Free The Color of Jade (Jade Series Book 1) by Mae Redding Page B

ground.
    “This isn’t football, Kane!”  I laughed and screamed as I tried to get away while he sat over me, tickling my sides.
    “Says who?”
    “Kane!   Stop!  I can’t… Breathe!” I laughed, unable to move, my arms pinned to the ground as I endured the continuous torture.
    “Kane.”
    Relieved, I looked to the side to see Joel come towards us as the torturing stopped. “Looks like you’re saved this time.” Kane tickled me one last painful time causing a squeal to burst from my lungs then he jumped off and left me on the ground to recover.
    “What’s up, Joel?” Kane asked.
    “Mike wants to talk,” he replied, discontent in his voice. They talked in hushed tones as they walked towards the house eventually out of hearing range.
    Trey stood over me and offered a hand up then we celebrated our win with a weak high five. He wrapped my neck in the crook of his elbow and directed me towards the barn to feed the animals. My frustrations, surrendered to the therapeutic nature of the game.
    ***
    “Can I come in?” Emery asked, as she opened up the door.
    “Sure.”
    “I’m sorry, Jade,” Emery said. She walked over and sat next to me on the bed where I flipped through my photo albums. She rested her head on my shoulder and slipped her small arms around my waist for a hug. I hugged her back. I could never stay too mad at her for long. There was no point in holding a grudge. We had much bigger problems in our lives and an argument over a boy seemed pointless.
    “It’s okay, Em... Don’t worry about it,” I said, and smiled to let her know I forgave her.
    “Did you talk to him?”
    “Who?”
    She rolled her eyes. “Let me see if I remember right,” she said, overly sarcastic. “Last summer… you had to be outside… at a certain time, as a certain guy…”
    “Okay, fine!” I said, as I cut her off, not wanting her to finish. I scowled at her and wondered how she knew so much. Her eyes lit with interest. She caught me and she knew it. “I saw him at Marge’s, he said hi to me, and I said hi back. That was it.”
    “You like him don’t you?” Emery said, with a grin.
    “No, I don’t like him, Emery, I don’t even know him. I was just curious about what happened to him, that’s all. Now get it out of your head that I like him.”
    “I don’t know why you are being so stubborn in admitting it. I think you do,” she said, as she scooted back on the bed to lean against the wall.
    “Emery, stop it!”
    “You don’t like him?”
    “No, I don’t like him. Now stop bugging me.”
    “Well, then I guess you don’t care that he’s downstairs in our kitchen with Kane then, do you? ” She said, with a smirk on her face.
    “ What! He’s downstairs? Why?”
    “So you do like him? You can’t fool me, Jade.”
    “Did you tell Kane why I was chasing you?” I probed her for an answer while I avoided her question.
    “Uhh... not the whole reason… Sorry.”  She pulled my pillow up to hide her face. Her big eyes pleaded as she peered over the top. They screamed ‘don’t be mad at me’ . How could I? She was right. I liked him. There was something about him. He looked amazing and strong, and he seemed nice.
    “What are they doing?”
    “I don’t know, talking about something. We could go sit at the top of the stairs and find out,” Emery said, with a grin.
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
    “You know you want to,” she taunted.
    We snuck quietly down the hall and Emery crept to the edge of the stairs. I sat behind the wall and heard Kane as he went through a round of introductions.
    “Trey… Joel…”
    I needed to do more than just listen but was afraid Kane would see me. In spite of what he might do, I peered around the corner through the railing and watched as the introductions continued.
    “Mike, who called this meeting… Darby…”
    I couldn’t believe it!  There he sat. His gorgeous self, right in my kitchen at the table I ate at every day. Finally, I