by Pamela Ann
“Uh, since when did you start reading?” I asked awkwardly then yawned as he threw me an amused look.
“Let’s see, I think it was when I learned how to read my name after learning my ABCs.”
“Don’t be stupid,” I groaned, laughing with him. “I meant, you know”—I pointed out the obvious paperback he was holding—“that.”
He closed his book, showing me the front cover with the bold title emblazoned on it: Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk.
“Damn, Amber, I don’t know if I should be insulted or take that as a minor compliment.” He arched his perfect-looking, dark brow at me.
My frown deepened, my sleepiness gone for the meantime as I scrutinized him further. “For a guy, your eyebrow is too perfectly defined. Do you do anything with that ‘cause I gotta know? My brow game doesn’t come close to yours.”
He looked like he had tasted something sour. “Brow game? What the fuck is a brow game?”
It was a good, hilarious moment, and I couldn’t stop myself from cackling really hard. Sometimes men were just so clueless it was funny.
Rolling my eyes at him, I scanned the aisles before redirecting my gaze back to him. “Please don’t tell me I missed out on lunch?” I was silently praying it wasn’t the case.
His lips pressed together before nodding. “You didn’t.”
“You’re lying.”
“You did ask me to”—he gave me a pointed look, unperturbed—“so don’t give me the crazy eyes.”
Pouting, I could feel my tummy growl a little. “But I’m hungry,” I moaned in protest, hoping the airplane crew would be kind enough to give me one if there was any left. “Should I press the call button just to ask if it’s possible?”
Carter sighed, tucking his book on the side of his chair, before giving me an amused look that was becoming too familiar to me. “You owe me one, woman,” he declared before unbuckling his seatbelt. “I’m going to see if I can charm my way into getting a tray full of food just so I don’t have to deal with your cranky ass all the way to LA.”
I made my silent mini clap, beyond gleeful. “Thank you, thank you, Carter.”
Watching him get up out of his seat, I didn’t even doubt for a second that he would be able to charm a stewardess for a lunch tray. Hey, he was Carter Mason after all. He could charm a snake to dance if he so wished it. He was that fucking hot, if I did admit it myself.
It much over five minutes until, just as predicted, he was back with the mini, plastic tray with my hot lunch on it.
“Ah, you’re my savior,” I gushed before I enthusiastically grabbed the tray from him and immediately got down to business.
While I got busy munching my heart out, Carter went back to his reading. Quietly reflecting all by my lonesome, I realized he wasn’t such a bad companion. In fact, he was actually fun to be around. He and Brody were sort of similar in a sense, though Brody was a bit too frank and too open with me. Unlike him, Carter, though fun, still exercised some reservation.
It wasn’t until I made a satisfying sound as I finished eating that Carter finally paid some attention to me.
“You do realize you demolished all of that in five minutes tops, right?”
“Get the fuck out! No way—”
“Yes, way.”
“Damn. Don’t judge. I really was starving,” I snorted out, laughing at myself.
We joked around for another ten minutes at my expense before things shifted to stories involving his best friend. Then, since his name was already out in the open, I couldn’t help but press more about him.
“He’s pretty torn up about Lindsey getting married, huh?”
“He’s coping,” he said before appearing to be reflective. “It’s not easy to be the one left behind,” he added with a hint of melancholy in his voice. It wasn’t a hard guess where his thoughts were leading.
Imagining Brody’s heartbreak and what kind of state he was in was hurting me. I remembered it all too clearly when Lindsey had broken up with him and immediately gone back to be with Dimitris. He was so devastated practically the only thing he consumed was alcohol because he couldn’t stomach the thought of digesting food.
“I wish…” I whispered, feeling helpless and blue as I pictured him in a much worsened state. “I just wish it could’ve been him instead of Dimitris.” Had he been happy, I would be happy along with him. Anything, really, as long as I didn’t have to see him so broken and out of sorts, but the inevitable had happened. I hoped he was dealing with it without getting himself in trouble.
“That’s surprising coming from you. You know, given how you feel about him.”
I would rather hurt seeing him happy than be in agony because I couldn’t help cure his heartache. It was selfless to love someone whom I had never had a romantic relationship with, yet I was. I had loved him since the beginning of time, and I supposed a part of me always would.
“What can I say, I just want him happy. I’d rather see him happy with her than be miserable forever.”
Carter sighed before reaching out to squeeze my arm. “You’re a good girl, Amber. Maybe if you give him time, he’ll come around to your way.” He wasn’t teasing; he truly meant it.
“I won’t hold my breath.”
He smirked. “It’s like that, huh?”
I made a determined nod. “It sure is. Maybe it’s high time I let it go, let him go.”
He seemed to understand the newfound purpose I had. “We all have to start somewhere.”
I had come to a point of no return. I couldn’t keep wishing he would see me as a woman who also needed to be loved. For years, I was merely a shadow behind Lindsey. However, after seeing her completely happy and fully satisfied with her life, I realized maybe it was my time to truly fight to start living again and not be so easily swayed into thinking I could keep loving the very same man for the rest of my life, one who barely saw me as the woman he told his pains and secrets to or occasionally slept with. Those particular times, he was mostly drunk out of his mind.
No, I deserved better.
I was done chasing shadows. It was high time I lived in the moment, captured it, embraced it with open arms. I was young and quite desirable, so why did I find the need to keep wasting my time with a man who only saw me as a spare, a side chick, or someone to drunk dial because he needed someone to sleep next to?
Brody would only treat me the way I allowed him to, and it was high time I cut that shit out. I was done being his go-to everything except the main thing.
Chapter Nine
Coming back home was bittersweet since our place was merely five minutes away from Carter’s, where Brody also lived. My short-lived bravado was being stretched and tested to its limits.
Alone in the house without Trista or any of the girls to distract myself, my feet were itching to trek towards the boys’ crib to entertain myself. Not with him in particular, but just to be surrounded by noise and people.
Taking my phone out, I decided to give him a call. Not Brody, no. Carter. Thankfully, he picked up after a few rings.
“It’s only been an hour since I saw you. I can’t believe you miss me already.”
“Ha, ha, glad you find me so amusing,” I said as I looked around, feeling restless. “Well, I was wondering if you were tired, ‘cause if you aren’t, I was hoping we could go somewhere to grab a bite? I know this is weird, and I also know we’re back home and don’t usually do one-on-one and shit, but feel a little bad for me. I’m home alone, and I fucking hate it.”
“Trista won’t be home for another two weeks. Do you expect me to eat with you every day?” he asked in a no-nonsense, straightforward voice.
Considering what he had just said about Trista not coming home for another two weeks, I wondered how I was going to survive.
“Well, would it bother you if you did?” I retorted, maybe a little hopeful.
Carter cackled on the other end, making me groan in protest. “Amber, as much as I enjoy being around you, eating with you every day
for the next two weeks would be overkill.”
“Well, damn, say it how it is, then.” I admitted I was a little hurt. Why was he being so mean all of a sudden?
“Hey, don’t take it that way.” His voice quickly mellowed out, erasing any trace of mockery. “Listen, why don’t you move in for a bit? As long as you promise to cook and feed us, I’d be more than happy to take you in.”
Wait, what the what?
“Uh… Are you fucking with me right now? ‘Cause I’m hungry, and I promise you, now’s not the time to fuck around, Carter.”
“No, I’m being serious. Besides, I don’t want to worry about you being all alone in that big house. It’s summer, anyway, so my house is where it’s at.”
I was rendered speechless. It was a total WTF moment for me. Where did I even begin? How could I even comprehend? Like, seriously.
“Pfft. I don’t know what to say…”
“I’m going to jump in the shower. I’ll swing by your place in like fifteen or twenty minutes. Sound good to you?”
“Wait, let me think about this. I need a moment. Maybe even a day—”
“No, you don’t,” he interrupted with a commanding voice. “Trust me, this will be good for you.” With that, he rudely hung up on me while I remained frozen atop my bed, wondering what in the world had just happened.
Was he right? Or was he out of his damn mind? How could he even fathom suggesting I live with him, Cooper, and Brody of all people? It was going to be chaotic. If things were different, I would most likely jump at the chance of living with and cooking for them, but fuck, seeing Brody in a domestic setting? Just as Carter had said, it would be overkill.
I was pondering so hard I somehow didn’t realize the time had passed until I heard movement outside my door before it was drastically opened by an eager-faced Carter Mason.
With his hair still wet from his shower, typical cargo shorts on along with flip-flops and his wife-beater shirt, he was the poster boy of So-Cal surfer dudes.
“If you don’t have any essentials left to pack, I’ll just take your luggage from downstairs. Is that cool?”
I hadn’t even changed from my long flight. My hair still had some of the icing Trista had been feeding me from dessert when she was too drunk to realize where my mouth was located. I mean, I was a complete mess, and he simply expected me to just hop on board, looking like a slimy rat, and move in the same house as Brody?
“Did you tell Cooper or Brody about this? I mean, do they even agree with you?”
He merely shrugged, opening my door wider. “It’s my fucking house, and I don’t ask anyone for rent, so I don’t think they’ll mind who I invite in. Besides, since when did you care, really? You and the girls practically lived there during last summer, so what’s the difference now? We all grew up together, and you’re one of us, so I don’t get why you’re acting this way.”
Glaring at him, I felt as though I had to take a moment to lay it out on him. I did have to admit, though, Carter had a point. We all had grown up together, and yes, as he had pointed out, as well, in a sense I was one of them. I was a part of their crew. Indeed, I surely was, so why did I feel so fucking unsure about it?
“See, you don’t even have some smart comeback. Come on, let’s go,” he said hurriedly before raising his brow at me. “Unless, of course, you want me to carry you. I could do that, too.”
“Oh, shut up!” I rolled my eyes at him, feeling defeated. “I have legs, and I can still use them to get me from point A to point B; thank you very much.” Huffing out, I dejectedly got out of bed with a worried face. “If they utter one bad word about me staying there, I’m outta there in a flash. Deal?”
He stupidly wiggled his brow before beaming his signature smile. “It’s a deal, yo.” With that said, he was immediately gone in a flash, leaving me no choice other than to drag myself downstairs and join him.
Since I hadn’t unpacked any of my things from Athens, I technically had everything I needed to make my small two week jaunt to his house. Before I knew it, I was secured in his car, making our way towards his house, reaching it in a manner of minutes.
Damn, it had better pan out well, or I was going to kick Carter’s butt big time.
The moment I jumped out of his car, I could already feel my heart pitter-pattering like mad, leaving me utterly nervous. Glancing towards a relaxed Carter as he was opening the house door, I braced myself as I followed behind him.
“Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you, but you’re going to be staying in my room,” he nonchalantly informed me as he looked around the house that was packed with random people from school.
“What happened to the spare room?” I hissed at him, not wanting people to overhear our conversation since some people were already curious at seeing Carter with luggage in hand. Since he had already come here, they knew the luggage wasn’t his and most likely mine.
“I forgot to tell you?” he cocked his head sideways. “We took in an exchange student for a few months. His name is Johann, and he’s from Denmark.”
“What?” I almost screamed at him, probably because no one had ever mentioned an exchange student or the fucking fact that I didn’t have a room to myself and would be sharing a room with Carter.
What had I gotten myself into?
Chapter Ten
“Amber?”
Oh, dear God, not yet, I silently prayed, knowing full well who that voice belonged to.
Internally cringing as I shifted to the side to face him, I wasn’t surprised to find he was throwing his best friend a dubious look.
“Carter?” he questioned with a heavy note of suspicion in his voice.
I was about to say my hello, but Carter spoke first.
“Amber’s staying with us for the next two weeks. Let me go ahead and situate her things first, and then I’ll join you guys afterwards.”
Brody’s face darkened before he threw me an accusing yet confused look.
Before I had the chance to argue against whatever he was obviously imagining in his mind, Carter hastily placed his hand on my back, eagerly ushering me out of the spotlight and into the pathway of the staircase, leading me towards the bedrooms.
Reeling from the awkward encounter, my heart remained pounding as I entered his private quarter. I worriedly watched him drag my things towards the end of the room, parking them next to an empty chair before he faced me with a shit-eating grin.
“He didn’t look happy.”
Carter shrugged as if it was no big deal to him. “He’ll get over it.”
My eyes were as big as saucers as I glared at him. Why couldn’t he take this seriously? What the hell!
“I don’t want it to be weird between you two because of me. I can just go back home. I really don’t mind.”
“You’re already here. Toughen up a little bit. So he’s probably mad? Who cares? It’s not as if you’re his keeper. What you do or don’t do isn’t any of his business.”
If he said it that way, then yes, it made complete sense, but come on, Brody seemed like he was going to skin me alive by the look he was giving me. It was as though I was cheating on him or something, which was seriously absurd.
“I don’t know about this…”
“Just use this opportunity to up your game a little. Maybe it’s time you show him you’re done following him like a lost puppy.” His blatant comment overrode the suggestion he had made, making me squirm hardcore from ultimate embarrassment.
“What? I’m really that obvious?” God, how humiliating. How many knew and saw me as this lovesick, pathetic woman? Shit. Unbeknownst to me, I began to nervously chew on my thumb as I tried to calm myself. Maybe Carter had a point about making this an opportunity to change things between Brody and I. Better yet, maybe it was high time people saw me differently, as well, and not labeled me as some lovesick fool.
My newly minted resolution came to a standstill when there was a loud rap at the door.
Before Carter and I could bring our attention toward
s it, Brody yanked it open, looking as if he was ready to tackle whoever was in his way.
I was holding my breath as our eyes connected, and I could have sworn I saw something there, something that held substantial meaning, but that vital thought was left unexplored because my heart felt as if it was about to explode from seeing him rattled.
His familiar, handsome face I could stare at all night long had been frozen in a frown since his eyes had landed on me tonight.
“I need to speak to you,” he deadpanned, unblinking before pointedly adding, “Alone.”
Glancing towards Carter, who seemed to be unmoved by Brody’s arctic attitude, I knew I had to take the initiative in trying to calm him down by taking this private discussion elsewhere.
“All right,” I conceded with a nod. “Okay, if that’s what you want.”
I made my way towards the door, barely throwing Carter a mild look as I exited and then found myself being slightly pushed towards Brody’s bedroom at the opposite side of the hall. A protest teased the tip of my tongue, yet I reined it in, knowing this wasn’t the time to test how foul his mood was.
Truth be told, I was a little surprised by his reaction. I get that maybe he was feeling somewhat betrayed if his thoughts were leading him to me and Carter hooking up. Apart from that, however, he should be speaking to his friend more than me since he and I didn’t have a “relationship.” I didn’t want to label what we did have or had, because it was embarrassing to even admit it. Let’s face it; I was his booty call, nothing more.
Upon entering his room, he didn’t even wait until the door was closed before his verbal attack began, putting me on the spot.
“Are you really fucking serious about this, Amber?” He was as mad as a damn bull. “What the fuck’s gotten into you? You must be out of your mind to consider sleeping in Carter’s room.”
I opened my mouth, feeling as if I had to defend myself, but before I had the chance to spar back, he continued his attack. “Are you fucking him now, too?”
