Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46875 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 188(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
I can see Joey’s name flashing before she picks up, giving me a shy little smile. I think the way she treats her friend Joey is awesome.
But that’s Jade, always thinking of other people before herself. And I know she takes her promises seriously, too, by the looks of it.
Jade puts Joey on speaker, not minding at all if I join in on their chat. But I’m curious to hear what he has to say without letting him know I’m listening in.
And I shoot Jade a glance that tells her so.
But neither of us can get a word in to start with. Joey’s so wound up from the game link I just sent him, calling up Jade to share the news.
“Oh my god!” he exclaims, almost squealing in a whisper as he fights to keep his voice down.
“Jade! You finally answered your phone. Zak just sent me a mobile version of his game to Beta test. He says I’m the first person outside of his team to play it!” he chatters, sounding like he might’ve got his surprise after all.
He talks over Jade, which makes me quietly chuckle as she tries to ask him what happened once we left.
But Joey’s all talk about the game and how he only called me earlier as a last resort because he hadn’t heard anything back from her.
“Joey?” Jade finally says firmly. “Tell me what happened after we left this morning. Is my mom freaking out?” she asks, gnawing at her lip and grimacing.
“Oh, you know…,” Joey says, matter of fact. “She came over to see if you were here, but I didn’t hear that much, still being grounded and all,” he throws in, which makes Jade’s face bunch up a little more.
I stifle another laugh, and Jade slaps at me, giving me a stern look.
“Joey. What happened?” she asks him again, obviously well trained in how to deal with his ten-year-old antics.
He puffs air out, humming to himself as he thinks for a moment.
“I heard her telling my mom that she figured you’d skipped out and gone to work with Zak today anyway,” he finally says.
“So she knows. That I’m with Zak, I mean,” Jade asks.
“I never said anything to her. I kept my end of the bargain, Jade,” Joey tells her firmly, sounding more like an adult now.
“I know you did, Joey,” Jade sniffs, making me take the phone from her once she gets emotional.
If this is making Jade cry, then I have to do anything I can to show her that being with me isn’t going to mean losing Joey.
Or even her mom, for that matter.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jade
Zak’s quick to pick up on my sudden low mood. And quicker still to jump in and talk with Joey, sharing his enthusiasm for the game link he’s just sent him.
I feel awful, though.
I promised Joey I’d be home later and with a surprise.
I didn’t think the surprise would be me not coming home, which dawns on me clearer with each moment that goes by.
I can’t go home, and I won’t.
My place is with Zak now, and even though we’re still winging it, I know Zak wouldn’t let me go home for another five minutes, let alone another night without him.
But Joey surprises both Zak and me, figuring things out for himself and making me realize that, sure, he’s ten, but he’s not stupid.
“Jade might have to work late tonight,” Zak tells him, finding a gap in the conversation which he uses to steer around to the issue.
“Oh, I kind of figured that,” Joey snorts. He’s laughing a little too hard but explaining for both our benefits that he knows I’m probably never coming home.
“I mean, you’re running away for real. Aren’t you?” he asks, point blank.
I feel my head nodding, but I explain things to him in a different way.
“It’s for work, Joey. Zak was only in town for a little while, and I think it’s just easier if I….”
“Why can’t you work from home?” Joey interrupts, pointing out how easy it was for Zak to send him an entire game format to test over the phone.
But he answers his own question, “I guess that way you wouldn’t be able to kiss Zak without your mom knowing, huh?” he asks absently, sounding like he’s grasped the concept but put it into the ‘things grown-ups do’ file in his mind.
I flush deep red but paw at Zak again when he chuckles.
I can tell he and Joey are going to be a real handful together.
They’ll be ganging up on me like this for their own amusement. But I instantly feel better knowing that Joey’s alright with things at least.
And yeah. It’ll take some time for both of us to get used to things changing, but like Zak points out. He’s only a phone or video call away, and we pretty much text each other all the time anyway, even when we’re in the same house together.