Текст книги "Fall For Me"

Автор книги: Alexis Noelle

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 3 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Chapter Eight

Carter

The fact that Maddy wants to spend time with me, even if it is in secret, makes me so happy. I love being able to be around her and I have a feeling she feels the same. I don’t understand why she doesn’t just leave him if she isn’t happy. I still have a feeling that he is doing something shady. Maybe if we get close enough, she’ll tell me.

We talk and joke around all morning, but split up at lunchtime because she is meeting Chris. When I walk into my afternoon class, I see her roommate. I think her name is Nicole. Actually, I think she went to high school with me, but was a year behind me.

I hope she isn’t telling Maddy about my high school days. I am not exactly proud of them. She looks up, sees me, and waves me over to the empty seat next to her.

“So listen, I just wanted to-”

Just then the professor decided to start class, which cut off whatever she was trying to tell me.

She passes me a note and her cell phone with it. When I look at her phone, I see that it is open to the contacts and  my name with the number slot blank. She is trying to get my number? I thought she was calling me over to talk about Maddy. I start to hand her back the stuff and she shakes her head and mouths, “Read the note.”

I need to talk to you about Mads. Put your number in.

I put my number in her phone, then call mine so I can save hers, before giving it back to her. Not even a minute later, my phone starts to buzz.

Nicole: First, conceited much? I don’t have any interest in you. Second, don’t give up on her. She will come around ;-)

Me: What do you mean?

Nicole: Mads, whether she wants to admit it or not, she’sstarting to fall for you. I can tell.

Me: But what about Chris?

Nicole: Don’t get me started on that asshole.

Me: What’s going on? I know something isn’t right.

Nicole: Sorry, not my story to tell. Now, let me learn something!

Was Maddy really falling for me? And what did Nicole know about Chris?

*  *  *

Getting out of bed after working all night is difficult, to say the least. I think the only thing that got me up is knowing that I am going to spend the whole day with Maddy.

We are going to be handing out our surveys today, and then coming back here to tally them up. She asks if I want to go to the library, but I shoot that idea down. I want her here with me.

I bet Chris is giving her shit about it. I really didn’t care if he liked it or not. We spend all day handing out surveys and talking to people, Shawn and Jason even coming to help us out. As much as they didn’t want to admit it, they liked Maddy. They could see how I felt about her and I think they were beginning to get it.

Once we get back to my house, I don’t even want to move. I call and order a pizza before falling down on the couch. Maddy is walking over to sit down, and I can tell she is exhausted too.

She trips over my book bag and falls down right on top of me. She looks up at me and starts to laugh. I love that sound. She doesn’t do it nearly enough. I brush a stray hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear.

Her gaze is fixed on my face and when it landed on my lips, excitement ran through me. I can tell just by looking at her that she wants me to kiss her, that it is me she wants. She never looks at Chris like that; sometimes I watch them and she is so different around him. I can’t resist the temptation anymore, so I lean up to kiss her.

The second my lips touch hers, I feel the electricity move through me. Her lips are amazingly soft. I take the risk and try to deepen the kiss, and she let me. I gently take her lower lip between my teeth and pull on it. She lets out a moan. Being with her like this is what I’ve wanted since September.

A knock on the door startles us both and we jump apart. Since when did those delivery men get here this quickly? I went and got the pizza while Maddy was getting us plates. We take our food and go into the living room with it. Her lips are red and swollen from kissing me, and it is a beautiful sight.

After we finish eating, she grabs the dishes and I get out the surveys from earlier. We work on tabulating the results, talking and laughing in between. I look at the clock. Damn, it is already eleven.

I wish she’d just stay over, but I know there is about a snowball’s chance in hell of that. Her eyes follow mine and I feel like she wants to stay but won’t. It’s like she is fighting an internal battle every time we are together.

“Well, I had fun today, Carter, but I need to go now.”

“Okay, let me get my shoes on,” I say as I stand up.

“I’ve told you before, I can find my own way home.”

“If you think I’m sending you back to campus by yourself at night, you’re out of your mind.” Campus was pretty safe for the most part. I still wanted to make sure she got back okay; that and it gave me more time with her.

“Okay, thank you.” She gives me a small smile before gathering her things.

When we were driving back, she seemed so sullen, almost disappointed. “You know, the weather isn’t supposed to be that bad tomorrow. What would you think about taking a ride down to Myrtle Beach?”

“Carter, you know I can’t do that with you. And besides, I hate the beach.”

She hates the beach? There went my dreams of being able to see her in a bikini. “Okay, I’m sorry for asking. I’m still trying to figure out how this is going to work.”

“I know this situation isn’t easy. If you want to change your mind, I’ll understand. It’s a lot to deal with just to spend time with me.”

I pull into the parking lot and turn to face her. She isn’t looking at me so I lift her chin up. “Hey, I love just being around you, Maddy. If this is what I need to do to be around you, it’s worth it. You’re worth it.”

We are sitting in the car outside her dorm, and I don’t want her to leave. She looks over at me, silently saying the same thing. She wants to be with me too, she just isn’t ready yet. I had so much fun with her today, even if we were working on schoolwork. I walk her inside and then go home alone.

One day soon I won’t have to say goodbye.

Chapter Ten

Madison

Over the next two weeks, Carter and I finished our project and hung out together. It had been the best two weeks of my life. I just wished I didn’t need to hide it. I saw Chris at least once a day, and there were a couple times I almost got caught with Carter. The way that I saw it,  Chris would find a reason to hit me no matter what I did, so I might as well enjoy the time I had.

Yesterday, he freaked out because he saw me going into an office with a guy. He never even bothered to see who it was or why I was with him. I had a conference with my professor for the research paper I was working on. Now, I was sporting a huge bruise on my side.

I wish I was strong enough to leave him, but he’s been threatening me more often recently. He even told me last week that he’s been going to the shooting range so much that his dad bought him a gun.

They should do some sort of mental health evaluation before people can have a gun. If they did, he would have never gotten one.

I’ve been getting closer with Nicole. She hasn’t brought up the things that Chris does since that day, although she’s been talking about Carter more and more.

It feels nice to have a friend. I’ve never had one before, at least not that I can remember. Tomorrow is the start of Thanksgiving break and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t going to miss Carter and Nicole.

Chris is going home for Thanksgiving, but he said dinner was family only and I wasn’t family. I guess I had hoped that since we have been together for so long that he and his family would welcome me as their own. I finish my last class for the day and am walking back to my dorm when I see Carter waiting outside the door.

Nicole walks in and he follows her. Are they hooking up? Why do I feel like I can’t catch my breath right now? Is that why he’s been so nice to me? I can’t handle this. This is why I never let myself care. I want to leave but, truthfully, I don’t have anywhere else to go right now.

I walk into my room, dreading whatever I am about to walk into. When I open the door, I see Carter sitting on my bed, alone. He looks up when he hears me come in. “Hey.”

Is he here for me? “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I…uh…I asked Nicole to sign me in because I wanted to talk to you. I hope that’s okay.”

“I guess so. What’s up?” I can’t help but smile. He came here for me. I hate that I always immediately think the worst of people. I wish I was the kind of person who could give their trust to someone. I wasn’t, at least not now, but I have a feeling that Carter can change all of that.

“I just wanted to say goodbye to you before I left for break tomorrow. I keep finding myself wanting to text you or call you, but I don’t have any way to do that. Why are you so anti-cell phone?” There is a joking tone to his voice.

He thinks that it is a choice? I hate that I need to explain this to him; it’s embarrassing to admit. I don’t want him to feel sorry for me. “I’m not anti-cell phone, Carter. I don’t have a job, and my scholarships and loans covered my tuition and housing with just a little bit left over for necessities.” I can see that he feels sorry for me, but that’s not what I want. I got to go to college, which was all I spent last year dreaming about.

“I don’t want you to feel bad for me. I have what I need.” I am not going to cry. I take a deep breath, trying to hold it together and not let him see how damaged I really am. I should be thankful that I received enough aid to go to school, not feeling sorry that I don’t get to have any luxuries.

“I understand being tight on money. After my mom died, we had it pretty rough. My family still isn’t very well off. I really just wanted to stop by and see you before I left. I hope you have a good break, Maddy.” He gives me a hug, and it takes every ounce of strength I have to hold back the tears. “So, where are you going?”

Shit. I don’t want to tell him this but, for some reason, I can’t bring myself to lie to him. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here on campus.” I avoid looking up at him and seeing the pity etched on his face.

“Why?” I don’t answer him. None of the reasons are anything I want to admit to him. I stare at the floor hoping that he will just leave. He lifted my face to his. “Why are you staying here alone?”

“You really wanna know, Carter?! Because I don’t have anyone! No family, no house, no one! I didn’t tell you this because I didn’t want you to feel bad for the poor little foster kid who bounced from bad house to bad house!” I turned away from him and sat on my bed. I just want to be alone right now. Nicole has been begging me all week to come home with her, but I refuse to be anybody’s charity case.

“What about Chris? Where is he?” Carters tone is so harsh. It’s almost like he is mad.

“He’s going home. He left a couple of hours ago.” Please don’t let him ask why I didn’t go with him.

“Come home with me.” Is he crazy? “No, I’m not crazy, Maddy. Come home with me.”

How did he do that? There was absolutely no way I was going home with him. First of all, can you say awkward?! ‘Hi, I’m the poor orphan your son has taken pity on. Thanks for dinner.’

“Carter, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m serious, Maddy. Come home with me?” I don’t answer him for a minute, trying to process what he is really asking me. “Come on, I don’t want you here on campus by yourself. Plus, you would be keeping me company, so really I’m being selfish.”

“Carter, you can’t just invite me home with you! I’m not a charity case and I’m used to being on my own. Not to mention, Chris might literally kill me!” FUCK! Why don’t I have a filter around him? I steal a glance up at Carter and can see him trying to control his anger. Is he pissed at me?

“What did you mean by that?”

“By what?”

“You said Chris might literally kill you. What did you mean? What’s going on, Maddy?” His voice is raised to the point that I can tell he is having a hard time keeping it together.

“Nothing, Carter. It’s just an expression. Leave it alone.” I try to remain casual and pretend like it’s no big deal when it is huge.

He pulls out his cell phone. What was he doing? “Hey…I’m good…leaving tomorrow afternoon…can I bring a friend with me?” Didn’t I just tell him no? Yes, I did! I told him NO! “Yeah…okay, great…love you too…I’ll see you tomorrow.” He puts the phone in his pocket and then looks at me. “It’s done. You’re coming home with me.”

I started to shake my head. I can’t do this, not with how I am starting to feel about him.

“Yes, Maddy. You’re not spending the holiday alone. You said Chris is going home anyway. He won’t even know. Please come home with me. I want you with me. I love being around you. Can’t you see that? I’m not doing you a favor in all this. You’re doing one for me.”

It would be amazing to be able to spend five days with Carter. But how will he explain me? “What would you say to your family?”

“It’s just my dad, brother, and sister. You heard me say that I was bringing home a friend.”

My heart hurts a little when he says “friend.” I hate how much I am falling for Carter. This trip is only going to make my feelings for him worse, but maybe I am a glutton for punishment. “Okay, you win.” The smile he shoots me makes me weak in the knees. Thank God I am sitting down or I might have fallen over. “I’ll pack a bag.”

I reach under the bed to get my suitcase and when I stand up, Carter wraps his arms around me. It feels so good to be in his arms like this. I relax and lay my head back against his chest. As he is holding me in his arms I feel so safe, and cared for. Yep, I was definitely a glutton for punishment.

He lets me go and I start packing my stuff. “You don’t have to stay here. I agreed to go. I’m not going to run away. I’ll be ready tomorrow.”

“I want you to come to my house with me tonight. Everyone is gone and I was just going to hang out and watch a movie. There’s no reason we can’t do that together.”

I swear this boy will be the death of me. “Carter, I don’t-”

“Please.”

I look up and the bastard is giving me puppy dog eyes and is actually pouting! “Ugh, fine!”

Then he smirks at me, sits down on Nicole’s bed, and waits.

I can’t help but smile as I think of spending time alone with him during this break.

Chapter Eleven

Carter

I can’t believe I got her to agree to come home with me. At that moment, I want to jump up and punch my fist in the air, I am so damn happy. We are on our way back to my house now and I can tell Maddy is nervous. I know my family will love her as much as I do. Wait...did I just say I loved her?

I couldn’t believe she was actually going to stay on campus all alone, and that piece of shit just left her. He didn’t even deserve to look at her much less call her his. “Can I ask you a question?” She looks over at me and nods her head. “Why didn’t you go home with Chris?”

“He…um…he said dinner was family only and, well, I’m not family.” Her voice is so quiet that I can barely make out what she is saying. She looks down into her lap and I see her wipe away a tear. She doesn’t deserve the way he treats her.

“Well, this weekend you’re part of my family.” She looks at me and gives me a smile, but I can tell she is still unsure of everything. We leave her bags in the car and she just grabs a change of clothes for tomorrow. I ordered Chinese food when we left her dorm so it should be here any minute. I tell Maddy to put her stuff in the bedroom and I’ll sleep on the couch tonight. I’d love to sleep next to her, but I think I pushed her enough for today. The food comes while Maddy is in the bathroom. I make us plates and bring them into the living room. She comes out in a T-shirt and sweatpants. God, she looks beautiful in everything.

“Thank you for dinner, and everything else. You really don’t need to do everything you are for me, but I appreciate it.”

I hate that she is always so negative about herself. She has no idea how amazing she is. “I want to, Maddy. Please don’t feel like you’re a burden. Let’s watch a movie. I’ll even let you pick.”

She looks up at me through her long lashes. “Anything?”

She didn’t know it, but I’d give her anything she ever asked for. “Just name it.”

We clean up the dinner mess and I get changed before we start the movie. When I walk back into the living room, Maddy is curled up on the couch. I love seeing her so comfortable in my house.

She looks up when she hears me come in and smiles. Usually I just sleep in boxers, but I knew that would make her uncomfortable. So I put on sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt. I see her looking me up and down. This reinforces my belief that this attraction isn’t just one-sided. When her eyes meet mine, she starts to blush. She knew I caught her looking, and I love it. I knew she wanted to be with me, she just wasn’t ready yet.

I looked at the TV and saw she had picked “A Walk To Remember.” Normally, I’d groan about having to watch a chick flick, but I didn’t care what she’d picked. I just wanted to watch it with her. “Why did you pick this one?”

“I read the book in high school and always wanted to see it. I just never got to. If you don’t want to watch it, we can pick something else.”

She is so damn cute. “This is fine. I’ve never seen it, either.” I only had a loveseat because it was usually just me, so we were sitting pretty close. By the end of the movie, Maddy was snuggled up against me, crying. As much as I tried to fight it, I let a couple tears escape too.

When did I turn into such a pussy? Truthfully, I think it was because Carter and Jamie were similar to Maddy and me. At first, they fought what they felt for each other, but when they finally got together, it was amazing. When the credits started running, Maddy looked up at me and laughed. She saw me crying. This was just great.

I lifted my hand and wiped the tears from her eyes. She turned her head and kissed my palm, and all of my control went out the window. I lowered my head and kissed her lips. Every time I kissed her was better than the last. I was about to pull away when she sat up and straddled me. She ran her fingers through my hair and deepened the kiss, slipping her tongue into my mouth.

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. If I could crawl inside of her, I would. I gripped her hips. I knew she could feel how hard I was. I lifted my hips and she jumped up off the couch.

FUCK! I’m such a stupid idiot! I pushed her too far. I looked up and expected to see anger in her eyes, but what I saw was fear. Why is she scared? I had a feeling this has something to do with Chris. That motherfucker is hurting her.

“Maddy, I’m so sorry! I got carried away. I just-”

“I’m not one of your whores, Carter!”

What was she talking about? I hadn’t been with anyone since I met her in September. I’d tried to go home with girls after she told me we couldn’t hang out anymore, but I could never go through with it. Before then, I definitely had my fair share of girls, but I never treated them like whores. I just never had a relationship.

“What do you mean, Maddy? I know you’re not a whore! I don’t know who’s telling you things about me, but it’s not true! I haven’t been with anyone since the first day I met you. I haven’t wanted anyone else!” I got up and made my way over to her. I kissed her. She needed to feel how I felt about her.

She pushed me away. “Carter, I can’t do this.” Her eyes betrayed her. She wanted me just as much as I wanted her.

“Why not?”

“I just can’t right now.” Shit, she was crying. I picked her up and walked her over to the couch.

“I’m sorry I pushed you. I’ll back off, I promise.”

She let me hold her for a few minutes, then got up. “I’m going to go to bed now. I’ll see you in the morning.”

God, I hope I didn’t just blow it.

Chapter Twelve

Madison

I wake up in the morning to the smell of bacon. I walk out of the bedroom and see Carter in the kitchen...cooking. I don’t remember the last time someone made me breakfast. It must have been before my mom died.

I am just watching him move around the kitchen, enjoying the view since he hasn’t noticed me yet. He is so amazing. I don’t know what I did to have someone like him care about me. I close the bedroom door and he turns around to look at me.

“I hope you like bacon and eggs. I made some coffee too.”

“Carter, that is so nice of you, thank you.” I don’t think he understands how much everything he does means to me. I walk over to him and give him a hug. He tenses for a minute and I second-guess myself, but then he wraps his arms around my waist.

He is probably scared to touch me after last night. I don’t know what had come over me, but I heard Chris yelling in my head that he only wanted me to be his whore. “You know, I don’t think anyone has ever cooked for me, at least not that I can remember.”

I see a look of sadness cross his face. “Well, that’s a damn shame. If you were mine, I’d cook for you all the time.” He has no idea how much I want to be his. “It would be a very limited menu, and you’d have to sign a waiver agreeing that if you got sick you couldn’t blame me. However, if you were willing to take the risk, I’d do it.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. He is so adorable. I want to cook for him too; I want to make him happy. Maybe I could help with dinner tomorrow. “You’re too good to me. I’ll have to make it up to you one night.” I just realized how bad that sounded. I hope he didn’t take it that way. I was really falling for Carter, but there is no way I am ready to do that with him.

He put the food down on the table and then walked back over to the counter where I was still standing. “You don’t have to make anything up to me. I do things for you because I want to, not because I want something in return.” He kisses me on the forehead, before leading me over to the table. It takes me a second to remember how to walk. I’ve never had a relationship where someone didn’t want something in return. I sit down next to him and start to eat. “This is really good.”

He looks up at me and smiles. “So, how about you? Can you cook?”

I take a deep breath. “Yeah, I actually can. When I was growing up, if I didn’t cook, I didn’t eat.” I don’t know why I am always so honest with him. I trust Carter, which is scary because I haven’t trusted anyone in a really long time. “Does your dad cook?”

“No, not unless you count frozen meals.” He starts laughing and so do I. This feels so right and so normal. “Hey, I have an idea. We usually just do take out for Thanksgiving, but since you’re coming home with me, would you want to cook? I could be your assistant.”

He wants me to cook? With him? At his house for Thanksgiving dinner? I guess it would be a nice way to say thank you to his dad. “Sure, that sounds fun.”

His smile is huge, as he goes to get his cell phone. “Hey, Dad…we’re leaving in about an hour, but we’re going to stop at the grocery store first…Maddy and I are going to make dinner tomorrow...okay, great.” He hangs up the phone and looks over at me. “I think he fell in love with you already.”

After breakfast, we clean up and then get in the car. I brought a notebook and a pen with me so I could use his phone to look up recipes and make a shopping list. The drive to Carter’s house is about three hours. Halfway through the ride, I have the menu all figured out. I am surprisingly excited for all this. He reaches over and grabs my hand, so I look over at him.

“Thank you for coming home with me, and for agreeing to cook dinner. I don’t think we’ve cooked for a holiday since my mom died.” He doesn’t know that I am just as happy about this as he is.

We go to the grocery store and get everything we need. Carter seems to always find a way to touch me, and I kind of love it. When we pull up to his house, my nerves start to kick in.

Here goes nothing.