Red Flags (10 page)

to Chels

*Do you guys know how to get to his place? Who’s all
coming?*

from Chels

*All of us. Me, Hunter, Mila, and Ryan.*

Ryan? Were he and Mila finally starting to
make some headway? In all honesty, I didn’t know how I felt about
him dating Mila. She was a good friend of mine, but she was so
erratic when it came to guys, that I just didn’t want my brother
getting mixed into all of that. I started asking Jason about the
plans that he and Mila had set up, hoping he would fill me in on
what everyone but me seemed to know.

“Hey, did you know Mila’s bringing my
brother?”

“Yeah!”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Does it matter?”

“Well, I would have liked to know. Mila and
my brother have been flirting for years, and I thought she was
happy with Grant…”

“Well, she said she was bringing Ryan, since
he called her and asked her if she wanted to hang out. They’re
grown Cara.”

He was right. They were grown, but where my
brother was concerned, I liked to take an interest. Ryan loved
hard, and had been pining for Mila since he met her. She was a big
flirt, and bored easily, so the situation had me a bit
concerned.

As we pulled into the garage, I tried to stop
thinking about my brother and Mila. Jason was right; they were
adults and could fend for themselves.

Jason grabbed the bags of hideously expensive
clothing, and walked around to open my door. I got out and followed
him into the bedroom where he dropped the bags on the floor. We
strolled into the kitchen, and made sandwiches – given that it was
almost four o’clock in the afternoon, and the last time we had
eaten was that morning. Jason took out his phone and started
playing on it. The buzz from my phone prompted him to look away
from his own, in an officious way.

“I have a friend request,” I coolly told him.
Scrolling through the notification window on my Facebook app.

“Oh really? From?”

“Some really hot guy, Jason Bradley.”

He grinned mischievously, “oh, well you
should definitely friend him.”

I laughed and shook my head, friending him on
my Facebook.

I got another notification, this one asking
me to confirm my relationship status with Jason Bradley. I smiled
across the island at him, and hit confirm on my phone. He got up to
go to the restroom and it gave me time to get lost in my
thoughts.

Before I know it, Jason was back and standing
in front of me.

“Come and try on these clothes, I wanna see
what you look like in em’.”

I smiled, and followed him into the bedroom.
I took the outrageously expensive clothes out of the bag and walked
into the bathroom to change. When I came out, Jason was sitting on
the bed waiting for me. Everything fit; the shorts might have fit a
little too nicely. He was smiling and motioned for me to turn
around, and as I did, he stopped me.

“What size shorts did you get?”

“A four. Why?”

“Maybe you should have gotten a six, those
are awfully snug.” He didn’t take his eyes off the shorts.

“Well, you’ll be there with me tonight, so no
need to worry about my shorts,” I said to try and calm is over
reactive fears.

I went and sat on his lap, and he started
running his fingers through my hair. I figured now was as good a
time as any to try and figure out why he had such a jealous
streak.

I looked at him, then right as I was about to
speak, I looked towards the floor. He knew something was up, and
sat up to position me better on his lap.

“What are you thinking about?”

I was losing my poise, and contemplated not
saying anything at all, not knowing what sort of reaction my
question might evoke, but I went ahead with it anyway.

“I’m just wondering why you get jealous so
easily.”

“I’ve been through some shit Cara, and it’s
not easy to trust people. For some reason, I completely trust you,
just not those around you.”

His revelation piqued my curiosity, but of
course, he was like a closed book, and didn’t offer up any more
information.

“What happened?”

His mood visibly shifted to complete and
utter annoyance, “nothing worth mentioning. Sometimes you have to
have shit happen in order to learn lessons in life, and let’s just
say, I’ve learned quite a bit.”

He seemed done with the line of questioning,
and moved me off of his lap. He slapped my butt and stalked into
the bathroom, starting the shower and began to undress. Jason in
the nude was a sight I could stare at forever.

Chapter 5

Jason insisted that I get some of my homework
done, so while he worked on some business for his dad, I logged
into the Blackboard program, and finished a few assignments posted
by my professors. Once I finished, I hopped into the shower, and
the soothing droplets of the overhead showerhead gave me an
idea.

I got out and ran to my phone to text
Chelsea; I wanted to catch her before they left.

to Chels

*Hey, bring the Chi. Going to try something different
tonight.*

from Chels

*Sweet… do you want me to do it?*

to Chels

*YES!*

I threw on my mesh shorts and one of Jason’s
t-shirts – it was much too large for me. I walked down the hall to
the first door on the right, and found him on the phone -- staring
at his computer. I wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but he
looked up from his computer screen, smiled at me, and went right
back to talking to whoever he was on the phone with. After browsing
the office for what seemed like an eternity, I headed to the
kitchen to get something to drink. To my surprise, Jason had the
fridge stocked with beer, wine, and enough energy drinks to
energize an army.

I took a glass from the cupboard and instead
of going for the wine that Jason had so thoughtfully purchased; I
instead went for one of the energy drinks and coupled it with
vodka. I normally didn’t drink liquor because I didn’t have much of
a tolerance, but I figured a couple of drinks wouldn’t hurt
anything.

Jason sauntered out of his office, with
nothing on except for his cargo shorts. His perfectly sculpted abs
was a jump start to my libido. His skin looked even more luxurious
and tanned, probably from swimming earlier in the day. I stopped
the glass just before my lips and shamefully stared at him, he was
really a sight to see. Instead of meeting my lustful gaze, he eyed
the drink in my hand, and the ingredients on the counter.

“What are you doing?”

“Having a drink,” I responded
sarcastically.

He raised his eyebrows at me, and I wasn’t
exactly sure of the emotion being conveyed – and luckily I didn’t
have to figure it out because just as he was fixing his mouth to
say something, the doorbell rang.

Jason turned and stomped off to answer the
door. I started drinking my concoction before he could come back
and say something. Chelsea’s voice was the first voice I heard as
he opened the door and welcomed them into his home.

“Wow Bradley, you do okay huh? Bullshit, this
is more than okay.”

Even from the kitchen, I was pretty sure I
could pinpoint the look on his face, and it was probably one of
embarrassment or irritation.

They all made their way to the kitchen and
Mila and Chelsea came running up to me, wide eyed and full of
excitement. Ryan made his way over to me, through two giddy girls,
and gave me a big bear hug, then made his way over to where Hunter
was standing. I took another sip of my drink, and saw Jason out of
the corner of my eye shaking his head at me. He offered everyone a
drink, and then set off to work as the bartender. Hunter and Ryan
asked for beers, and Chelsea said she and Mila would have whatever
I was having. Instead of Jason grabbing the energy drink and vodka,
he grabbed his electronic wine opener, snatched out a bottle of
wine from the fridge, opened it up, and poured three glasses --
handing them to us. He took my glass of my earlier mix and gulped
it down.

The guys moved out to the garage; Jason had
told them about the Shelby and the motorcycle, and they were eager
to get a look at them.

Mila noticed Jason’s act and smiled kindly
while looking around the kitchen. She spoke animatedly about the
house.

“Um, Pinks, your boyfriend owns this palatial
mansion?”

“No, his dad owns it, but he lives here, and
does work for his dad out in this area, kind of like his
payment.”

Mila rolled her eyes as she continued
wandering through the kitchen and living room. Chelsea noticed
Jason take my drink and made herself the new bartender.

“Cara. What were you drinking?”

“That energy drink mixed with vodka," I said,
motioning with my head to the already opened can in the fridge.

She turned to the kitchen and searched for
glasses. When she found them, she grabbed the vodka, the open can,
and scooped some ice into my glass from the bucket.

“Don’t let money bags run you Cara,” she said
as she handed me a new drink.

“Chels, he doesn’t.”

Mila felt the need to throw in her two cents,
probably just to make Chelsea feel better.

“Pinks stand your ground,” she winked at me,
and I was immediately annoyed with this conversation so I grabbed
my drink and motioned for the girls to follow me to the
bathroom.

They were equally impressed by the
bedroom/bathroom. Seriously, who wouldn’t be? This house was to die
for. Mila lay down on the floor, deciding against the bed because
she figured something went down in it– and she was right. Chelsea
followed me into the bathroom and I took a seat in front of the
vanity while she set up the hair straightener and various hair
serums.

Chelsea was a whiz with the Chi and did
wonders to my hair that I could never pull off. I filled the girls
in on how much Jason adored my curly hair, but that I was
straightening it to see his reaction. There was a knock on the
door.

“Hey Cara, I need to come in and get
something.”

I panicked, not wanting Jason to see my half
straightened half curly fry head. “What do you need?”

I could hear his sigh, and he was probably
livid that he couldn’t get into his own room but I didn’t care.

“What are ya’ll doin’ in there?”

Chelsea piped in, because, well, she was able
to shout out a tone that I couldn’t.

“We are working on something in here -- girl
stuff. What do you need Bradley?”

I laughed because it was a bit ridiculous
that he couldn’t get into his own bedroom, in his own house. He
shouted that he needed his cellphone, but something in me said
otherwise. If I knew Jason, he was just trying to be nosy. I told
Mila to grab the phone and hand it to him, but not the let him in
the room. She did as told, and just as I suspected, Jason tried to
peek in to see exactly what we are doing – good thing Chelsea had
me towards the back of the bathroom, so he couldn’t see
anything.

Approximately 20 minutes later, Chelsea was
finished, Mila was adding serum to my hair, to keep my fly a ways
down, and I was impressed by the creature staring back at me in the
mirror. My hair straightened had always been a much more pleasant
sight for me, but I was just too lazy to do it. My hair now reached
the small of my back, and with a slightly off centered part, there
was a fresh cascade of hair flowing across the right side of my
face. I told Mila that she could let Jason in now.

He was out with the guys in the backyard,
shooting the breeze about who knows what. Mila told him he could
come into the room, and he must have sprinted into the house
because he was there in a flash, and slightly out of breath. When
he saw me, his face was impassive, and I was flustered by his
reaction. I thought for sure that he would love the look.

“Do you like it?” I asked with a subtle smile
on my face.

“Um, yeah. It’s different.”

I felt it, he didn’t like it.

“Thought you would like something different…”
I stopped, noticing the disappointment on Chelsea’s face. She
worked hard on my hair, and Jason’s less than enthusiastic reaction
was irking her. She grabbed my drink and stepped out of the
bathroom.

Jason stepped behind me and ran his finger
through my hair. I was at a loss with him. I didn’t understand his
likes, dislikes, or any of the in-betweens.

“Hey Cara, I like it, it’s just different.
I’m used to your curly hair.”

‘Well, sometimes the curly look gets old, and
I want to do something else,” I paused and looked at him, and
started to feel the buzz of the vodka.

He leaned in and kissed me, but immediately
stepped back, and I knew it was because he could taste and smell
the vodka on my breath.

“Did you drink more vodka?” he asked with
anger in his voice.

“Yeah, because you took mine.”

“What did you do with the wine I gave
you?”

“I drank it.”

He winced, trying desperately to stifle his
rage.

“Cara, you told me yourself that you are a
wine drinker. I’m not going to take you out drunk off your ass. I
don’t care to be around that shit,” he scolded in a very aggressive
manner. Then he walked into the closet, grabbed some clothes, and
walked out.

I had one drink, well, two if you count the
glass of wine -- but I was an adult and could drink what I damn
well pleased. I kept telling myself that, trying to make sense of
yet another temper tantrum.

Shortly after Jason’s abrupt exit, Chelsea
and Mila came back into the room, looking very curious as to what
had just taken place.

“What the hell just happened?” asks Chelsea,
with one hand on her hip, as she babysat her drink in the
other.

“Yeah, Jason walked by us in a pissy mood.
Seriously, was he that mad about your hair?”