Текст книги "Fall For Me"

Автор книги: Alexis Noelle

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Chapter Seventeen

Carter

She is asleep when I get back to the room. I loved being able to do that for her tonight, and I knew how much it meant that she let me. I hated that she felt like she owed me, though.

As much as I would’ve loved for her to do it, I saw the look on her face. I wanted her to know that I didn’t expect something in return, like everyone else in her life always had.

I climb into bed beside her and wrap my arms around her. She lets out the most contented sigh I’ve ever heard. Then she said, almost too low for me to hear it, “I love you, Carter.”

“Maddy, are you up?” Nothing. I couldn’t believe she loved me. To know that she felt the way that I did gave me so much more motivation to win her over tomorrow. I would show her why she should choose me. I wish it was tomorrow already. I am going to give Maddy the best birthday ever.

*  *  *

When I wake up, she is still asleep in my arms. I slip out from underneath her and go to work. I make breakfast and put up the couple decorations I bought yesterday.

There is a Happy Birthday banner that I taped to the kitchen counter, and a couple streamers. There is also a pile of presents on the counter. I can’t wait for her to get up. I know she is going to be surprised. I hear my bedroom door open and I am thankful that everyone else is still asleep. I want to be able to share this just with her.

When she sees everything, the look on her face makes all the running around yesterday worth it. She puts her hand over her mouth as she draws in a breath. “Carter, what is all of this?”

I walk over to her, put my arms around her, and whisper in her ear, “Happy Birthday, beautiful.” I move my head to the side and kiss her. Then I feel wetness on my cheeks, and pull back to look at her. She has tears running down her face. “What’s wrong, baby?”

She leans in and kisses me again, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her body into mine. “This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. How did you know it was my birthday?”

“Nicole told me about it on Thanksgiving. Why didn’t you tell me?”

She let go of me and went to sit on the couch. “I haven’t celebrated my birthday since I was three. My mother died on my fourth birthday and my father always blamed me. A drunk driver hit her when she went to get my birthday cake. When she didn’t come home that night, my father told me I killed her. He started drinking after that and couldn’t even bear to look at me. Then when I was put in the foster homes, no one cared. I eventually just stopped celebrating it myself. When I started dating Chris, I thought maybe he’d want to celebrate it with me. He told me I was already used to not celebrating it, so why change it now.”

I hated him with every fiber of my being. I didn’t understand why she ever stayed with him. I needed to talk to her about this.

“When I walked out here and saw all of this, I thought I was dreaming. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever known.” She leans in and kisses me again. Maddy has been through so much. All I want to do is make every day from now on special. She starts to look around and that is when she sees the presents. “You got me gifts?”

“Yeah. When I stopped by the mall yesterday, I gave Holly some money to get you some stuff.” I hear footsteps coming toward us. My dad, Ant, and Holly came in the room. They all say happy birthday to Maddy and give her hugs. “Is everyone hungry? I made breakfast.”

Ant looked at me and scowled. “I’m not trying to get sick, dude. I’ll pass.”

I hear Maddy giggling next to me. “I have to say, he made me breakfast before and it was really good.”

I put my arm around her waist and pull her against me. “See, the birthday girl likes my cooking.”

“Hey, all I said was your breakfast was good. I don’t know anything about the other stuff.” Everyone starts laughing. I love how well she fits into my family.

After we eat breakfast, we all sit in the living room and give Maddy her gifts. Holly did really well. She bought her a new pair of boots, two shirts, a jacket, and a pair of jeans. I’ve never seen her smile this much. She thanks us and gives out hugs to everyone.

I help her carry her stuff into my bedroom and as soon as I shut the door, she shoves me against it. She crushes her lips against mine, and I am so surprised and turned on that I let out a groan. She slips her tongue into my mouth and starts playing with my hair.

I wrap my arms around her and lift her up a little. She clenches her legs around my waist. The sounds that she is making are getting me so worked up. I want this girl, and I want her bad.

I carry her over to the bed and lie down with her. I start kissing her all over her neck. I need to stop this. She isn’t ready, my family is down the hall, and I already have a major case of blue balls. “Hey, where did this crazy girl come from?”

She looks up at me and smiles. She is adorable. “I’ve never felt so cared for by anyone, Carter. I always shy away from people because I assume all they’ll do is hurt me. I’ve been so scared to let someone touch me ever since I was a kid but, with you, everything just feels right. You make me feel like it’s enough to just be who I am.”

I don’t know what to say to her. I am so glad that I affected her that way. “It is enough to be who you are. I want you to feel safe with me. I’m not going to judge you or try to change you.”

She wraps her arms around me and we just lie there for a while.

“Hey, I have one more thing to give you.”

She looks up at me. “Carter, you’ve already done so much.”

“The day isn’t over yet, baby. We’re going out tonight.”

“We are? Where?”

“It’s a surprise. Speaking of surprises, wait one minute.” This was the gift I was most anxious to give her, but I wanted to do it in private. I took the velvet box in my hand and went to sit back down on the bed. When she saw the box in my hand, I swear she almost had a heart attack. “Calm down. I’m not proposing.” I handed her the box. “Open it.”

When she did, she gasped and put her hand over her mouth. I took it from her and lifted it out of the box.

I move behind her and fasten the necklace around her neck. It was a white gold chain with a double heart pendant. “Carter, it’s beautiful.”

“The guy at the store said it’s a symbol for two people in love. They are two hearts that will forever be intertwined.”

“I love it.”

I love you. I couldn’t bring myself to say it to her, although I wanted to. I didn’t think she was ready to hear it yet, even though she said it to me last night in her sleep.

We spend the rest of the day watching movies and talking in my room. Once it gets a little later, I tell her we have reservations for dinner and she starts to get ready. When she comes out of the room, she has on the new pair of jeans, one of the shirts, and the jacket that Holly got her. She looks beautiful, and I am excited to finally be able to take her out.

Chapter Eighteen

Madison

Carter looks sexy! He has on a black button up shirt, jeans that hang just low enough on his hips, and that smirk that made me want to drag him back to his room.

“I’m ready to go,” I say, trying to contain the high level of excitement running through me.

He walks over to me and gives me a kiss on the lips. “You’re so beautiful.” I can’t help but blush. “Are you excited?”

“Yes, I haven’t been out to dinner in a really long time.” He frowned when I said that. I never really knew how bad I had it with Chris until Carter came into my life. He took my hand and we started to leave.

We pull up to the restaurant and he leads me inside. He gives the hostess his name and she smiles at him. She leads us to a booth in the back of the restaurant, gives us our menus and then leaves, but not before she slips Carter a piece of paper. What the hell is that?

He looks down at it, laughs and throws it on the floor under the booth. He looks up at me and sees that I am watching him expectantly.

“Yes, she gave me her number. As you can see, I put it where it belongs. I’d say that your number is the only one I want, but you don’t have a phone.”

I shake my head at him and then open the menu. Wow. Everything is so expensive! “Carter,” I whisper, “it is really expensive in here. Are you sure about this?”

He laughs at me. “Maddy, I work four nights a week and I make pretty good money. Order whatever you want, okay?”

“Okay. I’ve never been anywhere nearly as nice as this. Chris and I only went out to dinner once and it was to this place called Chili’s...and he had me order from the two-for-twenty menu.” I see him clench his jaw. I should really stop bringing him up. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“It’s okay. I’m not upset with you. I just hate how he treats you.” Since the booth is a semi-circle, he is able to scoot over toward me. He leans in and gives me a quick kiss. “You deserve the world, baby, and I want to help give it to you if you’ll let me.”

The waitress comes and takes our orders, and then it was just us. What was going to happen when we went back to school? I wasn’t sure I’d get the answer I wanted, but I needed to ask. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What’s going to happen when we go back?” I was crossing my fingers that he wanted to be with me as much as I wanted him to.

“That’s up to you, Maddy.”

Why is it up to me? I mean, a relationship is a choice that two people are supposed to make together. I hope he is not gonna slip in some condition for us being together. “What do you mean?”

“You have all the power in this situation. I want to be with you, I want to have you by my side, and I want to wake up to you in my bed. As long as you’re willing to break it off with Chris, though. I can’t be your secret.” He stares into my eyes as he says this and his voice is soft.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. I hated that I had tried to keep him a secret. He is so much more than that. I know it hurt him that I did that, and I am surprised he even went along with it at all. I never really understood why he waited for me, either. It wasn’t like he was in short supply of available girls. I saw the way they all looked at him.

He didn’t want them, though, he wanted me. “I don’t want you to be my secret, Carter. Would you be willing to give me a couple days when we get back, though?” I don’t know how he is going to take this. “Chris can be…temperamental. I just want a couple days to tell him and make him understand it’s over.”

“Maddy, I need you to tell me the truth about what’s going on with you and him.”

Did he really want to have this talk now? I’m not ready to tell him everything. I’ve been letting him in little by little, but it was going to take time. “Carter, can we have this talk later? I really don’t want to ruin the night.”

He frowns, but seems to understand. “Okay, just as long as you’ll tell me eventually.” An awkward silence forms between us. “You know, that necklace is beautiful. Someone with really good taste must have picked it out.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at that. “Someone really important gave it to me.” He leans in to give me another kiss just as the waitress is bringing our food.

Dinner is amazing and when Carter said we weren’t done yet, I didn’t know what to expect. As we were driving, he turned to me and asked, “Have you ever been dancing? Like at a club?”

I wouldn’t even begin to know how to dance. Sure, I’ve seen plenty of other girls do it, but that didn’t mean I had the slightest idea how. “No.”

“Good. I believe that’s another first, Miss Stevens.” He stops the car and we are in front of a place called Midnight. Oh my god. It was a club! I am going to make an idiot out of myself.

We walk into the club and, instantly, I feel out of place. He leans close to my ear. “Do you want a drink?”

“No, I think I’ve had enough firsts tonight.”

“You’ve never had a drink?” I shook my head. “Well, that will be a first I’ll definitely enjoy giving you.”

Just then, a slower song came on which, I was guessing, didn’t happen a lot. Most people started to leave the dance floor so only the couples were left. He grabs my hand and leads me onto the dance floor. I recognize the song as Pink’s “Just Give Me a Reason.” He puts my arms around his neck and starts swaying me back and forth. I can handle this. As I am listening to the song, I realize how much the chorus relates to me. She is talking about being broken, but being able to pick up the pieces and start again. That is exactly what I wanted to do with Carter.

He leaned down to kiss me and we stopped moving. We stood there, in the middle of the dance floor, just kissing each other until the song ended.

The DJ came on and announced that was the last slow song of the night and the dance party was starting. It immediately changed into a fast song. I had no idea what to do so I started watching the people around me. They were all grinding with each other. I looked up at him and he brought his mouth down to my ear. “I completely understand if you are not up for that. We could always go sit down somewhere.”

“No. I’m done letting what happened to me in the past affect my present. I don’t really know what to do, though, so you’ll have to be patient with me.”

“Okay, baby, come here then.” He pulls me against him so I am standing with my back to him. He then puts his hands on my hips and slowly starts to move side to side. This was actually really nice. Where am I supposed to put my hands?

I rest my hands on Carter’s and I feel him start to get hard behind me. He stiffens and I know he is unsure of how I am going to react. I have to show him that this is okay.

I lean my body back into him and turn my head to the side to see him. I smile at him while wrapping my arms around his neck. He leans down and kisses me, but it isn’t sweet like before. I can feel his desperation and need in this kiss. I start moving my hips in little circles against him and he groans in my ear.

“Maddy, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.” His voice is deep and rough, sending chills through my body.

I start watching the girls around me and taking ideas from them. I decide to try one of their moves. I lean forward, putting my hands on my knees and pushing my ass into Carter’s bulge. I start moving it in little circles. I could tell he liked it from the way he gripped my hips tighter.

Chapter Nineteen

Carter

She is driving me crazy. At first I could tell she needed me to guide her but after she wraps her hands around the back of my neck, she seems to take over from there. When she bent over, I was a goner.

This felt so damn good and, after consistently getting worked up these past couple days with no relief, it wasn’t going to take me long to get there. We couldn’t do this in the middle of the club though, could we?

I pull her up so I can whisper in her ear. “Maddy, baby, this feels so good. But unless you want me to come right on this dance floor, I think we need to take a break.”

She laughs at me and then resumes grinding her sexy ass against my throbbing dick. This can’t really be happening. She reaches around my neck again and starts to play with my hair. Then, she turns her head to the side and starts to kiss up and down my neck. “Baby, listen-”

“Carter, it’s okay. I know you need this and it’s kind of exciting.” She kissed me and when she took my bottom lip in between her teeth and pulled, I lost it.

I knew I was close. Between her rubbing up against me and how forward she was being, it would be any minute. She did the thing where she bent over again and I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Fuck, Maddy!” I can’t believe I just did that. I feel like a fucking teenager all over again. This is going to be an uncomfortable drive home.

She turned to me with the biggest smile on her face. She is enjoying this! “You ready to go home?”

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”

When we get back home, Anthony and my dad are sitting on the couch. Dad took one look at me and could tell something was up. “What the hell are you walking like that for?”

I hear Maddy giggling behind me. I am gonna get her for this later. “Someone spilled a drink on me at the club. I’m gonna go take a shower.” Maddy sits down in the living room. “You gonna stay out here?”

“Yeah, just let me know when you’re done. I could use a shower too.”

Anthony butts in. “Just take a shower with the poor guy! He did work hard on your birthday, you know!” I walk over and punch him hard in the arm. “OW! Dude, I was just trying to help you out!” I look over at Maddy and she is blushing. “Whatever. I’m gonna head out. Paul is having a party tonight. Have fun not showering together. I always knew you were gay!”

All I could do was shake my head. “I’ll see you in a couple minutes, okay?”

“Okay.”

Madison

I am sitting in the living room, watching TV with Carter’s dad and thinking about how perfect today had been. “So, how was your birthday?”

“It was perfect. I can’t believe he did all of this for me. You really raised an amazing man.”

Carter’s dad smiles at me. “Thank you. I was worried when his mom first passed away, but all of them have turned out really well. Even Anthony, although sometimes I wanna duct tape his mouth closed.” I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “He really cares a lot about you.”

“I care about him a lot, too, probably more than you know.”

“That’s good to hear.”

I hear the bathroom door and Carter yell out to me that he is done. “Well, I’m going to go get in the shower. Thank you again for everything, I really had a great time here.”

“You’re welcome here anytime, honey.”

I couldn’t resist it. I walk over and give his dad a hug. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, sweetheart, and Happy Birthday again.”

“Thank you.”

When I get out of the shower and go into the room, Carter is already in bed. I climb in and snuggle up to him. “Did you have a good birthday?”

“I had the best birthday I’ve ever had. Truthfully, it’s probably been the best day of my life.”

“Good, I’m glad.” He leans down and gives me a kiss.

A few minutes pass and I thought maybe now might be a good time to talk about Chris. I didn’t want to do it at dinner earlier. I still wasn’t ready to tell Carter everything, but I had to let him in, he deserved it. “Carter, did you still want to talk?”

No answer.

“Carter?”

I looked up at him and he was asleep.

“Goodnight, Carter...I love you.”

*  *  *

I wake up the next morning feeling out of it. This is just great. I am getting sick. I slept most of the ride back to campus. Carter walks me to my room, and only agrees to leave because Nicole is there.

I usually love the way Carter always wants to be around me, but not when I am sick. I knew he was waiting for me to bring up Chris too. He is getting back tomorrow afternoon, and I am dreading that conversation.

I barely make it through all of my classes on Monday. I am so sick, all I want to do is sleep. Chris called when he got back into town but once he knew I was sick, he said he was staying away from me. However, Carter was regularly dropping off tea and soup to me. He makes me so unbelievably happy. By Wednesday, I was feeling better and asked Chris if he’d come over to talk to me after my classes. Carter had work tonight and tomorrow night, and Nicole had gotten me a part time-job and my first shift was tomorrow.

Chris met me outside my last class and we walked to my room together. Nicole said she’d stay out till later tonight.

“So, what was so important that you needed me to come over, Madison?”

I am so scared. I wish Carter could have been here with me. I know that would have made it so much worse, though. “Chris, I…I just…I don’t want to do this anymore.” My voice is shaking the entire time.

His head snaps up and he glares at me. “Do what exactly?”

“Us. I want to break up.” There, I said it. For a moment I feel like a burden has been lifted.

He walks over to me and stands in front of me. “Does this have something to do with Carter James?”

“I’m sorry, Chris, but yes.” He slaps me across my face. I yelp in pain as I take a step away from him.

“You are not going to leave me, Madison.” He pushes me to the ground.

“This is not what’s going to happen!”

Kick in the ribs.

“Especially not for someone like Carter.”

Kick in the back.

He leans down and wraps his hands around my throat. “I already told my parents you were coming home with me for winter break. You will not make a fool out of me. Do you understand?”

I could only nod my head. I am starting to get lightheaded and I feel like I am going to pass out. He took his hands off of my neck and I struggled to be able to breathe normally.

“Now, you’re going to talk to that asshole on Friday and tell him you chose me, right?” I nodded again. “If you think about trying to trick me, Madison, just remember that I now have a license to carry. In his case, that means I have a license to kill.”

No! I won’t let him hurt Carter. I’m not sure how I’m going to do this to him, but I have to.

*  *  *

Friday morning, Chris came with me to make sure I told Carter exactly what he said to. When he sees me coming he smiles, then he sees Chris behind me and his whole body stiffens. When we get closer, he reaches out his hand to me and Chris slaps it away. “Don’t you touch my girl.”

The look on Carter’s face is horrible. “What do you mean ‘your girl’? Maddy, what’s going on?”

I can’t look him in the eye because if I do, I won’t be able to do this. “Carter, I don’t want to be with you. You were just a way to pass the time. I want to be with Chris. We never had anything real between us.”

He leans down to look at me. “No, Maddy, I can see it in your eyes. What did he do? Don’t do this because of him!”

Chris just laughs. “You’re making yourself look pathetic. Oh, and here, take this.” He threw my birthday present at Carter. I hate that Chris took that from me too. I tried to tell him it was from Nicole, but he saw right through me.

The look on his face will haunt me in every dream I have from now on. “Maddy, please, wait! Talk to me, dammit!”

I swear, I think he has tears in his eyes. I am walking away from Carter, the only person I’ve ever loved and who loved me in return. Not only that, but I am doing it for someone who, I have no doubt, will eventually beat me so badly that I may never recover.

I had to do it, though. I love Carter so much. If being with Chris keeps him safe, then I’ll gladly do it.

I’d do anything for him.