Echoes of Us by Teegan Loy Read Free Book Online

right, to the store.”
    I forgot about the music and shifted into tour-guide mode, pointing out different things as we drove to the store. Jade laughed when I told him the story about Maggie getting lost on the walk home from the bar after she turned twenty-one. It had taken me thirty minutes before I found her sitting on some kid’s swing set, singing loudly and off-key. Thankfully no one was home and the neighbors didn’t call the cops.
    Traffic was light, so it didn’t take long to get to the store. Maggie usually drove the cart and barked out orders to me, but Jade let me take control of the cart. He picked up a basket for Mrs. Morgan’s stuff. I dug our crumpled list out of my pocket and handed it to him. The cart was enough responsibility for me.
    The trip through the grocery store was entertaining, and Jade didn’t make fun of me when I shoved a box of my favorite chocolate cereal in the cart. I usually had to sneak that stuff into the cart and bury it so Maggie wouldn’t see it. When she eventually spotted the cereal, she would lecture me about the lack of nutritional value and the high sugar content. Jade grinned and added two more boxes to the cart.
    “It’s my favorite too,” he said, smiling smugly.
    “Maggie is going to think I ruined you,” I said.
    Jade chuckled. “I was already ruined.”
    The way he dragged out the sentence made me forget what I was doing. I ran into a display of crackers and knocked several boxes to the floor. I was pretty sure Jade winked at me when he bent over to pick up the boxes. I did not check out his ass.
    It went on like that for the rest of the trip through the grocery store. Jade always had an answer or comment that seemed like he was implying something else. Of course, I was known to have a very active imagination, especially when it came to sexual innuendos.
    By the time we stood in the checkout lane, I was beyond turned-on and totally exhausted. It was an odd combination.
    “You look like you’re dead on your feet,” Jade said. I moved forward to help him unload the cart, but he stopped me. “I think I can manage.”
    “Thanks,” I muttered. “It’s been a really long day.”
    Jade wouldn’t let me pitch in for the groceries, telling me he was incredibly happy to have a place to live. We could figure out how we would divide everything later.
    I never knew shopping could be so much fun. With Maggie, there was always a plan. The list was sacred; you never deviated from the list. But with Jade, it was a free-for-all, and we actually got some good food, which we would have to hide.
    Mrs. Morgan thanked us several times for doing her grocery shopping. She insisted we keep the change, but Jade left the money, along with the receipt, on the bench by her front door.
    Our house was quiet when we got back. It was going to be an interesting task putting the groceries away. I had no idea where anything went. Maggie had a place assigned for everything but damned if I knew where she kept things. When I cooked, she laid out the ingredients, or I just opened all of the cupboards until I found what I needed.
    “Maggie is going to freak when she can’t find anything tomorrow. We’ll probably have to rearrange it.”
    “My sister is exactly like Maggie,” Jade said.
    “Oh right, you have two sisters.”
    “Brooke is older than me and a total neat freak. Hailey is the free spirit, but she’s only sixteen, so that could change. How about you?” Jade asked.
    “One of each. Lucas is the oldest and then it’s Kelli,” I answered.
    “So you’re the baby?” Jade teased. “Spoiled rotten I suppose.”
    “Hardly. I’m the total black sheep of the family. They may have even thrown me out after last night.” I abruptly stopped and cleared my throat. I didn’t want to get into my family drama with Jade. No one wanted to hear your ugly secrets on the first day you meet.
    “Families can be difficult,” Jade said as he shoved two bags of chips into a cupboard filled