I stayed silent, not wanting to ruin the peace. For once it seemed we were fine being around one another, without arguing. Neither of us spoke, almost like we didn’t want to ruin our moment of silence. I thought about the last hour with Gage. Sure, he was “fighting” me, but he was surprisingly nice. He was patient in showing me some moves that I could get the hang of, and had helped me back up.
It was like a switch had been flipped on when we entered the fighting ring. Gage was nice and sarcastic, making comments every few minutes. It was just so surprising I still didn’t know what to make of it. As I lay there lost in thought, my stomach made that moment to make growling noises.
“I’m hungry,” I said a second later.
“I couldn’t tell,” Gage shot back. I couldn’t help but grin.
“So are we going to go eat now?”
“We?” He turned to look at me.
“Yes, ‘we’ as in you and me. And probably Dylan.” At that, Dylan yelled “yes” from across the room, making me grin.
“Why would we even go to eat with you?” He sat up, turning to look at me.
“Because I spent the last hour letting you pin me to the ground,” I shot back at him.
“You did not ‘let me’ pin you to the ground.” Gage scoffed. An idea popped into my mind and before I could give it a second thought, I sat up and launched myself at Gage.
My body collided with his, knocking him back on the mat. My legs went to his sides, trapping him while my lower body hovered over his abdomen. Next, I placed my hands next to his head, hovering above him and trapping him below me. I smirked down at him as he stared up at me, almost in shock.
“Now who tackled whom?” I said, my voice low as I leaned toward him. Seeing his face this close, I could make out the few freckles that graced his nose. The bruises on his face were practically gone, aside from a small hue of yellow in certain spots. This close up, he looked beautiful. That was weird to say about a guy, but for some reason, that was the word that popped into my mind. I noticed that his brown eyes were not all brown. In fact, they were a dark brown around the outside ring until you got to the pupil, where golden flecks stood out. Only just now did I realize how pretty his eyes were. My fingers itched for a pencil so I could draw him.
I was so lost in his eyes that I didn’t notice Gage hooking his arms around my waist until it was too late. A split second later, my back hit the mat with Gage above me smirking. Now he was the one hovering above me with his arms on either side of my face, his strong legs keeping me in place.
“Now who tackled whom?” Gage shot my words back at me. I lay there gaping at him in surprise. He smoothly switched our positions, and I was still in a daze, staring at his face. My blue eyes widened as he leaned his head down toward me. Even if I could move I was frozen in place, not knowing what to do. He was inches away from my face when he turned his head to the right toward my ear. His lips barely grazed my ear, and his warm breath made a shiver run down my spine. I could smell mint and something else coming. I found myself breathing in deeply, trying to figure out what he smelled like.
“Don’t play with fire. You will get burned,” Gage whispered huskily in my ear. Before he pulled away, I felt his teeth graze my earlobe before it was gone. I shuddered, trying to get myself to breathe again as he sat up and rolled off of me.
“Hey, you two, let’s go! I’m starving!” Dylan yelled suddenly. I couldn’t make myself move, even when Gage stood up. My body felt like it was on fire, all tingly. I knew my face was bright red. I didn’t even think for a second that he would do something like that, nor thought that I would react the way I was.
Inappropriate thoughts ran through my mind even when I tried to stop them. I could practically feel Gage’s body against mine, even though he wasn’t on me. I gulped, trying to get my thoughts together.
“You okay there?” Gage asked, smirking widely as he gazed down at me. Seeing his smirking face helped a little. I sat up, narrowing my eyes at him.
“I’m fine,” I bit out, standing up. Ignoring everything that was going on in my head and with my body, I pushed past Gage to leave the fighting ring. I did not want to be there anymore. I shook my head at myself as I walked toward my bag, my shoes in hand. What was wrong with me?
I let myself almost drown in Gage’s eyes and let him hover over me. The worst part was that I enjoyed it; I enjoyed feeling Gage’s hard body pressed against mine, and I enjoyed the way his voice got low when he whispered in my ear. My body had turned into a gooey mess and I couldn’t stop it. Even now, when I wasn’t near him, I felt all hot and bothered.
“So, where do you want to go eat? I’m starving,” Dylan asked, coming up next to me.
“I-I don’t care,” I pathetically stuttered out. Carter, stop. It is all okay. You were just in the heat of the moment. Just forget about it. Seeing that Dylan was talking, I forced myself to pay attention and push everything into a box at the back of my mind. I did not need to be stressing over something so stupid. Gage was just playing me like I played him, that’s all. Nothing to worry myself about.
“Let’s just go to the diner since it is so close and they have great hamburgers,” Dylan said, although I’d barely paid attention.
“Sounds good.” My stomach growled loudly. It sounded like I hadn’t eaten in forever, which was partly true. As I leaned down to slide my shoes on, Gage brushed past me to grab his things. I ignored him, not really knowing what to say after what just happened. Just forget about it, the voice inside of my head hissed at me.
“Ready to go?” Dylan asked a few minutes later. I nodded, swinging my bag onto my shoulder. Gage was standing off to the side, ready as well. We were silent as we made our way out of the gym to the parking lot.
“Want me to meet you two there? Or should we just take the same car?” Dylan offered as we stood beside Gage’s Jeep.
“My car’s fine,” was all Gage said before he unlocked his car and moved to the driver’s seat. Just as I took a step toward the passenger side, Dylan shoved me to the side. I glared over at him while he just smirked, opening the door and sliding inside. Shaking my head at Dylan, I got in the back of the Jeep.
“Girls are supposed to be in the front,” I muttered as I buckled my seatbelt.
“Why does it matter? You’re not even a girl,” Gage said as he backed out.
“You are on my list,” I bit out. Here I thought Gage was going to still be nice to me, but boy was I wrong. He was back to his rude self. In a way I was glad, because him being nice and somewhat caring was too weird for me. This was familiar ground.
I stared out the window, watching buildings blur past us as we headed to the diner. Dylan and Gage talked about an upcoming fight, but I didn’t pay too much attention. The only thing on my mind at that moment was Ethan, which was weird. He and my brother told me to stay away from Gage and Dylan, but here I was sitting in the car with said people. I’d spent the last few hours with Gage teaching me fighting moves. A small part of me was excited doing something my brother told me not to do, same thing with Ethan. They wanted me to be this good girl who did everything they said, but I didn’t want to be that person. I wanted to do something for myself for once, and damn it, I was. I felt almost free being here with them.
“So, Carter, how do you know Ethan Galloway?” Dylan suddenly asked, jerking me out of my thoughts. He turned in his seat to face me, waiting for my answer. I could see Gage looking over at me for a split second before he looked back at the road.
“Is this a trick question?”
“No, just wondering. Is he your boyfriend?” I wanted to laugh out loud at that. Even though I wanted him to be, he never would.
“He’s my brother’s best friend and practically lived with us his entire life.” I shrugged.
“So he’s not your boyfriend?” he asked again. I rolled my eyes at that and pushed aside the ache in my chest.
“No, he isn’t.”
“It looked like he was to me the other night,” Gage butted in
.
“I wish,” I muttered low, so no one could hear.
“What?” Dylan raised an eyebrow at me.
“He’s just protective of me, as is my brother.” I looked at Dylan. “On that note, thanks a lot, Dylan, for what you did. After you left, I got questioned about knowing the both of you.”
“What? I didn’t do anything.” He shot me an innocent look, but I could see him hiding a smile.
“I call you ‘Daddy?’ Really? In front of my brother?” I sent him a look.
“I was just joking, but if you did want to call me that…” He trailed off, sending me a suggestive look. I rolled my eyes at him and smacked the back of his head.
“That will never happen.”
“Ow! But know my offer will always stand.” He winked before turning back around in his seat. I didn’t get a chance to say something in return because we pulled into the diner. I trailed after the two boys as we headed inside.
The place was packed, just like it was the other day. We passed by a table where two little kids were fighting over what crayon to color their menus with. I grinned at them before I heard Dylan hissing at me to follow. I hurried after him and slid in beside Gage, picking up a menu. I was beyond hungry, and smelling the food all around us made my stomach growl even louder.
“Keep that thing under control,” Gage said, giving me a glance.
“What? It’s not my fault. It has a mind of its own.” I shrugged. I couldn’t help it; my stomach was like its own person.
“What can I get you to drink today?” the waitress suddenly asked as she came to our table. I noticed she only had her eyes on both Gage and Dylan; to her I did not exist. While Gage seemed oblivious, Dylan was the opposite. He leaned toward the waitress and sent her a wide smile. The only good thing I could say about this was it was good the waitress was our age, instead of some old lady or a young girl.
They both told her their drink orders, and I quickly had to say mine before she ran off. I hated when they did this. It happened a lot whenever I went to out to eat with Luke and Ethan. Girls flocked to them like no one’s business, and if I was with them I usually got ignored. Of course it was bound to happen tonight as well.
It didn’t take the girl long before she was back to our table with our drinks. I rolled my eyes at her as I noticed she unbuttoned a few buttons of her shirt and pulled her boobs up slightly. I got a clear view, since I was in the middle of the booth. Girls did not need to see other girls’ assets.
“And you?” she finally asked me as she impatiently tapped her pencil on her notepad. I couldn’t help but send her a sweet smile.
“I’ll have the chicken tenders with extra fries as well as a vanilla milkshake.” I handed her my menu. She wrinkled her nose at me, turning to walk off, of course not before she glanced back at the two guys sitting next to me.
“You aren’t going to be able to eat all of that,” Gage commented.
“Why does everyone say that?” I asked, throwing my hands in the air. “A girl can eat as much as she wants to,” I huffed. Everyone always told me that or made a surprised face when I ordered so much food. It was not my fault I could eat a lot.
“I bet you she can,” Dylan butted in, leaning his forearms on the table. He was grinning at Gage. Gage looked me up and down, as if to judge if I could eat everything I just ordered. “Fifteen bucks says she can.”
“Okay, fine. If she loses, you owe me fifteen bucks. And you will lose.” Dylan rubbed his hands together as they made the bet. I shook my head. Gage was so going to lose. I could eat what I ordered no problem, especially with how hungry I was. I could eat a horse, I was that hungry.
“You guys do realize that I am sitting right here, right?” I asked.
“How could we forget, when you talk so much?” Gage said as he turned to look at me.
“Oh, good one. I need ice for that burn,” I sarcastically said back. I could see a faint smile on Gage’s face as he turned away. Inwardly, I cheered. He finally made some kind of smile instead of a frown or a smirk.
“How are you liking your classes so far?” Dylan asked before silence could wrap around us.
“So far so good. I’m really liking my art class, even though it is only the second week.” I smiled at him as I talked. I really was liking my art class, and photography too.
“What are you majoring in?”
“Well, I want to major in both art and photography, but I think I’ll probably just stick with photography, since there are a few more jobs out there.” I shrugged. There weren’t very many jobs for art students or even for photographers, but I couldn’t really see myself doing anything different.
“How about you? I haven’t even asked,” I said to Dylan.
“I want to do something with computers,” Dylan said proudly.
“Woah, that’s great!” I never really pictured him as someone to do such a cool, smart thing. I totally stereotyped him, but I thought it was great that he wanted to do something with computers.
“How about you, Gage?” I turned to him now.
“I don’t know,” was his reply.
“You don’t know? Aren’t you in your second year?” I asked. I mean, it wasn’t uncommon for people to not know what they were going to go into until a few years into school, but it was slightly odd that he didn’t know.
“So?” he questioned, looking at me while he played with the rim of his water glass.
“Oh well…you have plenty of time to figure it out.” Even as I said that, I had a sneaking feeling that he did know what he was going into, he just didn’t want to tell me. I didn’t want to push the topic, so I let it slide.
A few minutes later our waitress came back over to our table with our food. I noticed both boys had gotten hamburgers, but the moment I saw my chicken tenders I could only focus on them. I dove into my vanilla shake first, as well as my fries, dipping them in the creamy drink. I wanted to moan as I finally tasted the amazing fries, but I held back. That would be beyond embarrassing. It was okay with Macey because we knew everything about one another, but I couldn’t do that around these two hot guys.
All of us were silent as we ate, enjoying finally eating. People around the diner chatted about things going on in their lives, little kids could be heard laughing about something, and the clinks of plates echoed around. Peace seemed to surround the diner, which I loved. In that moment I didn’t feel like I was a bad sister for hanging out with Gage and Dylan. I didn’t think about all the homework I had due this week either. I didn’t even think about how Macey or how my brother would react to me being out so late without telling them. In that moment I was just a girl eating at a diner with two guy friends.
***
“Here’s your fifteen bucks.”
“Yes! Thank you.” I leaned back in the booth grinning as Gage handed Dylan a ten and a five; he had lost the bet. I was able to eat everything I ordered, plus a few more fries off of Dylan’s plate. I watched as Dylan kissed the green paper, looking it like it was his girlfriend or something.
“Thanks a lot,” Gage grumbled to me.
“Hey.” I lifted my hands in surrender. “I didn’t force you to make a bet about me.”
“But you knew I was going to lose.”
“Payback for knocking me on my ass back at the gym,” I said smugly.
“Here is your check. Let me know if you need anything else,” our waitress said, coming up to our table. She said the last part in a purr, but it didn’t sound sexy at all. Frankly, I wanted to puke. I reached in my bag and grabbed my wallet.
“So how much is it?” I asked, already moving to take money out to pay. I glanced over at the bill and saw the girl had put her number in the corner with a heart. I barely had time to see the amount before it was pulled away.
“I got it,” Gage said gruffly.
“What? No! I’ll pay or at least pay for my half,” I protested. I couldn’t let him pay for my dinner; I’d feel like I owed him afterwards.
“I said I got it.�
� I wanted to lunge for the check but as I made a move to, he shot his hand in the air for the waitress to come get it. When she took it, I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Why did you do that? I could have paid.”
“I’m paying for Dylan’s anyways, so it doesn’t matter.”
“I forgot my wallet,” Dylan said, shrugging, but the corner of his mouth was lifted up. I was going to ask why Dylan made the bet if he didn’t have his wallet when Gage spoke again.
“Sure you did.” He rolled his eyes at his best friend.
“At least let me get the tip,” I offered. Gage nodded as he got his change back. I put down seven dollars for a tip as we slid out of the booth. She wasn’t that good of a waitress to receive a big tip. I bit back a grin as we exited the diner and headed for the car. I liked how nice Gage was being. Sure, he wasn’t being the nicest, but I could tell he was trying. Paying for my meal was sweet of him. Before he hopped in the driver’s seat, I grabbed his arm stopping him.
“Thank you for dinner,” I said sending him a small smile. I could tell he wasn’t used to being thanked because he just nodded, looking uncomfortable. I dropped my hand from his arm, sliding into the back seat.
During the ride back to campus, Dylan told me a story about how he once pulled the fire alarm in high school, setting off the sprinklers. I was laughing so hard at the story I had tears running down my face. When he mimicked the screams of girls whose hair got wet from the sprinklers, I lost it. Dylan definitely knew how to tell a story. I even found Gage smiling throughout. He might have even been laughing under his breath a few times.
When we did finally pull into the campus parking lot, I felt sad to leave. I was having fun, but I knew I better get home before Macey called my brother to go apeshit on me. I hadn’t realized how much fun it was hanging out with Dylan and Gage, well, mostly Dylan. Grabbing my things from the back seat, I got out along with them.
“Well thank you for this afternoon,” I said as I stood in front of the car. “I had fun, surprisingly.” I smiled at the both of them.
“I am, for one, glad Gage brought you along today.” Dylan grinned, stepping toward me and pulling me into a tight hug. Even though the hug was tight and I couldn’t breathe, I hugged him right back. I had a feeling Dylan and I were going to be great friends.
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