Silent Love

by Kenadee Bryant

  His hood was pushed back now, so I could see all of his face and some of his hair. In the moonlight his beat-up face looked worse than before, but it didn’t do anything to detract from how hot he was. The guy had the most dominant jawline I had ever seen. I could only see a little bit of his brown hair, but it looked very soft. His brown, almost auburn, eyes were staring down at me, his left one slightly swollen but not as bad as I once thought.

  “Care to tell me where you live?” he asked, his voice hard.

  “Oh yeah. We live in building twenty-four. I’ll lead the way.” Tearing my gaze away from his face, I turned and started walking toward our building. It was awkward as we walked side by side, the only sound Macey’s soft snores. My best friend, ladies and gentlemen.

  “Thank you for doing this,” I said softly. He just grunted in response. Lovely talk, I thought sarcastically. The silence was starting to get to me as we got closer to home. “I’m Carter, by the way.” Still nothing. Groaning inwardly, I stopped talking. It was no use if he wasn’t going to respond. We reached the building a little bit later. When I opened the lobby door for him, he squeezed past me, Macey’s hand smacking my leg as he went. As we went up the stairs, I couldn’t help but wonder how he was doing it. Macey had to be weighing him down, and carrying someone up stairs was not easy. He must be really strong. Coming to our door, I slid the key in, walking in and holding the door wide open.

  “Her room is down the hall to the left,” I said closing the door. Turning around I saw the guy already walking toward Macey’s room. Not being any help, I stood next to the doorframe as he gently laid Mace on her bed. Once she was resting, he stepped back almost awkwardly.

  “Um, can I…I mean, would you want me to clean your cuts for you? In return for helping me get my friend home,” I said suddenly, without really knowing what I was saying. I had to do something to pay him back for helping me. He just stared at me. “Please?” I whispered.

  “Fine.” He grunted. I bit back a smile, glad he accepted my offer.

  “I have a first aid kit in my bathroom.” Gesturing for him to follow me, I headed to my room and the bathroom. From the corner of my eye I could see him glancing around my room, making me blush. My room wasn’t anything special and I still had my drawing stuff out on the floor. Going into my bathroom, I bent forward to retrieve the first aid kit my parents made sure I had. I had about three of them around the house because, according to my mom, “you never know”.

  “Come sit right here,” I said, my voice still soft. I felt that I had to talk quietly around him. He did as I asked while I opened the kit and took out some antibacterial wipes. I’ve learned how to bandage people up because of my brother and Ethan. With their football and occasional fights at parties, I’d always been the one to help them, instead of my mom.

  Gently I grabbed his hood and slipped it off his head. He had kind of long brown hair that looked really soft. It was styled in a messy way, but it made him look even hotter. Opening the wipes, I stood in front of him making sure there was plenty of space between us. Biting my bottom lip, I gently started cleaning the cut above his eyebrow. I heard his sharp intake of breath, as I knew the cut probably stung, but he made no move to move away. I made sure the cut was clean before moving onto the one under his eye and then his lip. His cheek was already turning black, same with his eye. In the morning he would have a black eye.

  Grabbing some ointment I applied it to his cuts, and I also used some medical tape to make sure they didn’t open and bleed, before taking a step back. Looking at his face, I was hit once again by how good-looking he was. His nose was slightly bent, but it helped make his face look less perfect. His face looked like God had sculpted it himself. Being this close to him made my stomach erupt into butterflies. Realizing I was staring, I cleared my throat and stepped back.

  “There you go. Just put some ice on your cheek and eye later, and you should be okay.” Forcing my eyes away from his brown ones that looked lighter up close, I put everything away in the kit and put it back under the sink. As I was bending back up, he stood.

  “Thanks,” he said simply.

  “No problem.” He stared down at me expectantly. “Oh, I’ll show you out.” I led him to the door and opened it for him. “Thank you once again. I don’t know how I would have gotten her home,” I said sincerely. I wanted him to know I did feel grateful that he helped me. He brushed past me out into the hall.

  “It’s Gage,” was all he said before leaving. I stood there confused for a minute before I realized that was his name. Smiling softly, I shut the door and headed to my room. Gage—I like that name. I slid my covers back and hopped into bed. As I slowly drifted off to sleep, an image of Gage’s face appeared in my head.

  Chapter Four

  “Babe, get up. It’s almost noon,” I said, shaking a snoring Macey. I had been up for a while unpacking the rest of our stuff in the living room, and cleaning. I knew since classes started tomorrow neither Macey or I would want to finish unpacking and cleaning the place. Hearing a groan from her, I kept nudging her shoulder.

  “Seriously, Macey, let’s get up. You need a cup of coffee and some food.” At the mention of coffee, she peeked her head out from under the covers.

  “Coffee?” she asked, cracking open one eye. I grinned and nodded.

  “Yes. You need to get some fresh air, so we will go to 95 Degrees and get some warm, fresh coffee.”

  “Can’t you go get me some?” she whined, putting a hand to her head which I bet was pounding.

  “Nope, you have to get out. There is some Advil on your bedside table, and water. Get up, throw on some clothes, and take them. We are leaving in ten minutes,” I said before turning and leaving her room. I heard her groan loudly behind me and grinned. Macey was always like this after a night of partying. I didn’t have much pity for her anymore.

  I slipped on my shoes while I waited for Macey to change so we could leave. Even though I was up late last night, I couldn’t sleep in. I was up by eight and couldn’t force myself to sleep, so I was craving as much coffee as Mace. She emerged from her room a few minutes later dressed in a pair of sweats and a plain t-shirt. Her brownish-blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she had cleaned off her makeup from last night. After Gage left I tucked her in her bed before making sure she had a bucket nearby. Thankfully, though, she wasn’t much of a puker.

  “Let’s go,” I said, grabbing my keys and phone, leading her out of the dorm.

  She was half dead as we trekked across campus to the café. I knew once she got some coffee in her and a little bit of food she would be talkative, telling me all about last night, if she remembered anything. It was warm today as the sun shone down on us. I was dressed in a pair of baggy jeans that had paint stains on them and a t-shirt. It was Sunday after all, not a day to get dressed up in my book. The whole trip to 95 Degrees, Macey was silent, dealing with her hangover.

  We entered the café and a bell chimed above us, notifying the workers they had customers. The place was slightly packed, and most of the people here looked like they had just gotten up themselves. Girls were dressed not to impress, and the guys were looking a little pale. And everyone wonders why I don’t want to go to parties, I thought sarcastically.

  Going up to the counter I ordered two regular black coffees and one hazelnut Frappuccino. Scooting off to the side, I let Macey order. The girl taking our order looked like she would rather be somewhere else then serving coffee to a bunch of hungover college kids.

  “That will be $15.25,” the girl muttered. I paid, smiling at Macey who was slumped against the counter. I found it funny how she acted if she didn’t have any coffee in her after a night out. She was literally a walking zombie.

  “You didn’t want anything to eat?” I asked as we waited for our order.

  “Ew, no. If I smell food, I will throw up.”

  “But the smell of coffee is fine?”

  “Yes, it is the best thing ever invented,” Mace said, tapping her foot impatient
ly. I wanted to disagree with her, but I couldn’t. Coffee was a great invention. When our order was called, Macey pounced on the poor girl and ripped her coffee out of her hand. Without waiting for me, she turned and headed for the door sipping her latte. With a soft “thank you,” I grabbed the tray with the three drinks and followed after her.

  “So the party was hip-happening last night, huh?” I said, walking beside Mace.

  “It was pretty cool. I mean, it was kind of the same as high school parties but with hotter guys,” she said. Now that she had coffee in her, she was alive.

  “Yeah, you said that last night.”

  “Wait, what?” She turned to me, confused.

  “You called me last night around two in the morning. So I got up and came to get you, and the entire way back you talked about some guy and how hot he was, how he was such a great kisser,” I answered, shrugging. I wasn’t going to tell her how a random guy helped me carry her passed-out ass all the way home.

  “Oh, I am sorry! I don’t remember calling you.”

  “That’s okay.” Even though she passed out on me, I was able to meet a mysterious guy named Gage. All night I dreamt about him, even though I had no idea who he was. The only thing I really knew was that he attended Columbia, or he wouldn’t have known where to go. And that he was beaten up pretty good. Maybe a fight happened a few minutes before I arrived at the party. I didn’t know for sure. “If it makes you feel better, my head is killing me,” Macey said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

  “A little.” I smirked over at her before we both started to laugh. Walking past our dorm building, we continued to another one a bit further away. In a way it was nice that my brother lived so close to us. If I needed anything it would only take me three minutes to get to his dorm building. We entered the building and went up a few flights of stairs. I had already been here once before, when I helped Luke move in a few weeks earlier. Coming to a stop in front of room 15B, I used the spare key my parents made sure I had before leaving.

  Opening the door, I silently prayed that there were no girls walking around half naked. That was something I did not want to see or even think about. Macey shut the door behind us as I moved deeper into the room. As I predicted, neither boy was up, even though it was after noon by now. Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that Ethan was also my brother’s roommate?

  “I’ll get your brother up,” Macey said, not even skipping a beat as she headed for his room. I knew in a minute I would hear my brother yelp in pain as I headed for Ethan’s room. True to my word, as soon I started to open the door I heard my brother yell and Macey’s laugh following. Those two were always finding ways to torture or annoy one another. Shaking my head, I walked into Ethan’s room.

  Surprisingly, his room wasn’t that messy. All of his things had been unpacked and put into certain places. His chest of drawers wasn’t overflowing and neither was his closet. A few things stuck out of it, but everyone’s probably did. The closets weren’t big enough to fit everything neatly. He had a desk pushed to one side of the room that held a laptop, a signed football, and a few other things. On the floor were a few discarded pieces of clothing, but that was about it.

  Going over to his bed I looked down and gulped. He was shirtless, leaving his toned abs on display while his comforter was bunched around his waist. His arms were behind his head, and it made his biceps look even bigger. A soft snore escaped his parted lips and his brown hair was sticking up, with a few pieces resting on his forehead. He looked so handsome while sleeping that I just wanted to run my hand down his face and chest. Shaking my head at my thoughts, I nudged his shoulder.

  “Ethan, get up,” I said softly. When he still didn’t move I said it louder and shook his shoulder harder; he didn’t even move a muscle. Huffing, I pulled my hand back and slapped his cheek. The sound echoed around the room and immediately his blue-green eyes snapped open. I couldn’t help but grin that my idea worked. Plus, it was kind of revenge for how many times him and Luke had woken me up by dumping water on me or pulling my mattress out from under me.

  “Carter,” he said in a low voice. I smiled sweetly down at him.

  “Yes?”

  “Why did you slap me?” He sat up and I took a step back.

  “You wouldn’t get up.”

  “So you slapped me,” he said slowly, pushing his covers off and standing up. I almost fainted, seeing he was wearing a pair of sweatpants that were hanging low on his hips. His abs were on clear display, making my mouth dry. You would think after seeing him shirtless for all these years I would be used to this, but nope. In fact, it seemed he had gotten even more fit since this summer, when him and my brother hung out around the pool in the backyard with me and Macey.

  “I, uh, yes,” I stammered out, forcing myself to look away from his shirtless upper body.

  “Again, why?” He took a step closer to me.

  “Revenge.” With that I put my hands on his chest, ignoring the hard muscle, and shoved him hard, back onto his bed. Not wasting any more time, I turned and ran to the door before he could get up. “I have coffee waiting for you.” Turning I left his room, shutting the door behind me. Taking a deep breath, I let the image of his abs melt into my brain. When I heard movement behind the door, I headed to the living room. I saw my brother was now up, sitting on the couch shirtless while drinking the coffee I got him. Macey sat across from him, doing something on her phone.

  “So, how was your night?” I asked Luke, plopping down beside him.

  “Inside voice,” he groaned.

  “I am using my ‘inside voice’.” I sipped my Frappuccino, shaking my head at him. “Partied too hard apparently.”

  Ethan walked into the room with a t-shirt now on, grabbing the last coffee on the table. He came and sat down on my other side. Why did I have to sit in the middle? Bringing my knees up, I wrapped an arm around them. The room was silent as everyone drank their coffee and dealt with their hangover. I was literally the only sober person in the room.

  “Mom called last night and said hi,” I said, breaking the silence.

  “And now you give me the message!” Ethan exclaimed, putting a hand to his chest. I rolled my eyes at him.

  “You guys are lucky today is Sunday. If it weren’t, you would be late to class and you wouldn’t be going to the game.” I had to be the responsible one in our little group, even if Luke and Ethan were older.

  “Yes, Mom,” Luke said.

  “What are you guys doing today?” I asked.

  “Sitting around. Why?”

  “Just wondering. I think Mace and I will hang out with you guys. We are doing the same thing as you are.” I shrugged. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was kind of missing home and being around my brother would help a little.

  “Sounds good. I’m going to go shower,” Luke said, standing and heading to his room, but not before smacking Macey on the back of her head. As soon as his hand came in contact with her, he took off to his room, slamming the door behind him.

  “He better run,” Macey grumbled under her breath. I shook my head at them. They literally couldn’t be in the same room together without messing with one another.

  “So what should we do then?” Ethan asked, turning to me.

  “We could play video games, or some kind of game,” I suggested.

  “Are you sure you want to play video games again?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I narrowed my eyes at him.

  “That was one time!”

  “Throwing the controller at the wall leaves a mark, dear Carter. As does the scratches you made when you tried to hit me for beating you at a game.”

  “I did not! You were just in the way.” I folded my arms across my chest.

  “Whatever you say.” He smirked over at me.

  “If we don’t play some kind of game then what is there to do? Sit around with our fingers in our butts?”

  “Wow, who would have known you liked that kind of stuff, Carter?” Ethan said, his eyes widening at me.


  “Ew, gross, Ethan!” I yelled, feeling blush rise in my cheeks. “Get your mind out of the gutter!”

  “You thought it first!” he shot back. As Ethan and I argued back and forth, Macey just sat there staring at us with a grin on her face. Ever since I told her I liked Ethan years ago, every chance I could have of being alone with Ethan she had made work. Like just a few minutes ago when she went to get my brother up; although she wanted to mess with him, she knew I wanted to get Ethan. We both knew my crush on him probably won’t work out, but a girl could dream.

  “Who started it this time?” I heard Luke say as he walked into the room, his hair still wet.

  “Ethan did,” I said, looking away from him.

  “Ethan, stop bugging my sister.” I turned and smiled smugly at Ethan. Ha, in your face! “And, Carter, stop messing with Ethan.” It was now Ethan’s turn to be smug.

  “So what are we doing?” he asked, taking a seat once again.

  “Playing video games,” I said.

  “Are you sure?” Luke sent me an are-you-serious look. I glared at him, to which he finally nodded. “Okay. Let’s get started. I can’t wait to kick Macey’s ass again.” He rubbed his hands together and headed for their PlayStation 3 that was set up by the TV.

  “You didn’t kick my ass last time! I was right behind you!” Macey yelled, getting up and coming to sit next to me. Rolling my eyes once more I shifted so she would have more room, which in turn made me brush against Ethan.

  “So? That is still me winning.”

  “What are we playing?” Ethan interrupted their bickering.

  “Mario Cart!” Macey and I yelled at the same time. We grinned at each other.

  “Again?” Luke whined.

  “Yes, you owe me for bringing you coffee and getting you up,” I stated.

  “Fine,” he replied grumpily as he put the game in. He handed each of us a controller, and I got a blue one because it was my favorite color. He sat on the ground below my feet since there was no more room on the couch.