by Zara Rivas
I bite my lip. Please don't tell me this apology was going to turn into another lecture. "I know dad, and I'm taking it seriously."
"Good, I hope you are," he said, glancing over at the bathroom door as if he could sense there was another male nearby. His eyes landed back on me. "I think… please try to be more like your sister."
"You came in here to tell me to be more like Charlotte?"
"No." He said, rubbing his fingers against his beard. "Well, that's not the only reason."
I nodded, trying to blink back tears. "Right. I'll get right on it. Now, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to bed."
He smiled at me, not sensing he had just made me feel worse than before. "Goodnight, sweetie."
When he closed the door behind him, I was ready to let the tears fill up my eyes when the bathroom door opened. Damn, I had forgotten that Carter was in here. To add insult to injury, he had probably heard everything my dad said to me.
He sat down next to me on the edge of the bed, not saying anything for a second. "Harper, you know I love your dad, but he's full of shit. Don't listen to a word he said."
I shook my head. "He's right, though. She has a million things going for her, and I'm just pretty."
"That's not true."
I quickly turned to face him, hoping I had heard him wrong. "What?"
"No! I don't mean you're not pretty, well you're not actually, you're beautiful and gorgeous and… so sexy. But I meant it's not true that the only thing you have going for you is how you look."
He reached over, running his fingers through my hair, and I closed my eyes at his gentle touch. "You're so sweet and kind and smart. You have this uncanny ability to make people smile, even if they don't want to." He tilted my chin up to make sure my eyes were on his. "You make me smile all the time."
It was that moment when I forgot how to breathe.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but I didn't let him. The only thing I wanted at that moment was to be kissing him. I pulled him to me, kissing him as deeply as I could. I could feel his heart pounding wildly against my chest, and it was like I could feel his soul. As much as I didn't want to admit it, not even to myself, he made me so happy.
And I knew how to make him just as happy.
"Carter," I mumbled, pulling away from his lips. His eyes fluttered open. "Will you go on a date with me on Friday?"
He broke into a wide grin and pulled me in for another kiss. He never directly answered my question, but it didn't matter. I knew the answer.
"So, where are you guys going?" Ashley asked, picking up a dress off of my bed to hold against her.
"I'm not sure, but knowing Carter, there will be food involved," I told her as I looked in the mirror, smoothing out the black dress I had on.
It was the third dress I had tried on, and I think it was the one. It was short, clung to me in all the right places, and even though it was a sexy dress, it still left some things to the imagination. I had worn plenty of dresses like this around Carter before, but never for him.
Ashley's eyes met mine in the mirror, and she laughed, shaking her head at me. "Girl, if you wear that dress, the only appetite he will have will be for you."
I laughed as I turned to face her, giving my wavy hair a light fluff with my hands.
"Seriously, you should just quit school and become a Victoria Secret model."
I laughed harder. "Oh yeah, because my dad would love that."
"No, but Carter certainly would," she said with a knowing grin.
"Touché."
She tossed the dress, she had been holding back on my bed, and instead of starting looking through my jewelry. "So, I have to ask. Is it weird doing all of this with him, considering how long you've known him?"
"No, surprising, it doesn't feel strange at all. It just feels…right," I told her, feeling a blush on my face. That was the first time I was admitting that.
A grin spread across her lips. "This is so cute; I can't take it. You have to give me some credit though, I called it."
My phone buzzed loudly against my desk, and I walked over, unable to control my smile when I saw Carter's name on my screen. Butterflies filled my stomach as I slide my finger across the screen, opening his message.
Carter: So… I have a date with this incredible girl soon. I'm so nervous; I changed my shirt five times. Don't tell her that though :P
I was grinning so hard at his message that my face started hurting. I'm pretty sure that if Ashley weren't in the room, I would have been hugging the phone to my chest, squealing. I tried to ignore Ashley's curious stare as I typed back to him.
When in doubt, always go with choice C.
I looked up at Ashley, biting my lip to try to control the ridiculous smile on my face. "Speak of the devil…" I told her, rubbing my face to ease the pain.
She laughed. "Yeah, I figured. I didn't think you would be grinning at your phone like that if it was your mom."
My phone vibrated in my hand, and once again, I slide opened Carter's message.
Carter: Shirt C, it is then…man, this is pretty exhausting… maybe the date should just be done sans clothes…
I laughed out loud for that one, and I guess her curiosity finally got the best of her because Ashley walked over to me.
"What's so funny?"
I passed my phone over to her. "Here, read for yourself. The sad thing is, I think he is only half-joking."
She took my phone, giggling as she read it. "I don't think he's joking at all. And you should take him up on that offer; he's yummy."
I laughed and put my hand out for my phone back, then saw a mischievous glint in her eyes as she didn't hand it back over. "I have the best response," she told me.
I groaned. "Ashley, no-"
"Trust me; it's perfect."
She quickly typed something and handed the phone back over to me. It was already vibrating with a response, and I could help but laugh as I read.
That would be a shame; you should see my dress — total legs for days.
Carter: Can I come early?
When I heard a light knocking on the door, I knew this was it. I was about to be on my first date with Carter. Even though we had been hooking up for a while, this made it seem more real, and on the path to something official. Of course, there were still a few obstacles in the way, but I pushed those thoughts out of my brain as I pulled opened the door.
He had on this light gray sweater that I knew would be so soft against my fingers, and a pair of dark jeans. His hair looked like he brushed it. Damn, he was hot.
He glanced me over, his mouth falling open a bit, which caused me to smile.
"So, do you like it?" I asked when he still hadn't said anything, turning in a slow circle in front of him.
He closed his mouth, then opened it again. "I…wow."
"So, is that a yes?" I teased him.
He grinned at me; then he smiles dropped. He reached out and grabbed my hand. "You look amazing. Damn, I should've brought you flowers."
"It's okay," I told him, squeezing his hand. "I don't even have a vase to put them in."
I used my other hand to close the door behind me so that we could leave. We took about three steps when Carter stopped walking. He turned to face me, giving me a grin.
"What is it?"
"Maybe we should just forget dinner and go back to your room."
I laughed and slapped him across the chest. "Seriously, Carter? I didn't wear this dress just for you to take it off."
His grin grew. "That's a shame."
"Come on horndog," I told him, tugging on his arm so he would start moving down the hall again.
I didn't have any expectations going into this, but even if I had, the reality was so much better.
We arrived at a restaurant that specialized in gourmet pizza's, and from the second we walked inside, I was speechless. Now it was my turn to have my mouth drop open as my eyes scanned the inside. The lightening was dimmed, so candles were flickering on each round t
able. There was a large, brick fireplace against the back wall, with a fire blazing, and the smell of pizza floating in the air was enough to make your stomach grumble.
Carter cleared his throat before he leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Is it too much?"
I kissed him softly on his lips. I never wanted the kiss to stop, but this wasn't the kind of place for heavy PDA. "I love it."
He let out a breath as if he had been holding it. "I'm glad."
"I just hope we don't have to wait too long."
He grinned proudly at me. "I uh, made a reservation."
I stared at him in disbelief. I couldn't believe he thought to do that. "You made a reservation?"
He brushed his fingers against my face, causing my knees to turn into rubber. "I just wanted everything to be perfect."
I gave him another light kiss before I pushed him over to the host. As we were being led to our table, I put my lips against his ear.
"It would be even more perfect if you let me have the last slice."
Dinner turned out to be amazing. We feast on pizza, warm breadsticks, and salad. Even better than the meal, was the fact that we never stopped talking and laughing. In the past, we had spent most of our time bickering at each other, so it was nice to be able to hear his thoughts about things, and get to know him. And when I spoke, he was so focused on what I was saying, and I could tell he was trying to remember every single word I was saying. Normally when we are kissing, I feel like we are the only two people in the world, but it felt that same way during dinner.
We talked for so long; we ended up missing the movie that Carter had planned for us to see. He seemed a bit defeated, of course, since he was on a mission to make this the perfect evening, but then I suggested going back to his room to watch a movie. Carter insisted we get dessert to go, so we could eat it while we watched the movie. Usually, I would feel bad about ordering dessert, especially since the meal was pricy, but I knew Carter's parents spoiled him beyond belief, thanks to him being an only child.
When we got to Carter's room, I wasn't too surprised to see his floor covered in clothes, pizza boxes, books, and red solo cups. On the walls, there were some posters of drinking rules, drinking games, and of course, half-naked women. They had a huge flat-screen TV, with multiple piles of video games next to it. I swear there were more video games in the room than books. It had an interesting smell to it, kind of like dirty laundry, old pizza, and Carter's cologne. Even though I wasn't a super neat person, I would go completely crazy living in a room like this.
"I would've cleaned it up if I knew you were coming over," Carter told me, bending down to clean up the floor.
"Carter, I've been to your room back at home, this is not surprising."
He gave me a shy smile that was so sweet; my heart skipped a beat. "Still."
I sat down on Carter's unmade bed, smoothing out his sheets. I looked at his roommate's bed, then back at Carter, who was still trying to pick up his floor. "Will your roommate be back soon?"
Suddenly Carter's face was near as red as the cup he was holding. "He is out of town this weekend."
"Oh," I said, feeling my face trying to blush as well when I realized that meant we were completely alone. "Stop cleaning, and let's start this movie."
He opened the top drawer of the dresser in which the TV was sitting on, which of course didn't have actual clothes in it, rather DVDs. After he picked one out and started it up, he sat down on the bed next to me. Then suddenly, he was looking at me with a grin.
"So, do you still happen to have that nurse costume?"
It took me a minute to realize what he was talking about. "That Halloween costume?" I started to laugh. "Yeah, probably, back at home, why?"
"You looked so hot in that thing. I could barely keep my eyes off you."
I laughed, feeling uncharacteristically embarrassed. "Please do not remind me of that night. I'm not too fond of remembering my ex-boyfriend cheating on me."
Carter shook his head. "He was a complete idiot."
I pointed my finger against his chest. "You weren't the smartest that night either, getting into a fight like that."
"I care about you way too much to have let him get away with hurting you like that."
"You would've done the same for Charlotte and Emily too," I pointed out, for some reason trying to make his words mean less to me.
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's true, but you're the only person I would've stuck around and taken a punch for."
My heart stopped.
"Harper," he said in a soft voice. "We have to tell Charlotte about us, cause I don't plan on going anywhere."
The desire to kiss him had never been as strong, and the three seconds it took to meet his lips felt like it took too long. I kissed him hard and deep, and in a flash, he was kissing me back the same way. Then he pulled away, smiling at me as he played with my hair.
"Okay?"
I nodded. "I will, but I don't want to think about her right now. Kiss me."
He didn't make me ask him twice. Without hesitating, his lips were back on mine, and he was gently pushing me back against his bed. The kissing started sweet and slow, but then it got more and more intense. As things started to heat up, we started to take out clothes off. When there was barely any clothing separating our skin, Carter pulled his lips away, pressing his forehead against mine.
"Harper, we don't have to do this yet. I don't want you to think we have to do this," he told me, breathing heavily.
"I know. I want to."
As he started kissing my neck, I felt almost overwhelmed with emotion. It didn't lust, and for a second, I couldn't put my finger on it. Then, I knew.
It felt like love.
When I woke up in the morning, it took a few seconds for me to remember where I was, and that last night had happened and wasn't an amazing dream.
Carter's face was nuzzled against my shoulder, which felt like soft sandpaper against my bare skin, thanks to some stubble that was coming in. His heavy, muscular arm was draped over my stomach. Considering the uncomfortable position I was waking up in, it was a wonder I had even fallen asleep in the first place.
I took this time to take in his handsome features, resisting the urge to move my fingers lightly against his face. It was a rare opportunity to be able to stare at him so freely, and I was going to take advantage of it.
My bladder, however, seemed to have other plans. It felt so full, my stomach was starting to hurt, and I wasn't even sure if I would be able to make it down the hall to the bathroom. I let out a soft sigh, since getting out of bed was the last thing I wanted to do, and gently lift Carter's arm, placing it down on his side.
I tried to move my legs out from under the blankets, which was proving to be quite difficult. Not only were my legs tangled around the sheets, but they were also intertwined with Carter's. I started to squirm, the best I could without making any heavy movements, and eventually was able to place my feet on the floor.
And right into a puddle of some sticky liquid.
I cringed, crossing my right leg over my left so I could examine what I had stepped in, even though I wasn't completely sure I wanted to find out what that was. It was deep red, and I could faintly smell cherries, so I was pretty sure it was only some kind of juice.
I leaned over to pick up my dress off the floor, slipping it over my head. I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry over the fact I would be doing the walk of shame.
Right as I went to stand up off the bed, I felt fingers wrapped lightly around my arm, holding me in place. I turned around and found Carter staring up at me.
God, he never looked cuter. His hair was sticking up in every direction, there were lines across his cheek from the pillowcase, and his brown eyes were just shinning.
"Where are you going?" He asked, his voice thick and deep from just waking up.
"Oh, you know, just trying to make my escape."
He laughed before giving me an over exaggerating hurt look. "Is that how it is? U
se me, then leave me?"
I pretended to think about it. "Well…"
He laughed again, pulling me in for a kiss. "Maybe I can make you forget about the leaving part?"
"I have to use the bathroom," I explained to him. "And I should probably take a shower, considering I just stepped on some liquid that was on your floor, and I have a feeling there is a good chance it's hazardous."
