Playing With Fire (Guarded Hearts)

by Noelle, Alexis

  "I'm glad, baby." I knew I should do something for him. The truth was that after everything Chris had been doing, I was scared. "Do you want me to…?"

  He looked up at me and smiled. "Baby, tonight was about you. I saw how scared you were when you looked at me just now. If you're not ready, it's okay."

  "Carter, are you sure? I know that guys have needs."

  "My only need right now is a cold shower, and coming back to you in my bed." He kissed me and then went off to the bathroom. I hoped he really was okay with this.

  Carter

  She was asleep when I got back in the room. I loved being able to do that for her tonight, and I knew how much it meant that she let me. I hated that she felt like she owed me, though.

  As much as I would've loved for her to do it, I saw the look on her face. I wanted her to know that I didn't expect something in return, like everyone else in her life always had.

  I climbed in beside her and wrapped my arms around her. She let out the most content sigh I'd ever heard. Then she said, almost too low for me to hear it, "I love you, Carter."

  She loved me? Was she awake?

  "Maddy, are you up?" Nothing. I couldn't believe she loved me. I wished it were tomorrow already. I was going to give Maddy the best birthday ever.

  * * *

  When I woke up, she was still asleep in my arms. I slipped out from underneath her and went to work. I made breakfast and put up the couple decorations I bought yesterday.

  There was a Happy Birthday banner that I taped to the kitchen counter, and a couple streamers. There was also a pile of presents on the counter. I couldn't wait for her to get up. I knew she was going to be surprised. I heard my bedroom door open and I was thankful that everyone else was still asleep. I wanted to be able to share this just with her.

  When she saw everything, the look on her face made all the running around yesterday worth it. She put her hand over her mouth as she drew in a breath. "Carter, what is all of this?"

  I walked over to her, put my arms around her, and whispered in her ear, "Happy birthday, beautiful." I moved my head to the side and kissed her. Then I felt wetness on my cheeks, and pulled back to look at her. She had tears running down her face. "What's wrong, baby?"

  She leaned in and kissed me again, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing her body into mine. "Carter, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. How did you know it was my birthday?"

  "Nicole told me about it on Thanksgiving. Why didn't you tell me?"

  She let go of me and went to sit on the couch. "I haven't celebrated my birthday since I was three. My mother died on my fourth birthday and my father always blamed me. A drunk driver hit her when she went to get my birthday cake. When she didn't come home that night, my father told me I killed her. He started drinking after that and couldn't even bear to look at me. Then when I was put in the foster homes, no one cared. I eventually just stopped celebrating it myself. When I started dating Chris, I thought maybe he'd want to celebrate it with me. He told me I was already used to not celebrating it so why change it now."

  I hated him with every fiber of my being. I didn't understand why she ever stayed with him. I needed to talk to her about this.

  "When I walked out here and saw all this, I thought I was dreaming. You're the most amazing person I've ever known." She leaned in and kissed me again. I'd never get tired of this. Maddy had been through so much. All I wanted to do was make every day from now on special. She started to look around and that was when she saw the presents. "You got me gifts?"

  "Yeah. When I stopped by the mall yesterday, I gave Holly some money to get you some stuff." I heard footsteps coming toward us. My dad, Ant, and Holly came in the room. They all said happy birthday to Maddy and gave her hugs. "Is everyone hungry? I made breakfast."

  Ant looked at me and scowled. "I'm not trying to get sick, dude. I'll pass."

  I heard Maddy giggling. "I have to say, he made me breakfast before and it was really good."

  I put my arm around her waist and pulled her against me. "See, the birthday girl likes my cooking."

  "Hey, all I said was your breakfast was good. I don't know anything about the other stuff." Everyone starting laughing. I loved how well she fit into my family.

  After we ate breakfast, we all sat in the living room and gave Maddy her gifts. Holly did really well. She picked Maddy up a new pair of boots, two shirts, a jacket, and a pair of jeans. I'd never seen her smile this much. She thanked us and gave out hugs to everyone.

  I helped her carry her stuff into my bedroom and as soon as I shut the door, she shoved me against it. She crushed her lips against mine, and I was so surprised and turned on that I let out a groan. She slipped her tongue into my mouth and started playing with my hair.

  I wrapped my arms around her and lifted her up a little. She wrapped her legs around my waist. The sounds that she was making were turning me on so much. If I was this turned on just from kissing, I didn't know what I'd do whenever we decided to have sex.

  I carried her over to the bed and lay down with her. I started kissing her all over her neck. I needed to stop this. She wasn't ready, my family was down the hall, and I had a major case of blue balls. "Hey, where did this crazy girl come from?"

  She looked up at me and smiled. She was adorable. "I've never felt so cared for by anyone, Carter. I always shied away from people because I thought all they'd do is hurt me. I've been scared to let someone touch me ever since I was a kid but, with you, everything just feels right. You make me feel like it's enough to just be who I am."

  I didn't know what to say to her. I was so glad I had that effect on her. "It is enough just to be who you are. I want you to feel safe with me. I'm not going to judge you or try to change you."

  She wrapped her arms around me and we just lay there for a while.

  "Hey, I have one more thing to give you."

  She looked up at me. "Carter, you've already done so much."

  "The day isn't over yet, baby. We're going out tonight."

  "We are? Where?"

  "It's a surprise. Speaking of surprises, wait one minute." This was the gift I was most anxious to give her, but I'd wanted to do it in private. I took the velvet box in my hand and went to sit back down on the bed. When she saw the box in my hand, I swear she almost had a heart attack. "Calm down. I'm not proposing." A vision popped into my head of Maddy and I standing in front of an altar. I could see myself marrying this girl one day. I handed her the box. "Open it."

  When she did, she gasped and put her hand over her mouth. I took it from her and lifted it out of the box.

  I moved around behind her and fastened the necklace around her neck. It was a white gold chain with a double heart pendant. "Carter, it's beautiful."

  "The guy at the store said it's a symbol for two people in love. They are two hearts that will forever be intertwined."

  "I love it."

  I love you. I couldn't bring myself to say it to her, although I wanted to. I didn't think she was ready to hear it yet, even though she said it to me last night in her sleep.

  We spent the rest of the day watching movies and talking in my room. Once it got a little later, I told her we had reservations for dinner and she started to get ready. When she came out of the room, she had on the new pair of jeans, one of the shirts, and the jacket that Holly had gotten her. She looked beautiful, and I was excited to finally be taking her out.

  Chapter Five

  Madison

  Carter looked gorgeous! He had on black button fly jeans that hung just low enough on his hips, and that smirk that made me want to drag him back to his room.

  "I'm ready to go."

  He walked over to me and gave me a kiss on the lips. "You're so beautiful." I couldn't help but blush. "Are you excited?"

  "Yes, I haven't been out to dinner in a really long time." He frowned when I said that. I never really knew how bad I had it with Chris until Carter came into my life. He took my hand and we started to leave.
>
  We pulled up to the restaurant and Carter led me inside. He gave the hostess his name and she smiled at him. She led us to a booth in the back of the restaurant, gave us our menus and then left, but not before she slipped Carter a piece of paper. What the hell was that?

  He looked down at it, laughed and threw it on the floor under the booth. Was he going to mention it? He looked up at me and saw that I was watching him.

  "Yes, she gave me her number. As you can see, I put it where it belongs. I'd say that your number is the only one I want, but you don't have a phone."

  I laughed at him and then opened the menu. Wow. Everything was so expensive! "Carter," I whispered, "it is really expensive in here. Are you sure about this?"

  He laughed at me. "Maddy, I work four nights a week and I make pretty good money. Order whatever you want, okay?"

  "Okay. I've never been anywhere nearly as nice as this. Chris and I only went out to dinner once and it was to this place called Chili's...and he had me order from the two-for-twenty menu." I saw Carter clench his jaw. I should really stop bringing him up. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

  "It's okay. I'm not upset with you. I just hate how he treated you." Since the booth was a semi-circle, he was able to scoot over toward me. He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss. "You deserve the world, baby, and I wanna help give it to you if you'll let me."

  The waitress came and took our orders, and then it was just Carter and me. What was going to happen when we went back to school? I wasn't sure I'd get the answer I wanted, but I needed to ask. "Can I ask you a question, Carter?"

  "Sure."

  "What's going to happen when we go back?" I was crossing my fingers that he wanted to be with me as much as I wanted him to.

  "That's up to you, Maddy."

  Why is it up to me? I mean, a relationship is a choice that two people are supposed to make together. I hope he is not gonna slip in some condition for us being together. "What do you mean?"

  "You have all the power in this situation. I want to be with you, I want to have you by my side, and I want to wake up to you in my bed. As long as you're willing to break it off with Chris, though. I can't be your secret."

  I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. I hated that I had tried to keep Carter a secret. He was so much more than that. I knew it hurt him that I did that, and I was surprised he went along with it at all. I never really understood why he waited for me, either. It was not like he was in short supply of available girls. I saw the way all of them around campus looked at him.

  He didn't want them, though, he wanted me. "I don't want you to be my secret, Carter. Would you be willing to give me a couple days when we get back, though?" I didn't know how he was going to take this. "Chris can be…temperamental. I just want a couple days to tell him and make him understand it's over."

  "Maddy, I need you to tell me the truth about what's going on with you and him."

  He really wanted to have this talk now? I wasn't ready to tell him everything. I'd been letting him in little by little, but it was going to take time. "Carter, can we have this talk later? I really don't want to ruin the night."

  He frowned, but seemed to understand. "Okay, just as long as you'll tell me. You know, that necklace is beautiful. Someone with really good taste must have picked it out."

  I couldn't help but giggle at that. "Someone really important gave it to me." He leaned in to give me another kiss just as the waitress was bringing our food.

  Dinner was amazing and when Carter said we weren't done yet, I didn't know what to expect. As we were driving, he turned to me and asked, "Have you ever been dancing? Like at a club?"

  I wouldn't even begin to know how to dance. Sure, I'd seen plenty of other girls do it, but that didn't mean I had the slightest idea how. "No."

  "Good. I believe that's another first, Miss Stevens." He'd stopped the car and we were in front of a place called Midnight. Oh my God. It was a club! Carter had brought me to a club! He wanted to dance with me. I was going to make an idiot out of myself.

  We walked into the club and, instantly, I felt out of place. He leaned close to my ear. "Do you want a drink?"

  "No, I think I've had enough firsts tonight."

  "You've never had a drink?" I shook my head. "Well, that will be a first I'll definitely enjoy giving you."

  Just then, a slower song came on which, I was guessing, didn't happen a lot. Most people started to leave the dance floor so only the couples were left. He grabbed my hand and led me onto the dance floor. I recognized the song as Pink's "Just a Reason." He put my arms around his neck and started swaying me back and forth. I could handle this. As I was listening to the song, I realized how much the chorus related to me. She was talking about being broken, but being able to pick up the pieces and start again. That was exactly what I wanted to do with Carter.

  He leaned down to kiss me and we stopped moving. We stood there, in the middle of the dance floor, just kissing each other until the song ended.

  The DJ came on and announced that was the last slow song of the night and the dance party was starting. It immediately changed into a fast song. I had no idea what to do so I started watching the people around me. They were all grinding with each other. Would Carter want to do that with me?

  I looked up at him and he brought his mouth down to my ear. "I completely understand if you are not up for that. We could always go sit down somewhere."

  "No. I'm done letting what happened to me in the past affect my present. I don't want my past to affect us. I don't really know what to do, though, so you'll have to be patient with me."

  "Okay, baby, come here then." He pulled me against him so I was standing with my back to him. He put his hands on my hips and slowly started to move side to side. This was actually really nice. Where was I supposed to put my hands? I felt so out of place here.

  I rested my hands on Carter's and I felt him start to get hard behind me. He stiffened and I knew he was unsure of how I was going to react. I had to show him that this was okay.

  I leaned my body back into him and tuned my head to the side to see him. I smiled at him while wrapping my arms around his neck. He leaned down and kissed me, but it wasn't sweet like before. I could feel his desperation and need in this kiss. I started moving my hips in little circles against him and he groaned in my ear.

  "Maddy, I don't know if that's such a good idea."

  I was watching the girls around me and started taking ideas from them. I decided to try something that I'd just seen another girl do. I leaned forward, putting my hands on my knees and pushing my ass into Carter's bulge. I started moving it in little circles. I could tell he liked it from the way he gripped my hips tighter.

  Carter

  She was driving me crazy! At first I could tell she needed me to guide her but after she wrapped her hands around my neck, she seemed to take over from there. When she bent over, I was a goner.

  This felt so damn good and, after consistently getting worked up these past couple days with no relief, it wasn't going to take me long to get there. We couldn't do this in the middle of the club though, could we?

  I pulled her up so I could whisper in her ear. "Maddy, baby, this feels so good. But unless you want me to come right on this dance floor, I think we need to take a break."

  She laughed at me and then resumed grinding her sexy ass against my throbbing dick. This can't really be happening, can it? She reached around my neck again and started to play with my hair. Then, she started to kiss up and down my neck. "Baby, listen-"

  "Carter, it's okay. I know you need this and it's kind of exciting." She kissed me and when she took my bottom lip in between her teeth and pulled, I lost it.

  I knew I was close. Between her rubbing up against me and how forward she was being, it would be any minute. She did the thing where she bent over again and I couldn't hold back anymore.

  "Fuck, Maddy!" I couldn't believe I just did that. I feel like a fucking teenager all over again. This was going to be an
uncomfortable drive home.

  Maddy turned to me with the biggest smile on her face. She was enjoying this! "You ready to go home?"

  "Yeah, let's get out of here."

  When we got back home, Anthony and my Dad were sitting on the couch. Dad took one look at me and could tell something was up. "What the hell are you walking like that for?"

  I heard Maddy giggling behind me. I was gonna get her for this later. "Someone spilled a drink on me at the club. I'm gonna go take a shower." Maddy sat down in the living room. "You gonna stay out here?"

  "Yeah, just let me know when you're done. I could use a shower too."

  Anthony butted in. "Just take a shower with the poor guy! He did work hard on your birthday, you know!" I walked over and punched him hard in the arm. "OW! Dude, I was just trying to help you out!" I looked over at Maddy and she was blushing. "Whatever. I'm gonna head out. Paul is having a party tonight. Have fun not showering together. I always knew you were gay!"

  All I could do was shake my head. "I'll see you in a couple minutes, okay?"

  "Okay."

  Madison

  I was sitting in the living room, watching TV with Carter's dad and thinking about how perfect today had been. "So, how was your birthday?"

  "It was perfect. I can't believe he did all of this for me. You really raised an amazing man."

  Carter's dad smiled at me. "Thank you. I was worried when his mom first passed away, but all of them have turned out really well. Even Anthony, although sometimes I wanna duct tape his mouth closed." I had to laugh at that. "He really cares a lot about you."

  "I care about him a lot, too, probably more than you know."

  "That's good to hear."

  I heard the bathroom door and Carter yelled out to me that he was done. "Well, I'm going to go get in the shower. Thank you again for everything, I really had a great time here."

  "You're welcome here anytime, honey."