“I…I…uh.” I started to say, but nothing seemed to come out. My talking seemed to bring him out of whatever state he was in. I saw him clench his jaw, a very sexy jaw at that. His brown eyes were no longer twinkling, but were back to being dark and cold. Not even saying goodbye, he left me standing there as he walked away. I stood there confused and kind of hurt. He stuck up for me a few seconds ago, and now he walked away as if nothing had happened.
I literally stood there staring after him like a lost puppy. So many emotions were running through me I didn’t know what to think or do. A few people passed me sending me odd looks, but my gaze was still stuck on where Gage had just been. He really was a mystery. One second he was teasing me, and the next he was like a stone wall.
Sighing, I physically shook myself. I couldn’t stand here all day trying to figure out Gage. I had other classes to get to and to focus on. Even as I headed to the dorm building, I kept wondering as to why Gage left so quickly. After spending the entire walk home thinking about him, I forced myself to get rid of any thoughts with Gage. He was more trouble than he was worth.
***
All of my classes flew by. During my lunch break, I met up with Macey to grab some coffee and something quick to eat. Because I missed out on breakfast and my usual coffee, I was starving and tired by the time lunch came around. Mace and I talked about all sorts of things before she had to leave to go to class.
My classes helped me forget about my earlier incident with Gage. I was too busy, and for that, I was glad. After I had gotten to my second class, which was art, I was scolding myself for letting Gage affect me so badly. I really was acting stupid.
It now was now fifteen minutes after three, and I was heading into the library. I wanted to look through it more than I had the other day, since I was more focused on doing my homework. I was hoping I could find some good books to maybe read later. Being such a bookworm and not having read anything for a good two weeks, I was going crazy.
Making my way up to the fourth floor, the one I was on last time, I passed by tons of other students making their way in and out of the library. Deciding not to take the elevator, I took the stairs while sending Macey a text telling her I’d be home soon. I realized my mistake of taking the stairs when I reached the third floor and was already out of breath. I really need to start working out. Finally reaching the fourth floor, I stopped to catch my breath for a second. I didn’t want people to see how winded I was by walking up the stairs.
When I had my breath back, I opened the door and walked in. This floor wasn’t as busy as the bottom ones, since most students didn’t care where they sat to do their homework. I had remembered this floor had romance novels, so it was definitely going to be my go-to floor.
Immediately, I headed for the first aisle and saw them. I loved everything about libraries and bookstores; everything from the smell to the comfortable chairs and couches. You could never go wrong with a place full of books in my opinion. I could literally spend hours upon hours here and at Barnes and Noble looking at books.
The smell of books reached my nose, making a soft smile grace my lips. My fingertips ran down the spines of novels as I slowly walked down the aisle. I took in each book with fascination, wanting to know what was underneath each cover. I felt so relaxed and comfortable just browsing the aisle; it was the best feeling.
Just as I was coming down the middle aisle, I heard a female voice along with a familiar, deep one. I peeked around one of the bookshelves to see Gage sitting there with a pretty redhead. The girl was grinning widely, and from here I could see the soft pink of her cheeks, probably caused by something Gage said. I watched as Gage leaned toward her and spoke softly in her ear, making the girl physically shiver. His free hand softly ran down her arm as he told her whatever it was.
I stared at the two wanting to know what Gage was saying. I had front row seats to seeing Gage flirt with a girl and by the looks of it, it was working. When he pulled back, he had a smile on his face. I could tell, though, that it wasn’t a real smile; his lips were only half tilted up. A few minutes later the girl stood up, sending Gage a wide grin before strutting away. The girl radiated confidence and sex appeal, something I had none of.
Gage leaned back in his chair, placing one of his arms on the back of another chair, a satisfied look on his face. He had stared after the redhead, clearly entranced by her. Looking away from him, I leaned back against the bookshelf. Seeing how that girl easily got Gage’s attention struck something in me. That was what I needed to do. I needed to learn how to get Ethan’s attention, to get him to see me in a different light.
What the girl had, I had zero of. I had absolutely no sex appeal, and no confidence around the opposite sex. I was a ball of awkwardness that always ended up stuttering if I was near a hot guy. Even though I had been around Ethan my entire life, I was still awkward around him. Maybe instead of using someone to get Ethan jealous, like Aunt Kay suggested, I could get someone to teach me how to be more confident in myself. Teach me to get a guy’s attention without changing myself to be someone I’m not.
A few minutes passed as I leaned there thinking about it. What could I lose? I mean, it sounded better than using someone, and this might be easier, quicker. I didn’t like the idea of using someone to begin with. Okay, it might be not the greatest idea to ask Gage for help, but he was the best choice. It wasn’t like I could go up and ask my brother, and I was not going to ask a random guy. At least I knew Gage would want to do it quick, since he didn’t like me, making it a whole lot easier.
Not wanting to back out of my idea like I always did, I moved out from the bookshelf and headed straight for Gage. My mind was telling me to turn around and not go through with this, but I wanted to. If I wanted to get Ethan to notice me, I had to do something different. The way I was doing things wasn’t working, so it was now time to try this. It wasn’t the worst idea I’d ever had.
Carter, you can do this. Don’t bail out of it now. Once I was by his table, I slammed my hands down on the hard top. Gage had his head down looking at his textbook, and my hands on the table make him snap up to look at me in surprise.
“What does a girl need to have to get your attention?” The words came tumbling out the second I opened my mouth.
“What?” he asked, confused. His eyebrows were pulled together and he frowned.
“How do girls get your attention? Is there something that makes them stand out?” I asked, pulling out a chair and sitting down, keeping my gaze on Gage.
“Again, what?” I sighed, going to tell him before I backed out.
“I need your help teaching me how to get a guy’s attention,” I said. He stared at me as if I just asked him to bring me the moon.
“Let me get this straight: you want me”—he pointed to himself—“to help you get a guy’s attention?”
“Yes.” I nodded.
“No.” He turned his attention back to his textbook, ignoring me.
“Gage, please! It doesn’t have to be a big deal, maybe just give me a few tips,” I pleaded.
“Okay, here is one…no,” he said flatly.
“Gage!” He made no move to answer me again. “Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Simple. Let this fucking stupid idea go. If the guy liked you, he would have said it.” I stared at him letting his words sink in. If he liked you, he would have said it. Was that really true? If Ethan remotely liked me, would he have told me by now? I slumped down in the chair, the reality of what Gage just said sinking in. He was probably right; if he did like me as much as I liked him, he would have told me so, no matter the consequences.
“Carter, it is not a good idea to change who you are for someone,” Gage said, his voice soft. He must have seen my fallen face. I almost felt like I could cry. My eyes snapped up to his. I was surprised that he actually said my name; that was a first. I liked the way it rolled off his tongue for some reason. He made my name sound less boring than it was. My eyebrows were up to my hairline at his soft tone
; it was way different than when he was being rude to me.
“I know,” I muttered. I didn’t want to change myself for Ethan. I mean, if he didn’t like me for me, then I didn’t want to be with him. I didn’t want to be with anyone who wanted to change me. For some reason hearing Gage say that made my heart sink. Sure, I knew the odds were not in my favor, but I did have some kind of hope Ethan liked me. That maybe his hugs and smiles meant something more than me being his “sister.”
“Princess,” I briefly heard Gage say, but my thoughts were elsewhere. Of course this would happen. Right when I tried to actually get him to notice me or to tell him how I felt, I realized that he didn’t feel the same. A guy like Ethan didn’t go for a girl like me, maybe a girl like Amy though.
“Princess,” Gage said louder, catching my attention now. “Do you want to um…do you want to come with me and Dylan?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. I noticed his cheeks were slightly colored, showing he didn’t do this often.
“Go where?”
“Come on,” he said, suddenly standing up. Confused, I just watched him. Was Gage really offering for me to hang out with him and Dylan? “Are you coming?” He was standing next to me with his textbook and binder in one hand.
“Yeah.” Pulling my bag back on my shoulder, I stood up and followed Gage out of the library. I couldn’t bring myself to think about what I was doing. For once I was going to do something I wanted.
Both of us were silent as we headed across campus to the parking lot. It might have just been me, but I felt like everyone we passed stared at us. Gage led me to his Jeep Wrangler. In the sunlight I could tell it was a dark grey color and looked really nice. It had big tires jacking it up, and had little bits of detail Luke’s Jeep didn’t have.
There was an awkward yet comfortable silence as Gage drove wherever he was taking me. It felt almost nice driving with Gage. Music played softly in the background, but I couldn’t make out the words.
Only a few minutes later we pulled into a familiar parking lot. I glanced around taking in the surrounding buildings, now that it was daytime. I looked over to Gage to ask him why we were here, only to see him shutting the door. I quickly scrambled out of the car, pulling my bag over my shoulder. I left my other bag with my school stuff in it in the back of Gage’s Jeep. I ran to catch up with him while looking at the few cars in the parking lot.
“What are we doing here?” I finally asked. It was the middle of the day, so there couldn’t possibly be a fight, right? Gage didn’t say a word as he held the door open for me and continued on leading me down the hallway and stairs. We entered the same huge room that held the fight I’d gone to only a few days ago. But this time it was pretty empty; no screaming people here. Across the room a few guys were punching some bags, but that was about it for people.
The place felt a lot bigger than it did a few nights ago, but then again, there weren’t tons of people here to watch fights going on. The boxing ring in the center of the room seemed more frightening now as I stared at it.
“Carter?” I heard Dylan ask, surprised. Looking away from the ring, I spotted him standing next to one of those small punching bags that hung from the ceiling. He was shirtless and glistened with sweat. My eyes took in the muscles of his stomach; I surprised to find them there. Sure, he did look muscular but not that much. It somehow made him even hotter, although I still saw him as a cute boy-next-door type.
“What are you doing here?” he asked once we got closer. His eyes shifted from me to Gage. He seemed surprised that Gage brought me here; hell, I was still surprised myself.
“Gage brought me,” I said, even though that was obvious.
“I can see that.” Dylan smiled as he started taking off the gloves that were on his hands.
“What are we doing here anyways?” I asked Gage. “There a few too many people here for you to kill me, so there has to be another reason,” I teased.
“We are going to fight,” Gage said, a huge grin on his face, his brown eyes sparkling.
“Huh?” I asked, thinking I heard him wrong.
“We. Are. Going. To. Fight,” he said slowly.
“But I don’t know how to fight,” I lamely said. Gage wanted to fight me? He was half again bigger than me, and way more experienced. I’d never even thrown a real punch before!
“So?” He shrugged.
“I don’t want to die!” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up. “I’m too young.” Dylan laughed.
“It’s not a real fight, princess. I’ll show you a few moves,” Gage said as he moved away from us, heading to a row of lockers that were lined up on the far side of the gym. I sent Dylan a look, and he just smiled at me before going after Gage. Not wanting to stand there like a loser, I went over to the locker Gage was in front of. He started pulling things out of it. I only recognized wraps for the hands.
“You can leave your things right here. No one will take them,” Gage said as he focused on items from the locker.
“But I’m not dressed to fight.” I glanced down at my black shorts and the blue top that I had changed into.
“You’ll be fine.” He waved me off. I set my stuff on the bench, seeing as I couldn’t get out of this now. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I placed it in my bag.
“Okay, we aren’t going to do anything with the boxing gloves,” Gage said, finally looking at me. “We are just going to do a few mixed martial art moves. No punching.” I let out a small sigh of relief. I definitely did not want to punch Gage, or anybody for that matter.
“Wait, mixed martial arts? Isn’t that like karate or something?” I asked. Of course he didn’t answer me; instead, he walked to the ring.
“You’ll be fine,” Dylan said, coming up next to me. “He won’t hurt you.” He then gestured for me to follow Gage. “He doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” When he gave me a small shove, I glared over my shoulder at him. He only smirked in response.
“Stupid boys,” I muttered under my breath. I was about to step into the big ring when Gage instructed me to take off my shoes.
Once I had gotten inside of the ring, I realized it was huge. I felt so tiny standing to one side. I wasn’t that comfortable, but I could see Gage relaxing, as he was in his element.
“Okay, princess, come here.” He motioned for me to stand in front of him. When I did so, I tilted my face up to his. Damn, he was tall. He looked almost threatening standing there like that. “I’m going to show you a few moves.” I nodded, feeling slightly scared.
Gage gave me no warning before he lunged for me. I barely had time to even blink before my back was slammed down on the floor. I let out a groan, looking right up at the ceiling. I literally had no idea how I ended up down here. His gorgeous face came into my view, and he had a huge smirk. This was not going to be fun; I just knew it.
Chapter Fourteen
“I’m done.” I panted as I rested on the ground. I was covered in sweat, tired, and bruised. Some pieces of my hair had escaped my ponytail and were plastered to my forehead. I knew I was going to be sore tomorrow. I stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath.
For the last hour or so, Gage had kicked my butt. Sure, he taught me some moves, but it wasn’t like I could do them as perfectly as he did. Each and every time he would knock me flat on my ass, or get me in some kind of hold I couldn’t get out of. I did manage to hit him a few times, but never once got him on the ground. It was impossible to do so, even with Dylan encouraging me from the sideline.
My grunts and yelps drew attention from the few guys who were in the gym with us. They took interest in what Gage was teaching me, and even cheering when I hit the floor hard. I knew Gage was going easy on me, but it did not feel like it. I felt like I was getting hit with a bulldozer. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like in an actual fight with him, fists or no fists.
“Really? You’re done?” Gage asked, standing above me looking down at my panting form. He wasn’t even out of breath or had a drop of sweat on him.
“Yes. Some of us aren’t robots,” I said. My legs and arms were spread. I didn’t care that I was currently laying down where people sweated and bled. I was tired and already sore.
“Come on, a few more. You almost had it,” he coaxed. Lifting a tired arm, I pointed at his face.
“No means no.” My arm flopped back down, too tired to keep it up. “I’m just going to lie here for the rest of my life.” I heard him chuckle, which made my heart thunder in my chest. I hadn’t heard him laugh before, and it made me want to do anything to get him to laugh again.
A few minutes had passed when I felt a body laying down beside me. I tilted my head to see Gage laying on his back right next to me. He wasn’t too close, but close enough I could feel the heat coming off him. I swear he was part werewolf or something. He didn’t look an ounce out of breath or worked up. He still wore his jeans and t-shirt, which was surprising. I was dying in my t-shirt and shorts.
“I don’t get how you do it,” I said after a few minutes. My breathing was back to normal now.
“Takes practice.” My head was still turned to look at him while he kept his eyes straight up. I was quiet for a little bit as I thought if I should ask him my question.
“How did you get started in all of this anyways? It isn’t like underground fighting is well talked about,” I finally said. It was a question that had been eating at me all day. Gage didn’t say a word for a while. Thinking he wouldn’t answer, I turned back around. I should have known he wouldn’t answer.
“I started when I was in high school,” was all Gage said. It wasn’t my question, but it was an answer at least. I was going to accept it, because who knew when he would ever answer again?
Silent Love Page 19
