Playing With Fire (4 page)

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

. . . .

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

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

I bet Chris was giving her shit about it. Well, I really don’t care if he doesn’t like it. As long as he doesn’t hurt her because of what is going on.

We spent all day handing out surveys and talking to people, Shawn and Jason had even come to help us out. As much as they didn’t want to admit it, they liked Maddy. They saw how I felt about her and I think they were beginning to get it.

Once we got back to my house, I didn’t want to move. I called and ordered a pizza before falling down on the couch. Maddy was walking over to sit down; I could tell she was exhausted.

She tripped over my book bag that I just dropped when I came in, and fell down right on top of me. She looked up at me and started laughing. I loved that sound; she didn’t do it nearly enough. I brushed a stray hair out of her face and behind her ear.

I could tell just by looking at her that she wanted me to kiss her, that it was me she wanted; she never looked at Chris like that. I couldn’t resist, so I leaned up to kiss her. The second my lips touched hers, I felt the electricity move through me. It was like this whenever she touched me.

Her lips were amazingly soft. I took the risk and tried to deepen the kiss, and she let me. I gently took her lower lip between my teeth and pulled on it. She let out a moan. Being with her like this was what I wanted since September.

A knock on the door startled us both and we jumped apart. Since when do those delivery men get here this quick? I went and got the pizzas; Maddy had already gotten us plates. We took our food and went into the living room with it. Her lips were red and swollen from kissing me, and it was a beautiful sight.

After we finished eating, she grabbed the dishes and I got out the surveys from earlier. We worked on tabulating the results, talking and laughing in between. I looked at the clock; damn, it was eleven at night.

I wish she would just stay over, but I know there is about a snowballs chance in hell of that. Her eyes followed mine and I could see that she wished she could stay, too.

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

“Okay, let me get my shoes on.”

“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.”

“Okay, thank you.”

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 hated the beach? There go 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 would understand. It’s a lot to deal with just to spend time with me.”

I pulled into the parking lot and turned to face her. She wasn’t looking at me so I lifted 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 were sitting in the car outside her dorm, and I didn’t want her to leave. She looked over at me, silently saying the same thing. She wanted to be with me too, she just wasn’t ready yet. I had so much fun with her today, even if we were working on schoolwork. I walked her inside and then went home alone.

Chapter 3

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 wish 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 was that 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 that I was strong enough to leave him, but he has been making threats more often recently. He even told me last week that he had 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 could have a gun. If they did, he would have never been granted one.

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

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

Chris was going home for Thanksgiving, but he said dinner was family only and I wasn’t family. I just finished my last class for the day and was walking back to my dorm when I saw Carter waiting outside the door.

Nicole was just walking in and he went in with her. Were they hooking up? Why do I feel like I can’t catch my breath right now? Is that why he has been being so nice to me? I can’t handle this. This is why I never let myself care. I wanted to leave but, truthfully, I didn’t have anywhere to go right now.

I walked into my room, dreading whatever I was about to walk into. When I opened the door, I saw Carter sitting on my bed, but he was alone. He looked up when he heard me come in. “Hey.”

Was 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 couldn’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 that could give their trust to someone. I wasn’t, at least not now, but I had a feeling that Carter could 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?”

He thought that it was a choice? I hated that I needed to explain this to him; I didn’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 could see that he felt sorry for me, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I got to go to college, which was all I had spent last year dreaming about.

“I don’t want you to feel bad for me. I have what I need.” I was not going to cry. I should be thankful that I got enough help 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 gave me a hug, and it took every ounce of strength I had to hold back the tears. “So, where are you going?

Shit. I didn’t want to tell him this but, for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to lie to him. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying here on campus.” I didn’t want to look up at him and see the pity on his face.

“Why?”

“Why what, Carter?”

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 that bounced from bad house to bad house!” I turned away from him and sat on my bed. I just wanted to be alone right now. Nicole had been begging me all week to come home with her, but I refused to be anybody’s charity case.

“What about Chris; where is he?”

“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, Chris might actually kill me this time and second, 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 am serious
,
Maddy. Come home with me...please?”

“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 stole a glance up at Carter and could see him trying to control his anger. Was he pissed at me?

“What did you mean by that?”

“By what?”

“You said Chris might literally kill you. What did you mean? What is going on, Maddy?”

“Nothing, Carter. It's just an expression; leave it alone.”

He pulled out his cell phone. What was he doing? Was he calling Chris? No, he wouldn’t call him. I doubt he even had his number.

“Hey…I’m good…leaving tomorrow afternoon…can I bring a friend with me?” What was he doing? 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 put the phone in his pocket and then looked at me. “It’s done; you’re coming home with me.”

I started to shake my head; I couldn’t do this with him, not with how I was starting to feel about him.

“Yes, Maddy. You're not spending the holiday alone. You said Chris was 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; your doing one for me.”

It would be amazing to be able to spend five days with Carter. But how would 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 hurt a little when he said “friend”. I hated how much I was falling for Carter. This trip was only going to make my feelings for him worse, but maybe I was a glutton for punishment. “Okay, you win.” The smile that he shot me made me weak in the knees. Thank God I was sitting down or I might have fallen over. “I’ll pack a bag.”

I reached under the bed to get my suitcase and when I stood up, Carter wrapped his arms around me. It felt so good to be in his arms like this. I relaxed and laid my head back against his chest. Yep, I was definitely a glutton for punishment.

He let me go and I started 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 looked up and the bastard was giving me puppy dog eyes and was actually pouting! “Ugh, fine!”

Then he smirked at me, sat down on Nicole’s bed, and waited.

Carter

I can’t believe I got her to agree to come home with me! At that moment, I wanted to jump up and punch my fist in the air, I was so damn happy. We were on our way back to my house now and I could tell Maddy was nervous. I knew that my family would love her as much as I did. 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 looked over at me and nodded her head. “Why didn’t you go home with Chris?”

“He…um…he said dinner was family only and, well, I’m not family.” She looked down into her lap and I thought I saw her wipe away a tear. She didn’t deserve the way he treated her.

“Well, this weekend you’re part of my family.” She looked at me and gave me a smile, but I could tell she was still unsure of everything. We left her bags in the car and she just grabbed a change of clothes for tomorrow. I ordered Chinese food when we left her dorm so it should be here any minute. I told Maddy to put her stuff in the bedroom; I would sleep on the couch tonight. I’d love to sleep next to her, but I think I pushed her enough today. The food came while Maddy was in the bathroom; I made us plates and brought them into the living room. She came out in a t-shirt and sweatpants. God, she looked beautiful in everything.

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

I hated that she always felt so negative about herself; she had no idea how amazing she was. “I wanted to, Maddy; please don’t feel like you’re a burden. Let’s watch a movie. I’ll even let you pick.”

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

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

We cleaned up the dinner mess and I went to go get changed before we started the movie. When I walked back

into the living room, Maddy was curled up on the couch. I loved seeing her so comfortable in my house.

She looked up when she heard me come in and smiled. Usually I just slept in boxers, but I knew that would make her uncomfortable. I had on sweatpants and a sleeveless shirt. I saw her looking me up and down; when her eyes met mine, she started to blush. She knew I had caught her looking, and I loved it. I knew she wanted to be with me, she just wasn’t ready yet.

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