Back Roads | ✅ completed

Chapter 27

- 17 years old -

They were almost to the campsite when Garrett stopped to set her back on her feet. She stumbled for a second before grabbing a hold of his arm. His white tee shirt sleeve had pulled up over his shoulder, revealing all of his tattoo. Her fingers traced over it while he watched them.

"Why haven't you gotten the daisy yet?"

"Time and money." Jasmine knew he was lying but didn't push for more.

"Why did you only get mine?" Garrett ignored her and looked back to the party of people. Most were dancing around the fire, their drinks sloshing in their cups and bottles. "Garrett?"

"Yeah," he asked. She stood on her tiptoes, cupped his face in her hands and pulled his face to meet hers. Their lips locked in a kiss neither of them expected. His free hand fell to her waist and held her close. It felt as though the kiss had lasted for hours, when it had only been a few minutes. She pulled away, shyly dropping her head as her hands gently moved down his arms. She found his hand and snatched the bottle from it.

Garrett looked at her in bewilderment, and watched as she left him, walking backwards through the brush. Winking at him, she lifted the bottle to her lips and took a swig. In one swift movement, she turned on her heel and joined the dancers. Garrett shook his head and followed her lead. He wandered over to a few of the guys near a cooler and joined their conversation. His eyes were glued to Jasmine.

Daisy made her way to dance beside Jasmine. She looked at Garrett who casually sipped from the beer bottle in his hands while staring at them. Her eyes fell on Jasmine and she bumped her with her hip.

"Where did you two slip away to?"

"What," Jasmine brushed her hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear.

"You and Garrett just up and vanished. Where'd you go?"

"I went to answer a call from Liam and -"

"I thought this was a phone free zone because of Liam?"

"Technically yes, but I had in case of... You know what it doesn't matter. I took a call, we had another fight and Garrett found me and brought me back," Jasmine said quickly before taking another swig.

"That's all?" She waited for Jasmine to nod. She looked at her doubtfully. They had stopped dancing now and moved closer to one of the tents. "He's staring at you and has been since you two got back."

"You're cut off," Jasmine joked as she took another sip and glanced over the bottle at Garrett who was in fact watching her. She finished the bottle and dropped it down beside her. Daisy shrugged and looked back at Garrett. "I think, I'm going to go crash."

"So soon?"

"Yeah. It's been a long day, and I'm out of drinks." Jasmine forced a smile when Daisy's brow furrowed. Jasmine wrapped her arms around her friend and whispered, "I promise. Tomorrow will be way better."

Daisy hugged her back and let go when she felt Jasmine pulling away. She watched as her friend kicked off her sandals and crawled into the little blue tent. Daisy returned to the others still enjoying the party and made her way to the cooler new Garrett.

"She okay?" Daisy looked at Garrett who finally tore his eyes away from Jasmine.

"I'm not sure," Daisy replied. "Said she had a conversation with Liam and that she's just tired. What happened out there?"

"Nothing. Just a lot of venting about everything going on with them." He shrugged not sure how much he should tell his ex-girlfriend. If Jasmine hadn't said anything, maybe there was nothing to tell. He grabbed two bottles of water from the very bottom of the cooler. "I'm going to go check on her."

Daisy watched him leave, kick off his shoes and crawl in the little blue tent.

Once inside, he saw Jasmine fiddling with one of the rings on her finger. He laid down beside her, facing her holding up the bottles of water. "I brought water for the morning. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

"Can you stay," she asked, freezing mid ring twist. He nodded and set the waters near their heads. Shifting onto his back, she wiggled closer to him and rested her head on his chest. He reached around to pull one of the blankets over her. His hand brushed over his flannel that she was still wearing. He wrapped one arm over her shoulder to hold while his other one found the hand on his chest. "Good night, Gar."

"Good night, Jazz."