wastes no time in leaning down to kiss her, and she hikes her leg up around his back for leverage. Beck laughs against her mouth.
"What?"
"How come every time we make out, we're soaking wet?"
Jade thinks for a second, and then kinks one eyebrow. "I thought that was supposed to be a good thing," she jokes, and then both of them are laughing. That is, until laughing leads to more kissing.
It could be that it's their lack of real clothes, but it isn't lost on either of them that this is quickly turning into their most heated make-out session thus far. Jade's arms are wrapped around his back, her nails clawing for a good grip. Beck is working his way down her jawline to kiss her neck, and he's going lower and lower when that same flashback appears in his mind again. He's about to put a stop to things for the second time in a row, but another kiss at the nape of Jade's neck causes her to let out an obviously involuntary moan. At that point, Beck throws all logic out the window and continues kissing down until he reaches the crest between her breasts.
Jade can barely see or think straight—much less take the time to appreciate the fact that Beck is finally going there—as her boyfriend uses one hand to push aside the wet fabric of her bikini top. He's careful, watching her for any sign of discomfort or panic, but he sees nothing but pleasure in her face. His confidence level increases and he places his mouth on the skin he'd revealed. She lets a forced breath out and his eyes shoot up to hers. She chuckles and Beck is instantly relieved, so he goes back to kissing her chest. Jade almost pulls him up to ask him why he's still seeming to walk on eggshells when they hook up, but she decides to simply let him continue his ministrations.
Unfortunately for him, it only takes a few more minutes before exactly what he knew would happen, happens. Jade tries to keep a straight face when she feels him hard against her thigh, but it proves to be more difficult when she can see Beck's blush even through his darker complexion. When he's clearly at a loss for what to say, Jade cups his cheeks in her hands and forces him to look at her.
"I'm sorry," he blurts out.
"Beck. It's fine. You don't have to apologize." He doesn't say anything, so Jade raises her eyebrows. "I can—"
"No. No, it's okay," he cuts her off, blushing harder. "We should probably be getting back for dinner soon anyways."
"Beck—"
"Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Despite the fact that Jade is once again bewildered by his refusal (inability?) to talk with her about what's going on in his head, she says nothing in fear of making the situation even more awkward. "Okay," she says. "So…we're going home?"
"After I jump back in the water for a second."
She purses her lips to avoid laughing, and Beck kisses her cheek before quickly pushing himself up to stand on his feet. He hops into the cold water for the second time, and lets himself cool off and calm down before swimming to get out again. By the time he's walking back to the truck, Jade has picked up Tiger and his toys and is getting situated in her seat. They ride back to Georgia's in an uncomfortable silence that is both new and unwanted by both of them. When they finally arrive back to the house, they each go to their rooms to shower up for dinner.
Georgia, much to their stress, picks up on the unusual, awkward tension that surrounds their dinner conversation (or, rather, lack thereof). Lucky for the both of them, she doesn't bring it up, and the two return to their own bedrooms for the night. Just before midnight, when Jade is nearing the end of a chapter in her latest book, Beck knocks on her door to enter.
"Come in."
"I wanted to say sorry again," he says, sitting down on her bed. "I don't know what came over me today," he lies.
"It's okay. I just…want you to be able to talk to me. You know you can, right?"
"Of course," he lies again. "I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing." A pause, and then, "Do you want to sleep here tonight?"
She catches the split-second look of panic in his face before he can put on a façade, but, instead of embarrassing him, she lets him give her another excuse.
"I don't want to wake you up as early as I have to be up," he tells her smoothly. "I've got to run to the store at eight, and I know you don't have work tomorrow." Beck kisses her forehead and then her lips. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," she replies softly, and he smiles before getting up to leave her.
The next morning, Jade comes downstairs in her pajamas to see Georgia at work on her computer. After making herself a cup of coffee, she joins her grandmother at the kitchen table. Georgia looks up from her computer and fixes her glasses. "Morning, darling."
"Morning. What are you doing? And where's Beck?"
"He's already gone to Home Depot. Left about half an hour ago. As for me, I'm working on something for Burley's annual 4th of July town festival." Jade furrows her eyebrows and Georgia shakes her head. "I know. But Steve—the mayor—puts me in charge of this same damn thing every year. It's my job to schedule where each event and booth will be held around the town square."
"Sounds…interesting."
"It's not."
"Didn't think so."
"But, I think you'd enjoy going at least. I always go to the festival."
"That's because you know every person in this town."
"You'd be surprised by how many you know, too. Between seeing people at Bradley's office and just around the town, you probably have met more than you can think of. And everyone, of course, knows who you are."
"Because of you," she points out.
"Maybe. Well, the festival's in two weeks and the whole town will be there. You've got a while to decide, and you'll at least get the day off of work."
Jade takes another sip of her coffee and feels Tiger at her foot. "You hungry?" She asks her puppy, who jumps at her legs. She scoots out of her chair and puts Tiger's food out for him, and Georgia smiles at the little dog.
"He's already growing, huh? And those little spots of his are getting darker."
"Yep. Beck thinks he'll be huge by August, but I think he's got a while left to grow. At least, I hope so."
"Speaking of Beck," Georgia picks out her granddaughter's words, "you two have gotten pretty close, huh?" Jade uses her acting skills and slides back into her seat to drink more coffee.
She shrugs. "I guess so."
"You guess so?" Jade looks at her blankly. "You two spend practically every waking hour together unless you're at work."
"Well, in case you haven't noticed, he's kind of my only friend in this town. It's not like I have tons of other options for people to hang out with."
"I know, I know. I'm just saying that you seem to get along well."
"We're just friends, Grandma."
"Alright, alright. I believe you."
"Moving on," Jade demands, "just so you know, Beck and I are going out tomorrow night with some friends."
"I thought we were moving on," Georgia teases.
"Grandma," the younger girl protests.
"Just kidding, just kidding. Some friends? I thought you didn't have friends?"
"One friend. And he's Beck's. Andre something."
"Andre Harris? He works at the Home Depot; I love him!"
"Of course you do."
"He's a great kid. Hard worker. His parents are real nice, too."
"Well, anyhow. We ran into him earlier this week and he invited us out."
"Alright. Thank you for telling me. So long as Beck stays with you, it's fine. This town is safer than most, but I don't want to take my chances—especially if you'll be out late."
"Fine by me."
.
"So, Georgia said we can go tomorrow night. I talked to her this morning."
It's ten o'clock at night and they're lying on his bed side-by-side. "Really? Sweet."
"She said she loves Andre. Of course."
Beck chuckles. "That woman knows everyone within a fifty mile radius, I swear."
"That woman also happens to be asleep," Jade replies in a lower tone. In two seconds, Beck is on top of her, kissing her and making her laugh. This time, it only takes a minute of making out for him to put his hands on her breasts. Since he's confident that she enjoys it and that it's a safe area, he begins kneading and massaging to get her nearly gasping for air. "Take it off," she manages to get out, and Beck looks at her, as if to ask if she's sure, so she nods.
Reaching for the hem of her shirt, Beck finds it and tugs upwards until she's left in her bra. He swallows hard and leans down to kiss her lips again. While one hand stays on her chest, he slides the other down her smooth stomach to grab her hip. He hadn't meant to make her think his hand would go further down, but she seems upset when he stops. Since Beck tries to ignore it, Jade waits, as patiently as she can, for him to make another move. When he doesn't, she uses both hands to push against his shoulders.
"What are you doing?" She asks, all in one breath.
He does a good job of looking surprised. "What?"
"You do this every time. You refuse to do anything other than kiss me. I don't care if you don't want to do anything else, but at least tell me. Don't just act weird about it."
His heart is beating even faster now, if that were even possible, and he contemplates telling her about his fear. After less than thirty seconds of hard thinking, he concludes that maybe he'd been exaggerating what he'd seen with Jordan in his head. He'd been jealous that night—jealous and angry. He'd probably just imagined it. Right? Well, it'd have to do for now. "Sorry," he says again. "I just want to make sure you're cool with it."
"I am," she tells him, and brings his face down to kiss him gently. "I am. Just…touch me. It's okay."
Beck nods his head and closes the space between their lips. Carefully, he slides the hand on her breast down her torso and into her pajama shorts. When he reaches into her underwear, he's suddenly accosted by a blow to the face, causing him to jerk backwards.
It takes him a few seconds to regain his vision, but, when he does, he looks down to see Jade with her hand over her open mouth. She looks horrified, and her expression worsens when Beck removes his palm from his nose to see that there's blood dripping down his face. He sits up and walks into his bathroom, where he sees the effect of her hit. His nose isn't broken, but it will most definitely need a cleaning and a towel held to it for a little while.
"Beck," Jade breathes, standing up from the bed. He turns to look at her, but he's holding a rag to his nose and she can barely stand to look at him because the knot in her stomach only grows. Without another word, she bolts from the room, and he hears her door shut seconds later.
After cleaning up the blood and changing his shirt, he gets back into his bed and holds a wetted hand towel to his nose to help the swelling. He thinks multiple times about going into Jade's room to check on her, but decides to give her space for the time being. Two hours later, though, she appears in his doorway. He's awake, after having to change out the towel twice, and still laying in bed. She doesn't say anything, just stands still and stares at him. Since the only current lighting in his room is his bedside lamp, he can't see the tear stains on her face. Regardless, he grabs the far side of his blanket and lifts it up, inviting her to join him.
It takes her a minute to gather the courage to move, but she does eventually. Slowly, she approaches his bed and crawls into it next to him. Beck can hear her heartbeat through her chest, so he leans in to drop a slow kiss to her temple. He reaches over her to turn the lamp off, and she cries silently into his chest until they both fall asleep.
Up next: Beck, Jade, and Andre's night out - and the return of a character from the past.
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