Playing With Fire (11 page)

“Good because, after that kiss, I might not be able to chase after you without scaring the neighbors.” We both broke out in laughter, and it felt amazing to be able to be with him like this. “So, what do you want to do today?”

“Truthfully, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to lay in your arms and take a nap.”

“That sounds perfect.”

Carter

Waking up with her in my arms felt like a dream. Then, my attention was drawn to what actually woke me up--an intense need to pee, and my stomach begging for food. I slipped out from under the angel that was sleeping with me and made my way to the bathroom. After giving my bladder some relief, I headed into the kitchen to find something to make us.

Us. I could get used to saying that. I looked around the kitchen and the lack of food in it, then I saw the clock. It was almost one in the afternoon. I decided to surprise Maddy and go get her some of that sushi she loved. I’d be back before she woke up anyway.

Madison

I felt a hand running through my hair and down my side. I smiled at the fact that I was getting to wake up next to Carter. I opened my eyes and a hand clamped down on my mouth before I could scream. Chris was standing over me giving me a smile that made my stomach turn.

I scanned the room for any trace of Carter, but I couldn’t find him. My stomach dropped and I was paralyzed by fear. Please let him be okay. My hands shot up to remove Chris’s hand, but he grabbed them and pinned them above my head.

“I told you I’d be back for you. He can’t protect you from me, no one can. You’re mine, and I’m never going to let you go.”

I couldn’t respond because of his hand, and I could only imagine what happened to Carter. I started to sob because it was the only thing I could do. Just then, I heard the sound of Carter’s car. He hadn’t been home? When did he leave? Why? Chris heard it, too, because his face dropped. I heard the front door shut and Carter singing to himself.

“Don’t think I’m done with you. I’ll be back, baby,” he whispered.

He kissed me on my forehead and then hopped out of the window.

Carter

Damn, sushi is fucking expensive but it would be worth it just to see her smile. I heard the window open in the bedroom. Maddy must be up. Although, I don’t know what the hell she is doing opening a window in December.

I walked into the bedroom and when my eyes found her, it looked like she had seen a ghost. Shit, she must have had a nightmare. I should have just stayed with her. I closed the window because it was freezing in the room. I walked over to the bed, sat down and wrapped her in my arms. “Shhh, baby, it was only a dream. I’m here.” She cried in my arms for at east another ten minutes.

“He was here,” she whispered.

What? My whole body stiffened. “What do you mean? What happened? I thought you just had a bad dream.” My eyes found the window that had been open when I got in the room.

“Chris was here when I woke up. I thought it was you at first. He was rubbing my head and I just assumed it was you. He put his hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t yell and told me he had come back for me. Then, he heard your car and went out the window.”

I jumped up from the bed. He had taken this shit too far. I was going to find him and make sure he never even thought about her again, much less came near her. I felt her grab my arm and turned around to meet her eyes. She looked so scared that it only fueled my anger more. I shook her off and headed for the door.

“Carter, wait, please!”

I turned around, but I didn’t answer her. I didn’t trust my voice right now. I was too angry and I needed to go find him.

“Carter, please don’t leave; please just stay with me. I know you’re mad and I’m sorry.”

Wait, what? She thought I was mad at her? I needed to calm myself down. “What are you talking about, baby?”

“You’re mad because Chris was here. It's my fault he even came. I never meant to bring all of this drama to you, and I know I’m putting you in danger by just being here”

Is she crazy? She really has no idea how much I love her. She is so used to the dysfunctional relationship she had with Chris. It makes sense that she thinks I’m mad at her; he always blamed her for everything.

I’ve got to fix this. I pulled her into me and held her until we both calmed down. I led her to the couch and sat her next to me. Before she even got all the way down, she was climbing into my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck and buried her face in my chest. I couldn’t leave her like this. She needed me here, but that didn’t mean that this was over.

Madison

If I held him long enough, maybe he would forgive me. I hate that I brought Chris and all of my problems into Carter’s life. He deserved better than me, but I wasn’t sure I could live without him. He turned his head toward me and gave me a kiss on the lips.

“I’m not mad at you, baby.” What? How is he not mad at me? This whole situation is my fault. “I’m mad because that asshole came in my house and had the nerve to put his hands on you. It kills me that I wasn’t here. I’m mad at myself for that
.
I never should have left you here.”

Until right now, I completely forgot that he had ever left. “Where did you go?”

“I woke up because I was hungry and when I went to the kitchen, I barely had any food. So I took a ride to Raw Bar to surprise you. I’m so sorry, baby. I should have just stayed here with you.”

He went to get me sushi? He is so thoughtful and now he feels guilty about it. Just then, my stomach sounded and let Carter know he made the right decision. “That was so nice of you to do that. I’m not mad at you, and neither is my stomach.” He chuckled. God I loved hearing that sound.

“I’d do anything for you. Come on, let’s eat.”

Carter

After lunch, we laid on the couch and watched TV, talked and laughed. It was a perfect afternoon, but we were ignoring the elephant in the room. I had to get it out; we needed to talk about this. She needed to know I wasn’t just going to let this go. I sat up and she followed. She looked at me with confusion written all over her face. “We need to talk about everything.”

“Okay.” I could tell that her mind was preparing for the worst.

“I don’t want you going anywhere on your own. If I can’t be with you, Shawn or Jason will. I already talked to them about it. You need to let me know if he tries to contact you. The only class you have with him next semester, I’m in, too. I will take care of him soon enough.”

I had texted Jason about what happened earlier and he decided to pay Chris a visit. When he got there, he found out that Chris went back home till the start of next semester. I didn’t care, though. I didn’t trust that he wouldn’t make a special trip down here just to get to her.

“What are you going to do?” She had fear etched all over her face, and I hated it.

“I don’t know yet but I’m not going to let him get away with it.“

She looked at me and I could see the tears that wanted to escape, but she was trying to hold them back. “I’m scared, Carter. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me. Chris has serious anger problems; you don’t even know everything.”

“Then tell me.” I wanted to know but, at the same time, I didn’t want to hear all of the things he used to do to her. It made me sick to my stomach just thinking about it.

“Most of the time, he would just hit or kick me, really. He did it in places you normally didn’t see like my legs, stomach or back. Towards the end, though, he used to make me give him hand jobs and blow jobs.”

I can’t believe this; I want to throw up. How could he do this to her? Why didn’t she tell anyone?

“He would remind me on a daily basis that if I ever told anyone, he would make sure I would regret it. Before I came here the other night, he threatened to kill you and me. He knew that first day I met you that there was something between us, and it got worse after that. I just needed you to know this. I hate that I’m putting you in danger by just being with you.”

“Listen to me, I will keep you safe. I’m not going to let him hurt you, and the guys are completely on board with this
,
too. For once in your life, Maddy, you have people that care about you. Just let us.”

“I really don’t know what I would do without you, Carter.”

“So, is it safe to assume your spending your winter break with me?” The smile on her face was breathtaking, and I loved that I could put it there.

“I’m not sure yet. What did you plan on doing?” She gave me a little smile to show that she knew exactly what she was asking. Why tell her when I can show her?

I grabbed her and kissed her, then gently eased her down so she was lying on the couch. I settled myself on top of her and enjoyed having her finally be mine. I ran my hands up and down her sides, then I started kissing her neck, collarbone, and gently bit her earlobe. The sounds that she was making should be illegal.

She ran her fingernails down my back and I let out a low groan. She was incredible. All she had been through and she still had the capacity to love. She ground her hips against mine and I reached my limit. I jumped up and started walking toward the bedroom. I knew she wasn’t ready for this.

“Where are you going?” She was clearly confused about my abrupt departure.

“To take an ice cold shower or two.” Her giggle was the last thing I heard before I closed the door.

Madison

Being here with Carter today had been the best day of my life. I never thought I could be so happy in a relationship. While he was showering, I worked on cleaning up. I hated that he jumped off of me earlier.

I know that he was just being considerate after what Chris had done, but he wasn’t Chris. I wasn’t ready to have sex with Carter, but I loved being able to be intimate with him and being comfortable with it.

Someone knocked at the door and my heart stopped. Should I answer it? It wasn’t even my house, and Carter was still in the shower.

I stood there staring at the door when I heard someone yell. “This shit isn’t getting any lighter, you know!” I immediately recognized Shawn’s voice and hurried to let him in. He and Jason were standing there with cardboard boxes in their hands. “Two Musketeers movers at your service, Yoko Ono.”

“Why did you call me that?”

He smiled. “Because you are breaking up our group just like she did to the Beatles.” I laughed at his reference of me stealing Carter from them, but what are they talking about with the mover’s thing?

Jason shoved him and then looked over to me. “Don’t mind him. I think he may be in love with Carter more than you are.” We all laughed at that.

Just then, Carter walked out of the bedroom in only his sweatpants. Oh my, the sight of him was enough to make me melt. His hair was still wet from the shower and messed up to perfection. His chest and his abs were so defined that they didn’t even look real. He looked like one of the models you see in the magazines that couldn’t possibly look like that in real life. His pants hung just under that delicious V that led to the place that I so desperately wanted to explore.

“Yo, Carter. You gonna stand there like a Calvin Klein model, or you gonna come help us?” Jason yelled from the door

Carter looked at me and smirked. He had caught me ogling him. “Yeah, let me throw shoes on!” he yelled back. He slipped his sneakers on and followed them outside. I walked out of the door and saw Jason’s truck bursting with boxes and other furniture.

Wait a minute. That was all of my stuff. What's going on? They all came in with boxes and I went up to Carter. Before I could even ask him what was happening, he looked at me and said, “I knew you didn’t have any of your stuff with you and I didn’t want you going anywhere near Chris's house. So, I called Shawn and Jason and begged them to get your stuff and bring it over. If they missed anything, we can figure it out later. I hope you’re not pissed at me, I just couldn’t stand ---“

I grabbed his face between my hands. “You are the most thoughtful, incredible, amazing, and wonderful man that I could have ever asked for, Carter James.” He leaned down and kissed me. It wasn’t intense like earlier, just gentle and loving.

“I need to go help the guys. Would you mind putting away the groceries? I also promised them dinner and beer. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No! Of course I don’t mind! I’ll cook so you can relax, too. Isn’t there a game on tonight? Tell the guys they are welcome to stay as long as they want.”

He leaned down and gave me one last kiss. “You're perfect.” He swatted my butt and I giggled as I watched him walk away.

Carter

After the guys left, Maddy and I went to bed. This day had been great. She fit into my life so well, and I hoped that she would never leave it. We both had a really long day and, truthfully, I couldn’t wait to hold her in my arms again.

All day I avoided asking her if she was staying permanently. To be honest, I was scared of the answer. It was amazing being able to be with her and I wanted it to be like that every day. I sat down on the bed and looked at her. “So, I know we still have a few more weeks, but what's going to happen next semester? Are you going to go back to the dorms? Or did you want to move in permanently?”

I was trying to hide the desperation in my voice. If she wanted to live at the dorms, I needed to accept that and not let her know how disappointed I was.

“I think that’s up to you, babe. I love just being able to be here with you. I just don’t want to crowd you.” Crowd me?

She could be permanently attached to me and it still wouldn’t be enough. I needed to remember how things were with her and Chris. She needed reassurance that she was wanted, appreciated, and loved. “Baby, if it’s up to me, not only are you going to live in this house, but you are never leaving this bed.” I grabbed her and yanked her down on top on me. She laughed, leaned down and started to kiss me. She rolled on her side and ran her fingers through my hair.

“If I’m going to be here through the holidays, do you think we could decorate? If you don’t want to, its okay.”

She wanted to decorate my house? My mom always decorated for the holidays but since she was gone, we never really knew how to do it right. I leaned up and gave her one more kiss. “We will go get a tree and all the trimmings tomorrow. Whatever you want, baby”