“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.
Chapter Twelve
My brother and my best friend were kissing. I couldn’t force myself to look away, no matter how hard I tried. This was not what I was expecting to see. Hell, I didn’t think I would ever see this. They loved to tease one another, and Macey was like my sister. How could they be kissing or even be together? I wanted to yell over at them, but I couldn’t speak.
I felt like my eyes were burning just watching them. The kiss probably didn’t last more than ten seconds, but to me it felt like they were sucking each other’s tongues for hours. My mind could not seem to wrap around the idea of Luke and Macey being together; it just didn’t sound right.
Looking at them, though, I wasn’t angry that they were together. Maybe they did look good together, and I couldn’t deny I had thought about them going out together. What I was most pissed about was that they didn’t tell me. It was clear as day they had been seeing each other for a while. Thi
s was just the first kiss I was witnessing. No, they seemed really familiar with one another.
I felt almost betrayed that my own best friend wouldn’t tell me she was seeing someone. I was pissed that my brother, my own blood, didn’t tell me he liked Macey and asked her out. No one told me! No one had the balls to straight out tell me they were seeing each other.
Sure, I would have been angry at first and kind of disgusted, but I would have been fine with it. Now I was not. I was more angry that they didn’t tell me. How long had they been going behind my back? That was what I wanted to know. It was almost like Amy and Ethan all over again. They didn’t tell us they were going out, and now these two.
Everyone had been hiding things from me lately, and I hated it. I hated that no one trusted me, or that no one thought I could handle the news. I was not some glass vase that needed to be handled with care. I could take whatever anyone had to say to me.
This just pushed me over the edge. I had thought Macey would tell me, since we told each other everything. I told Macey everything that went on with me. But had I really? I paused. Okay, maybe I hadn’t really told her everything that had happened these last few days, but that was only because she hadn’t been around much. Now I knew why.
A wave of anger hit me, making me clench my jaw. I was not going to just run away and not confront them. I was going to give them a piece of my mind for keeping this from me. I didn’t even hesitate as I marched over in their direction.
“Hey!” I shouted when I got near. The two of them jumped apart and looked around. I came to a stop in front of them and watched the color drain from their faces. They didn’t think they would be caught.
“Carter,” Luke said, and glanced at Macey with what looked like fear in his eyes.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t find out about you two? Did you plan on hiding it from me forever?” I basically screeched at them. My anger was getting ahold of me.
Silent Love [Part 2] Page 19
