Free Knowing You (The Jade Series #2) by Allie Everhart

snowflake is so perfect. And each one is different.”
    Garret’s watching me again. I look down, feeling self-conscious. “Well, anyway, we should go.”  
    He nudges my chin up with his hand. “I don’t know how you do it, Jade, but you keep making me like you more.”
    “I like you, too.” I say it in a just-friends type of way, but I like him so much more than that. And that scares the shit out of me. I can’t like someone this much.  
    He walks me to the car, opening my door and closing it once I’m in. On the drive back, the snow falls even harder. Back at campus, at least a couple inches have accumulated on the ground. I get out of the car and attempt to form a snowball, but the snow is too light and fluffy.  
    We go inside the dorm, stopping at my room. “I’d invite you in but it’s our first date and I don’t want you to think poorly of me.”
    He leans against the door. “Are you really sending me home already?” He smiles. “You know, you could come up to my room. I have no problem inviting you up there, even if you do think poorly of me.”
    “What would we do up there?” I ask innocently.
    “Whatever you want.” His tone isn’t at all flirtatious, so I can’t tell what he means.  
    “I guess we could watch TV.”  
    I wait for him to move, but he doesn’t. “Do you want to bring anything?”
    I’m confused, but then remember that we recently started a new tradition in which I sleep in his room on Saturday nights.  
    “Um, no, I don’t think I need anything,” I answer just to see his reaction.  
    His eyebrows raise. “Are you sure?”
    “Yeah. I can always come back down here if I need something.”
    We go up to his room and I race over to open the drapes. “I can’t believe it’s snowing. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet.”  
    Garret comes up behind me, putting his arms around me and kissing the top of my head.  
    “Speaking of Thanksgiving, when are you heading home? I assume Ryan’s coming to get you?”
    “I’m not going home for Thanksgiving. It’s too far a drive and plane tickets are way too expensive. Plus, I don’t really like planes. I’ve never been on one but—”
    He turns me around to face him. “So what are you doing for Thanksgiving?”
    “I don’t know yet. Probably catch up on some reading. Maybe start studying for finals. I’m not sure.”
    “I mean, like on Thanksgiving day. Where are you going for dinner?”
    “I don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving. I’ll just get some groceries for my room. Actually I was going to ask you if you’d give me a ride to the store before you head home for break.”
    “You can’t skip Thanksgiving. It’s a major holiday. You have to stuff yourself with turkey and mashed potatoes. You can’t sit here by yourself. Nobody will even be around. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
    “Why would I tell you this? Why do you care what I do for Thanksgiving?”
    “Because I don’t want you here all alone.”
    I try to break free from him, but he doesn’t let me. “Really, Garret. It’s fine. I never do anything for Thanksgiving.”
    “Hold on. You said the same thing about your birthday. So you don’t celebrate your birthday. You don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. What about Christmas?”
    I need to get him off this topic. Holidays are not something I like to talk about. At Christmas, there were no presents. No Christmas dinner. No tree. No decorations. Just my angry drunk of a mother yelling at me until she passed out.
    “I kind of skip Christmas, too.” I try to wiggle free again with no luck. “Let’s watch a movie. What do you want to see?”
    Garret doesn’t answer. I glance up to see him looking at me like I’ve just told him the saddest story ever. I hate it when people look at me that way. So what if I missed some stupid holidays? There’s no reason for him to feel sorry for me about that.
    “Didn’t you have holidays with Frank and Ryan?”
    I sigh, wishing he would just let it go.