Breaking Through the Wall (Guarded Hearts Book 2)

by Noelle, Alexis

  What the hell did he mean? Her dad and stepmom lived there. I knew they weren’t the best company, but she wouldn’t be alone. “Carter, she isn’t going to be alone. She is going to her dad’s house.”

  “No, idiot, her dad and stepmom went away for the holidays.”

  Why wouldn’t she tell me this when we had talked about break? She had never once said her dad would be away and that she would be there all by herself. “I just got to the house, I’ll call you back.”

  I walked up to the door and when I knocked, Holly answered. “Hey, Jason, she is upstairs packing.”

  “Thanks, Holls. When are you and Christen leaving?”

  “Probably later tonight. We wanted to grab some dinner first.”

  I gave her a hug. Holly had been like a little sister to me ever since I met Carter. “Text me when you get in safe, okay?”

  “I will.”

  I went upstairs to Nicole’s room and stood in her open doorway. She was trying to get something off the top shelf of her closet, but even on her tip toes, there was no way it was going to happen. I snuck up behind her, grabbed her hips, and lifted her up so she could reach it. She jumped, but once she realized it was me, she relaxed. When she pulled down what she had been trying to reach, I saw it was my sweatshirt. I had given it to her last New Year’s Eve in the hospital, because she was freezing in the tiny dress she had on.

  When I put her down, she turned around and smiled at me. “I didn’t even hear you come in!” She threw her arms around my neck and leaned up to kiss me. It scared me how comfortable I was with the amount of affection she showed me, and how much I wanted to give it back to her. “When are you guys leaving?”

  “In like an hour, I think. Can we talk for a minute?” She looked up at me, and seemed scared as to what I was about to say. I took her hand and led her over to the bed to sit down. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going to be home alone all break?”

  I could tell she was shocked that I knew, and wasn’t expecting me to say that. “I am fine with it, J. It won’t be the first time.”

  “I’m not fine with it. Nic, why don’t you, um…why don’t you just come home with me?”

  “No.” She stood up and walked back over to her suitcase.

  “No? Why the hell not?” It pissed me off that I had just offered this to her and she just turned me down flat.

  “This is why I didn’t tell you, Jason! I didn’t want you to feel obligated to bring me home with you. I don’t need you to take care of me. I can handle it myself.”

  I walked over to her and grabbed her hands, so she would stop throwing things in the suitcase and look at me. “Why are you always so goddamn stubborn? You are not going home by yourself all weekend, Nicole. I don’t care if I need to handcuff us together and strap you into the seat myself. You are going to come home with me and you are going to drop this independent woman bullshit. I get it already, but know that you are still mine and I am not okay with you being alone at that house the rest of the week.”

  I prepared myself for some snotty comeback or maybe even some physical retaliation, but I never expected what she actually did. She wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her head against my chest.

  “Okay.”

  “I will text Carter. You finish packing your suitcase.”

  I texted Carter to let him know Nic was coming with us. Then I lay down on the bed while she finished packing her things. I also texted my dad to let him know I was bringing someone home with me. I think I was worried about his reaction more than anything. I knew I was in deep with Nicole, it was like this force that was always drawing me to her. I couldn’t stay away and I was fighting the urge to less and less every day.

  Nicole

  When Carter pulled up to pick me and Jason up, I started to get nervous. I hadn’t told him about my dad being away, because I didn’t want to feel like he had to bring me with him. I have to say, though, I loved it when he went all demanding alpha male on me.

  I was so anxious to meet his dad, because from everything he had told me, he was not a huge fan of relationships. We had grown so much as a couple in the past couple months that I didn’t want this to set us back.

  I was glad Carter lived so close. At least we could spend some part of the break with him and Maddy.

  She turned around and smiled at me. “We were thinking of a day trip to Myrtle Beach on Saturday. You want to join?”

  “Um…yeah sure, I guess.” I turned to Jason to see his reaction to it.

  Jason leaned close to my ear and my whole body broke out in Goosebumps. “You don’t have to worry about me not wanting to go, babe. As long as you own a bikini.” Then he dragged his teeth over my earlobe, causing my heartbeat to speed up. He always had this effect on me, it was like I couldn’t even think straight when he was so close to me.

  When I looked up, I saw Maddy smiling at me and felt the blush invading my cheeks. This was going to be a long car ride.

  We had been trying to listen to music the entire drive, but with Carter and Jason wanting rock, and Maddy and I trying to convince them to let us listen to country, we ended up shutting it off. As we got closer to Jason’s house, I was getting more and more nervous.

  What if his dad didn’t like me? What if he didn’t think I was right for him? I felt Jason put his hand on my leg and when I looked up, he shot me a reassuring smile. He could be so sweet, when he wasn’t being an ass.

  We got out of the car and said our goodbyes to Carter and Mads. When we walked into his house no one was home. At least I could fix myself up before his dad got home. I followed J into his room and waited for him to show me to wherever I was sleeping.

  He looked over at me with a confused look on his face. “Aren’t you gonna put your stuff down?”

  I was staying in here? With him? “I didn’t think I was staying with you.”

  “Are you nuts? There is no way you are sleeping in any bed in this house that isn’t mine.”

  He walked over and crushed his mouth to mine, turned me around, kicked the door shut with his foot, and backed me up toward the bed. I was not going to have sex with him here! His dad could walk in and hear us! “J, stop.”

  He pulled back to look at me. “Listen, I get that you’re trying to be respectful and shit, but there is no way we are spending this break together and not having sex. I think it’s cute, but I am not Carter, babe.”

  He pushed me back onto the bed and before I could object, he had my sundress around my waist. He started to kiss my panty line and any objection I had disappeared. I had no experience before Jason, but I have to say that he was amazing when it came to this stuff. I hated to think it was because he had done it so often, but that was probably the case.

  He started to slide my underwear down and I was already squirming. He spread my legs and made his way up my body, stopping and kissing me with so much fire that it took my breath away. He pulled me up with him, lifting my dress off of me in one quick move.

  I reached for the hem of his shirt and lifted it off of him. I started kissing his well-defined chest, nipping and licking the way that I knew drove him crazy. God, I loved him.

  I loved him. Shit. I was officially screwed.

  Jason

  I couldn’t believe she thought I would be able to go this whole break without touching her. Half of the time, I couldn’t even go ten minutes. I laid her back down and stood up to take off my shorts and boxers. Seeing her lying in my old room like this was crazy. I never brought girls back here. My dad was always weird whenever I had tried to, so I just started going to their houses, or cars, or the locker room. Hell, any room that had a door.

  I knew my dad would be home soon and I didn’t have long with her. I loved doing foreplay and things with her because she was always so responsive, but today, I was going to need to get her there quick.

  I bent my head down and her scent filled my nostrils. She smelled so fucking amazing all the time. I licked my tongue up the length of her and felt her jerk benea
th me. I grabbed her hips and held her steady so that she couldn’t move. I rested my one forearm across her stomach so that I could free up one of my hands.

  When I moved my mouth up to her clit and inserted two fingers into her, she let out a moan. I knew Nicole well enough now that I knew she was close. She was always so quick, which was why I usually liked to tease her. There wasn’t any time for that today. I started moving my fingers fast and sucking on her clit at the same time. She screamed my name when she came, and I have to say, it was the most beautiful fucking sound I had ever heard.

  I sat up and sunk myself deep into her without giving her any time to recover. I put my hands back on her hips and used the leverage to slam myself into her even harder.

  “God, J! That feels so good!”

  She moved her hands up to her tits and started to play with her nipples. Just the sight of her doing that pushed me over the edge, and I emptied myself into her. When I collapsed beside her onto the bed, she moved to rest her head on my chest.

  “I have to tell you, at the risk of inflating your ego, you are so good at that.”

  I laughed. “At which part?”

  “All of it, but especially the foreplay. It’s crazy how worked up you can get me and how fast you can get me there.”

  “Thanks, babe, that’s good to know. Unlike the sex part, I haven’t done that very much.”

  She looked up at me in disbelief. “Why is that?”

  I didn’t know how this was going to come out, but I had never held my tongue before. “Because half of the girls I have been with, I wouldn’t even touch with my finger much less my mouth. They are dirty and easy.Any girl, that let’s any dude that comes along ‘do her’, is not someone I want my mouth near.”

  She started to laugh and I pulled her closer to me. It was in moments like this that my running instinct kicked in. It was personal and emotional and everything I had thought I never wanted. I heard the front door shut and sat up. “That would be my dad. We need to get dressed.”

  Watching Nicole jump up and try to put herself together that fast was hysterical. She was so frantic, and at one point, she tried to put her bra on backward. I laughed and got up to get dressed. I doubted my dad even knew we were here yet, it was not like my car was in the driveway.

  “How do I look?”

  I looked up at her and she looked gorgeous. I could tell she was nervous and I was too. “You look perfect, babe. Come on.”

  When we walked into the kitchen, my dad looked up and the shock on his face was obvious. I had texted him that I was bringing a girl home, but knowing him, he probably thought I was joking.

  “Dad, this is Nicole. Nicole, this is my dad, Paul.”

  After he was done staring at her like an idiot, he closed the couple steps between us. “It’s nice to meet you, Nicole.”

  “You too, Mr. Smith.”

  “Don’t call me Mr. Smith, just Paul is fine.”

  He walked into the living room and I heard the TV turn on. That actually went better than I had expected. When I looked down at Nic, I could see that she thought something was wrong. “Hey, you did fine. He is really antisocial, so don’t expect too much. This is kind of why I never thought to invite you here.”

  “It’s fine, J. Are you sure it isn’t me, though?”

  “No, it isn’t. Now come on, let’s go sit down.

  We went into the living room and sat on the couch. “Dad, Carter invited us over for dinner tomorrow. What do you say?”

  He turned to look at me like I had five heads. “Mike knows less about cooking than I do. Why would we go there for dinner?”

  This should be fun. “Carter’s fiancée, Madison, is going to be cooking a big dinner for them.”

  His eyes got huge and I could tell he was shocked. “His fiancée?”

  “Yeah, they just got engaged about three months ago. She is great.”

  “You kids have all lost your damn minds. If you want to go there, I guess we will.”

  With that, he turned back to the TV. I glanced at Nicole and I could tell she was uncomfortable. I didn’t know what to do at this point, this was what I was afraid would happen.

  “Hey, do you want to go for a walk?”

  She looked up at me and smiled, silently thanking me for saving her. “Yeah, sure.”

  Once we were out of the house, I was finally able to relax. “Listen, before you say anything, the way my dad was had absolutely nothing to do with you, Nic. He lost it after my mom left and he never really got it back. If you want to stay at Carter’s, I really wouldn’t blame you.”

  She pulled me to a stop and turned to face me. Her hands ran up my chest, ending at my neck. “I am not going anywhere, J, so stop trying to give me an out.”

  She was finally starting to break down the wall I had built years ago and I knew she was telling the truth when she said things like that. Nicole was absolutely nothing like my mother and the sooner I accepted that, the better. I bent my head down to kiss her and enjoyed the fact that she was mine.

  Nicole

  I have to say that when we got to Carter’s house for Thanksgiving dinner I was really impressed. I knew Maddy could cook from all of the dinners we had together, but she really went all out. Carter introduced me to his dad and brother. I had to laugh when Jason smacked Anthony on the back of the head for staring at my boobs.

  His response was even better, though. He had turned to Carter and said, “Every college brochure Dad gives me has these ugly nerdy chicks on the front. If they put the two of you on there, enrollment would double.”

  That earned him smacks and things thrown at him from just about everyone. I went into the kitchen to talk to Mads and see if she needed any help.

  “Hey, girl!” She ran over and gave me a hug, and I laughed at how perfect she looked in this role. She had her hair in a neat little pony tail with an apron and oven mitts on. “So, how is everything?”

  I was so glad I had someone to talk to, because I really didn’t know what to do. “I feel like he hates me, Mads. I mean, he can barely stand to look at me, it’s like I repulse him.”

  “Carter told me last night about how Jason’s dad could be. I know it has to be hard. Has he said anything about it?”

  “He has been great, better than he has ever been! I think, in some strange way, this is helping him to see that he doesn’t want to end up like his dad. I just wish that things were different and he wasn’t so against me from the start.”

  She gave me a hug that I really needed right now, things had been so tense last night. Thank God Jason had a TV in his room, because at least that provided us with an escape.

  “Hey, listen, you are only going to be there tonight and tomorrow night. Then Saturday, we are all staying in Myrtle Beach together!”

  “I know, I can’t wait. I hope it is nice enough to go on the beach.”

  Dinner was amazing, or, at least, the food was. Jason’s dad mumbled and grumbled through the whole thing, while Carter’s dad was great. He talked to me about school and my family, and seemed like he was really interested to get to know me. Maddy got really lucky with him, while I got Scrooge’s evil twin.

  By the time we got back to Jason’s house, it was after ten and I was completely exhausted. I went into the room and J told me he would be there in a minute. I got changed in pajamas and opened the door to go brush my teeth.

  “No, Dad, you need to lay off. She doesn’t deserve the way you are treating her!”

  I knew I shouldn’t be listening, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “Son, you need to understand, I am only trying to protect you.”

  “Protect me from what? Being happy? Not spending every day alone and miserable like you are? Whether you want to believe it or not, not every girl out there is like Mom. It took me a long time to learn that, mainly because you have been filling my head with all of this bullshit since she left. Nicole makes me happy, and if you can’t appreciate that, the least you could do is respect it.”

  I
heard his footsteps and scrambled back to my bag to pretend I was getting my toothbrush out. When he came in and closed the door, I looked up at him and could tell he was fuming. “You okay?”

  “Yeah, did you, uh…did you hear any of that?”

  I should probably tell him I did, but the look in his eyes is begging me to say I didn’t. “Hear what?”

  He walked over and wrapped his arms around me, bending down to place a kiss on my neck. “Nothing. I’ll get changed and see you in a minute, okay?”

  I nodded my head and went to the bathroom. What he said to his dad really meant a lot to me. It was validating every fear I had that his dad could influence him to leave me. I wished he was ready for me to tell him I loved him, because I wanted to say it so bad.

  Jason

  As soon as Nicole had gone off to the bedroom, my dad had started in on me. Warning me she was going to break my heart, and asking me over and over again why I changed the plan. It pissed me off so bad, because he hadn’t even given her the chance she deserved. Granted, it took me about nine months to give her a real chance, but I expected more from him.

  Coming home and seeing how my dad was when I was actually happy, was an eye opener. I didn’t want to end up like him, sad, alone, and mad at the world. Nic came back in and crawled under the covers with me. For the first time ever, I was content with just being able to hold her, without having sex. This is the type of shit that Carter would talk about and I would tell him he was gay for.

  Everything is so different when it means something, though. My dad was so convinced that this was just something built on sex, and I was determined to prove him wrong.

  I had every intention of keeping Nicole out of the house as much as I could today. We were leaving tomorrow for Myrtle Beach, and the less time we spent with my dad, the better. Carter had asked me if I wanted to hang out with him and Maddy, but I told them no.

  Nicole and I spent the day walking the trails at the park, seeing a movie, and going out to dinner. My dad had poker night with his friends tonight, so I figured he would be gone by the time we got home.