Silent Love

by Kenadee Bryant

  “Yeah, I’ve been the more mature one here,” Macey butted in, grinning widely at my parents. “Carter hasn’t done anything to help out.” I rolled my eyes at her while my parents just smiled. They knew she was kidding. I wasn’t someone who let others do everything.

  “I’m glad you girls are doing good. Have Luke and Ethan been around?” my father, Ashton, asked.

  “We hung out with them all day yesterday, and had lunch with Luke today,” Macey answered. My parents didn’t even have to ask if Luke and I saw each other today; they knew we did our ritual every single year.

  “Good. They need to make sure you are doing good every day.” Mace and I shook our heads at my dad. There’s my dad for you.

  “I’m so excited to see them play. I know they have both been working so hard,” Mom said, grinning out at the field.

  “Everyone is saying they will be undefeated this year,” I commented.

  “As long as they all work together they will.” My dad used to play football in college, and it was something he shared with both Ethan and Luke. There had been so many times they would sit at the dinner table talking about football the entire time.

  We talked back and forth with my parents for a little bit, catching up on whatever happened in the last three days. As we talked, the stadium filled up with screaming fans. Before we knew it, the announcer came on introducing both teams. At the sound of ours, people stomped their feet and stood up cheering. Bursting through the thin paper that had LIONS printed on it, the entire team spilled out onto the grass.

  As they came toward us, I looked around for my brother’s number as well as Ethan’s. Almost instantly I spotted numbers 16 and 17 jogging toward us, helmets on. Luke and Ethan have had those same numbers all through high school. And it made sense that they were only one number apart; on the field they were like one person. It was like they mind-linked while Luke threw the ball exactly where Ethan would be.

  All four of us stood up and leaned over the railing as the two boys came over to us. Reaching down, extending my arm, I could grasp their hands. Both boys kissed my mom’s hand before shaking my father’s. When Luke came over to me, I grinned at him. We did our “secret” hand shake that we did before every game. I could see Luke grinning through his helmet as well.

  Ethan was next, and of course I felt my stomach warm up seeing him in his uniform; it was so sexy on him. He and I didn’t have a big secret handshake like Luke and me, but we did shake while hooking our index and pinky fingers together. I honestly had no idea where we came up with it, but ever since then it became our own small ritual.

  “Good luck!” I yelled to them and gave them a thumbs-up.

  “Kick their asses!” Macey yelled. We all smiled to one another before taking our seats. The game was about to start.

  ***

  Gage

  Long dark brown hair and light baby blue eyes were all I could think about all day. Her face kept flashing through my mind as I went to my classes and now as I stood in the gym. I couldn’t seem to get her out of my head. Carter. I really liked that name. It slid off my tongue so easily.

  Ever since I saw her in my English class this morning, she hadn’t left my mind. I had instantly recognized her when I walked in. I hadn’t even realized my legs were moving until I took a seat only three away from her. It was a shock seeing her again. Two nights had passed since she ran into me in the middle of the night. I was coming back from a fight and hadn’t expected to really see anyone, especially a girl like her out so late.

  I knew I was rude to her even after she apologized for running into me. The moment I saw the hurt in her baby blue eyes, I instantly felt bad. I, Gage Harper, felt bad for being rude to someone. That didn’t happen every day. I didn’t really know why I stayed around that area after she left. For some odd reason I felt like she would come back this way. For twenty minutes I sat there waiting and right when I got up to leave, I heard her voice.

  She was struggling with what looked like a girl’s body. I watched as she almost dropped the girl and heard her let out a yell. I didn’t know what made me do it, but I walked toward her and offered to help her. I was fucking stupid to do that because she kept asking about the cuts on my face and my name. But when she offered to help clean my wounds, I found myself saying yes. Her voice was so soft and gentle. I wanted to keep listening to it.

  Because she was nice, I told her my name as I left. Ever since that night I had thought about her. I never thought about a girl so much. Usually it was a hump and dump. It pissed me off so when I heard her yelling my name after class, I didn’t stop walking. I didn’t know why she kept following me. I thought she would get the hint.

  So when she grabbed my elbow, I snapped. But surprisingly she came right after me. Most people wouldn’t come after me. I was scary and I knew it, so having her still following me surprised me.

  Thinking back to the conversation we had, I punched the punching bag. Gritting my teeth, I continued on punching the bag, sweat dripping down my face and chest. The only way to get Carter to leave me alone was to be a dick to her; it worked well. But she was different than other girls who talked to me; she had fire inside. My words seemed to make her angrier, and her blue eyes darkened. Seeing how she stuck up for herself made something inside of me spark.

  Instead of being glad that she walked away from me, I felt curious—curious about the girl who dared to talk back to me.

  “Fuck.” I grunted, grabbing the punching back and dipping my head down. Sweat dripped off the tip of my nose. Panting, I closed my eyes wanting to get rid of her face. Thoughts of her had been taunting me all fucking day.

  “Gage,” I heard my best friend call my name. Well, he was my only friend. “Why are you punching the bag as if it was attacking you?” Dylan asked, coming to stand behind the heavy bag. I didn’t bother to answer him, trying to catch my breath.

  Dylan had been my best friend since I was little. We both grew up on the same side of town, and had been through more shit then most people our age. He was the only person to stick by my side, and even though I didn’t show or say it, I loved him like a brother.

  “Seriously, what’s got you so high-strung?”

  “Nothing,” I grunted. I lifted my head up and took a step back, getting back into position. I swung my fist at the bag, making it move a few inches back.

  “Okay fine, don’t tell me. I came to ask if you want to go out tonight?” Going out sounded good. I needed to find some random chick to fuck and get my mind off Carter.

  “Sure, let’s go out.” Swinging one last time, I hit the bag sending it into Dylan, who grunted. “Let’s go out,” I muttered.

  Chapter Seven

  Carter

  Since I didn’t have class the next day, I slept in a little which was nice. Macey and I didn’t get back in until midnight or so. It was no surprise that we won; our team destroyed the other by forty points. The game didn’t even finish until eleven, and we ended up staying as everyone left to see Luke and Ethan. By the time they came out and we all talked, it was well after midnight. Thankfully Macey didn’t have class until eleven, so we were able to sleep in some.

  When I couldn’t sleep any longer, I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. From the corner of my eye I noticed it was a little after eight a.m. Yeah, so much for sleeping in. All night I dreamt of Ethan, and waking up to see that none of it was real didn’t make me feel any better.

  I had dreamt that we had finally gotten together and were going out on our first date. Ethan had decided to take me to the fair, where we had a blast. Of course it was too good to be true; I should have realized that when he showed up to our place claiming his love for me, it wasn’t real.

  With a sigh I headed to the kitchen, wanting to forget about my stupid dream, because that was all that it was. I really needed to move on and forget about Ethan. I moved around the kitchen wishing we had our own coffee machine because that sounded really good right now. Settling for a glass of water, I filled the cup to the
brim.

  Yawning, I went over to the couch and flopped down on it. While turning on the TV I gulped some water. My throat hurt from yelling last night. I sat there staring blindly at some kid show about dogs as I slowly woke up. I knew my brown hair was everywhere and I probably had pillow marks on my face.

  I sat there on the couch for a good thirty minutes before Macey came stumbling out of her room to sit beside me. Her dirty blonde hair was pressed to the side of her face and the other half was sticking straight up. She mumbled a quiet “good morning” before we lapsed into silence.

  “We need to buy a coffee machine,” Macey said, breaking the silence a few minutes later. I nodded wanting to smile, as I had thought the same thing. That was all that was said for at least twenty minutes. Finally we both were awake enough to actually make conversation.

  “So you have class at eleven? Is that your only class?” I asked, my eyes still on the TV.

  “I have two today. That one until noon, then one at 12:45 to 1:30. I’m free after that.” I nodded, already thinking of what I could do while she was in classes so I wouldn’t be bored.

  “You’ll find something to do, don’t worry. If all else fails, go find Ethan,” Macey said. It was like she was reading my mind. I didn’t even bother to reply. I had no idea if Ethan had class today and even if he didn’t, I don’t know if I should hang out with him. I always ended up acting stupid anyways.

  The next two hours consisted of both Macey and I sitting around watching some random kids show before she had to get up and get ready. Of course, since she sat around for so long she was running back and forth from the bathroom to her bedroom, trying to finish so she wouldn’t be late. I did make some sort of effort by washing my face and throwing on a clean shirt. Other than that I sat there laughing at Mace as she cursed every which way.

  “’Kay, bye, Car, I will see you later!” she yelled as she blew past me out the door. I stared after her, already foreseeing that this would be a thing to come. Sighing I heaved myself off the couch to make something to eat. I had about four hours to kill before she came back. I sent Amy a text but for some reason knew she wouldn’t reply.

  While I made myself some cereal, I let my mind wander. Of course I thought of the same person as I always did—Ethan. I could clearly see him in his football uniform and how the pants hugged his nice butt. No girl could tell me that they didn’t secretly love a man in a football uniform. The way it hugs their butt is a great sight to behold.

  Ethan’s blue-green eyes flashed through my mind, almost making my knees weak. They were the perfect mixture and the moment he flashed them at me, I wanted to melt. His eyes were almost like the sky mixed with a greenish sea color. It was those eyes that always haunted my dreams since my sophomore year of high school.

  An old memory sprang into mind, making me smile. It was when I was sixteen and Luke and Ethan were seventeen. Ethan was spending the day at our house like always, and because Macey was busy with her new boyfriend, and Amy had cheerleading camp, I was stuck at home, not that I really minded. Both of my parents were gone for work, leaving us three the entire house.

  “No,” I whispered, turning the page quickly. Jace couldn’t be Clary’s brother; he just couldn’t! I was sitting in the little alcove in my room reading The Mortal Instruments. I had recently gotten it and couldn’t put it down. My eyes read each word slowly but quickly, drinking in all the information. Just as I reached the part I wanted, my bedroom door slammed open.

  “Carter!” Luke and Ethan yelled, barging into my room. My gaze snapped up to them, and I glowered at how they interrupted my reading time.

  “What do you want?” I practically growled.

  “We are bored,” Luke whined. Beside him his best friend did the same. They both scrunched up their faces and threw their hands down. I wanted to laugh at their expressions. You would think that because they were two of the most popular boys in school they would have something to always do, but nope, here they were bugging me to entertain them.

  “And I am supposed to do what?” I asked, placing my finger on my page and closing the book.

  “Do something with us!” Ethan whined. I felt touched they wanted me to hang out with them. I mean, it wasn’t like I didn’t already, but I was still shocked that they cared to include me in things.

  “Like what?” Knowing I now had to do something with them, I grabbed my doggy book mark before setting my book to the side. I will finish you, I promised it silently.

  “I don’t know.” With that Luke flopped onto my bed as Ethan took my chair by my desk.

  “Video games?” I offered, folding my legs underneath me.

  “Already played some.”

  “Watch TV?”

  “Did.”

  “Okay, how about going outside and having a water fight?” At the mention of that both boys sat up straighter, a grin spreading across their faces.

  “That is a great idea, Car!” Luke sat up smiling at me. It was perfect weather for a water fight. It was in the high eighties. So far, our summer break had been pretty warm, to the point where don’t really want to be outside for too long.

  “I know. I am super smart.” I pretended to flip my hair over my shoulder.

  “Hurry and change! Ethan and I will go grab some of the water guns we have.” Both boys stood up, motioning for me to change before leaving me. I shook my head at them but felt excitement flood my veins. I loved water fights and maybe seeing Ethan shirtless.

  I didn’t want to make them wait too long because I knew they would come up here to get me if I didn’t hurry. Grabbing a bathing suit top, an old t-shirt, and shorts, I quickly changed. Even though we would be in the backyard, I didn’t need to have all of my skin showing.

  Once I had an outfit on that was okay to get wet, I redid my ponytail before heading downstairs. By the time I had made my way downstairs and out to the backyard, both boys had filled up half of the water guns. I didn’t think I took that long to change.

  “Wow, you guys are fast,” I commented coming to stand beside them, crossing my arms.

  “Well, we filled the smaller ones first.” I nodded while looking at the collection of water guns they had at their feet; all of them were different sizes and shapes. I didn’t even know we had this many water guns to be honest.

  “Okay, so let’s designate who has what part of the backyard,” Ethan said after he finished filling all the guns up. I noticed just then that he was shirtless. Even at seventeen he was filling out pretty well. He had a hint of a four-pack and a v-line leading to the waistband of his shorts was starting to form. I knew both him and my brother worked out regularly or if they didn’t, they had football practice that also counted. It wasn’t the first time I had seen him shirtless, but it seemed that every time I did, he just kept getting hotter and hotter.

  “Car, you get from here to here.” His voice snapped me out from looking at his chest. He gestured from the patio to one of the big trees a little bit away. While he split off his and Luke’s section, I scanned the selection of guns.

  “What about rules?” I asked once he was done.

  “Rules?” he questioned.

  “Yeah, like can we leave our section, can we only take five steps into someone else’s before we can’t go further, how many guns do we each get?” I rattled off. From their expressions it was clear they hadn’t thought about rules just yet.

  “How about we do that, with the five steps? When going into someone else’s territory, you can only take five steps where you can stay and shoot, or you can return back to your own territory.” I nodded, fine with that.

  “Since we have nine guns, we each get three.” Luke butted in.

  “Any other rules we should make?” I asked. We all glanced at one another before shaking our heads. “Okay, it is settled then. Everyone, grab your guns!” I instantly leaped for a big one that could hold quite a bit of water. Because there were only three big guns and the rest were little, we divided up the little ones while each of us only
got one big one.

  Once we all had our weapons, we went over to our own “territories,” glancing at one another. Because I had the patio I could set the guns I wasn’t using yet on the outside table. I took in my territory and hid a smirk when I saw I had the hose. Stupid boys, I thought smugly. They wouldn’t know what hit them. Not wanting to give away the hose, I moved my gaze to Ethan who was smiling widely. He looked like a little kid on Christmas. In fact, I bet we all did with our Cheshire grins.

  “Everyone ready!” Luke yelled. He looked at each of us, and I gave him a nod of approval. Hesitating for a moment Luke yelled “GO!” Instantly we all sprang into action heading to the middle of our territory, where we could shoot someone easily. My plan was to empty all my guns first before grabbing the hose. Preferably before the boys, so I could sneak the hose up on them.

  I barely made it to the top section of my spot before I was pelted with water from both sides. Water hit my face and stomach, making me gasp. I wiped my eyes once the water was gone, and glared in the direction it came from—Ethan.

  “You!” Raising my gun, I pressed the plastic trigger and fired a stream of water in his direction. I was aiming for his face but missed and got his shoulder. Luke ganged up on Ethan with me as we both moved closer to him. For a moment I was done with Ethan, so I turned to Luke. He was busy pumping his gun for water, so I easily sprayed his face. I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression when I hit him.

  “Hey!” he yelled back at me.

  “What? It was a fair shot.” I shrugged.

  The next few minutes were spent with all of us spraying water all over one other. We were running around our territories trying to find the right place to shoot. Our laughter filled the air as we emptied gun after gun.