Fumbled Love

by Lila Rose

  Quite possibly I was overreacting, but I had to justify my outburst for inviting him to live with me somehow.

  Brooke sat across from me in the teachers’ lounge and just stared. I’d just told her what had happened since I hadn’t spoken to her the night before or that morning.

  She blinked, opened her mouth and then closed it.

  “Say something,” I demanded.

  “I….” She sighed. Leaning forward with her elbows on the table, she rubbed at her temples. “Let me get this straight.” I nodded. “You and Carter went to dinner at your parents’ place, and by the end of it, you have Carter moving in with you this weekend?”

  “Yes.”

  She blinked.

  “Well?” I asked, my voice rising, and when people looked our way, I slouched my shoulders.

  It was then Brooke leaned back, lifted her face to the ceiling, and burst out laughing.

  “Brooke,” I hissed.

  Her hand came out, waved in front of me, and I knew that meant I had to let her have her episode or she’d never calm down to talk rationally.

  Sighing, I leaned back in my chair and glanced around at everyone watching Brooke. Rolling my eyes, I said, “Don’t mind her, she’s finally lost it.” Some nodded in understanding, then all went back to whatever they were doing. Except for Elena. She kept glaring our way. I waved. When she wouldn’t look away, I was about to turn my hand around and give her the finger because I wasn’t in the mood for her as I was a ball of panic, but Tom suddenly appeared in front of me.

  Glancing up, I saw him scowling down at me.

  Brooke’s laughter waned when she noticed Tom standing next to her.

  “You took Carter to dinner at your parents’ house,” he stated.

  “Y-yes?” I hesitated, sure no matter what I said, it would be wrong in that moment.

  “Carter Anthony,” he confirmed.

  I nodded. “He and I are, ah… have become friends.”

  His jaw clenched. “Where was my invite?”

  I blinked slowly like Brooke had only moments before. “Sorry?”

  He sighed, his shoulders moved up and down with how big it was. “I didn’t get to spend much time with him when he was here. You should have invited me over as well, and now I have your dad ringing me up and bragging how amazing it was to have Carter in his house. How he fed him, laughed with him, and drank with him. Next time I expect an invitation.”

  “Um, okay… but it’s kind of fair since you had Carter here without telling Dad about him visiting.”

  “And he got that time with George Stutterfield in the shopping center to himself. I wanted one time where I could have bragging rights. One time, Reagan.”

  “Who’s George Stutterfield?” Brooke asked.

  Tom’s head moved terrifyingly slowly to focus on Brooke. “Never mind,” she quickly said.

  But it was too late.

  “Who’s George Stutterfield?” Tom asked in outrage.

  Brooke didn’t say anything or move. It was too dangerous.

  “George Stutterfield is the best wide receiver to the...” He went into detail about who George was, but of course, I tuned it all out because it wasn’t information I needed to ever learn. Instead, I went back to eating my sandwich and waited for him to finish.

  A moment later had my head snapping up. “Reagan?”

  “Sorry?” I asked, swallowing my last bite.

  “Tell me if Carter is ever having dinner with your dad again so I can be there.”

  “Sure.” I nodded.

  “You know,” Brooke said, gaining Tom’s attention. From the demonic look in her eyes, I knew she was going to throw me under the bus since I’d left her to deal with Tom’s rant over George Stutterfield. “Carter’s moving in with Reagan this weekend. You should come help.”

  For a while, Tom looked like he wasn’t breathing. His face turned bright red. He opened and closed his mouth like an oxygen-deprived fish.

  “Tom, are you okay?” I asked.

  “Carter,” was all he said.

  “Yes. That’s right, Carter,” I said gently.

  “He’s moving in with you?”

  “Yes.” I nodded. Why did he look like I just kicked a puppy? “Is that a problem for you?”

  “You. Accident prone. You could hurt him.”

  I scoffed. “He’ll be fine.”

  Suddenly, he pulled out the chair next to Brooke, and slumped down in it while muttering to himself, “Everyone around me is crazy.”

  “Things will be fine,” I reassured him, and he glared. Of course he wouldn’t believe me. “I won’t harm him. There’ll be no house fires, no obstacles, or slippery tiles for him to hurt himself on so he can still play football while he lives with me.”

  “Promise?”

  Rolling my eyes, I nodded.

  “Reagan, promise,” he growled out.

  Damn. I had to live up to my promise. I wasn’t the tidiest person, but I’d make sure I left nothing around for Carter to fall over. “Okay, fine. I promise.”

  “Good.” He stood. “I’ll be at your place on Saturday. I presume it’s Saturday since Carter has a game Sunday.”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. I’ll be there bright and early.” He started to walk away.

  “Not too early,” I called. He waved me off.

  I glanced at Brooke; she had a smug smile. “That wasn’t fair.”

  “Neither was you leaving me to listen to him. Besides, I did it for my entertainment as well. I plan to be there Saturday just to watch them fawn over Carter. Was your dad really that bad?”

  I winced. “Worse. He hugged Carter before we left, and I was sure he was about to kiss him on the cheek until I pulled him back.”

  Brooke started cackling. “I can’t wait for Saturday.”

  “I can,” I muttered, and took a sip of my juice.

  “Come on, you’ll be fine living with Carter.”

  I gave her an unimpressed look. “Really?”

  “Okay.” She grinned. “It’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

  Yes. Yes, it was.

  “All right, class, let’s go over the first line again. Then I want you to tell me what it implies about women. ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’”

  Wesley’s hand shot up.

  “Yes?” I asked, pointing to him.

  “It implies that women should get up in the rich guy’s grill because they deserve all women’s attention because he’s rolling in the money.”

  Dear God.

  Sighing, I pointed to Bradly just as his hand lowered. “Sorry, Miss. I was gonna say the same as Wesley.”

  Clenching my teeth, I moved on. “Forget that one. Next—”

  “Miss?” Jenifer called.

  “Yes?”

  “Is it true that Mr. Anthony is moving in with you?”

  I blanched. I even felt it.

  The students started murmuring among themselves.

  “Is it?” Michael called.

  “No way,” I heard a male student say.

  “That’d be so cool. He’s hot,” a girl said.

  “Maybe she could get him to come back in,” someone else mentioned.

  “Class,” I called, coming out of my state of shock. Everyone quieted. “Jenifer, where did you hear that from?”

  “I overheard a conversation.”

  “Who?”

  She smirked. “I can’t say.”

  Damn, so I won’t find out who I needed to kill.

  “So is it true?” Michael asked again.

  Did I lie to them? Obviously they hadn’t seen the news article and since no one else had picked up on it, thankfully, I was scot-free to voice a little lie.

  Would it be safer for me and Carter?

  But I didn’t like to lie… much. Little ones to my students were okay, like when I told them that quadratic equations were important, and they should behave more in math
to learn them. At the time, I’d just felt bad for Harrold, the older math teacher, who’d since left because he didn’t want to put up with little punks any longer.

  “Um….”

  What did I say?

  For the first time in my life, I wished Tom would burst in checking up on me or someone would pull the fire alarm. Anything would have been good instead of having each and every eye on me while they waited for my answer.

  It felt like their stares were burning into my mind.

  Little shits.

  “Okay, so the thing is…” To hell with it. “Carter was in a tight spot, and I offered him a room for only a little while.” I was sure they would find out sooner or later and it would probably be better to actually hear it from me so nothing would be taken out of context. Then again, they could be just using this time to get out of work.

  They started again to talk amongst themselves in giddy voices.

  It was then my mind ran over something else. What would happen if Elena found out? I didn’t want to find out because I was sure it would lead to me not breathing.

  I could be overreacting, but I had to be careful.

  “Quiet down,” I shouted. When they did, I added, “This information doesn’t leave this room.” Bradly’s hand shot up. “And no, Bradly, none of you can come over for dinner.” He lowered his hand.

  Who was I kidding? The rumor, or truth really, would be flying all over the school by the end of the day.

  My belly dropped.

  I hoped Brooke would pick out a nice casket for me.

  When the bell rang, I jumped. My nerves were on high alert as I walked out of my classroom at the end of the day. Surely my students didn’t have time to spread the rumor before school finished. On Mondays, I was their last class of the day. A triple period of English would usually kill a student, but this class didn’t seem to mind.

  I’d just rounded the corner, entering the last hallway to freedom when Elena stepped out in front of me. I screamed. She glared.

  “Carter’s moving in with you.”

  “What? Really?” I huffed. “I didn’t know.”

  Her glare darkened. “Don’t play stupid with me.”

  My tense shoulders dropped. “Okay. Yes, he is. It’s not because there’s anything between us, we’re just friends.” I felt like I had to tell her that because I didn’t want her to think I was trying for her ex… and deep down, way deep down, I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Okay, so maybe I also said it to remind myself, once again, Carter and I were just friends.

  Her face brightened and then she laughed. “You thought I would think there was something going on between you two. Oh, that’s hilarious.”

  Straightening, I scowled. “It’s not that funny.”

  “It is. I just wanted to catch you and get you to tell Carter if he wants to move in with me instead, I’m sure it’d be better than with you.”

  Was she serious or just stupid? She was laughing at me and yet wanted a favor from me.

  I was going to go with stupid.

  “Sure, Elena, I’ll mention it to him. But why don’t you just call him?”

  She stiffened. “I didn’t grab his number.”

  “Oh, he didn’t give it to you?” I questioned evilly. Then added, “Huh.”

  “Huh? What does huh mean?”

  “Nothing.” I paused. “It’s just, if Carter wanted you to have his number, he would have given it. So since he didn’t give you his number, I don’t think he’ll move in with you, but still, I’ll be sure to pass on your message.”

  She looked confused. “Whatever,” she snipped and then moved around me, walking off.

  Honestly, I didn’t know who won there or if anyone needed to win. Speaking with Elena confused me as much as my words confused her.

  I was just happy she understood Carter wouldn’t be moving in with her. At least, I thought she understood.

  On the walk home, I couldn’t help but go over how Elena considered it funny that Carter would be interested in me.

  From what Brooke said, there was a chance Carter and I could be something more than friends, but I couldn’t think about it, especially since Carter was moving in with me.

  We’d be housemates, and that was it.

  I had to think that way, to overrule my overexcited beating heart.

  Living with Carter Anthony was either going to be amazing or be the end of me.

  My thoughts ground to a halt momentarily just as a new thought popped in there unbidden. What happened if he wanted to bring someone home? I wasn’t sure I could handle that. I’d probably have to run out and find some stranger to take home and sleep with so he wouldn’t think I was crying into my pillow about him plowing into some woman.

  Oh my God. What was I thinking?

  Sex with some stranger?

  While Carter hip locked with another woman under my roof?

  Yep, I was going to go insane living with Carter. Quite possibly more insane than I already was.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Reagan

  Saturday came too fast. Way too fast. Carter had invited Brooke and me to some charity game Friday night, but I didn’t want to face Carter’s family just yet, plus I had to clean out the spare room. In doing that, more fear bombarded me because when I’d offered Carter the room, I’d forgotten how close it was to my room. As in, right next door to it. What happened if I needed to masturbate? Would he hear? Or if I blew my nose? Worst of all, what happened if I needed to fart? I couldn’t let one go in case Carter heard through the wall. I wasn’t sure how thick the walls were, but I wasn’t going to risk letting one go.

  God, my stomach was going to hate me in the end.

  It was already on the way since my nerves were all over the place.

  Loud knocking on my front door got me out of bed. My pulse kicked up its pace. It was only six in the morning. Carter couldn’t have been here already.

  I dragged my exhausted body down the hall and into the living room. Glancing down, I realized I should have probably dressed; I was still wearing my nightie and sleep socks. I peeked through the curtain from the living room window beside the front door and held my breath. It was only Tom.

  Tom?

  What in the world was he doing here so early?

  Not caring what the hell I looked like since it was Tom, I went to the door, unlocked it and swung it open.

  “Is he here yet?” was the first thing out of his mouth.

  “Good morning to you too.” I gestured down at my attire. “Does it look like he’s here and moving in when I’ve only just got out of bed, and it’s only six in the damn morning?”

  He took in my pj’s. “Huh, I’ll get the coffee on then.” He pushed past and headed for the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, “You’d better get dressed before everyone arrives.”

  I blanched at “everyone,” but I couldn’t even deal with Tom. Rather than crawling back into bed, which was what I truly wanted to do, instead, I grumbled to myself about rude early people and headed back into my room to grab leggings and a long top.

  Just as I opened the bathroom door, I heard boomed, “What in the hell are you doing here?”

  “Herb,” Mom warned.

  “What? He can’t be here. This is my day. My Carter and my daughter.”

  Tom scoffed. “This is my employee and my Carter, who I met first.”

  Darn it. I threw my dirty clothes into the laundry room as I ran past on my way into the kitchen. As soon as I entered, Dad turned to me and demanded, “You invited him.” He pointed to Tom, who leaned back against my counter and sipped his coffee, smirking.

  “Blame Brooke. She mentioned it to him.”

  “Goddamn it. This moment is mine,” Dad said, stamping his foot.

  “Herb, how about you start acting your age and get over it,” Mom suggested.

  “Agreed,” I stated. “You two need to stop taunting each other and hug it out or I’ll… tell Carter he can’t move in and we can’t be friends. Then yo
u both won’t get to see him.”

  Both Dad and Tom gasped.

  “Fine. I can forgive him for George if he can forgive me for not telling him about Carter coming to the school,” Tom said; it would have been better if he wasn’t glaring at Dad while saying it. Though Dad was just as bad and scowled back.

  “Fine,” Dad bit out.

  “Now, honey,” Mom warned as she fixed herself a coffee and Tom handed me one. “Do you have a plan of action for today? Do you know what he’s bringing? Will there be enough room in your house for his things?”

  When I stared at her blankly and took gulps of coffee, she sighed.

  “Jesus,” Tom groaned.

  “Reagan, do you know anything about what Carter is bringing?” Dad asked.

  “Um… no.”

  We hadn’t actually spoken during the week. There’d been a few texts here and there, but nothing about him moving in. I guessed it was because he probably knew I was unsure of it even after I forced it upon him, so maybe he hadn’t brought it up because he was afraid of scaring me off. I was doing a damn good job of that on my own.

  We’d been friends for two weeks.

  Two. Weeks.

  And he was moving in.

  One good thing about it was that at least I knew he wasn’t a murderer. He was in the public eye too much to go off and kill someone. But other than that, I didn’t know much about him. He played football. He dated Elena in high school. He liked action movies and documentaries, and for some strange reason, he wanted to be friends with me. And he took my family and me as we came. Well, so far he did.

  Right, I had to get through the day and see if Carter was still okay living here. Especially after having spent more time with me and my family.

  The front door opened, and I was sure my heart rolled over in my chest. I glanced through the breakfast window to see Brooke walk in. “Morning,” I called, relieved it wasn’t Carter yet. I hadn’t even finished my first coffee.

  “Morning, there’s a car pulling up out front. I think it’s Carter.”

  Well damn.

  Behind me, I heard a clatter. I turned to see Tom’s mug was on the counter and he and Dad were moving. They got stuck in the kitchen doorway, both shoving at each other.