“I should keep you around longer.” She smirked at me. I chuckled under my breath before I took a step back.
“Ready to get going?” I peeked behind her to make sure Carter wasn’t hiding.
“Yeah, let’s go.” She stepped out and shut the door behind her. Not wasting any time, I grabbed her hand and led her out of the building. She was slightly surprised at my gesture but didn’t say anything. This whole thing was new to us too, so we were still trying to get used to holding each other’s hands.
“So where are we going?” she asked as we headed for the car.
“It is a surprise,” was all I said.
I opened the passenger door for her before I went over to the driver’s side and started the car. It almost felt weird to be in a car with only her, now that I felt something other than brotherly love toward her. Sure, I had driven her around plenty of times but never as my girlfriend.
“So, my sister wasn’t up I take it,” I said after a few minutes of silence.
“Yup. She stayed up late last night talking to someone on the phone, so I bet she was tired.” I wondered who she was talking to, but pushed the thoughts aside. I was here with Macey and should only focus on that at the moment.
The drive into the city didn’t take long thankfully. During the ride Mace and I made small talk. We talked about our classes, Ethan and Amy dating, and our parents. It felt nice being in the presence of someone who actually listened to what you had to say and liked you for you, not for what your parents have or your status.
All through high school I had to deal with people only being friends with me because of who I am: the son of the famous CEO of Miller Industries and the son of a famous writer. It was hard to find out who were the ones who really liked you for you or for your money. Carter and I both had that problem, but thankfully we did have a few friends who liked us for us. But now, even in college, I had girls coming up to me wanting to get my money, and even some guys who wanted the status of knowing the “golden boy,” as some liked to call me.
So being here with Macey as she listened to me talk was nice. Certainly nice compared to some other dates I have had. The girls would always just talk about themselves, and when we would go out to eat, they’d eat nothing and then complain. They only liked going to some fancy restaurant instead of going to bowl or something else.
When I finally pulled up to the aquarium, I started to get nervous. What if Macey didn’t want to go here? She had been before with us many times. Would this just be boring to her? All these thoughts ran through my head in a nanosecond the moment I put the car in park.
“Are we at the aquarium?” Macey asked looking out her window.
“I, um…” I scratched the back of my neck. “Yeah, we are. I thought it would be fun, but we don’t have to if you don’t want to.” The touch of her hand on mine stopped me from rambling.
“I love it. Thank you.” She grinned at me. I relaxed.
“Let’s go.” Grinning back at her, I got out of the car and hurried to her side to open her door.
“Well aren’t you Mister Prince Charming?” she commented, holding onto my arm as I shut the door behind her.
“I am your boyfriend, and that is what boyfriends do for their girlfriends.” I felt her freeze as I said those words.
“What?” I looked down at her to see her staring up at me in shock.
“What? Did I do something wrong?”
“I’m your girlfriend?” she asked, her blue-green eyes wide. I just realized then that I had just called her my girlfriend for the first time. We hadn’t classified what we were yet.
“I uh, I um,” I stuttered. Nice going, idiot! You just made the decision for her. What if she didn’t even want to be your girlfriend? What then?
“I know we haven’t classified us as boyfriend and girlfriend, but I just…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” The tips of my ears were turning pink as I stuttered. The sudden full-blown smile on Macey’s face made me pause.
“Boyfriend and girlfriend…I like the sound of that.” She squeezed my hand as she smiled at me.
“Really?” I couldn’t stop the grin on my face either. Never in a million years did I think I would have Macey Terry as my girlfriend. She used to be just the annoying girl my sister was friends with. We weren’t really cousins or whatever you wanted to call it because mom wasn’t related to Aunt Kay, but I had thought of her as my second sister.
The night of the party I noticed how grown up she had become. She had filled out in all the right places. Gone was the gap between her two front teeth, the horrible hair and clothing. Now before me stood a gorgeous, sexy woman that made my knees weak just from a smile.
“Although you never asked me to be your girlfriend or to go on a date with you,” she pointed out and I cringed. I hadn’t really officially asked her out. “But yes, I will be your girlfriend.”
Not being able to express in words how happy I was to hear that, I grabbed her by the waist and swung her around. I buried my face in her hair as I hugged her. Her little frame fit perfect against mine, and I knew this just felt right.
Sure, this had all happened so suddenly, but if it was meant to be, it would be. For some reason I felt like Macey and I were meant to find each other that night of the party, that it was meant to be that we saw each other in a different light. I never really believed in that sort of stuff, but I was starting to.
“Okay, boyfriend, let’s go into the aquarium,” Macey said, tugging my hand as she walked backwards. Seeing this beautiful girl right there in front of me, I felt my heart beat faster, and a huge smile became plastered on my face.
Chapter Nine
Carter
“Remember, this assignment is due in one week. Now have a good rest of the week. No class on Thursday,” Mr. Waite, my English teacher said, as he dismissed us after an hour of class. Like everyone here I was glad we had Thursday off, which meant I had no classes that day.
“I think we should get started today,” I said, standing up and bringing my bag up to my shoulder.
“Princess, he literally just said we have a week to do this,” Gage said, standing up as well.
“Doesn’t hurt getting it done early,” I pointed out.
“Doesn’t hurt waiting a few days,” he shot back at me as he led us out of the classroom. “Plus, I have a fight tonight.” We made our way out of the English building before coming to a stop at the section where it split to different buildings.
“You are coming along,” he added.
“Wait, you want me to come to the fight with you?” I was surprised he wanted me to go with him, not that I was complaining. I actually wanted to go and see him fight again. There was something so cool and fascinating about watching Gage fight. He just moved so gracefully and with such power; it was great to see.
Gage stared at me with an are-you-kidding-me look.
“Didn’t I just say that?” I bit back a grin at that. “After your last class just meet me by my dorm and we can go from there.”
“Okay, I get out around three, but if I get out earlier then I’ll text you.” Gage just nodded and stood there awkwardly.
Even though we bonded even more at the football game on Saturday, we were still awkward, not sure how to act around one another. We were getting better though.
“Okay, well, I, um, yes,” was all Gage said before he turned and headed in the opposite direction I was heading in. I laughed softly under my breath. It was a nice change seeing Gage so unsure of himself around me. His normal fuck-it-all attitude hadn’t been present lately.
Feeling kind of giddy, I headed toward my next class, art, with a smile on my face. It had only been about a day and a half since the football game, and I had to say things were going okay for us. Yes, two days wasn’t enough to feel much had changed, but I felt good around Gage. He made me feel different, made me feel like I wasn’t “the golden boy’s sister.” He actually made me feel like he wanted to be around me for me, not for what I had or st
and for.
Going to the football game was a good idea. Both Dylan and Gage got really into it and by the end, they were up cheering like the rest of us—well maybe not cheering, but definitely clapping. It was nice seeing both boys get out of their comfort zones and actually enjoy doing something else. I knew Gage would deny it to no end that he enjoyed himself, but I knew he had.
***
Earlier…
“They won,” Dylan said in a stunned tone. I looked over him smiling while shaking my head.
“You seem so surprised.”
“Well…yeah!” Next to me Macey just laughed.
“True sign you’ve never been to a game. They haven’t lost since last year and that was like their second game of the season.” All four of us slowly made our way down the aisle to get out. We had stayed back to let most of the crowd leave, but there were still some people trickling out.
“You’ve been to every game?”
“Yeah. Well, not every single game, but every home one. Macey and I always go to support my brother and Ethan.”
“Dedication, man.” Dylan whistled.
“Don’t you go to every one of Gage’s fights?” I asked.
“Yes. I am his manager-slash-coach.” I raised an eyebrow at that and Gage just shoved him.
“He is not any of those.” Gage grunted.
“More like cheerleader, huh?” Macey supplied a wide smile. She enjoyed being around these two just as much as I did.
“I am not a cheerleader!” Dylan said defensively, holding a hand to his heart.
“Dylan, you are. You stand on the sidelines as his cheerleader. But no worries, it is very adorable.”
“I don’t want to be adorable,” he mumbled.
“But you are.” I reached up and rubbed his head, messing up his hair.
“Hey!” He slapped my hand away and fixed his hair. Giggling, we walked toward 95 Degrees where Ethan, Luke, and Amy would meet us.
“Where are we going?” Gage asked after a few minutes.
“We are going to 95 Degrees to eat. It is kind of what we normally do after a game. That okay with you guys?”
“Uh, Carter, can I talk to you for a second?” Macey suddenly said, grabbing my elbow and pulling me away from the guys. It was only when we were a good distance away that Macey finally said something.
“What?” I asked, more than confused.
“Have you forgotten how much Luke and Ethan hate both Dylan and Gage?” With that it was like I crashed back into reality. How could I have forgotten neither of them liked the other two? “If Dylan hadn’t joked with them about sleeping with you they would probably tolerate him, but Gage is a whole other story. And now that they know you are ‘dating,’ I don’t think they will be pleased.”
Gage and I dating. Dating…I had completely forgotten that Gage told Ethan we were on a “date” last week when we got ice cream. He had to have told my brother by now what he’d seen, and no doubt my brother was pissed. But if he had told him, wouldn’t have Luke talked to me about it before now? So did he know or not?
“Carter? Car?” Macey asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“Macey, I forgot they don’t like each other! What are we going to do? And my brother probably knows about Gage and me!” I could feel myself starting to freak. My hands went up to my hair to pull on it while I thought about what my brother and even Ethan would do if they showed up at 95 Degrees with Dylan and Gage there.
It wasn’t like there would be a bloodbath, but that was all I could think about. Nothing good ever happened when guys hated each other and were around one another. It just never worked out for the best. I did not want any of them to get hurt or to get in an argument.
“We can’t take them to 95 Degrees with us or both boys will get pissed at them then us for hanging out with them. I do not want to get a talking to by Ethan, let alone my brother. But what if Luke knows I am ‘dating’ Gage and decides to make a big deal about it? I mean, it isn’t his business anyway, but still, what will happen? Shouldn’t he have already had his bitch-fit though? It’s been a week since we decided this.” I rambled on, barely pausing to take a breath.
“Seriously, Macey, what are we going to do?” I could feel a small panic attack slowly starting. My legs were unconsciously making me pace back and forth.
“Carter,” Macey said firmly as she grabbed me by the shoulders to get me to stop moving and to focus on her. “It is going to be okay. We will tell Gage and Dylan what is going on and see if they still want to go with us. If they don’t, okay. If they still want to eat dinner with us, then Luke and Ethan will just have to deal with it. Okay?”
I forced my breathing to slow down as I took in Macey’s words. That sounded like a good idea. If they did, all the guys would just have to deal with it. That is okay. Things will be okay.
“Okay. Yeah, that sounds good.” I nodded, my small panic attack going away. While I was having my freak out, I didn’t notice Gage was on the phone with someone.
“Let’s go and talk to them,” Mace said before once again, pulling me after her.
“You okay?” Dylan asked the moment we came to a stop in front of them.
“Yeah, great, perfect.”
He just raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t say another word.
“So, we have something we want to discuss with you two,” Macey stated right away.
“Are you breaking up with us?” Dylan gasped, his eyes wide. That instantly made me feel better as I laughed at him.
“No. You see, Ethan and Carter’s brother Luke don’t like you two. I don’t know why Ethan doesn’t, but I know Luke doesn’t because of your smart-ass comment at the diner a while ago.” Mace sent Dylan a look. “But anyways, since they aren’t exactly fond of you two, we want to make sure you still want to go with us to eat.”
“We want you guys to come, but just want to forewarn you that it could be awkward if you come along,” I said quickly, not wanting either of them to think we didn’t want them to eat with us.
“Actually, we have to go,” Gage said. It was then I noticed he had his phone in his hand.
“Oh.”
“There is a fight happening, so Dylan and I have to go.”
“Sorry to leave you guys,” Dylan said, sending us a sad smile. While it was an answer that we kind of needed, I felt disappointed that neither of them was coming with us.
Here I was freaking out about them coming to eat dinner with us, and now I was feeling disappointed that they couldn’t come. Stupid, I know. I couldn’t get a hold of my emotions lately.
“That is okay. Kind of works out then,” I said trying to make sure I didn’t sound disappointed.
“Sorry,” Gage said, and I felt his gaze on me. I looked right at him. I was more than impressed that he’d come with me to the game and even considered going to eat out with us. This was something he would normally not do, and I was beyond ecstatic that he went out of his comfort zone for me today.
“It is okay, no worries. But be careful tonight.” I knew Gage was good—well, more than good, he was great—at fighting, but I couldn’t help but worry that he would get hurt. He had not once come back with a bruise or anything. I just did not want that to change.
“Car, are you saying I don’t know how to teach my man here?” Dylan asked, pretending to be offended. He slung his arm around his best friend, but it looked funny since he was shorter than Gage. I grinned as Gage glared at Dylan. We all knew Dylan had nothing to do with Gage being so great at fighting, Dylan was basically there for moral support, I guess you could say. So yes, he was Gage’s cheerleader.
“That goes for both of you. I don’t want find you guys in pieces.” I didn’t know if Dylan was fighting tonight but I was just as worried, if not more, for Dylan. Dylan told me a while ago that he doesn’t fight that often but when he does he wins, which is good I guess.
“Are you saying you like me, Princess?” Gage asked with a half-smile. I realized how that sounded out loud and felt
myself blush.
“No, I don’t. I just don’t want to waste any more Band-Aids on you guys,” I replied, not meeting his gaze.
“You don’t like seeing me hurt then.” The smile on Gage’s face was getting wider. Not bothering to reply, I just shook my head at him. It was then I noticed I had moved until I stood in front of Gage and was tilting my head up to talk to him.
“Just go already, doofus.”
“I think you will miss me too much.”
“You think so highly of yourself,” I said.
“These two need to get a room.” I heard Macey whisper behind us to Dylan. Her comment made me blush even harder. I snapped my head over my shoulder to glare at her, only to find both of them looking at us with amused expressions.
“Dylan, let’s go,” Gage said gruffly.
“He always ruins the fun,” Dylan said, but he still had a stupid grin on his face. Gage just rolled his eyes and sadly took a step back from me.
“Let’s go.”
“I’ll see you later then,” I said, not wanting Gage to go.
“Don’t worry, Carty, I will be back before you know it.” Dylan pulled me into a quick side hug before walking around Gage. Like normal Gage, he just said an awkward bye before turning to leave.
“Bye,” I said softly after them, but a wide smile broke out on my face when I saw Gage look back at me over his shoulder with a small smile of his own. Even though it was just a smile, it made my night. Knowing that Gage didn’t smile that often, I felt special.
“Come on, lovesick puppy, let’s go.” Macey interrupted my blissful haze. I turned away from the guys walking away from us and followed after Macey.
“Did you really have to say that?” I asked, practically getting secondhand embarrassment just thinking about her comment about me and Gage.
“Carter, come on, the sexual tension between you two is almost palpable. You could cut it with a knife. I just said what everyone was thinking.” She shrugged. Of course she would do that.
“Sometimes I wonder why I am friends with you,” I muttered, but I could tell she heard me from the shove she gave me.
Silent Love [Part 2]_Forbidden Series Page 13