Steeling Her: A Romance Novel

Carter

We’re driving along the street to get to where Ryan made his plans for the date. We’re making small talk while we make our way to wherever our destination is. He seems like a really nice guy. Polite and sweet. I have no idea where he’s taking me for this date.

I hope he’s not a weird serial killer that’s going to chop me up in a remote place. I would like a degree before any of that happens.

Carter, chill, I mentally scold myself for that thought. You’re being over dramatic now.

Once we stop, I see we’re at a bowling alley. I smile at the sight of the building. I haven’t been to one since I was fifteen. He opens my door for me and holds out his hand, allowing me to slip out of his truck. He chuckles before he speaks. I’m just looking up in awe, remembering all the times I went to a bowling alley with my brothers.

“This alright?” he asks me.

“Yeah, this is cool. I haven’t gone bowling in years.” I grin as I watch the double doors swing back and forth with couples and families walking in and out. A big blue and pink sign above highlights “Benny’s Bowling” above me. I see young people run past the window every so often as we approach the entrance. It looks to be a group of them playing around with each other after a kid’s party.

We walk in together, and he holds the door open for me. We head straight to the counter to get our shoes. The employee flits her eyelashes at Ryan and I try not to giggle. What is with these guys and all of these girls? They look like they don’t notice it half of the time; it’s probably because they’re used to it.

“I hope you and your sister have a good time,” she says seductively. Sister? I don’t look like him, I thought to myself. I start eyeing Ryan’s features to see what part of us look alike.

“Actually, were on a date.” He takes my hand, and I hear a gasp leave her mouth. Pulling me away to get to our lane, we climb down the steps, our feet sliding along the floor.

Ryan types in both our names and he turns around to smile at me. “You ready to get annihilated?” The smugness is evident in his tone. I’m so nervous, I actually nod stupidly to his question. I face palm myself when he starts laughing at me. “Hey, chill, Carter. It’s just me.” I smile back at his kindness.

He’s trying to make me feel comfortable. I feel so out of place. It’s probably just because I’m so nervous?

Half an hour into the game, he kept his promise in annihilating me. I knew athletes would be competitive, but I didn’t realize it was this bad. I wonder if Nick is this competitive?

Stop that. You’re with someone else, you can’t think about him.

I shake my head, ridding the memory. I stand up because it’s my turn. There’s at least a one hundred point difference between me and Ryan. I take the lightest ball and walk to the line, throwing it as best I can. It’s heading straight down the middle and towards the pins. Am I going to get my first strike of the night?

Please. Please. Please. Just one. Oh God, just this once.

I cross my fingers while trying not to yell at the damn ball every time it threatens to swerve left or right. Everything seems to be in slow motion as I watch impatiently for the ball to meet the standing pins.

Crash.

Every single one of them falls down, and I stand there in complete shock. I got a strike. I start jumping up and down and clapping like a seal out of water;I practically look like an idiot. Once I spin around, I see Ryan is smiling at me with two thumbs up, and I grin so hard at him.

“Nice one!” he cheers to me, and I sit back on the seat beside him.

“Thanks,” I shyly reply back to him. I feel his eyes on me so I turn back around to face him. I was right, he’s still staring at me. I feel my cheeks blush from the attention. Why is he staring at me? Oh shit, do I have something in my face?

“You look really pretty tonight, Carter.” He places his arm around the back of the seat I’m in, leaning in closer to me. I stand up abruptly and tell him I need to make a call. He nods, smiling up at me, and I walk back out the front doors, nearly fumbling over my own feet trying to get away.

I call Danielle and wait for her to answer.

“Hello?” She finally answers on the sixth ring, sounding slightly breathless but I honestly don’t want to know.

“Danielle!” I say in a panic.

“Carter? What’s up? Aren’t you meant to be out with Ryan?” she quizzes me. What am I doing?

“Yeah, I’m on the date now . . .” I wander off, trying to figure out why I actually called her. I shudder at the word. Why did I call her?

“Okay . . . so you’re calling me because . . .?” I wait a few seconds to answer her, but I can’t think of anything to say. “Are you alright, Carter? You’re breathing really heavy right now.” I hear her shuffle around. I now consciously hear my own breathing. It’s going one hundred miles an hour.

Shit. I’m having a panic attack. Why now of all times?

“Carter, just listen to me. Breathe in and out, okay? Copy me. In . . . out . . . in . . . out . . . Keep doing that and say it back to me” she instructs me. “Okay . . . Now, tell me what’s up? Is it Ryan? Did he say something?” Shaking my head no. She can’t see you Carter!

“No no, he hasn’t said anything. He’s been so nice . . . really nice . . . but . . .” I don’t know how to say it nicely. I’m just not feeling anything with him. I feel so guilty that I’ve lead him on. I shouldn’t have agreed to this date. I mentally berate myself.

“But what? You can tell me? Are you not feeling it?” I shake my head only to realize she can’t see me.

“Danielle, I feel awful that I don’t feel anything with him, even though I think he feels something with me. I feel like I’ve lead him on . . .” I huff at how stupid I was to agree to this. The guilt is sitting in my stomach and it’s heavy. I can’t do anything about it, I feel so shitty.

“Okay, but it’s still so early for you two. You might end up actually liking him, maybe only as a friend? Just go back in and keep going until it’s over, then make your decision,” she coaches me through this. I’m so bad at these things. Thank God she knows what to do.

“What if he asks me out again?” I blurt out, scared of the proposition. I don’t know if I want to go out with anyone.

“Then answer him honestly.” I sigh, knowing she’s right. I should go back inside, it’s been a long time.

“Okay, I’ll see you guys later then?” Hearing her agree, we hang up.

I walk back inside to see Ryan talking to a group of girls that are leaning over the seats. His arms are resting behind him cooly on the other side, pretty far from them. I don’t know whether to make my way to him and interrupt or leave him to it. He seems to be in his element with the attention.

Watching them laugh at whatever he said, I don’t notice my feet walking towards him; he does though. His tongue is out on his lips, wetting them, and he smirks at me.

“Hey, you good?” he asks me as I slip into the seat beside him.

“Yeah, thought I left the straightener on,” I lied, surprising myself. His eyes widen in realization how dangerous it was. “I didn’t, it’s all okay. I called Danielle she said it wasn’t plugged in.” Relief washes over his face and I smile back at him. He taps my leg with his.

“Glad to hear it. So, I was thinking, you want to go to a party with me? It’s a friend of mine’s birthday. Caleb? From the football team? Have you met him?” I shake my head. “Well, he’s throwing a party tonight. I know it’s a Monday and all, but he only throws them on his actual birthday; he doesn’t care about what day it falls on. And he throws pretty epic parties too.” He laughs shaking his head.

I smile and tell him I’d like to go. I’d like to see Haley and Danielle since I know that they’re going. So, it’s not like I won’t know anyone there. It puts my racing mind at ease.

We slide off the bowling shoes and make our way to the counter once more, returning them to a different girl behind the desk, who smiles at the both of us as we put our other shoes back on. She asks us if we had a good time. I nod while Ryan stares down at me as he places his shoes on the countertop.

“I had an amazing time,” he says as he stares at me, my cheeks going bright red at his tone. The way he said it was low and lust-filled. He surprised me at how close he got; then he really surprised me by kissing my cheek. I turned as red as a tomato.

We walk out to the car and see that the sky is really dark. I feel Ryan’s warm hand on my back. I slide into the passenger seat once he opens my door and notice those girls follow behind us and smirk at Ryan.

I saw it. The lust on their faces.

Starting the engine up and driving out slowly, everyone in the group all wave to him and he waves back. Did he just flirt with those girls while he took me out? How rude. I know I don’t like him like that, but still, it’s rude to flirt with all of them while you’re taking someone out. I wouldn’t do that to him, so it’s not okay for him to do that to me.

Moments later, with strained small talk, we arrive at the house and I slip out of the car, not waiting for his help. We walk into the house together to see Danielle with Haley and TJ behind the booming speaker in the kitchen. Then I see Maya sitting like a lapdog on Nick’s lap, his hand stroking her exposed thigh. She’s sitting in a tight purple dress with specs of gold on it. Her legs are so open, I can practically see her panties. I scowl at the thought. He’s entertaining the idea. He’s not pushing her off him like this morning.

I saw him earlier with her when I was walking to class. They were making out, and I felt the bile rise up my throat. I had to run to the bathroom to not get sick. The only thought I had was that he did move on. He moved back to her. Typical. He crushed me in the process. As much as I’d like to say it doesn’t bother me, it does. Seeing him with her hurts. It’s painful. I thought he liked me. I guess not.

He’s now sipping in his beer, acting like nothing has happened, and feel sick again.

***

Nick

Maya’s pretty much grinding on me while I sit on the sofa, our group surrounding me in a light chatter. But when Carter entered in, I couldn’t look away. I only stopped when I saw that dickhead behind her. She looked so stunning in her grey jeans and blue top with a black leather jacket resting on her shoulders. I see she’s not wearing any heels either. She looks smaller and cuter.

She looks gorgeous.

I pull Maya closer to me, and she leans in to whisper filthy things in my ear. I feel my member growing harder by the second. Not because of her words, but because I’m imagining Carter doing all those things to me. I need to stop thinking about her.

Fuck. Nick, she went out with Ryan. If that doesn’t scream “I’m over you” then I don’t know what will. I see from the corner of my eye that he has his arm wrapped around her waist. I fucking hate it. I really fucking hate it. He’s staking his claim, but she’s not his. When he notices me staring at her, he pulls her even closer to him, wrapping that arm ever tighter around her perfect body.

I watch them both maneuvre through the small crowd gathered in front of me. Everyone says hi to Ryan, all except for me. I can’t even fucking look at the prick. I see my drink has run out in my hand and lift Maya off me so I can grab another in the other room. She goes and talks to Kelly.

I see TJ with the three girls in the kitchen and bend down to get another chilled bottle. I plan on getting absolutely wasted tonight, blackout drunk. TJ comes over to join me to get one while I take the cap off mine. He sets his bottle down in front of me, silently asking for me to do the same. “You good, bro?” he asks me.

“Fan-fucking-tastic, TJ,” I sarcastically reply. I’m not in the mood. He gives me a knowing look.

“Maybe you should talk to her?” He jerks his head over to Carter’s back. I immediately zone in on her perky and inviting ass.

“And say what exactly?” I shrug, taking a sip. I’m noticeably checking her out. I don’t give a fuck either.

“Nick, man, come on. Stop being so stubborn and just talk to her.” He nudges my shoulder before walking away and taking Haley and Danielle with him. She finds an empty cup to fill with water. She’s standing beside me but not acknowledging me. It’s driving me fucking crazy. Once the water is in the cup, she dumps it out and fills it back up again with cold water. I watch her every move, study her. She looks fucking incredible. I hate that I’m thinking that, but she does. I drink her up, allowing my eyes to keep trailing her body.

She turns around to meet my eyes. I wanted to say something to her, but she walks away, leaving me alone in a crowded room. I stand there for a while, not wanting to go back into the other room. All I want to do is for us to go back to normal. I want to kiss her and hold her. That’s all I fucking want.

I’m a little drunk now. I can feel it. I’m reaching the point where I’ll say just about anything. And for the first time in my life, I’m feeling needy. I chase after her.

Now I’m pissed, because the douchebag himself walks into the kitchen. He stands over beside me, making himself a drink. “Jackson,” he greets me with a smug smile on his face. God, I’ve come to hate this guy more than ever. I feel bad if I see Rob too. I won’t like his face either, seeing as they’re identical.

“Prick,” I mumble into my bottle and he laughs back. I say what I want when I’m drunk. Even then, I’d still say that sober as well. He is a prick.

“Now, now, no need to be bitter, Jackson. I won fair and square.” He smirks moving his head to the side.

“She isn’t a game, Ryan. You’re a fucking moron if you think so.” The anger lights up in his eyes and I smirk knowing I’ve hit a nerve. Let it begin.

“At least I got a fucking date with her! How far did you get? Yeah, nowhere!” He leans over me, trying to get right in my face to intimidate me, but as luck would have, I’m not scared of him. “And I’ll get further tonight with her too. She’s looking so fucking sexy tonight. I can’t wait for her to moan my name when she cums on my dick. You can watch if you want?” He winks at the end, pleased with himself. The things coming out of his mouth is fucking vile. He can’t talk about her like that. He can’t talk about anyone like that, especially not Carter.

“What did you say?” I push my face against his and challenge this pussy. I set the bottle down over to the side of the counter.

“You heard me, Jackson. Get the fuck out of my face!” he roars back at me, but I don’t even flinch. The room suddenly goes quiet, and all eyes are on us. I can feel them; I don’t care. Prepare for a show boys, shit is about to kick off.

“You touch her like that, I will end your fucking life, Ryan,” I warn him. If he opens his mouth and lets it run like that again, I will nail him to the fucking wall. I’m so pissed off at him.

“Is that a threat, Jackson?” He’s testing my patience.

“That’s a promise, Averman.” I push back. We’re in each other’s faces like last time, foreheads touching, and I’m about to ram this idiot’s face into the ground if he doesn’t shut the fuck up.

The smirk on his face tells me he’s not going to let up. I’m game, I will punch the manners back into this guy for talking about her like that.

“I’ll let you know how she tastes.” He grins sinisterly back before taking a step out of the space. My fist collides with his jaw, pummelling him back to the ground. Screams and the scattering of people can be heard. I launch myself on top of him with both our fists in the open air, swiping at one another. Gasps and screams are heard around us and we hear footsteps rush into the room. I know he’s getting his own punches in—I can taste my blood—but I have too much adrenaline in me right now to feel the pain. I’m getting more punches in; I’m in control of ruining this pretty boy’s face and stopping that mouth from running any further.

Punch after punch, I’m finally dragged off of him. Three guys pull me out of the room, one being TJ, and I give Ryan the middle finger as I’m being dragged out, proud that I sent him a strong message to leave her the fuck alone.

“You’re a fucking psycho, Jackson!” he screams back at me, still on the floor. I’m being dragged outside by my teammates, and Danielle storms over to me. She hits my chest, telling me to walk over to the side.

“What the fuck was that?” she yells to me. Her eyes tell me she’s angry. Why?

“Why the fuck are you pissed?” I bite back at her. Her brows furrow instantly, and I know I’m in for a good lashing from her. TJ is comforting a shaken Haley over beside the cars. But where’s Carter?

“Why am I pissed? Why am I pissed?” She laughs hysterically before continuing on, “I’m annoyed because you beat the shit out of my friend’s date for no reason. You looked like you were in a jealous rage in there! This is your fault! Why did you beat him up, Nick? What the fuck happened?” Her voice turns into a squeaky mess when she asks me that last part.

“I didn’t like the way he was talking about her, so I put I few manners into him.” I shrug, pacing back and forth between the tree and her. The urge to punch the tree is strong, but I restrain myself because I need my arm for football.

“What’s it to you? You’re the one who moved on!” she yells at me and I look over to my sister to see if she heard her. She didn’t because she’s talking to Reggie and Cas with TJ by her side.

“Moved on? What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, confused as hell as to what she’s talking about. I only did because she did.

“Don’t play dumb!” She steps closer to me. I’ve never seen her so pissed. She’s usually not the serious type, she’s the one who constantly makes joke after joke.

“Danielle, I honestly don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I say while gritting my clenched teeth. My hands are on my hips trying to calm myself down, but she’s not helping at the moment.

“You ignoring her the whole day yesterday! That’s what I’m talking about!” she whisper yells at me knowing Haley’s close by.

“Fuck.” I sigh and run my hands through my hair. “Fuck,” I repeat turning to face the tree. I run my hands along my hair.

“So care to explain, Nick?” She has that same tone, calm yet angry.

“What did she tell you?” I ask her, trying to get inside Carter’s head. I fucked up. I know I did. With a capitol ‘F’.

“She told me everything. I know you two kissed,” she whispers to me as she steps even closer. “She thinks you’re regretting it or that you thought she was another one of your conquests and now you’ve moved on to the next one. Or, in this case, downgraded to Maya . . . again.” I don’t like the way she says “again” like it was obvious that I was going to go back to her. Everyone says it, but it’s not true. I only go back because she’s a guaranteed lay. That’s it.

“Shit!” I run my hand down my face and stop at my mouth, biting down on my finger. She thinks I regret what happened with her. It’s the furthest thing from it. I fucking revelled in tasting her lips.

“So tell me what the fuck set you off in there.” she asks softly. I look up to see her standing there with a solemn look on her face, pleading for me to tell her what happened.

“I didn’t like the way he rubbed the date in my face. I didn’t like what he was saying about her. And I most certainly didn’t like the way he keeps claiming her as his,” I tell her truthfully.

Because, she’s not his. She’s mine. My body shakes at that thought. But it feels so right.

She’s mine.

“I need to talk to her, Danielle, will you get her to talk to me? I know she’ll be annoyed at me, but I really need to explain this to her.” She nods, knowing that I’ve fucked up massively and that all of what I said just now needs to be repeated to the girl I can’t stop thinking about.

“Alright . . . you go up to the room to the left of the bathroom and I’ll bring her in there when nobody is around.” I nod and smile at her.

“I owe you big time!” I start walking back inside past people and make my way up the stairs. I get stopped by a hand gripping my forearm. I turn thinking it was my sister but it was Maya and her minions.

“What the hell, Nick?” she hisses at me. I roll my eyes taking my arm away from her. All I see is regret stamped on her face when I look at her.

She’s not Carter; she never will be.

I continue walking up to where Danielle told me to wait for her and lock the door, making may way to the bed. I sit down on it with a bounce and feel the room spin. No more alcohol for me.

My knuckles are starting to throb, and I see the dried up blood on my broken skin. That’s twice I’ve punched him. Hopefully, he gets the goddamn message this time. She doesn’t belong to him. She’s mine. She will always be mine.

Suddenly, the nerves sink into my stomach, and I fiddle with my fingers anticipating her arrival. The minutes feel like hours as I wait for her. My breathing is ragged, and I don’t even know where to start. I know if I prepare something it’ll all go out the window once I see her. My mind turns to mush when she’s around.

Apologize. That’s a good start Nick.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I hear the door knob jiggle a little, then a soft knock and a whisper of my name. It’s her. I race to unlock and open it quickly. She steps in before anyone could see her. I slam it shut and lock it behind her.

She stares at my face, her eyes wandering around at what I think is bruises and cuts. My jaw tenses at the sight of her.

“Are you okay?” she asks softly reaching up to touch my face but quickly retracts her hand back down to her side.

“Carter, I’m sorry,” I quickly say in defense.

“You should be saying that to Ryan, not me.” I rest my forehead on hers, sighing at the hard tone in her voice. I close my eyes, relishing in her smell. She’s quickly become my obsession. I can’t get enough of her.

“He deserved it,” I tell her sternly. She shouldn’t be defending him. She doesn’t know though. “I asked Danielle to bring you up here so I can apologize to you for the way I acted yesterday. I’m sorry that I ignored you. I can explain . . .” I sigh, thinking how this is all going to sound: petty. All because of my mom trying to prove a point, it has landed me in a fight of the same point she’s trying to prove.

“My mom thinks you were my girlfriend. She asked me if I liked you and I told her no.” As I say that, I hear a defeated sigh leave her mouth as shuts her eyes, but I’m not finished. “She knew I was lying”—her eyes snaps back open to meet mine where I can talk to her—“but I was pushing it down because she likes to make a big deal out of everything.” I roll my eyes as I think about her. “So she invited you over yesterday to see for herself. I was stubborn and kept denying it to her. That’s why all those girls were there, too, she wanted to compare how I acted around them to how I acted around you. So to get her off my case, I ignored you. And I shouldn’t have. It was wrong of me. So, I’m sorry I upset you.”

There was silence between us. I can hear the wheels turning in her her head. I’m so close to her. Our heads are touching, and I don’t want to move.

“I also don’t regret kissing you. And I only got with Maya because you got with Ryan. I know it’s petty but—”

“I didn’t get with Ryan,” she whispers, moving her eyes around the room until they reach mine again to assure me. “I only went out with him because I felt shitty about you ignoring me . . . That was wrong of me too. I shouldn’t have done that to you or him,” she continues on. I bite my lip immediately and feel the sting, so I hiss loudly and mumble profanities. Then she did the last thing I expected her to do: she kissed my lips on where it hurt, then my cheeks, then my jaw. I groan and pull her head closer to my chest, hugging her tight. Her arms take hold of my waist and squeezes me.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble down into her hair.

“I forgive you,” she mumbles back into my chest. I smile down at her holding on to me. Those words that left her mouth made my night. “I’m sorry too.” The heat of her words scorch through the thin material I’m wearing. A comforting silence blankets us, then she shuffles to look up at me. “Do you not forgive me?” she asks in the cutest tone I’ve ever heard in my entire life. I soften even more at her.

“Of course I forgive you, Carter.” I kiss her forehead laughing at the face she’s making. “And another thing?” I ask her, and she nods attentively. “Don’t go out with that idiot again.” I see a smile form at my words with an eye roll. “I’m serious, he’s a dick. Don’t waste your time on him.” I raise my eyebrow seriously as I’m warning her.

“It was just one date. It’s not like I’m going to marry the guy, Nick.” She giggles stepping away from me. Pulling on my hand, she tugs me to the bathroom. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.” She shrugs what I said off. I sit on the closed toilet seat and watch her wet a piece of toilet paper. She makes her way over to me and daps on my wounds lightly. I jokingly hiss, making her jump back and start to laugh. She slaps me on my arm while giggling a little. She does it again and this time I take the time to stare at her natural beauty.

She really is beautiful.

She’s hunched over, focusing on wiping the blood off me. I reach out to take her waist and pull her towards me. A shocked expression takes over her face.

“What are you doing?” she asks. I sit her down straddling me with my hands either side of her hips. I stroke them to ease the nerves I hear in her voice.

“Allowing you to get closer.” It was a bold move, I know, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted her closer to me. I wanted to feel her body again. There’s something about her I just can’t stay away from. She keeps pulling me back in every time, and I let her.

She continues again, and I stroke the outside of her thighs. I know I’m making her nervous. Her breathing is rapid. I smirk at her since I know I’m affecting her this much. Her eyes meet mine. We’re so close to each other. I grip her legs a little harder, shifting her body towards mine. I love this position we’re in. I’d prefer it with no clothes.

Easy there, Nick, I mentally reprimand myself. Calm your boy down.

“You’re all clean,” she whispers to me. “You just have a busted lip and a few bruises but you should be alright.” She throws the tissue in the trash behind me, not taking her eyes away from me. I wrap my arms around her waist pulling us chest to chest.

“Thank you, nurse Carter,” I tease, but I feel a sudden growth in my pants. The thought of her in a nurse’s outfit has my pants tightening. Fuck me, she’d look insane in that. The things I would do to her if she dressed up in that. I mentally groan at the image of her in a short dress, stockings, and heels bending over to take care of me when I’m sick. She shuffles a little, rubbing off my dick. I close my eyes at the sensations she caused. Fuck, that felt amazing. She shuffles again, making my eyes snap open to see if she’s doing this on purpose.

“Um . . . Nick?” she asks.

I mumble out, “Yeah.” I try to gather my thoughts together.

“You think you could move your phone so it’s not poking me?” She laughs a little. I lose it and completely get lost in myself laughing at what she just said to me. Once I stop, I see a puzzled expression on her cute little face. I lean in so our noses are touching.

“That’s not my phone.” I wink back at her. She furrows her brows thinking about it. This girl is so innocent, it’s unbelievable.

Then it hits her; like a moving train. She buries her head in her hands. “I’m sorry!” she cries, and I laugh at her once more.

“Why are you sorry? I’m not!” I pull her even closer to me while her head rests on my shoulder. I kiss her neck and moan from her scent. “Carter, I like you. This is the reaction you give me most of the time I’m with you. Especially when I walked in on you last week changing,” I mumble the last part to myself but she shoots herself up from my shoulder, still straddling me.

“What?” she asks, perplexed by this. Why is she so surprised? She’s fucking sexy. I’d say I’m not the only one in this house with a boner looking at her. I nod, trying to get her to believe what I’m saying. Her eyes widen and she starts to laugh again. Once it dies down, she mumbles back to me, “I like you too.” Now I’m grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

I hug her close and bury my face into the crook of her neck, pecking her skin lightly so the wound on my lip won’t open again. “But I don’t like it when you beat the crap out of people,” she finishes. I wince at her tone but don’t let her go.

“I’m sorry you saw that, but I didn’t like the way he was talking about you. He was rude and vulgar, and that’s no way to treat any girl. Even when she’s not around, it just doesn’t sit well with me.” I grind my teeth together as I replay his words in my head; him telling me he’ll let me know how she tastes. Piece of shit.

“What did he say?” she asks me.

“It doesn’t matter—”

“It does to me, Nick, I’d appreciate if you told me. If it’s something horrible, I still want to know so I can put manners on him.” I smirk at the thought of her defending herself. I sigh heavily, knowing that’s she’s not going to like it.

“He said . . . are you sure you want to know?” She leans back once again to stare at me and nods. I know she’s right. “He said that he cant wait for you to moan his name and cum on his dick. And that he’ll let me know how you taste.” I see her eyes light up with anger; steam is basically coming out of her ears. I see red flags around her head as she stands up away from me. She slams open the door of the bathroom hitting of the the adjacent wall, I’m frozen by her quick reaction. At least she’s not pissed at me this time.

I jog behind her and ask, “Where are you going?” But she doesn’t let up and trails down the stairs two steps at a time before jumping down the rest.

“To put some manners on this guy,” she growls. I’ve never heard that tone before. It was sexy. Swirling around the archway, people are gathered around still drinking. Maya’s eyes land on Carter but she doesn’t care. She carries on her way over to the idiot of the night.

Carter spots Ryan, who smirks at her then me, thinking she’s going to throw herself at him. Oh, buddy, you thought wrong. Bulldozing her way over to him, he stands up, readying himself for her embrace.

“There you ar—” Smack. Right on the cheek. She didn’t hold back for a second. “What the hell?” He grabs hold of his cheek and there’s a stunned silence in the room. Attagirl!

“You ever talk about me like that again, I will do more damage than he just did, got it?!” She stares at Ryan, who’s at a loss for words. For once, he shuts up. Until the moment of glorious silence is filled by his obnoxious voice once more.

“What? What the hell are you talking about? What did he tell you?” Ryan points over to me, his eyes burning a hole through me, and he stomps over to my direction, asking for another beating that I’ll happily give him. Rob pushes him back along with Reggie while TJ holds on to me.

“Leave it, Nick,” TJ warns me and I don’t look away from Ryan.

“He’s lying, whatever he told you . . . he’s lying, Carter.” Ryan breaks the stare off to look at an unimpressed Carter standing in front of him. I feel someone on my back stroking her fingers up and down.

“What are you doing?” Maya says in a singsong tone in my ear from behind, not happy with the night and how it’s being played out. I can smell the alcohol off of her. I’m probably not much better.

Carter slips away from the attention and Haley runs out along with Danielle. Ryan watches her leave and so do I, whipping his head around to face me once more. His eyes are on fire.

Shutting them, he cools himself back down, balling and unballing his fists, then slowly walking over to me with TJ sandwiched between us. TJ is not backing away from us even though Ryan is hot tempered and can’t control himself half of the time. Both of us have our fists balled readying for whoever gives up first. We square off each other once more, it’s like a showdown now. His jaw ticking, itching to get the last word in.

It’s hot in the room. The anger that both of us are emitting is flaring in waves of long wavelengths. I step a little closer to his face, inching daringly closer to this idiot. He looks like he wants to say something but I interrupt him getting the last words in.

“She’s not yours, Ryan, she never will be. You may have gotten a date with her, but that’s all you’ll get.” I step away from him, feeling the anger radiate off him. I start to back away but then stop. I stare over TJ’s shoulder, and as a final blow, I tell him, “Because she’s mine.”

I walk away from him, smirking to myself.