My face was bright red, but I couldn’t do anything, hopefully he couldn’t tell since the room was dark now and only illuminated by the glow of the TV. He locked his arms around my waist and held me there. I rested my head on his chest and sighed feeling content. When things got too scary I would turn my head and press into his chest. His arms would then tighten around me and he would stroke my hair.
“It’s alright sweetheart I’ve got you,” he would coo quietly.
About a quarter of the way through the movie I felt myself drifting off. I wanted to move because I knew he couldn’t be comfortable with me laying on top of him, especially since soon I was going to be dead weight. I tried to move but he tightened his arms. I started to complain, weakly, and he put his finger over my lips.
“Shhhhh, I want you to stay right where you are. I’ll move you later,” he promised.
“Ok,” I agreed, my eyes attempting to close. “But only cause I’m so tired and comfortable,” I mumbled as I let myself drift off.
I woke up the next morning and I felt like I had slept for days. I felt so peaceful even though my pillow felt kind of hard. I kept my eyes closed while I wondered why Carson’s couch felt so unusually hard. I opened my eyes and came face to face with a strong chest. I felt two strong arms around me and a hand tangled in my hair. I looked up and Carson was smiling up at me.
“Good morning sunshine, how’d you sleep,” he asked as he stretched underneath me.
“Perfectly,” I said. I felt odd knowing I had slept on him the whole night. “What about you,” I asked shyly.
“Amazing,” he responded.
We just laid there staring at each other for a minute before a voice near the top of the stairs startled me into getting up, my face burning red. I sat on the other end of the couch and Carson looked like he was going to laugh. I shot him a glare before his mother walked down into the room.
“So what are you up to today Alara,” she asked as she walked into the room.
“I’m hanging out with Kami in a little while,” I said, hiding my face from her view with my hair. “What about you, lazy bum, what are you doing today,” I asked as my eyes moved back to Carson.
“I don’t know, I’ll probably do some homework and then maybe we could all meet up for dinner. What do you say? Want to get the gang together tonight?”
“I’ll ask Kami and let you know. For now, I’ve gotta go meet up with my parents. I promised them I’d stop in for breakfast this morning.”
“Ok, you need a ride,” he asked quickly, looking hopeful.
“They live next door and I parked there last night. Why would I need a ride,” I asked with a raised brow.
His mom smiled, crossed her arms, and looked over at him. She was curious about his answer as well. I shot her a look and she shrugged. Carson looked like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar before he ran his hands over his face.
“Alright you caught me. I want to spend more time with my best friend, so sue me,” he said with a grin. I tilted my head slightly, smiling, noticing that his face had turned a little red now.
I smiled at him and shook my head. “You really are a doofus.”
He just smiled and got up, walking up to me with a devilish look in his eyes. I started backing away from him because I knew that look. He was about to tickle me. I backed up until I hit the wall and he caged me in.
“Don’t fight it firefly; accept it. You know I’m going to get you,” he said huskily.
I stared at him for a second. He hadn’t called me firefly in years and just hearing it took me back. We were ten and outside playing with fireflies. I don’t care what he says; they are lightning bugs. Well, a couple lightning bugs landed on me and he decided that that made me the firefly queen. Eventually that just got shortened to firefly.
I ducked out from under his arm and laughed as I went and hid behind his mom. When he turned towards me I squealed and ran upstairs and hid in the kitchen closet. He ran right past me, straight to the second story. I slipped out and ran right into his mom. She laughed and grabbed my hand; leading me to hide in the bathroom with her.
She closed and locked the door before turning to me. She just stared at me for a second. I knew her well enough to know that she had an important question. I lifted my eyebrow and she smiled.
“So, what’s going on with you two? I mean I saw how you guys were laying when I came down. Are you guys finally together?”
“We aren’t together as much as I wish we were. I don’t know what that was about.”
His mother was a quick woman, I thought to myself. She had obviously caught on to my feelings some time ago. She was blunt in asking what was going on but, luckily, polite enough to ask me in private. I appreciated it but also thankful to get to say things aloud.
She looked like she didn’t believe me so I sighed. “Look, just don’t tell him what I’m telling you. I don’t want to ruin my friendship with him because our friendship is one of the major constants in my life. I’m not going to lie to you though; I love him.”
She smiled and nodded, knowingly, before I held my hand up to tell her to hold on. “But, as much as I love that idiot I don’t want to ruin what we have now.”
She nodded again and this time she held her arms out to me. I snuggled into her and she held me tight. She stroked my hair and that made me think of Carson stroking my hair last night.
“Don’t worry sweetheart. I won’t say anything. He needs to come to his senses and figure out that he’s in love with you too, but he needs to do it on his own.”
“You don’t know how good it feels to tell someone other than Kami. I’ve been holding this in for years. It feels so good to finally be able to tell someone else,” I said quietly.
After a minute of silence I moved out of her embrace and decided it was safe to come out. His mom laughed at my caution as I opened the door. I didn’t see him, so I let out a relieved breath and walked out. I made it to the kitchen before Carson got me. I squealed and tried to get away from him but he had a tight hold on me.
He tickled me for a few minutes and laughed as I fought to escape. When he released me he held his arms up and called a truce because he knew I would get him back. I shook my head and turned to go. He wrapped his arms around me from behind and swung me around.
“Where do you think you’re going? I haven’t gotten my hug yet,” he said seriously.
“I don’t think you deserve a hug. You tickled me.”
His face lit up with a smile and just like that I was lost in him. I stuck my tongue out at him but hugged him anyway. As much as I wanted to stick to my guns and not hug him, I wanted to hug him even more. When his arms encircled my waist again I had no choice but to melt into him. He squeezed me tight before letting me go.
My phone started vibrating like mad in my pocket, so I took it out and smiled. Kami had texted me ten times: five times telling me to call her and five times saying she was coming over so I better get home. I waved to his mom before heading out the front door. I walked out just in time to see Kami pulling into my driveway. She got out and grinned at me.
“You walk of shaming it Alara,” she asked with a smirk.
“It’s only a walk of shame if there is something to be ashamed of,” I said with my own smirk as I walked up to her.
“Ooh details, now,” she said as she grabbed my hand and dragged me inside.
When we got inside I saw my parents sitting at the kitchen table, so I walked over and kissed both their cheeks before pulling Kami up to my room; promising my parents I’d be back shortly as we went. When we were sitting cross legged on my bed I spilled everything that had happened last night. Kami stayed quiet after I told her, and that worried me, because Kami doesn’t do quiet.
“Well, what do you think,” I asked impatiently.
“I think you are making a huge mistake by not telling him. With what you told me, that boy is totally in love with you, and that isn’t just going to go away. Telling him wouldn’t ru
in anything; it would only make it better.”
I chewed on my lip and thought about what she said. She could be right but she could also be horribly wrong. Who is to say that he didn’t just fall asleep before he could move me? All of this could be explained away, so there was no way I was putting my heart in the hands of a possibility. I needed definitive proof. He would have to come out and say it before I would believe it.
“Kami, I don’t trust possibilities, I trust facts. I need to know for sure, so he needs to come out and tell me if he loves me. I won’t risk a broken heart; not with him. He’s it for me Kami and if he doesn’t love me, I don’t think my heart will ever be the same.”
She nodded, but I got the distinct impression that she was up to something. I knew I should be worried, but at this point there is nothing she could do to really ruin this for me. I mean she could tell him, but I could always deny it and say she was crazy, which he would believe. I was going to let last night go and focus on something else.
“Come on, let’s go eat breakfast so we can go hang out,” I said, shutting the door on any further discussion.
We walked down the stairs as we tried to decide what to do today. She suggested going to the mall before we went out with the guys. I finally agreed when it seemed there was nothing else to do. I texted Carson and told him to talk to Reed and see if he was in because Kami was definitely in. I sat at the table and slipped my hand into the box of donuts my mom had left. Kami flopped down in the chair next to me and reached for the donuts too.
Once plied with sugary dough, we sat and talked with my parents for a few minutes; telling them our plans for the day. They in turn told me that my dad had a business trip out of town so they were going to be gone the rest of the weekend. This of course led to Kami deciding she was going to crash here with me this weekend. My parents agreed, but made us promise we wouldn’t have any wild parties; which was the usual agreement.
“Have you guys met Alara? She doesn’t do anything wild,” Kami said with a laugh.
“Yeah, we know, but you do Kami,” my mom chuckled.
“Ok, I still maintain that I wasn’t the one that started that rave junior year. It was my sister and her friends,” Kami said as she threw her hands up.
We all laughed and my parents went to go grab their bags. We waved goodbye until they were out of sight. When they were gone, Kami squealed and jumped up and down. Great, I already knew she was going to try to convince me to help her throw a party. No matter what she said, I knew she was the one that had started that rave in middle school because I was there when she did it.
“Sorry, we don’t need a repeat of the great rave of 2012,” I said, immediately shutting down her plans.
We ended up chilling out all day. We just watched crappy TV and scrolled through our phones while laughing at random things. We ended up going out to dinner with the guys but nothing really exciting happened. It was just a normal day as far as we were concerned.
The next morning Carson texted and said that he and Reed were bored. I suggested that they could go to the gym since they both love to do the whole bonding over physical exertion thing. He thought that was a perfect idea so he said he would talk to me later. I sighed and resigned myself to not being able to talk to him much today. I told Kami about Reed and Carson’s plans and she didn’t seem impressed.
She pouted, but quickly brightened up. There was an evil glint in her eyes that spoke of nothing but trouble. This was not going to be any better than her rave idea; I just knew it.
“Come on, we’re going to my place to get my stuff and find you something to wear,” she said, standing up. “Oh wait! First, grab your cowgirl boots. We are going to the mall and we are going to look so fabulous while we do it,” she said excitedly.
I knew she was going to try to put me in a dress; I could just sense it. I’m more of a jeans and t-shirt girl so for some unknown reason she was always trying to get me in a dress. She always says that I look adorable when I wear them, but I always feel woefully out of place and uncomfortable. She quickly nudged me to get up and moved me towards the steps. I grabbed everything I would need before being dragged out to her car.
When we got to her apartment she dragged me to her closet and opened it, revealing a few relatively cute dresses. She looked from me to my boots then back into the closet before choosing a white, lacy, strapless sundress. She took my boots out of my hands and handed me the dress before pushing me into the bathroom to change. I decided not to argue or resist, it was harmless, and I wasn’t up for the fight that I would eventually give into anyways. After changing, I stepped out and she whistled at me. I blushed and she handed me my boots. I flopped down onto her bed, wondering how I always get roped into this.
As I was slipping into my boots someone knocked on the front door. Kami had just walked into the bathroom to change into one of her other dresses, so she called out and asked me to get the door. I went to the door and looked out the peephole, squealing and feeling my stomach drop when I saw who it was.
Chapter 2
I opened the door and standing there looking all kinds of irresistible was Carson. His mouth dropped open when he saw me and it made me blush something fierce. There was a glint of something in his eyes that I had never seen before. I wondered what he was seeing when he looked at me like that. Kami came walking out asking who it was when I noticed that there was someone with Carson. Reed pushed past me and stopped right in front of Kami. Kami shot a look to me and I shot one to her. I narrowed my eyes and stared her down because I knew she would admit what she did.
“Oh, did I forget to mention that I invited the guys to come with us to the mall,” she asked with a smirk.
“Yeah, you conveniently forgot to tell me,” I said as I shook my head.
I turned and saw that Carson still hadn’t recovered from seeing me yet, which made me immensely happy, so I turned to Reed. His eyes were still riveted on Kami so I walked over and jostled him a little. He snapped his eyes to me and smiled. He looked me up and down, giving me a wink and his supposedly heart melting smile. I say supposedly because it did nothing for me. I carefully glanced over at Carson who still looked star struck.
One look at Carson is all it takes. His overall self is what does it for me, and I have no clue why, but at this point I’m not questioning it. I would take one of his simple smiles over Reed’s heart-melting one any day. I glance at him again. I was starting to get really concerned at that point because he has been silent for like ten minutes now, and that wasn’t like him. Reed must have noticed because he nudged him and looked at me again.
“You look great Alara,” Reed said. “And I know that idiot would tell you the same thing if he wasn’t so shocked.”
That comment seemed to snap Carson out of his shock. He stepped forward and wrapped his arm around my waist. He glared at Reed before focusing back on me. I blinked, feeling a little confused, because his behavior was like night and day. First, he was all shocked and silent, now he’s being attentive. Well, note to self, pulling Carson out of his shock just involves another guy saying something nice to me while insulting him. He pulled me tight to his side and kissed my temple.
“He’s right, you look fantastic firefly,” he crooned into my ear.
I shivered at the sound of his voice and the feeling of his breath against my ear. My heart decided to stop beating properly and I had to take a moment to catch my breath. He chuckled before slipping his arm around my shoulders. Kami was blushing while Reed whispered into her ear. I really needed to know what that was about! Those two had been shooting gooey looks at each other for a long time, so it was about time they get it together and try to be in a relationship or something! Watching them dance around each other drives me completely nuts.
“Hey, Kami, we need to grab our purses so we can go,” I said quickly. I needed a moment alone with her to question what exactly this thing with Reed was all about.
She seemed to catch my meaning because she ducked out from under Reed’s a
rm. She held out her hand for mine and I took it, hurrying her to her room. When we were alone she flopped back on her bed and started fanning her face. She was always one for dramatics, but she was rarely ever caught blushing. Oh, there must be a story there if my crude best friend was turning red.
“So, you wanna share with the class,” I asked with a smile.
Not one to miss a chance she shot back, “only if you wanna talk about the way Carson was devouring you with his eyes,” she responded happily, her eyebrows raised.
“Okay that’s fine because I wanted to talk about that too, but you first.”
“He’s trying so hard to get me to sleep with him,” she said, oh so casually, as if this sort of thing happened all the time with her. Which it kind of did, now that I was thinking about it. Guys liked Kami. “And it’s just not working for him,” she continued. “I mean I want to sleep with him but I only want it if he wants the entire package.” She gestured to her entire body, head to toe, with a dramatic hair flip at the end. “That means dating me and I doubt he wants to do that. You’ve seen how he is; he doesn’t do long term. He is allergic to the word commitment.”
Catching His Heart (Love And Baseball Book 1) Page 2
