"Adrian didn't exactly hit it off with my family." I wasn't expecting that.
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
"I will when I'm home. I just wanted to tell you I'll be back later." She ends the call.
Kellen hands me a bottle of water and sets my plate in front of me. I pout at the thought having to leave him tonight, but Olivia is coming home and I need to fulfill my duty as best friend. Our night will consist of verbally bashing whomever her anger is directed at this evening.
"You should consider a less dramatic roommate," he grins. You’re the most dramatic person I know. The sound of his front door opening followed by voices and laughter buys me extra time for a response to his lame attempt. Kellen mutters a curse, I know he wants to spend time with his family but an afternoon alone was what we were silently hoping for. As we both know I'll be spending the evening with Olivia. I sigh at that thought.
"Is it safe to come in?" Chloe calls out.
"No." Kellen replies in a flat tone.
"Ass," she mutters to Kellen, but her mood lightens as soon as she sees me.
"Hi Chloe," I give her a hug in greeting. Chloe has warmth about her that makes you feel welcomed and loved. No doubt she inherited that from her sweet mother.
"Audrey, you missed all of the good sales today." She nods in the direction where she tossed her bags when she entered the room. "You should've come."
"She was busy." Kellen adds. Chloe's face twists in disgust and I burn with embarrassment I should have grown accustomed to him at this point.
"Let’s do something tonight!" She chimes in, forgetting Kellen's vulgar insinuation.
"Do you mind if I invite my friend Olivia?"
"Girls night," she giggles.
I type a quick text to Olivia and press send. I hope this lifts her spirits I'm sure all she needs is a night out to clear her head.
"Are Olivia and Adrian broken up?" Kellen asks and I shrug to let him know I don't know any details.
"So I'm not invited?" He chimes in again.
"Are you a girl?" Chloe shoots back. You wouldn't know these two aren't brother and sister unless they told you.
"Ask Audrey." I reach over and slap the back of his head but that makes him laugh.
"I'm going to pick out something to wear," Chloe announces as she walks quickly from the room.
"Was it something I said?" He's still laughing.
"Do I need to go find something wear, too?"
"You and Chloe are really going out with Olivia tonight?"
"Yes. Why?"
"I hate it when you go out with her. You can imagine how I fell about both of you going out with her."
"It will be fine," I smile.
I wrap my arms around him and lean up to give him a peck on the lips. It's amazing and terrifying that the butterflies in my stomach are still present each time I come near him. Time has only brought me to love this man more and I can only hope the worst is fully behind us.
"I love you," I whisper to him.
"I love you too, baby." He kisses my hair.
∞
"Olivia is pulling up," I tell Chloe.
I hear Kellen groan from across the room. Chloe jogs down the stairs beaming with excitement. While we were getting ready she explained to me that she was rarely allowed out since her parents didn't trust any of her friends because they were always getting in trouble. I silently hope for a smooth, drama free evening when she tells me this.
"You can still back out of going tonight." Kellen slams into me from behind and wraps his arms around me while I look outside of living room window.
"I’ll see you later. You'll have fun with your family." I offer a smile.
"Yes. Lori has an entire night planned out for us." His uncle adds sarcastically from the couch, and I can't hold back my laughter.
Lori quickly dismissed Kellen’s idea to stay in this evening. She has an evening of dinner at her favorite Italian restaurant and a chick-flick in store for them. After what felt like hours of arguing, Lori won leaving our guys bitter for the rest of the night. Kellen has unsuccessfully attempted to convince me that I would rather stay with him tonight than go out with Chloe and Olivia. He doesn't feel comfortable with Chloe going out with Olivia and he's made me promise dozens of times to tell Olivia to be nice to her. Whatever Olivia’s problem with Kellen is needs to be put to rest if I plan on having him around forever. I grin as that thought enters my mind.
"Did you hear me?" He narrows his eyes at me knowing I've been ignoring him. I shake my head at him, "Tell her to be nice to Chloe." I roll my eyes at him.
He can be so over protective! Olivia isn’t exactly his biggest fan but that doesn't mean she has a grudge against his entire family. I type a quick text to her about Kellen’s order and I stuff my phone back into my small clutch.
"Let me tell my mom bye, Audrey. I'll meet you at the car," Chloe calls out.
Kellen walks me over to the door and holds it open for me. He locks me in a tight embrace and crashes his mouth to mine. One hand clutches my back and the other balls into a fist in my hair as his tongue massages mine. The intense kiss ends as quickly as it started but still enough time to make me forget that we have an audience.
"I'll see you later," he whispers low into my ear and lets me out of the tight embrace of his arms. I will my legs to stop shaking and walk me through the door before I embarrass myself again. Kellen slaps my ass and closes the door before I can have a proper reaction. I can hear his contagious laughter through his front door as I walk to Olivia’s car.
"We have to take my car. Chloe is going." She rolls her eyes. Oh great.
"Why do you hate him?" I try one more time to pull an unknown secret from her. She shrugs and walks in front of me to my car.
"I'm here! I'm here!" Chloe frantically yells running outside.
"Good looks run in the family." Olivia nods in her direction.
Even if you hate Kellen you must admit he's gorgeous, along with his other family members. Chloe walks toward us with a warm smile on her perfectly structured face. Her blonde hair is pulled back in a sleek ponytail and her black sweater-dress clings to her small frame. She's a knockout. There's no way Kellen saw her before she left.
I look over at Olivia in her maroon skinny jeans and tight sweater and feel under dressed. I chose a long sleeved, black t-shirt and ballet flats. What happened to an early dinner and movies? I frown at them.
"Hi. I'm Chloe." She offers her hand to Olivia. She politely shakes it and grins to her.
"Olivia," she replies.
"Your children will be gorgeous." I shoot her a threatening glare but she laughs it off. My cheeks instantly heat with embarrassment but Chloe doesn't act like she heard anything from us.
"The movie starts in two hours." Olivia reminds me again when I pull onto the street. I roll my eyes at her. I'm not always late.
"Let’s treat Chloe to Italian tonight," I chime in cheerfully.
Chapter eighteen
How's it going?
My phone buzzes from a text from Kellen. This is only the third one. I’m proud of him if I’m being honest. Chloe rolls her eyes when I show her the screen.
I'll alert you if there's any change.
As much as he loves spending time with his family, I know going to see a romance with his aunt and uncle isn’t the way he planned tonight.
“I’m pulling into the Underground before we go home. Chloe needs to see the nightlife if she’s moving here.”
“She does have a point,” Chloe beams.
“That’s not a good idea.” They both glare at me. “Your parents would be pissed at me.”
“Do you mean Kellen would be pissed at you?” Olivia asks.
“That too,” I say.
I look at both of them giving their best puppy dog eyes at me. I know this isn’t a good idea but I’ll go with it under one condition.
“You get to tell Kellen,” I look at Chloe, “and if anyone asks I did not agree with this.”
“That seems fair,” Chloe says. She types a text quickly and flashes the screen to let me see what she’s sending to him.
Olivia wants to go to a bar. Are mom and dad asleep?
He replies almost immediately.
Audrey wants to go? You're too young to go to a bar.
Kellen drop it I'll be home later.
I cringe when I read over their conversation. She didn’t set him straight. I made it known that I didn’t think this was a good idea.
We walk into the bar and immediately Olivia leans up against the bar to do a shot with some guy. She's pawing at his arm and laughing entirely too hard at something he said. I wish she would get everything straightened out with Adrian, I hate seeing her like this. I feel someone stand beside me and put their hand on my back. I turn to see a guy standing behind me with a smug smile.
“What can I get you to drink?” He leans in too close to ask. I step back and shake my head no at him.
“Come on, let me buy you one.”
"I believe she said no." I cringe at that voice. It’s a tone I’ve heard only a few times, I turn to see Kellen standing behind me staring at the guy in front of me.
"What are you doing here?"
"Kellen," Chloe’s voice comes out as a whine as she makes her way over to us.
"Let’s go now," he says. I don’t argue I have been ready to go home since we walked in the door. Chloe groans in protest but follows him.
"You don't have to listen to him," he touches my arm to convince me to stay, "You can stay here with me."
That's all it takes for Kellen. One punch sends the creepy guy to the floor. Before anyone notices I pull them outside into the parking lot. I’m grateful that the guy learned his lesson but Kellen can’t start fights with everyone.
"What in the hell was that about, Kellen?" I yell as soon as we get in the parking lot. Everyone around has stopped what they are doing to watch our scene unfold.
"I'm not letting some guy hit on my girlfriend in front of me." I stalk toward the Range Rover to avoid the onlookers.
"You could have told him I'm your girlfriend, Kellen! Sane people have conversations! This is why we don't go out because you get in a fight every time." I slam the passenger door and Chloe silently climbs into the back without saying one word.
"I've been in two fights around you. Don't be dramatic. And the first guy sexually assaulted you so yeah, I'm real sorry about that one." The sarcasm is thick in his voice with the fake apology. I
"I didn't even last a week." He breaks the silence.
"What?"
"I told you earlier to give me a week and I would fuck it up."
"You didn't fuck it up, Kellen. I'm just mad right now."
“Chloe, I’m not telling them this time, but you’re too young to go to that bar.” He glances to the back seat. I’m sure he never went to a bar when he was eighteen, I roll my eyes.
“I am eighteen,” she yells back.
“You have to be twenty-one to get in there.”
“I’m sure you never went to a bar before you were twenty-one,” she adds with sarcasm dripping from her mouth.
“Fine, let’s see whose side our parents would take.”
“Just drop it,” I say. I can’t possibly listen to them argue for another second. Neither of them will see the others point of view.
We reach his house and Chloe is the first one to jump out and walk into the house. She does this without acknowledging our presence. She is either pissed or embarrassed because of Kellen. He walks over and opens the door to help me out.
"When can we make up?" He whispers in my ear.
"Go to bed," I playfully shove him. I walk toward his room but I hear him following after me. I know he’s about to make me forget that I was ever mad at him.
∞
It’s past eleven when Chloe and I finally deiced to wake Kellen up. She walks down the hall with me following. She grabs a pillow and throws it as his face.
"Get up!" Chloe yells, "We have to leave in two hours."
"Why were you so pissed last night?" She finally asks.
"You're too young to go to bars," Kellen says.
"I have been with you."
"I was with you and the place you were at last night is twenty-one and up." She rolls her eyes at me when she realizes he hasn’t changed his opinion.
"How did you get in?"
"We just walked in," she shrugs.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Kellen says while his eyes find mine. Chloe gets up and walks out of the room.
I follow him into the bathroom; he closes the door behind me. I watch him as he strips off his shirt and tosses it to the side while walking over to start the shower. He turns back to face me, his eyes find mine as he slides his pants down and leaves them at his feet.
With a smile on my face I pull my clothes off and toss them on the floor. My core grows warm when I see his blue eyes taking in my body. He offers me his hand and pulls me in the shower. His hands cuff my face and pulled me in for a soft kiss. His lips moved with mine in sweet synchronization until I pushed him back.
"We have to take your family to the airport soon," I remind him.
"I'll be quick," he whispers in my ear. With those three words all worries dissolve and I’m pulling him back to my face.
His lips don’t connect with mine this time, he trails my jaw line with kisses moving with a purpose. His hands linger on each breast before they drop slowly down my abdomen. I watch as he lowers on to his knees to stand before me while the shower water drips from his body. He moves two fingers inside my tender pink skin with his mouth following.
"Oh! Kellen," the words tumble out of my mouth.
"Kellen, get out here!" Adrian yells from beyond the door.
"Give me a minute," he replies annoyed.
He wastes no time returning to my greedy body. When a second knock comes from the door I groan in frustration.
"Don't go anywhere." He says before stepping out of the shower. I watch him pull on his jeans and walk out of the door.
"What is so damn important?" He asks. I attempt to listen to their conversation without being obvious. I’m almost certain Kellen told Adrian about Olivia and this would explain his sudden visit.
After too many minutes of Kellen and Adrian talking I shut off the water and get dressed instead of waiting. The voices disappear and I open the bathroom door slowly and poke my head out to make sure I’m not interrupting anything. I notice Kellen sitting on the edge of the bed starring at his phone in his hands.
The troubled look on his face tells me something is wrong. I walk over and take a seat by him to ask him what happened with Adrian, when I notice what’s on his screen. His locked screen has an alert of text message from an unsaved number.
We need to talk. I love you, It says.
“Who is that from?” I ask.
“It’s a wrong number,” he says, and tucks his phone into his pocket.
“I don’t look that upset when I have a text from a wrong number,” I murmur. “Do you think I’m that gullible?” I ask when he doesn’t answer.
“Just drop it for now.”
“For now?” I ask. “Meaning you’re going to tell me later.”
“It’s nothing you need to be concerned about, I promise.” He reaches for my hand but I stand up instead.
“You have two choices.” He rolls his eyes but I continue. “You can tell me or I’m done.”
“What if you don’t like what I tell you?”
“Are you cheating on me?” My mind instantly jumps to conclusions.
“No!” He shakes his head. “It’s nothing like that.”
I reach over and grab his phone from him and open the text message. My stomach drops when I see the messages this number has sent him. There must be dozens but most of them are unanswered. They mostly say I miss you, I love you, I need a favor, or I need to talk. I blink back the tears as I go through them and see that Kellen has agreed to meet on many occasions w
hen I thought he was at the gym or at practice.
“I’ll explain after we take my family to the airport,” he says after he takes in my expression. “I know what it looks like but I can assure that you couldn’t be more wrong.”
I nod my head at him. I toss his phone back to him and walk into the living room to enjoy what’s left of his family’s visit. After my lame attempts to keep our conversation at the back of my mind, I can’t help but wonder if Kellen told me he would tell me later so he could think of an excuse.
Chapter nineteen
My eyes discretely linger over to Kellen again. I've lost count of how many times I've done this today. He runs his hand through his hair once more and studies the caution light without taking his eyes off of it. I can tell his mind is in a distant place, I don't know what he's thinking, and that alone is enough to drive me mad.
Whatever is bothering him has something to do with the message he got before we took his family to the airport. He has been quiet since then. I can't help but wonder what's going on. I shake negative thoughts from my head each time they appear.
Once inside Kellen informs me he will be right back and walks in the direction of his office. I listen as his footsteps hit the wood floor and he shuts the door once he walks in. I tip toe behind him and stand where I can make out faint noises in the room. I hear him shuffling papers around. I walk closer and press my ear against the door. I hear something that sounds like he is pressing buttons to a safe.
I decide to not press my luck and walk back into the living room. I stop in the foyer and grab my phone from my purse to check on Olivia. Great, my phone's dead. Kellen had his charger in his room this morning, I’ll grab his.
A noise coming from the kitchen draws my attention from my phone momentarily and my feet are taking me into the room before I can change my mind. The refrigerator door is open. That's weird. I walk around the island to close the door just as I get there a figure emerges from behind it. I scream and run out of the room.
Forever Careless Page 10