Read Online Always Us (The Jade Series #8) by Allie Everhart - Free Book Online

make a sound, but if you listen, you can hear it crackling as it hits the trees.
    “When did you get out of the darkness, Jade?”
    My eyes flip open and I see Garret looking at me.
    “Like when did you get completely out so that it was all light?”
    I smile at him. “When I met you. When I got to know you and you made me feel like I mattered. Like I was worth fighting for even when I pushed you away. When you agreed to be my friend and didn’t force me to be more than that. Like I said today, I always had choices and those choices helped me get into the light so I could have a future and be able to support myself. But I was still lonely and afraid to get close to people. I still had darkness until I met you.”
    He hugs me into his chest. “See? Another good speech. You just keep getting better and better with these.”
    “And I didn’t plan that one either. I guess I should just wing it from here on out.”
    A strong gust of wind blows, swirling the snow around our heads.
    “Guess that’s the wind Ryan was talking about. You want to go inside?”
    I lift my head up. “Can I have a kiss first? I love kissing you in the snow.”
    “You can have as many as you’d like.” He cups his hands around my face and presses his warm lips to mine. It reminds me of when we kissed in the snow on our first date. I still get that same fluttery feeling I felt when he kissed me that night just over a year ago.
    The wind blows again and I shiver. Garret breaks from the kiss. “You want to go inside now?”
    “Yeah, the wind’s too cold.” I huddle next to him as we walk toward the house.  
    Ryan opens the door. “Jade, you might want to call Harper. She’s called twice since you came out here. I didn’t answer it but I saw her name on the screen.”
    “Really? I hope she’s okay.” I race inside to the table to get my phone. “I’ll call her from the bedroom.”
    Garret follows me in there. “I’m guessing it’s about Sean. You want me to listen in?”
    “Yeah, because you’ll probably have to call Sean when I’m done with Harper.”
    I call her and she answers right away. “Jade, I’m sorry to bother you when you’re with your family. Can you talk?”
    “Yeah, of course. How are you feeling? Did the surgery go okay?”
    “Yeah, it was fine. That’s not why I’m calling.” Her voice is shaky and it sounds like she’s crying.  
    I look at Garret. “Harper, is this about Sean?”
    “He came to the hospital. I told him not to. I knew he didn’t have the money for a plane ticket, but he came anyway.” She sniffles. “But my parents wouldn’t let him see me. They told the hospital staff to keep him away. Now I don’t know where he is. I’ve called him a million times. Texted him. I’m worried about him, Jade. He always answers his phone. What if something happened to him?” She sniffles again. “I talked to one of the nurses and asked her if Sean told her where he was staying. She said he didn’t tell her, but that she thinks she saw him sleeping in the park last night.” Harper’s crying even more now.
    Garret’s shaking his head, annoyed with Sean for not taking the money we offered him for a hotel room.
    “Harper, don’t worry. Garret will call Sean and we’ll figure out what’s going on.”
    “Can Garret call him right now? I have to know if Sean’s okay.”
    “Yes, he’ll call him right now.”
    “Thanks, Jade. And you’ll call me back, right?”
    “Yes. Bye, Harper.”
    We hang up and Garret’s already got his phone out. He calls Sean, putting the phone on speaker. It rings and rings but Sean finally answers.
    “Hey, Garret.”
    “Sean, where the hell are you?”
    “I’m at my apartment.”
    “I thought you weren’t flying back until Sunday.”
    “Plans changed. I came back early.”
    Sean sounds strange. He’s talking slow and his words are kind of drawn out.
    “Jade just talked to Harper.”
    “So you know what happened.”
    “Yeah, but you need to call her