Kissing Carter: A College Romance

by Zara Rivas

  Mrs. Brewer gave one last smile before she started walking away. I stood there for a moment, replaying what just happened in my head. Then, I started to smile. That was the confidence boost I was unaware I so desperately needed.

  It sparked an idea in me, so I turned around, heading towards Gateway Movie Theater instead of the direction of my dorm room. I had some movie tickets to buy.

  I smiled to myself as I walked down the hall towards Carter's room. I couldn't help but feel slightly giddy about the surprise I was about to spring on him- he has made plenty of romantic gestures for me. I bought two tickets for that new action movie he had been talking about, despite the fact there were a few chick flicks playing that I was dying to see.

  That in itself was a big deal.

  Plus, I've come to find that most action movies have a tad of romance in them, you know, for the girlfriends being forced to see them. The same reason there is some nudity in chick flicks, for the guys in the crowd.

  Carter's door was already cracked open, so I pulled the tickets out of my purse before pushing open the door all the way.

  "So, I thought we could go to the movies, and then we can get some ice cream-"

  I stopped short when I saw Charlotte standing there. I glanced between her and Carter, noticing the same surprised and confused look in their eyes.

  "Oh," I said, forcing a laugh. "You have plans."

  I should've texted him about it. I was going to, then decided it would be more fun to surprise him. What a great idea that turned out to be. I never thought it was a possibility he would be busy- we had been spending the weekend together for the past few weeks. And normally when he has plans, he makes me aware of them.

  Carter cleared his throat, walking towards me. He looked from me to the tickets in my hands, then back to my eyes. "I thought I told you about this."

  I could hear the regret in his voice, but it didn't make this situation any better. Or any less embarrassing. I glanced over his shoulder at Charlotte, who was desperately trying not to watch us.

  I shook my head. "You didn't."

  "Baby, I'm sorry," he said, reaching out to squeeze my arm.

  "We were planning on going to the movies, why don't you come with us?" Charlotte suggested, walking up to us.

  "Is Noah coming?"

  Charlotte and Carter quickly exchanged a glance.

  "Well, no," Carter said. "We were going to…"

  "Going to what?" I asked when I realized he wasn't going to finish his sentence.

  "Catch up… spend some time together," he said slowly as if he was choosing his words carefully, afraid of how I would react.

  "But you can come," Charlotte added in.

  I shook my head again. "No, I don't want to intrude."

  Carter looked at me like I was insane. "You would never be intruding."

  I looked between the two of them before looking down at my hand. "You know what… why don't you two go ahead, catch up."

  I held the tickets out to Charlotte. She hesitated for a second, before taking them.

  "Harper… are you upset?" Carter asked, his voice low, and his eyes are pleading with me.

  I thought it over for a second. "No, I'm not," I told him honestly. "Text me later," I told him, offering a smile before I walked out the door.

  I wasn't even halfway down the hall when I heart footsteps racing behind me. I was sure it was Cater, but instead, Charlotte called out to me.

  "Harper, wait!"

  I stopped in my tracks, turning around to face her. Her big grey eyes were filled with worry, a look I knew well because Charlotte always tended to worry.

  "You can come, you know."

  I gave her a soft smile. "I know. But I also know he's your best friend and you need time with him too. If I come along, he'll want to make out the entire time."

  She laughed because we both knew it was the truth. Then she wrapped her thin arms around me, pulling me into a hug. "Thank you," she whispered.

  "For what?" I whispered back.

  She gave me a tight squeeze before letting go. "For being the best little sister. And well, for this."

  I smiled at her, knowing I had picked the right thing to do. "Have fun, love you, Char."

  "Love you too."

  Later that night, I found myself lying in bed, flipping through the same ten channels that worked thanks to the crappy cable the dorms had. Ashely had gone to some party, and even though she invited me to go, I wasn't in the mood. Not that I was in a bad mood or feeling sorry for myself, I just wasn't up to it.

  My phone pinged, alerting me of a new text message. My heart started to race in hopes that it was Carter, but when I glanced down, I saw it was Julie instead. I slide my finger to open her message and started squealing when I saw it was a selfie of her with some guy. I was happy for her and glad that one of us was doing something with our Friday night.

  I had to admit I was slightly shocked that Carter hadn't sent me anything yet. Charlotte had sent me multiple texts, thanking me again and making plans for us to hang out, and also updated me that the movie was over, and she was going to hang out with Noah.

  That meant that Carter was also out of the movie, but yet, nothing from him. Though knowing him, he was probably stuffing his face with food or sleeping.

  There was a tapping on my door, and it causes me to sit up in bed. As I swung my legs off the bed, I glanced at the clock, thinking it was too early to deal with a drunk neighbor. Then again, around here, it never seemed to be too early to be drunk.

  There was another knock, then a voice calling out. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, open the door."

  Carter.

  I quickly walked across the room, pulling open the door. He was standing there with a sexy grin, holding a brown bag in his hand.

  "What are you doing here?" I blurted out.

  He laughed, his grin growing. "Oh, should I have called or something? I thought we weren't doing that anymore."

  "Oh shut up," I said with a laugh, giving him a playful shove.

  "Make me." His voice was rough, and before I knew it, his lips were against mine.

  I grabbed hold of his shirt, pulling him closer to me, deepening the kiss. He used his free hand to run his fingers through my hair, before moving it to the small of my back, pushing me even closer to him.

  I heard the door slam shut, I assumed thanks to his foot, and kissed him even deeper, trying to pull him over to my bed.

  "Wait, wait," Carter said, pulling away from me.

  I opened my eyes and grinned to myself when I saw the hazy, happy look on his face from our kiss.

  "What's wrong? Ashley's at some party and won't be home for some time…."

  He laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Trust me; you don't have to try to convince me to do anything with you… it's only…." He held up the bag he was still holding.

  I narrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "We can heat it."

  He gave me a sheepish smile. "No, we can't. You said earlier you wanted some ice cream so…" he opened the bag, giving me a nod as a gesture to look inside it.

  I glanced inside, a goofy grin appearing on my face as I saw what the bag held. Two different kinds of ice cream, cookies N cream, and chocolate chip cookie dough, both my favorite, some chocolate syrup, two plastic spoons, and bowls, as well as some sprinkles.

  My heart completely melted inside my chest. "You are so cute."

  He grinned, obviously pleased I liked his surprise. "I thought we could enjoy some ice cream in bed. You girls like doing that, right?"

  I laughed. "We do…"

  He ran his finger over my jawline, giving me a serious look. "I just want you to know; you would seriously never be intruding."

  I tapped my chin, pretending to think about what he just said. "I seem to remember when we were kids, and you and Charlotte put up a 'No Harper Allowed' sign on the clubhouse door."

  His face relaxed, giving me a grin. "Yeah, well, I've been known not to make the best choices." His grin grew before he adde
d, "Plus, you've always looked cute when you're mad."

  I laughed, pulling out the ice cream. I dug a spoon into one, offering him a bite. He ate it, then raised his eyebrow at me.

  "Can we have some dessert after we eat this?"

  I rolled my eyes at him, picking up the reference of what he meant for dessert. Carter would always be Carter.

  And that was a good thing.

  Carter

  "I love your roommate," Harper said softly, as she moved her fingers around my stomach. As her fingernails grazed my abs, goosebumps covered my body.

  I laughed at her out of nowhere comment. "Why do you say that? I don't think you've even met him yet. He's never around."

  She looked up at me, her light blue eyes filled with amusement. "That's exactly why I love him."

  I laughed again, harder this time, which caused both of us to bounce against the cheap-ass mattress. I did hit the roommate lottery with Tyler. He was a nice guy, never touched any of my food in the mini-fridge, and spent the majority of his time in his girlfriend's room. She was an RA, which meant she had a dorm room to herself, which, luckily for him, meant a ton of privacy.

  "I'll tell him you said that," I muttered as I ran my fingers through her silky strands. "But you better not love him more than me."

  Harper tapped her chin as if she had to think it over. "It's hard to say."

  "Is that so?" I grinned at her before I flipped her over onto her back, moving my hands to the places I knew tickled her the most.

  "Carter, stop," she squealed. She tried to push my hands away from her smooth skin, but it wasn't going to happen.

  "I have to think about it," I mocked her.

  I moved my hands away from her flat stomach and instead inched them down to the area behind her knees. I had no idea why, but that was her tickle sweet spot. Right away, she started to squirm around like crazy, but we both knew she wouldn't be able to escape. I had mad tickling skills.

  "Carter!" She begged, then brought her lips up to mine.

  Against my own will, my hands started to travel back up her body. I could feel her smile against my lips, and I knew she thought she had won. Little did she know, this was a win-win situation for me because being able to make out with her is something I would never qualify as losing.

  "No fair," I muttered as I pulled away from her lips for a second, which was like torture. "I was having fun tickling your popliteal fossa."

  She pulled back even further from me, narrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "My what?"

  "Your popliteal fossa," I repeated. "That is the official name for the back of your knee."

  She gave me a look. "When did you get so smart?"

  I shrugged, my gaze dropping back to her delicious lips. I needed another taste of her.

  She gave me a wide grin, and I couldn't help but wonder if she needed a taste of me as well. "It's sexy."

  I grinned. "Yeah?"

  She didn't answer me. Instead, she brushed her lips against mine, and just like that, and we were tangled up in a deep kiss. The kind of kiss that made your heart stop beating yet speed up at the same time. That made the room feel like it was spinning, and that time didn't exist.

  Unfortunately, time did exist, and my alarm went off on my phone, alerting me of that fact.

  I groaned as I pulled myself away from Harper's puffy lips. I forced myself out of the bed so I could shut it off.

  "What's that for?"

  "I have to go study," I told her reluctantly. It was going to be painful sitting there with Charlotte instead of lying in this bed with Harper.

  Harper pouted. "Do you have to?"

  "We have a big test," I exclaimed, more for my sake than hers. "But, I can study for you later." I raised an eyebrow at her.

  She laughed and shook her head at me. "So, does this mean we can't get dinner later?"

  I walked over to her, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. "Probably not. But I'll keep you posted, and maybe we can get together later."

  "Okay," she agreed, a hint of sadness obvious in her tone.

  The kind that made my heart hurt a little, and I automatically wanted to make her feel better. To smile. I used my finger to lift her chin gently, so her gorgeous blue eyes were locked on mine.

  "If it makes you feel better, I'm just going to be studying the whole time, wishing I was with you."

  "Yeah?" A small smile spread across her lips.

  I nodded. "And I'll be thinking about you."

  And there it was. The smile I had been waiting for.

  "Good."

  "Ugh Carter, I need a break," Charlotte said as she massaged her closed eyelids with her fingertips.

  I gasped dramatically. "You…what?"

  "You heard me."

  "I know, I just can't believe that you, Charlotte, the queen of studying all night, want a break when we are only two hours into it."

  She removed her hands and gave me a hard look with her grey eyes, though she had a small smile on her face. "I can't believe you don't want one."

  "I never said I didn't. I can't believe out of the two of us, you admitted it first."

  She looked down at her phone, then back up at me with a large smile. The kind of smile I knew only one person could put on her face. I couldn't help but hope that Harper had a smile like that reserved for me.

  When did I get this corny?

  "Noah is thinking about going to Billy's Burgers. It's right down the street, do you want to grab something to eat quickly with him?"

  My stomach grumbled audibly as if it was answering for me. "C'mon Char, do you even have to ask if I want food?"

  Not to mention Billy's Burgers was one of my favorite places to eat. It was the perfect combination of fast food and restaurant- restaurant-quality food for a reasonable price and is cooked up quickly.

  She quickly texted something back to him on her phone, then gave me a grin. "I was hoping you would say that."

  The walk to Billy's Burgers was literally five minutes from the library we were studying at, and even though I was pretty sure that Noah and Charlotte saw each other earlier that day, the second she saw him standing outside, she let out some squeal. She went running in his direction like it had been years.

  She threw her arms around him, and he bent down to give her a long kiss. I couldn't help but feel grateful for the fact that Harper was pretty tall- it looked like Noah was breaking his back, bending over to meet Charlotte's lips.

  "Hey Carter," Noah gave me a nod when he and Charlotte finally broke apart.

  "Noah," I returned the nod before we did our regular fist bump.

  Charlotte rolled her eyes at our typical male greeting. "Come on, I'm starving, and we only have an hour." Charlotte's eyes were on me during the last part of her sentence, a slight warning to her voice.

  "Okay, mom," I said as we walked inside. "Does she keep you on this short of a leash?" I asked Noah.

  He laughed, then tried to cover it up with a cough when Charlotte gave him that look. It was a look I recognized: Shut up, or you're in the dog house.

  Charlotte went to save us a table while Noah and I stood in line to order the food. Once we received our food, we walked back over to the table, and I plopped my tray down across from Charlotte. She eyed my plate; then, her mouth fell open.

  "There is no way you can eat all that!" She said, gesturing at my food.

  I looked down at my plate, not able to see anything wrong with my portion. I had my usual order- the triple Billy burger. It was three patties, five pieces of cheese, and a pile of lettuce, tomato, mayo, and some secret sauce between two toasted buns. Not to mention a side of cheese fries, because, why not?

  "Of course I can," I told her, eyeing her plate. "And probably some of your fries as well."

  "No way, man," Noah said from his seat next to Charlotte. "Those fries are mine."

  Charlotte rolled her eyes at us, covering her fries with her hands. "Did it ever occur to you two that I might want my fries?"

  "Nah," we sai
d in unison, which scored us another eye roll.

  I grabbed my burger with both hands and took a huge bite, closing my eyes as I got a taste of it. When I opened my eyes, I saw Harper standing there, staring at me as if she was looking at a ghost. I quickly swallowed my food, then stood up to walk towards her.