The next morning, I woke up late and severely sore. Thankfully, I had no classes today because I would have been late. I didn’t even hear Macey leave this morning, so I must have been really out of it. My body was exhausted after everything that happened yesterday, and I didn’t feel all that bad for sleeping in.
I lay in bed for another ten minutes contemplating if I really needed to get up today. I knew I had to get up and do something, like the English assignment I had to do with Gage, but I didn’t want to. Sighing, I forced myself out of my comfortable bed. I needed to try and do something.
When I got up, I let out a huge groan as my whole body ached and popped. Who knew fighting took a lot out of you? Gage didn’t seem to hurt after a fight like I did. I waddled like a penguin out of my room, to the bathroom. Maybe a good warm shower would help loosen my muscles. With that in mind, I went to the bathroom and started warming up the shower.
I stripped out of my clothes and winced as I pulled my shirt off. My sides and back throbbed, making me glance down. My waist had bruises from yesterday; you could make out that they were fingerprints because of the spacing between them. I scrunched my nose up at them, hating that the guy held me that tight.
Bracing myself to see what my back looked like, I slowly turned around. Looking in the mirror, I let out a gasp as I saw my entire back was one huge bruise. It was dark black and purple, so no wonder it hurt. Apparently, the guy did shove me hard into the wall a few times. I thought I would just have a small backache, but not this. I grimaced just looking at it. I wasn’t going to tell anyone about it, especially Macey and Gage. Both would freak on me.
Not wanting to look at my horrible back anymore, I quickly finished stripping and stepped under the warm water. At first it did hurt almost like I had a sunburn, but after a few minutes the feeling faded and my muscles loosened a little. The bruises were going to take a while to disappear, sadly.
Not taking too long in the shower, I got out about ten minutes later feeling better than before. Maybe with a few Advil I would be fine. I made my way back to my room to change and maybe text Gage to ask if he wanted to meet up and do our assignment. Sure, we had until Monday to do it, but might as well get it done early.
As I went over to my closet to find something to wear, my phone buzzed on top of my desk. Thinking it was Gage or maybe even my brother, I quickly went over and grabbed it. I frowned as I looked at the text on the screen.
Amy: Hey. Do you want to meet up in twenty minutes at 95 Degrees?
For a moment I wondered what she was talking about until I remembered her texting me yesterday. I had completely forgotten about it, and to be honest, I kind of didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to hear what she had to say.
I stared down at my phone gnawing on my bottom lip, trying to come up with a decision. I knew deep down that I would say yes and go. I had to hear her out and see what she wanted to say to me. As much as I wanted to just ignore the text and do something else, I couldn’t. With a sigh, I sent her a quick text in reply.
Carter: Sure. I’ll see you in twenty.
Now with only a little while to get ready, I set my phone down and headed back to my closet. I really had no clue what to wear, but feeling a little chilly and just plain tired, I opted for my maroon sweater that had little gold studs along the shoulders. If I got too hot, I could just roll the sleeves up. Along with that I picked out a pair of light washed blue skinny jeans and my matching red Converse.
As I put my outfit on, I had a small flashback to high school when this was all I would wear. This was a total Carter outfit. Since I didn’t wash my hair, I kept it in its high ponytail, not even caring. I was just meeting Amy for coffee; it wasn’t like I was dressing up to meet a prince or something.
Going back to the bathroom, I quickly put on some mascara and a little bit of concealer under my eyes to hide the huge bags under them. With a dab of pink lipstick and a few Advil, I was good to go. Grabbing my handbag along with my phone, money, and apartment keys, I left through the front door. At the last moment I grabbed my school bag that held my English stuff, in case I ended up over at Gage’s.
I did pretty well for getting ready in twenty minutes, if I did say so myself. I pushed aside the ache in my back and in my hand, which was just as swollen and bruised as I knew it to be. Hopefully, the pain pills would start working soon.
The moment I stepped out of the building, I was glad I decided on a sweater and jeans. Today it was overcast with a cold breeze. It was crazy how one day it was super nice and warm out, and the next day would be cold and windy. I knew this was just the start of winter, though; soon the streets would be filled with white snow and everyone would be inside drinking hot beverages.
Walking against the wind, I headed in the direction of 95 Degrees craving a nice cup of coffee. The entire walk there I wondered what Amy wanted to discuss. I knew it had to be about Ethan, or she wouldn’t have made it sound so important. I really didn’t want to get into the whole thing with her.
Sure, I had kissed Gage yesterday and may have started having feelings for him, but that didn’t mean I was over Ethan. Something like that just didn’t disappear overnight. Hell, even when I was going out with Quinton, I still thought of Ethan; he never fully left my thoughts.
I still couldn’t believe the two of them were dating. It happened so suddenly that I was still in shock. My best friend dating my crush…of course this would happen to me. If I thought that some random girl dating Ethan was hard, well, this was harder. I felt almost betrayed by her. It was basically against girl code.
While I was angry at her, in some way I also wasn’t. I understood why she wanted to date Ethan. He had the looks, the personality, the brains—the whole package. It was a miracle he was single before this. It was only a matter of time before someone snatched him up; I just never thought it would be Amy.
This whole thing was just crazy. I wasn’t even sure myself of what I thought of the whole thing. I did still love Ethan; he was still the guy I could imagine myself being with forever. He is and will forever be my first love. Now enter Gage, who is the complete opposite of Ethan. Gage didn’t care about sports or what people thought of him. He was the “bad boy” of the campus while Ethan was the “good boy.” Ethan was the football hero, along with my brother, and Gage was an undefeated underground fighter.
Yes, they both used girls, so I guess that was one thing they did have in common. It was common sense that Gage had been with plenty of girls in his life, and I knew Ethan had been too; I had been there for every one. But while Ethan made butterflies erupt in my stomach, Gage set my nerves on fire. He brought out something in me that wanted to be set free. I wasn’t the timid, semi-sarcastic girl around him like I was with Ethan. You would think that since I had known Ethan longer, I wouldn’t still be that way around him, but I was. I was a little girl with a huge crush on the older, hotter, football player.
I wasn’t sure of my feelings toward Gage at the moment. Yes, we kissed, and it was the best kiss of my life, but I didn’t know what to think of it. Last night, after he dropped me off at my door and kissed me again, I felt like I was on cloud nine. I had gone inside with a giant grin plastered on my face and a feeling that I knew wouldn’t fade for a while. I went to bed smiling and reliving the kisses, not wanting to read too much into it. I just wanted to think about the moment without overdoing it.
Even now I didn’t know what to do or think. I didn’t know if I should bring it up or play it cool. I didn’t know if we were going to kiss again, or if Gage was going to say that after he had all night to think about it and that he regretted it, which would break my heart. I didn’t know. All I knew was that I felt something for him, and I wasn’t quite sure yet if it was lust, or the start of a crush.
Pushing all those thoughts to the back of my mind, I came up to 95 Degrees. Before opening the door, I took a deep breath getting myself ready for a conversation I wasn’t sure I wanted to have. Once I had my bearings, I opened the cafe’s door and headed inside.
I glanced around the semi-packed space searching for Amy. It wasn’t surprising that this place was full, and with the weather getting colder, more and more people would start coming in to drink warm drinks and to get away from the cold. Right when I thought she wasn’t here yet, I spotted her raising her hand off in the far-left corner of the cafe. Peeking past some people, I noticed she already had two coffees in front of her. I smiled at that, glad she ordered mine for me.
“Hey,” I said once I made my way over to her. I slid into the seat across from her, neither of us making a move to hug one another. It saddened me that we weren’t even hugging each other now. Before, both of us would have gone for a hug the moment we saw one another.
“Hey,” she said back, a small smile on her face. She was holding her warm coffee in her hands, almost like she didn’t know what to do with them.
“Thank you for the coffee,” I commented, bringing it to my lips. The moment the warm latte filled my mouth, I practically sighed. Just what I needed. I tried to lean back in the chair, but the metal bit into my back making me wince, so I stuck with sitting kind of forward.
“No problem, figured I would get it and a spot before it became too busy.”
We sat there awkwardly for a few minutes, not really knowing what to say. I did not want to be the first to talk, and it seemed neither did Amy, although she was the one who asked me here. I looked at her and noticed how different she looked.
Instead of the Amy I had come to know, the one sitting in front of me made me think of the girl who first moved here and had no friends. The girl who didn’t really care too much about her appearance or what people would think of her. Her blonde hair was pulled into a messy ponytail. Instead of a makeup-caked face, she looked natural with only the bare minimum on, like me. She looked a lot younger and, dare I say, pretty, not all dolled up.
“Carter, I want to start off by saying I am sorry,” Amy said suddenly. She glanced at me while she traced her finger along the lid of her drink.
“Why?” I asked even though I kind of knew what she meant.
“I shouldn’t have started dating Ethan without telling or asking you first. I know you didn’t straight out say that you have a crush on him, but I knew, and it wasn’t right for me to do that.” She looked away from me and down at the table. “I always kind of knew you liked him but never thought much about it. I mean, I didn’t even think for a second I would date Ethan at all.
“It’s just that…things happened, and before I knew it we were kind of serious. I knew I had to tell you, but I couldn’t bring myself to so I avoided you, hoping it would solve itself.”
“You could have just told me,” I said. I can’t say I wouldn’t have been mad, but it would have made me feel better if she would have told me instead of finding out on my own.
“I know, and I am so sorry about that. I wanted to tell you straight away, but I was afraid it would ruin our friendship. I mean, I’m a total bitch for taking the guy you have a huge crush on.” I wasn’t going to argue that she isn’t a bitch because honestly, she kind of is, especially after that.
I looked at her as she nervously played with her coffee cup. She actually seemed upset about the whole thing, and I could see she felt terrible about it. If I were in her shoes, I would have done the same thing; well, maybe not the same thing, but I got what she meant. I was pissed she was dating Ethan, but did I hate her for it? No. Still angry…yes, but hate her…no.
“Do you like him?” I found myself asking. I had to know if she truly liked him, that she wasn’t just using him like other guys before him. He meant too much to me for him to get played by her. Amy glanced up at me, her blue eyes shining and a soft smile on her lips.
“Yes, I do. A lot actually.” From the tone in her voice I knew she meant it. I had never seen that look on her face before, which meant she did like him. “He makes me feel like a better person than I am. He is more than I deserve.” When I heard those words, my heart ached, but not as much as I would have a month or so ago. It was odd, but I didn’t dwell on it.
“Then I am happy for you.” Her eyes went wide at my words.
“Really?”
“Yes. Amy, I know you didn’t mean to hurt me by dating Ethan and I understand. Yes, I am still mad at you for not telling me that you even liked him, or that you were seeing each other, but I don’t hate you for it. I know something happened to put you two together, and I am not going to ask what it was because I know you will tell me when you are ready. But I am glad you are now talking to me. You avoiding me and even Macey hurt and at first, we thought you were just busy with school. You should have just texted us.”
“I’m sorry. I was just afraid I’d spill it all the moment I saw you.” That was how I felt, thinking of telling Ethan I had a crush on him.
“Next time, don’t do that. Just say it, okay?” I reached over to grab her hand on the table. “I want you to be happy, and if Ethan makes you happy, then I am fine with it. Just as long as you don’t break his heart, or vice versa.”
“I won’t, Carter. I can’t imagine hurting Ethan in any way.” I smiled softly at that. At least he wouldn’t be hurt and that was all I could ask. Sure, I still didn’t like the idea or the image of these two dating, but I had to get used to it. I couldn’t just avoid them like the plague the entire time they dated. I wanted them to be happy and if that meant giving up Ethan, then I would. It wasn’t like he was a former boyfriend that I had to give up; he wasn’t even mine to begin with. I had no claim on Ethan whatsoever.
I squeezed her hand. As much I silently wished Ethan would one day like me back, I had to slowly let the idea go. If he was happy with Amy, then good; he did deserve to be happy, and same with her. Who was I to break up something like that? If I didn’t forgive Amy, then I wouldn’t feel right about myself.
“Are we okay now?” Amy asked. I nodded at her. We were, and I was just going to have to push aside my feelings, like I had always done. And besides, I now had Gage to help get my mind off this. “Good, cause I missed you.”
“I did too, and I know Macey did as well.” She let go of my hand to stand up. I stood up as well, and she pulled me into a tight hug. I hugged her back, pushing aside the sad feeling inside me. The feeling that Ethan would never truly be mine. Right now, I just had to focus on having my friend back and being happy for her.
***
After an hour of catching up with Amy, she had to leave to go to class, leaving me alone. Macey wouldn’t be done until three, and it was only a little after eleven, so it would be awhile. Standing out outside 95 Degrees, I sent Gage a quick text asking if he was busy. Might as well see what he was doing.
I thought the weather would have cleared up a little during my talk with Amy, but instead it seemed to get a little darker, like it would rain any moment. I liked this kind of weather, where you could wear a sweater and be warm enough. Plus, I loved the smell of rain.
When I got a text back from Gage saying he was free and to come over, I almost yelled and did a small happy dance. Something about being able to spend the day with Gage was very appealing. Thankful that I brought along my school bag, I headed in the direction of Gage’s place.
It didn’t take me long to get there. This place was slowly becoming as familiar to me as my own, and even Luke’s. I liked that Gage didn’t seem to mind that I came over, and that he asked me to come. I barely knocked before Gage swung open the door.
As per usual, he looked really good in a pair of black sweats and a white long-sleeved shirt. While it covered his tattoos that I liked, it did cling to his muscular arms. His brown hair was resting flat against his head instead of his normal style, but I liked it. So yeah, he did look great.
“Hey,” I said, smiling at him.
“Hey.” He moved to the side to let me in. My arm brushed against his side as I slid past him into his dorm. Once again looking around the place, I saw it was all neat and clean. I almost wanted to ask him to come clean my place.
“So why did you want to come over?” he asked, moving over to the bar by the kitchen. He went around the other side and leaned against it, looking at me.
“I was thinking maybe we could get started on our English assignment,” I said, going over to him and setting my now empty coffee cup on the counter.
“Princess, seriously? He assigned it yesterday,” he said, looking at me like I was crazy.
“Well, we don’t know how long it will take us. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to get a jump on it.” I shrugged. It was better than just sitting around bored off our asses.
“I don’t have my notebook,” Gage said, looking serious.
“Really, Gage? This is your apartment, idiot,” I pointed out. “You are still going to do this with me.” We stared at one another, waiting to see who would break away first. It wasn’t going to be me, and I knew I would win because I had done this with my brother so many times. I had eyes of steel.
“Trying to intimidate me, really?” he asked, a smile spreading over his face.
“Don’t make me re-enact what happened yesterday at the gym. I can take you down,” I said, smiling as well. Gage shook his head at me.
“Why did I get stuck with you as my partner?” he muttered, looking away from me.
“Because I am awesome,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him.
“And immature.” He moved away from the counter. “Okay fine, let’s get this over with.” I grinned in triumph. Carter wins again.
“Just make yourself comfortable while I go get my books,” Gage muttered as headed down the hallway toward his room. Still grinning, I went over to the couch and gently sat down. Even with Advil in me, my back was hurting like mad. Taking out our textbook as well as my notebook, I set my bag on the ground by my feet.
For our English assignment we had to read three short stories and answer ten questions about each short story. We had to answer truthfully and give our own opinions. If ours differed, then we put both down. It didn’t sound too difficult, but I had a small feeling that with Gage, it wasn’t going to be that easy. At least we had until Monday to turn it in, so about seven days if you counted today. Plenty of time.
A few minutes later, Gage came back into the living room holding his own textbook and notebook. Even if we only got through one story today, it was progress. A small part of me wanted to drag this out so I could spend more time with Gage.
“You know you can get comfortable on the couch. It isn’t going to bite you,” Gage said as he took a seat next to me. Because of my back I was sitting up straight, almost like I had a stick up my butt. There was no other way for me to sit, though; slouching forward hurt as well as leaning back.
“I’m working on my posture,” I said and mentally slapped myself for that stupid lie. Gage looked at me weirdly but let my comment slide. “So, I was thinking we could start on the first short story today and the questions. If we don’t get all of them done, that is okay. We have seven days to complete it.”
“That sounds good to me. One a day seems like a good plan,” Gage agreed, nodding.
“Let’s start with Birdsong by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It looks the shortest,” I suggested. We opened our textbooks and got started on the short story.
***
“Gage, you are not helping!” I whined as I sat there with my notebook in my lap and my textbook spread out on the coffee table. We were still on our first short story, and Gage had done nothing to help me with it. I basically read the story out loud because he said he didn’t want to read silently, and when I started on the questions, he just leaned back twirling his pen.
“I am helping,” he replied, still twirling his pen.
“Yeah, ’cause that is helping,” I muttered. We were literally getting nowhere.
“Just write ‘I don’t know’ on all the answers and bam we are done,” he offered. I sent him a look to ask if he was joking.
“Gage, we can’t do that! This is for a grade.”
“Oh, come on, Princess, lighten up.” He nudged me with his arm and I held back a wince. Somehow both of us had moved closer together in the last thirty minutes so; our sides were almost pressed against each other.
Sitting here with my back straight was not helping me; in fact, it seemed to make it worse, or the pain pill had worn off. I must not have hidden my wince because Gage sat up looking at me weirdly.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, peachy. Why?”
“You look like you are in pain. Your face is all scrunched up, and it looks like you are holding something back.” The way he was looking at me made me feel like he could see my bruises through my shirt. Under his gaze, I swear I felt them pulse and throb even more.
I didn’t want Gage to know how bad I got hurt yesterday. He would just blame himself and try to do something to the guy who did it, like he hadn’t already. I knew he would be mad at himself for not noticing earlier. I would rather just hold the pain in than make him feel bad.
“I’m fine.” Right after the words left my mouth, Gage suddenly pushed me hard, making me fall to the side and back against the couch. My bruised back made contact with the couch and I yelped. I immediately jerked up, trying to lessen some of the pain. Yeah, I didn’t do well with pain.
“Carter, you are hurt,” Gage said, standing up. He stared down at me as I had my face scrunched up. I was breathing through my nose because of the pain.
“No, I’m not,” I said in a soft voice. I was still going to deny it.
“Carter,” he said in a tone I had never heard before. I jerked my head up to look at him. “Where. Are. You. Hurt?” He said each word slowly and with a firm tone. I stared at him hoping he would budge, but by the look he was sending me I knew I had to do what he asked.
“My back,” I muttered. He made a gesture for me to stand up and turn around. I sighed and did what he asked.
Gage took a step back as I stood up and turned so my back faced him. I closed my eyes as I felt his hands grab the bottom of my sweater. I didn’t want him to see my back and how bad it looked, because it looked terrible. Showing my bare back to him made me feel really vulnerable for some reason.
I held my breath as Gage pulled my shirt up. I heard his sharp intake of breath a second later, and he instantly tensed up. It probably looked a little worse than this morning. That was what sucked about bruises: they had to get worse before they got better.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this yesterday?” he asked, his voice soft.
“I kind of forgot about it until this morning when I woke up. And I didn’t want you to worry,” I said. My breathing hitched as I felt the tips of his fingers brush softly down my back, exactly where the bruising was. I had never seen or felt him be so gentle. I liked it.
“Carter, this doesn’t look so good,” he said softly.
“It doesn’t feel so good either,” I admitted.
“You shouldn’t have gotten hurt in the first place,” I heard him mutter under his breath.
“Gage, you couldn’t have done anything. You were busy trying not to get hurt. I did this to myself by getting involved. But if I hadn’t, who knows what that guy would have done to Dylan.” And I was right. I did this to myself by jumping into the fight, and I didn’t regret it. Sure, I got hurt, but it didn’t matter. I helped my friends out and in turn made myself feel like a badass. It actually made me feel alive, and that was something I’d never really felt before. So no, I did not care that I got hurt yesterday.
Gage kept rubbing his fingertips softly against my back and along my spine, making me shiver slightly. His warm fingers felt really good and made me forget about the pain for a few minutes. I didn’t even care that the back of my bra was exposed, or that my bare back was showing off my love handles. His touch made me forget about all of that.
“You should have told me. I was rude to push you onto it.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t nice,” I said over my shoulder to him.
“Let’s get you some painkillers and an ice pack.” He stepped away from me, and I instantly felt cold without the warmth from his body and hands. I watched as he went down the hallway to get me some medicine. I stood there awkwardly, with my back still exposed.
He came back not even a minute later with the medicine and ice packs. He made quick work of grabbing a glass of water for me to take the pills.
“Okay first, take these.” He handed me two Advil, which I quickly drank down. “Now, go lie down on your stomach so we can put these ice packs on your back.” I didn’t question him because he was a pro with bruises and what to do about them. I lay down where I had just been sitting, and Gage hovered above me.
“This is going to be really cold for a little bit,” he warned me right before he pressed both ice packs right onto my bare back. He didn’t even pull my sweater down. I yelped and jerked up. “I’m sorry, but this is the only way for it to heal faster,” he apologized, but he didn’t sound that sorry.
“Damn, that is cold.” I gritted my teeth as he pulled my sweater back down over the packs. The cold was literally breath-taking. “Is this really necessary?” I asked.
“If you want your back to feel better, yes,” Gage said simply. I wanted to say no, but I knew I needed the ice. “Since you have to lie down for a while, we are taking a break from homework.”
“And do what? Sit in silence?”
“No, we are going to watch a movie.” I tilted my head up and looked at him, surprised. “What do you want to watch?”
“I don’t care, but make it something good.” To be honest I could not care less, as long as I was watching it with Gage.
“Okay, so we have Transformers, Rush Hour, or Fast and Furious.”
“Rush Hour.” I didn’t even hesitate in answering. It was serious yet funny, wouldn’t make things too awkward.
“Rush Hour it is then.” I watched Gage as he squatted down to put the DVD in. With him kind of hunched over, I could make out his back muscles through his white long-sleeved shirt. Damn, muscles are seriously hot. You never know you like them until you see a guy in a tight shirt or shirtless; both are great options to look at.
I stared at him like a freak, but I could not care less at the moment. He had his back turned. When he turned away, I looked in the opposite direction, not wanting to be caught staring and drooling.
I watched as he made his way back toward me. I thought he was going to sit somewhere else, but instead, he was right above me. He glanced down at me, but all I could do was lay there staring at him with wide eyes. I lifted my head, ready to ask him what he was doing, when he sat down in the little section left near my head. Gage then moved over so I had to lift my head all the way up, and grabbed the pillow I was using. He now sat exactly where my head was, and with a gentle hand, he pushed my head down onto his lap.
I lay there frozen as he got himself situated. Gage literally set my head on him for me to use as a pillow! I literally had no words and my heart was beating erratically. There were other places to sit, but no, he had to sit exactly where my head was.
This was so not Gage, and I almost asked if he was feeling okay. Maybe he was high or something. He didn’t say one word as the movie previews started. The pillow I was using before was now on his other side. I wasn’t going to lie, though, his leg was surprisingly soft and comfortable. They were muscular but lying on them wasn’t terrible.
It took me the entire previews to relax and just go with it all. There was no way Gage was going to move or let me move for that matter. The cold packs on my back were nonexistent, and even the pain was going away.
I had to admit, though, this was not a bad position to be in: on top of a hot guy, watching a movie, while he cared for me was not bad at all. I didn’t think this was how the day would have turned out when I first got here, but I wasn’t complaining. Gage was being really sweet and not like his normal self, something I was actually enjoying.
Gage started the movie and then sat his hand on my head. His fingers started running through my ponytail and I practically sighed. A guy who played with your hair was a definite keeper. I silently yelled at myself for not washing and wearing my hair down. It wasn’t like it was gross and dirty, but still.
As we lay there, the question I had been dying to ask was on the tip of my tongue. I fought myself internally, wondering if I should ask before I finally gave into the curiosity.
“Why did those guys attack us yesterday?” When Gage didn’t immediately answer, I figured he wouldn’t at all.
“Every year there is a tournament type thing held at the gym. The best of the best fighters are there. You go against someone and if you win, you go on to the next stage and fight that person. If you win all the fights, you have a chance to win ten thousand dollars,” Gage started explaining, his fingers still running through my hair.
“I beat one of the guys I was fighting, and I ended up winning that money last year. He still isn’t over it.”
Damn. That was a lot of money, and Gage had won it. He was definitely a better fighter than I thought. But that guy was insane to still have a grudge over something so stupid.
“Wow, what an idiot.”
Above me, Gage chuckled.
We lapsed back into silence, the movie still running. I felt better now that my question was answered, and I didn’t feel so bad punching one of the guys. I was just happy Gage told me the truth.
Gage continued playing with my hair, making me smile. I smiled because for once I felt cared for by someone else other than my family. I smiled because I brought out a different side of Gage today. And I smiled because there was something special blooming in my heart; I had no idea what it was, but I wanted to find out.
***
The next few hours passed by like that. We ended up watching two movies before I had to finally move. Staying in one place for over four hours was making me all stiff. When I did get up, my stupid phone decided to buzz with a text from Macey. My perfect little bubble was suddenly popped.
Macey’s text said she was out of her classes and wanted to talk. I had no idea what about. Maybe that I got home kind of late last night and never told her where I was. Maybe she was mad at me. I sadly knew I had to go and see her which meant leaving Gage, something I didn’t want to do. I had a good afternoon with him, and leaving would be like this day hadn’t happened.
“I guess I gotta go,” I said as I read the text. Gage was still sitting on the couch and was looking at me. “Macey needs to talk to me,” I explained, even though I didn’t have to.
“That is okay. Dylan should be back here soon too.” From the way he was talking, I could tell he didn’t want me to leave, but he would never admit that out loud. He got up and grabbed the now warm ice packs and headed to put them away, as I texted Macey back.
Surprisingly, my back was feeling a lot better, thanks to Gage. He definitely had his own run-ins with bruises and knew how to take care of them. I was thankful he helped me out. If not, I would be in a lot of pain right now.
“Want to continue on our assignment tomorrow?” he asked as I gathered my stuff and put my bags on my shoulder.
“Yeah. I get out of class around two, so I am free afterward.” While I didn’t want to leave, at least I would spend tomorrow with him. Just being around him made me feel good.
“Okay, I’ll text you when I get out as well, and we can meet here.” I nodded and smiled at him, agreeing. It sounded perfect to me.
I had to force myself to walk to the door or else I would stay here. I needed to see what Macey wanted to talk about, and if I didn’t show up, she would be super pissed. That was something I did not want to be on the receiving end of. Macey was just like her mom when she got angry; it was like World War III, I swear.
“Thank you for helping me.” I sent him a smile as I opened the door. Everything in me was telling me to kiss him, but I ignored it.
“You are welcome. Make sure to keep taking painkillers and to put an ice pack on it before bed.” He smiled back at me. “If you need anything, just call me. And call me when you get home.” My heart warmed at that. Who knew Gage would tell me to call him to make sure I made it home okay? He definitely was changing, little by little.
“I will.” He stepped toward me and when I thought he was going to kiss me, his lips landed on my cheek. It was a small peck, but enough to make me blush bright red. While it wasn’t a kiss like I wanted, it was better than nothing. Grinning at me, he stepped back.
“Bye, Princess.” Not trusting myself to speak, I nodded and quickly left his apartment. When I made it a little ways from the door, I pressed my hand to the cheek he just kissed. A wide grin spread across my face; it almost felt like my lips were going to tear off, with how wide I was smiling.
I was still grinning like an idiot as I left his building and headed toward mine. This day had turned out practically perfect, or at least it had to me. I never knew I would have fun just sitting around watching a movie with Gage. Something about him made me feel like I was home.
I was strolling along, still grinning, and I bet people were staring to think I was high or something. I didn’t care, though; nothing was going to tear down my high right now.
I, of course, spoke too soon. Just as I was coming around the corner near my building, I saw something that made me look once then instantly whip back to look at it again.
You have got to be kidding me!
Standing right in front of the door was my brother, Luke, and my best friend Macey, kissing.