Silent Love

by Kenadee Bryant

  As I walked away from her dorm building, I couldn’t shake the smile on my face. When she asked me if we were friends, I didn’t know what to say honestly. Were we friends? Did I ever actually hate her? Carter sure knew how to get under someone’s skin and make them like her. There was something about her that you couldn’t hate. I didn’t know if it was her niceness, or her innocence that drew me in or what. When I did reply saying that we were friends, seeing her smile made my pulse quicken. Her smile was breathtaking to say the least. An unknown feeling erupted inside of me at her smile, making a small voice in my head promise that I would make her smile like that again.

  This night hadn’t turned out at all like I planned. For the past week I had been avoiding her. I really didn’t have a good excuse as to why I was, but I just did. When I taught her some fighting moves, I could feel the wall I had built around myself starting to crack. It scared me, to say the least. I forced myself to stay away from Carter all week, which honestly wasn’t that hard to do considering we didn’t have many classes together. She was actually the reason I decided to go to the party.

  ***

  Tonight I was going to go to this stupid-ass party to get her off my mind. All week Dylan had been bugging me about going to come sorority party here on campus. It wasn’t like I didn’t like a good party, because I did, but today I just didn’t want to go. But when I saw Carter and her friend walking together toward the football stadium, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. She drew me in like a moth to a flame.

  Angry at myself, I accepted Dylan’s offer to go to the party, hoping to drink and sleep Carter away. A good fuck would probably do me nicely anyways. Of course we had shown up late because Dylan took his own sweet-ass time getting ready. When he finally left the bathroom, he looked the exact same way he did before.

  As soon as we stepped foot in the house, Dylan took off to get us something to drink. I tried to stay off to the side, but sadly my tactic didn’t work; not even five minutes later I had some girl sliding up to talk to me. While I did come here to fuck Carter away from my thoughts, I couldn’t seem to focus on the girl in front of me. It was stupid considering how hot she was, and she was practically all over me. Her long dirty blonde hair fell down her back, a tight dress hugging her toned body. A body definitely worth seeing without clothes on.

  Dylan had left me alone with the girl and was currently grinding against some girl that had bright green hair. I was making casual conversation with the girl in front of me while sipping my beer. I quickly ran out of alcohol and I knew that in order for me to actually forget about a certain someone I needed more. Telling the girl I would be right back, I turned to head to the kitchen. It was then I smashed right into someone, that someone being a girl.

  I steadied both of us before I took in the girl. The dark brown hair covered her face making it hard to see who it was. I was about to move her out of my way when she moved her head up and I caught sight of who it was.

  “Carter?” I asked. She didn’t even seem to recognize me or anything for that matter. Her blue eyes were darting around the room, and they were glazed over with tears that I knew would fall any minute. “Carter!” Seeing her on the verge of crying, I wanted to know what happened. Did someone make her cry? A feeling of protectiveness encased me. I wanted to know exactly who did this to her.

  When she did finally answer, I knew what I had to do. I didn’t even think twice about pulling her against me and taking her outside to my car, away from there. Carter was seconds away from breaking down and I knew she did not want everyone to see that. I didn’t know what really possessed me to save her from the party and take her somewhere; it was like I was on autopilot. Everything about wanting to forget her went straight out the window.

  I listened as she sobbed in the passenger seat of my car. Her small body was curled into a ball, and it shook as she cried. I tightened my hand on the steering wheel, forcing myself not to reach out and rub my hand on her back to soothe her. I sucked at emotional stuff, especially comforting someone when they cried.

  I really wanted to know why she was crying, but I knew she wouldn’t tell me. Whenever she calmed down, she probably would just clam right up. I had a small feeling it had something to do with a guy, which made my blood boil even more. I didn’t have a claim on Carter, hell, I didn’t even like her, but thinking that some guy tried something on her did not sit well with me.

  Because I was on autopilot, my hands directed me in the direction of one place I knew Carter would love. Somehow, I just knew she would like it; it was my own special place to go to think and get away. I focused on the road while Carter continued crying. I was so lost in thought that I didn’t notice she had stopped crying and was now just hiccupping. My hands itched on the steering wheel to reach out and grab her hand.

  I had no idea why I even wanted to comfort her, nor why I wanted to find the person who did this and hit him. I had barely even known Carter for two weeks and she already had this effect on me. My thoughts scared me, but I pushed it all aside so I could help Carter. She needed someone right now and I was going to be that person.

  Although the night didn’t start off the way I had thought, I was glad for what happened. I knew it was terrible, but I was glad Carter ran into me at the party and let me take her to the field I always go to. I hated that she got hurt and ended up crying, but we had a good time afterward. I knew she didn’t want to explain everything to me, so I just ended up talking about astronomy, which did the trick.

  We had spent a good three hours talking about absolutely nothing, but it was fun. I learned little things about Carter. How she would tap her finger against her thigh when she was deep in thought, how her nose would scrunch up when she was confused or thinking a little too hard. She, of course, didn’t notice that I would stare at her. I was doing it so unconsciously that I didn’t even notice it at first.

  When I noticed that it was getting late, I reluctantly told her we better go, even though I didn’t want to move. It was nice lying there not worrying about anything. The silence of the field was nice and just made you feel peaceful. Not to mention I had a very pretty girl next to me who was wearing an outfit that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of. I tried hard not to stare, but I couldn’t help it; I was a guy after all.

  Now here I was walking back to my place, thinking the entire night over. The night that seemed almost perfect in a way. I was slowly becoming friends with Carter, even though a small voice in the back of my mind was telling me differently. For once I wasn’t listening to the devil on my shoulder telling me I couldn’t have anyone. Even if I couldn’t have Carter, maybe we could be friends. That alone was a scary thought, but it wasn’t enough to stop me. For some reason I did not want to push Carter away anymore; she was little a delicate flower that I had to protect and if I didn’t, she would break apart.

  Carter was starting to do something to me, and I had yet to figure out if it was good or not.

  Read on for a sneak peek at the next book in the Silent Love series! Coming Soon!

  ***Sneak Peek***

  Silent Love Series, PART 2

  Chapter One

  Carter

  “So, what is function of this equation?” Macey asked, pointing to one of the math problems on the piece of paper in front of me. I stared down at the math worksheet, almost willing it to grow a pair of legs and walk away. We had been in the library for over three hours now doing homework and studying, and my head was about to explode. My eyes were going crossed from staring down at my work this entire time.

  Right now, Macey was trying to help me with some difficult math questions, but I just couldn’t seem to get it. Math was definitely not my strong suit, and by now I just wanted to rip it into shreds. No matter what Macey did to try and explain it to me, I couldn’t get the right answer. In the last thirty minutes we had only done one problem. One!

  “I don’t know,” I mumbled from between my arms. I was laying down on my arms on the table.

  “Carter, come on.”<
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  As much as I loved Macey and knew she was just trying to help, I wanted to stuff a pillow in her face. She wouldn’t let me give up, which was a good thing but also aggravating. It wasn’t like Macey didn’t know what she was talking about, because she did, but the way she was explaining it just wasn’t clicking for me. In that moment I never needed my brother so bad.

  Whenever I needed help with math homework, either Luke or Ethan would help me. Something about the way they explained it just clicked and I got it. Especially with Luke—he just knew the right things to say and was usually the one to help. But sadly, both him and Ethan were busy right now heading to their next football game. With it being an away game, Macey and I were the only ones here. Even Amy could go with the cheer team.

  It was Friday afternoon, a full week after the party and a full week after seeing Gage. The week had flown by pretty quickly thanks to surprise quizzes, tons of homework and essays, and studying for future tests. It was like the professors all got together and thought it would be a great idea having multiple tests on the same day. Hence the three-hour study session.

  The only time I had seen Gage was during English class Monday and Thursday, but since both of us were so busy we hadn’t said more than ten words to one another. It sucked that we only had two classes together and I still didn’t even have his phone number; I was kicking my butt for that one. It was strange how I missed him even though it had only been a week. For some odd reason I just wanted to talk to him, even if it was just for a few minutes.

  I didn’t see much of my brother or Ethan either. Everyone was trying to stay afloat with assignments, and the boys had practice on top of everything. The one time I did see them was when all four of us went to dinner on Wednesday.

  At first, the dinner was awkward, since there seemed to be tension between Ethan and I, and surprisingly between Macey and Luke. But thankfully it passed, and we returned to our normal selves. Ethan had apologized for leaving me alone on the dance floor. As much as I wanted to hate him for it, I wasn’t mad at all. In fact, I was kind of glad. Glad that it happened because if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have had a good time with Gage instead. It was weird, but I couldn’t explain it. In some ways I was stupid for forgiving Ethan so easily, but it was just who I was. I forgave and forgot; it was better that way instead of holding a grudge against him forever.

  The day after the party, we stuck to staying at home. Macey didn’t even stumble in until five that morning, wearing the same clothes she had on the night before. I knew she had hooked up with someone, but every time I brought it up she just changed the topic or didn’t answer. She either regretted it or she hadn’t wrapped her head around it yet. I knew she would tell me eventually, so I didn’t push it. Because she was dead tired and hung over, she didn’t ask where I went, and for that I was glad. I doubted she even knew I left so early anyways.

  “Carter, what is the function?” Macey urged me.

  “I don’t know and don’t care. Can we be done?”

  “No, just one more.”

  “But it is a Friday, Mace! I don’t want to be here anymore.” That was a big deal for me to say. I usually could spend hours here at the library, but that of course was only when I wanted to read for pleasure, not to do homework. “I’ve got all weekend to do it.”

  Macey was quiet for a few minutes before mumbling “fine” under her breath. I took it as a victory. If I continued doing any more homework, my head would explode, and it didn’t help that I hadn’t eaten in a while.

  “So, since we are done studying, what do you want to do now?” she asked, leaning back in her own comfy chair. I was sitting on another. That was one nice thing about this library—the chairs were super comfortable.

  “How about we eat?” I offered, already drooling at the thought of pizza.

  “Carter, it is only three. If we eat now, we will be hungry in a few hours,” Macey said, reasoning.

  “You’ll be hungry,” I muttered in reply, meaning for it to be an insult, but instead it made me look stupid. Oh, you know, the usual.

  “We could go work out or something, then eat.” Tilting my head so I could see Macey, I gave her a look. We both knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  “We could—” she started to say, but my cell phone rang loudly, interrupting her. Since I forgot to turn down the volume, Every Avenue’s song “Someday, Somehow” came blaring through the speaker. People around us turned and glared at me. Not even bothered by it, I ignored them and answered the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey Care-bear!” said a familiar voice through the phone. I sat up straight and let a smile take over my face.

  “Dylan!”

  “Someone is excited to hear from me, I see.”

  “Of course. You are my knight in shining armor, Dylan,” I teased.

  “Well, this knight is wondering what you are doing at the moment.”

  “Just sitting in the library, why?”

  “How would you like to come hang out with me? Gage is currently in class, so I am super bored,” Dylan pleaded. I could practically see him pouting through the phone.

  “Want to go hang out with Dylan?” I asked Macey.

  “Which one is Dylan again?” she asked.

  “Gage’s friend,” I supplied.

  “Sure, why not.” Macey shrugged, grabbing her things.

  “Sure. Macey and I are free,” I said in reply to Dylan.

  “I’m going to pass the library in just a minute. Want to meet me down here?”

  “Sounds good. We will be down in a minute.” After I said a quick goodbye, Macey and I gathered our things before leaving our table and heading out. There wasn’t anything else to do anyway. Plus, Dylan was good company.

  It didn’t take us long to leave the library and find Dylan leaning against the side of the building waiting for us. Seeing him, I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing other people besides my inner circle of friends. It had been a little while since I saw Dylan last; it was almost like he was a stranger.

  “Is that who I think it is?” Dylan yelled, pushing away from the wall. “Is that the one, the only, Carter Miller?” He placed a hand to his chest and made his eyes go really wide. I couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

  “If we are greeting each other like this, I’m on board.” I grinned at him.

  “Of course, you would.” Macey elbowed me. I went to reply, only to be grabbed and lifted off the ground. Dylan had his arms wrapped around my waist tightly and was moving us around in circles. My laugh echoed as I held onto him, not wanting to be dropped.

  “Dylan, put me down!” He twirled me around for another second before finally setting me back on my feet. I giggled and slapped his shoulder. “Thanks for that.”

  “No problem.” He grinned back at me. “Your turn?” He looked over at Macey, who took a step back and shook her head.

  “So what did you want to do?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “Well, Gage gets out of class in half an hour, then he has a fight around seven or so. How about we go to my place until he comes back, then we can go eat?” Dylan offered. As much as I wanted to eat right now, I found myself nodding. Neither Macey nor I had any plans whatsoever.

  “Fine by me,” Macey said. We followed Dylan as he led us to where he lived. I figured he lived on campus and probably with Gage, although I wasn’t entirely sure.

  “So, Gage has a fight?” I asked as we walked.

  “Yeah, and the guy is pretty hard to beat. He has only ever lost two fights, and he has a few inches on Gage.” Not an ounce of worry was evident in Dylan’s tone.

  “Aren’t you worried for him? What if he gets really hurt?” I found myself asking. I mean, if this guy was bigger than Gage, I didn’t think it would end well, no matter how good he was.

  “Not worried at all. Gage knows what he is doing. Plus, this guy is an amateur anyways.” He waved me off.

  “Like that helps,” I muttered under my breath.

  We walked
for another five minutes before coming to another dorm building. It actually wasn’t as far from our building surprisingly. It was one of the newer dorm buildings that was remodeled over the summer, just like ours.

  “Welcome to my humble abode.” Dylan opened the door and gestured for us to enter. Not knowing what to expect, I took a deep breath, not wanting to smell the stink two boys could conjure up.

  When I walked inside, I didn’t expect the place to be so…clean. It kind of had the same layout as our place, but the kitchen and living room seemed larger. I had assumed the living room would be a mess of clothes, plates, and bottles, but instead it was spotless. There were a few pillows on the couch, and below the flat-screen TV I could see multiple gaming systems. From where I was standing I could even see the kitchen wasn’t dirty at all. There were a few plates in the sink, but that was it. It might even be cleaner than my place. Very uncommon when it comes to guys.

  “This is—” I started.

  “Really nice.” Macey finished for me.

  “And clean.”

  “What, you think all guys like making messes?” Mace and I shared a look but didn’t say anything. Dylan rolled his eyes at us but pushed it aside. “Do you want anything to drink? We have Coke, water, alcohol.”

  “Really? Alcohol? It’s three in the afternoon!”

  “So? It is happy hour somewhere, sweetheart.”

  “I’ll just have water,” Macey said.

  “Me too.”

  I gently set my book bag on the ground by the door and made my way to the couch. It looked beyond comfortable, and I just had to see for myself. The dark leather was my weakness, apparently.

  “Here,” Dylan said just as I sat down. He didn’t even give me a heads up before he threw a water bottle at me. Thankfully, I caught it just in time, throwing him a glare.

  “So, what are you majoring in, Macey?” Dylan asked as soon as both of them sat down beside me.