Steeling Her: A Romance Novel

Nick

I’m such an idiot.

It’s the day before the gala and it has only just now hit me. I’m a total fucking idiot.

I keep messing it up with her. She hasn’t said a word to me since Saturday. I’ve seen her when I went over to see Haley. Secretly, I go over to see her but all I’m getting is the silent treatment. She doesn’t even look at me. Yes, it bothers me. Yes, I’m annoyed at myself. I was so stupid. Why didn’t I delete those pictures? I don’t even look at them anymore. I’m sitting at my desk, trying to study, but it’s not going well at all.

Buzz. Buzz.

I jump across my room, praying it’s her. I frown when I see Haley’s name on the screen. But the message has her name in it.

Haley: Will you drop Carter off to collect her car? Pleeeease

I chuckle at my sister trying to beg me. But I will one hundred percent do it for her in a heartbeat.

Me: sure be there in 5

I grab my hat and leave out the door. TJ is in the gym at the moment so hopefully it’ll be just me and her. I start up my truck as soon as I’m inside and back out of the parking space. Within a few of minutes, I’m outside their dorm building. I climb out to go and get her. I wait for the elevator and press the floor they’re on. I notice the stares I’m getting from the girls in the lobby of the building. I do my best to ignore them and continue towards their room. Walking up to the brown door, I knock and see Danielle answer the door with a beaming smile, then I hear yelling.

“Come on Carter! Do you want your car or not?” Haley taps her foot as Carter runs around the room collecting some papers and her drivers license.

“Haley, I asked you not to. I’m perfectly happy with taking the bus—”

“Which will take over an hour!” My sister raises her hands at Carter, who is still collecting things to put in her bag.

“An hour that I would happily do! Haley, I appreciate the gesture but I’m fine. I don’t need a chauffeur . . .” she trails off as she turns to me. “Sorry for bringing you out here, but I can take the bus.” She walks by me and leaves down the stairs. It’s the first time she’s made eye contact with me since Saturday. I see Haley going to follow her out and I stop her.

“Let me handle this.” I push her and Danielle back inside the room as I race down after the blue-eyed beauty I’ve been dying to talk to all week. “Carter!” I yell down to her. “Carter! Wait up!” I run faster down the stairs as I near her and grab on to her arm spinning her around.

“I can take the bus. It’s fine.” She slips out of my grip and continues her way out the door, only for me to block her and get her to look up at me.

“Will you just wait? I can take you. It’s no problem—” She doesn’t let me finish because she makes her way around me and leaves again. What is her problem? “Carter! Wait! Wait! What’s up? Is there something wrong?” I place my hands on both of her shoulders to stop her from walking away from me again.

“Nope, I’m fine. I’m going to miss the bus if I don’t leave now. So, if you don’t mind . . .” She’s not even looking at me. She’s looking behind and everywhere else but me. Once again, she goes to leave me but I intertwine my fingers with hers, pulling her back to me. Her small body crashes into mine and I hold on to her. She feels so good. The way she smells is like a drug to me.

“Carter, I’m taking you to get your car. End of story. I’m not arguing with you about this. I don’t want to, but I will if I have to,” I state matter of factly. Why won’t she let me take her?

“No . . . I’m taking the bus, Nick. I think your girlfriend is looking for you . . . or is that your girlfriend?” She’s sassy today. This is a side of her I haven’t seen before. What is wrong with her? But I do turn around to see Maya standing with her friends and glaring at the both of us. I mentally curse at myself and run after Carter. Damn, is she stubborn, but I deserved that dig she threw.

“Carter, I don’t take no for an answer . . . Just get in. If you’re annoyed at me, I get it. I’ll drive you there and leave you alone,” I assure her. She silently debates inside her head about what to do. She actually wants me to leave her alone? I feel a small twinge in my stomach at the thought of that. Shit, I really did fuck up. I can see that she is annoyed at me.

Fuck!

Fuck!

Fuck!

She then continues to walk away from me yet again, and I sigh and walk alongside her. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re stubborn as hell?” I mumble to her.

“All the time.” She picks up her pace like she’s trying to run away from me. I lock my car behind me and keep up with her. “Where are you going?” she asks me, almost jogging to the bus stop.

“What does it look like? I’m coming with you!” I say in the most obvious tone.

“No, you’re not. I don’t need a babysitter, Nick. I’m capable of getting on a bus myself.” I hear the anger in her voice, and I want nothing more than to hug her. So I do. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight when we reach the bus stop. We’re waiting for the bus to come and I hold on to her.

“Um . . .What are you doing?” she mumbles into my shirt. I look down to see her already staring up at me.

“I’m hugging you. You look like you need one.” I smile down at her which makes her laugh. She shakes her head and tries to step away from me but I don’t let her; I tighten my grip around her and the bus comes. I begrudgingly let go of her and pay for both our fares on the bus. We get seats together and I lean my head against the window, studying her. She’s watching other people while I’m watching her. I can see she’s stressed about something but what is it specifically? She’s annoyed, I’m just not sure if it’s about me and those photos that I have since then deleted; every last one of them. I cringed going through them as I deleted them. What was I thinking?

While thinking to myself, I smile, but it looks like I’m smiling at her. I take out my phone and open my photos to find a picture of me and my sister Ellie. I hand my phone over to her and say, “That’s Ellie. She’s five.” I point on the screen and see her face light up. It makes me smile at her.

“She’s adorable. She looks like you and Haley.” I nod back at her in agreement. She does. We all look like our mom, blonde hair and green eyes. Mine have always been the brightest. My mom is convinced that’s the reason why I get girls. I roll my eyes at my thoughts. “You all have the same eyes,” she says like she’s read my mind.

“Yeah, we get it from our mom. I have the lightest ones though.” I point to myself, making her look up at me. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of her catching my stare.

Watching her nod and smile, she says, “You do.” I smile back at her. We’re staring at each other until she breaks eye contact clearing her throat. I clench my jaw hard, realising she felt awkward.

“You got any brothers or sisters?” I see her tense hard at my question. It must be a touchy subject. But to my surprise she answers.

“Yeah, I have . . . um . . . two older brothers.” Shit! There’s nothing scarier than two older brothers. I hear her start to laugh and then I realized I must’ve said it out loud. I mentally slap myself.

“Maybe three older brothers?” She jokes making me laugh along with her. She has a good sense of humour. I like that in a girl.

Hold on! What? No! No! Back up! You can’t like her, Nick.

“Do they play football? Is that why you like it? Because I know Haley only watches it for me and the, to quote her, ‘hot guys on the field.’ ” That makes her laugh once more. The sound of her sweet laugh is doing something to my stomach. I’ve missed her smile the most, though. I groan at that thought. I’m turning into such a girl.

“Um . . . Yeah, kinda, but only the first part. I don’t go to look at ‘hot guys on the field.’ ” She uses her fingers to quote my sister. I see her blush a little and look away from me. I could tease her about it, but I feel like we’re not that close yet. Maybe some other time. “I’m not that type,” she mumbles down to her fingers.

“What type is that?” I ask curiously. I want to know more about her. She’s so interesting even when I don’t know much about her. Everything she says intrigues me.

“The girly type. Don’t get my wrong, I like guys, I just don’t go out of my way to get them to notice me. Because they don’t. I’ve never been that girl you know?” She looks at me. I can’t believe this is coming out of her mouth.

“Um . . . Carter?”

“Yeah?”

“You are that girl, you’re the girl everyone notices.” She shakes her head and laughs at what she thinks is a joke. She really doesn’t see it. She’s gorgeous and she doesn’t even realize it. That makes her even hotter. Damn, this girl!

“I’m not that girl, Nick. Trust me—”

“Trust me, you are. The night of the party, you had everyone’s attention as soon as you walked through that door. You just don’t realize it.” Shit! I just indirectly told her she had my attention. I watch her face fall from that perfect smile. What did I say now?

“Please don’t bring that up . . .” Her quiet tone catches me off guard. Thinking about what I said, I then realize. Stevens.

“I’m sorry, Carter. I wasn’t thinking . . .”

“It’s fine, I’d rather just forget about that night to be honest.” I really want to know what happened so I blurt out the question.

“What happened?” Her eyes once again meet mine with sadness in them. I can now see why she doesn’t want to talk about it. The look on her face says it all. When I see Stevens, he’s going to regret even looking at her like that. I will rearrange the shit out of his face.

“I got pulled upstairs when I spilt his drink on him . . . I offered to help clean him up in the kitchen but he decided upstairs was closer. I let him take me up, not knowing what was going to happen. He opened the door, that I thought was locked, and then closed it. I was backed up against the wall . . . and then he pressed himself up on me. He started to comment on how I looked and then kissed my neck.” Watching her touch her neck subconsciously tells me that she can remember every detail. With every word she speaks, I get angrier and angrier. “He wouldn’t stop and I froze. I couldn’t move myself away from him or say anything. I just stood there. If it wasn’t for TJ, he would’ve done whatever he wanted to me. I literally couldn’t move myself. It was like I was mute and made of stone . . .” I reach my hand around the back of hers and pull her once again toward me. I stroke her arm up and down as a sign of comfort. I want her to feel comfortable with me. I want her to talk to me, with me. I want to know her.

Boy, is Stevens going to crap himself at the sight of me.

“It’s alright, he won’t go near you again. Trust me on that,” I assure her to put peace in her mind. He won’t. If he does, I will literally beat him into a coma if I have to.

Stepping off at the next stop, we walk down the street to get to the car dealership. Seeing “Mercedes” written on the front, I look over to her blushing back at me. “You sure this is it?” I quirk an eyebrow at her before looking back up in front of me.

“Uh . . . yeah. This is it.” She smiles awkwardly before she looks away. She walks in front of me and we enter the dealership. She tells me to wait by a vintage car in display while she asks someone for help. I do as I’m told, but I can’t help but feel there’s something she’s not fully telling me.

***

Carter

I walk away from Nick, who is standing around and looking at the different cars on display in the showroom. I see a young sales woman immediately walk over to him. He’ll be fine, I think to myself. I walk over to the young man standing behind a desk clicking on his computer. His eyes immediately reach mine and he sends me a genuine smile.

“Hi there! Can I help you?” His husky voice stops me in my tracks for a moment. Damn, that’s a good voice.

“H-Hi, um . . . yeah, I’m here to collect my car. I have my insurance documents and registration. I also have my drivers licence too.” He takes my documents and scans over them quickly. I don’t know what he’s looking for.

“Well, Miss Steel, your father called this morning to say you’ll be collecting the car from us. I’ll call one of our guys around back to drive it up front for you to take, but first, I need you to sign this for me . . . Also, here’s my card if you have any problems or questions.” He slips his newly printed matte gray card across the desk for me to take. I grab it and slip it into my bag, thanking him. He walks around the desk and I bend down to sign the piece of paper. That’s when I jump when I hear Nick behind me.

“Hey! Eyes on me buddy!” I see him obviously staring at the guy beside me. I roll my eyes and hand the guy’s pen back. Hearing the guy chuckle as I do, he winks at me and I widen my eyes back at him. He reaches over to his desk phone to call one of his guys to bring my car around front. “They’ll bring it around for you now Miss St-”

“Okay, thank you! Bye!” I get there before he finishes my last name. I’m not ready to tell Nick yet. Or maybe ever. I walk away with Nick trailing behind me and we stand out front with the guy, who I didn’t think would follow us out too. I see my baby—my matte black Mercedes G7 wagon—pull up around the corner and cruise over to us with ease. I smile at the sight of her. Once it stops beside me, I grin like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. Basically, I’m pretty sure I look like an idiot.

“THAT’S your car? Holy shit!” Nick smiles at her in awe as well. I tap my hand on the bonnet and smooth it across the paint job.

“Yep, this is her. My baby, Roxy.” I watch him admire her with a twinkle in his eye.

“Woah . . . nice car, Carter! Oh ho ho! TJ is going to die when he sees this! She’s a beaut!” An employee climbs out of the car to hand over my keys to the sales man I was talking to earlier. He scans the code on the keychain and registers it as picked up. He walks over to hand them to me and I take them graciously from him. I’ve missed my baby. He winks at me once more and walks me to my side of the car where I can get in.

“Get in!” I tell Nick, who is only too delighted to abide by my request. He slips himself inside, checking out the interior like it’s one of the many girls he has on his phone. I clench my jaw at my own thought.

“If you need any other assistance, don’t hesitate to call me. You have my number. Your family is one of our best clients, we will look after you—”

“Thank you, I will, if I need it.” I cut him off before he gets any other chance to say my name again. He taps my door and waves me off with a boyish grin. I return it with a blush. He’s kind of cute but he’s just being nice. Before I start up the engine, I see Nick sitting there with a huge grin on his face like a kid in a candy store. He looks so cute when he smiles like—No! Carter stop thinking like that!

I reach over to turn my car on and the music, amped up to the highest level, blasts us without any warning. I scream and so does Nick. I use the dial to quickly turn it down to a reasonable level.

“What the fuck?” Nick yells over to the radio that was on full blast. That was definitely my brothers. They like to play stupid pranks on me. I hate when they do that.

“I’m going to kill them both!” I shout with a laugh, trying to be annoyed at them, but I can’t. I have to say, it was a pretty good one. But I probably damaged my ears as well as Nick’s.

“What? Did someone turn the dial up to full blast on purpose?” I nod and he shakes his head, wondering why anyone would want to do that.

“My brothers. They’ve always played some sort of prank on me. That, was one of them. Assholes,” I mumble the last part to myself but I see his grin form, knowing he heard me.

“Jesus, well, I would like to keep my hearing until the tender age of eighty five at least. So if you don’t mind telling them to not do that when I’m in the car.” I giggle at him and start to drive off out of the dealership. We’re driving down the street and I can see him admiring my car on the inside in pure amazement.

“How rich are you?” he asks jokingly as he peers over at me. I laugh back while continuing to drive back to drop him off at the guys’ house.

“I’m not rich . . . my parents are rich,” I tell him only for him to laugh at me.

“That’s something a rich person would say!” he replies, making me laugh once more as we pass the small houses, gas stations, and fields that stretch out into the horizon. The greenery and the burnt yellow grass reminds me of when I was young. My brothers, cousins, and I used to run through my grandparents wheat and barley field in the summer when we would come visit. Hiding in the stalks and creeping up on each other to scare one another silly. My stomach begins to rumble, pulling me out of the memory.

“Hungry?” Nick asks in a teasing tone.

“I forgot to grab something on the way out . . .” I say, keeping my eyes planted on the road in front of me.

“We can stop if you want? I’m pretty hungry too. I know a great place that does the best breakfast. Turn right up here.” I turn at the traffic lights and listen to the directions he gives me. Once we reach there, I see a small diner that looks like it’s been around since the fifties. I always loved those type of diners. Once I park the car, we hop out simultaneously and I lock the doors behind us.

We reach the doors and he holds it open for me. “Thank you,” I thank him shyly as I walk through.

“Nicholas Aiden Jackson! Is that you, sweetheart?!?” I see a small brunette run over toward him to wrap him in a hug. Then I hear a high-pitched scream over by the register.

“Oh! My! God! NICK!” Another small brunette runs behind the other girl to wrap herself around him too, all while I stand there awkwardly watching this entire thing happen.

“Well, aren’t you all grown now! Come in!” I hear the southern accent more now that she has pulled back from him. “Still handsome as ever, I see!” she teases him, making him blush slightly and I smile at her for embarrassing him. Then her eyes and the other girl’s eyes focus on on me. Seeing the playful glint, I gulp down at what is going to be said next.

“Well, who do we have here? Aren’t you a pretty girl! It’s about time you brought a girl around to meet the family, Nick!” He laughs at her and I shake my head.

“Oh, n-no! I’m actually Haley’s roommate from college. He was just helping me today.” I point back over to him standing there staring at me. Seeing his breathtaking smile, I can’t help the one forming on my own face.

“Uh huh . . . Looks like it . . .” She rolls her eyes at the both of us. “Well, I’m his favourite aunt, Rita, and this is my daughter, his cousin, Taylor . . . and you are?” She holds out her hand for me to shake but actually turns into a hug once I tell her my name. Then Taylor hugs me tight too. I guess they’re huggers then?

After a few minutes, we get seated over by the window and get given menus. I read, knowing I’ve forgotten my glasses and squint to try make out any letters on the paper. Next, I see the menu being taken out of my hands and Nick tells his aunt, “Two of my usuals, Aunt Rita.”

“Comin’ right up, honey!” she shouts over her shoulder as she walks away to give the order.

I shake my head at Nick and lean forward to ask him, “Is this going to be a huge meal? I don’t eat that much, even when I’m hungry—”

“Just eggs, bacon, pancakes, hash browns, and toast . . .”

“JUST? Nick, that could feed the entire country!” He releases a bellowing laugh that I’ve never heard before. Why does he keep doing things like this to make him more attractive?

“Haley’s right, you are funny! If you don’t finish it, I will. I could eat two of them right now, I’m so hungry.” He leans forward once he’s finished laughing to look over at me. Taylor then puts two fresh lemonades in front of us, and I sigh with the taste of it. It’s delicious; I love lemonade in the morning.

He starts the conversation with “So tell me something about you.” But I don’t know what to tell him.

“What do you want to know?” I ask back and he smiles as he sips on the lemonade through the straw, and I feel myself staring at his lips.

“Where are you from?” he asks. I’m pretty sure he knows where I’m from. He’s just probably being polite about it.

“Um, I’m from New York. Well, I was born here but raised in New York. I was born in the summer and my family would come down here most summers so . . . yeah . . .” I swirl my straw around in my cup, allowing the ice to hit the sides. “You’re from here right?” He nods and leans back.

“Yeah, born and raised here. All of my family are here, both my mom and dads. My dad’s brother owns this place and he’s married to my aunt Rita there. They have Gage and Taylor; Gage is a year older than I am so we’re close, and Taylor is the same age as you and Haley. They’re really close, practically sisters . . . What’s New York like?”

“Have you ever been there?” I ask him and he shakes his head no, “I’ve always wanted to though. Maybe when I’ve finished college and start playing pro . . . hopefully.” I bite my cheek as I remember the last guy who said that to me. He told me that with full knowledge of who my family were. Nick, I don’t think he knows or else he would’ve mentioned it by now.

“You should go! It’s a great place, especially the city. There is tons of things to do there! It’s a little different from here though. If you ever go, I can show you around?” I offer him and he bites down on his lower lip, sending me a swoon worthy smile.

“I’d like that.” He drops his voice lower into a very sexy and husky voice. I feel my heart beating rapidly from just those three small words.

“So, is it your goal to go pro in the NFL?” Curiosity got the better of me. I had to ask. I want to know what he might be like once he knows.

“Yeah, it’s been my goal since I was ten. I’ve always wanted to play for the Chargers. They’re my team since day one.” I smile as that got me thinking about my brothers playing for the team. It was their dream to play for that team too. Now that they’re on the team, they couldn’t be any happier.

“Will you go back to New York once you’re finished college here?” he asks me, keeping the conversation going. I like talking to him. It’s easy with him. I can relax, be myself, and not get judged for it.

“I don’t know where I want to go? I can’t decide between LA and New York.”

“Go to LA and we can hang out there once I play for the Chargers,” he jokes with me. Rita comes out to hand us our food. All I could see is nothing but plates filled with food, and I send Nick a deadpan look to say are you kidding me? Making him smile, he bites into his bacon staring at me.

“Seriously though, go to LA and we can be friends; I won’t know anyone out there . . .” He drenched his pancakes in maple syrup and I wait for him to finish before I take it from him.

“I don’t think you’ll find it difficult to make any out there . . .”

“What does that mean?” He sounds slightly offended by what I said. But it’s true. One look at him and all the girls will flock to him in no time.

“Nothing.”

“No, no, come on. Tell me.” He slightly raises his voice to say he’s curious about my answer. I don’t know why he would even bother, he knows the answer. He’s hot. Every girl he comes into contact with knows it. That’s why they flirt like crazy with him. The girls love him and the guys think he’s a god for it.

“Isn’t it obvious?” I laugh nervously at him. His eyebrow quirks up at me and I roll my eyes at him, laughing once again. He’s really making me say, it isn’t he.

“Say it . . . I really don’t know what you’re talking about.” He sips on his drink, staring at me and not moving his eyes away from me. I don’t know how to get out of this.

“Girls . . .”

“What about them?”

“Nick . . . Come on, you’re smart, put it together yourself.”

“Oh, I have. I just wanted to hear you say it.” He smirks over at me and I widen my eyes. Is he kidding me? My reaction sends him into a laughing frenzy. “So you think because I look like this, I’ll have girls around me all the time in LA?” I nod and he leans back in the seat. “That’s quite shallow of you . . . and them. What about my amazing personality?” he teases me again and I giggle back at him. “I have an amazing personality. My mom says so!” He pouts over the table of food. He’s so cute.

“Look, I could say the same about you, but with guys—” Now it’s my turn to laugh at him. I completely lose control of myself and cover my face, laughing into my hands while I hear nothing except for me in the diner. Once I’m done, I stare over at his questioning face.

Nick says, “I don’t get what you’re laughing about? It’s true.” I lean my head against the back of the chair and stare up at the ceiling, releasing a small giggle every now and then, thinking about what he said. “Carter”—his voice makes me look back down to him—“you’re . . . well, you’re—”

“Ugly?” I smile over at him, lightening the whole situation between him and I that happened last week. He shakes his head with a smile.

“At least you’ve got a sense of humor about it. But no, you’re not ugly, Carter. Like I said before, you’re the complete opposite of it.” I play with my fork, wanting to ask what he thinks of me.

Before it even registered with me, I spoke up, “And what is the opposite of ugly?” It barely came out. We watch each other as I wait for his answer. Will I finally know what he thinks of me? Seeing his smile slowly fade from his face, being replaced by a serious look.

“Gorgeous,” he whispers out. It makes my breath leave my lungs without permission. My stomach erupts with uncaged butterflies. Did I hear that right?

“Are y’all done with these plates?” Rita comes back to us but Nick doesn’t look away from me. He nods to Rita, still looking at me, and leans back for her to get the plates. I break the staring competition with him and thank his aunt. When she clears our table, we sit in silence. I honestly don’t know what to say anymore.

“Why did you want to study to be a physical therapist?” he finally asks. I’m grateful he did because it turned awkward between us.

I shrug my shoulders. “My aunt is one. I wanted to try it out so I did some summer placements with her to see if I wanted to do it. Turns out I did want to do it, so I decided in high school that’s what I was going to be. I want to help people, what about you?” I ask him. I now know he’s studying it, but I want to know why? I’m finding out more interesting things about him.

“My grandfather was a football player. He’s old now, but I remember one time he couldn’t walk because he was stiff, so we told him to go to a physical therapist. He didn’t and it got worse until he couldn’t walk anymore because he was sitting down all the time, so the muscles deteriorated over time. He only walked to the bedroom and bathroom. We were told if he had seen a physical therapist sooner, he wouldn’t have had the problem. So I decided I wanted to become one to help my stubborn family.” I laugh with him sharing his memory with me.

I’ve never had a conversation like this before. It feels good to know someone trusts me enough to share something so meaningful to them. Seeing him smile at the moment to himself, my heart melts for him. He’s so caring.

“You’re still coming to the game next Saturday, right?” I see worry etched onto his handsome face. I feel my lips tug upwards, producing a warm feeling in my stomach. He still wants me to go.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” I see him smile across the way to me.

“Good, you can see me play. Seeing as you’re a football fan, easy on the critical comments.” He smirks over the rim of the plastic cup. I stare into those big green eyes once more and I feel my heart once again acting erratically inside my rib cage.

“I promise.” I hold up my hand. We’re interrupted by his phone buzzing on the table loudly. He produces a lopsided smile while shaking his head. Lifting it up to his ear, he looks at me with that same smile on his face.

“Hi, Haley . . .” he says in a monotonous tone. “No, I haven’t kidnapped her . . . Yes, she’s still alive . . . I’m not that bad am I?” He starts to laugh again. His sweet, sweet laugh that I could listen to all day. I can’t help but grow feelings for him. I understand why girls like him so much. He’s every girl’s dream guy. “Yeah, we’ll be back soon . . . Yeah, I know . . . Because we took the bus together to get here . . . Chill, woman! Jeez, we just stopped for a bite to eat . . . Yep! Yeah, she’s here, hang on a sec . . . TAYLOR!” he calls out for his cousin.

“NICK!” she calls back with a smile plastered on her face as she comes into view.

“Haley wants to talk with you.” He waves his phone in her face and she snatches it off him greedily.

“HALEY!!! How’s college? Any cute guys? I’ve just met your roommate . . .” She walks off while talking to Haley as I watch her frame leave us.

“Those two are inseparable.” He shakes his head while he watches his younger cousin. “All they do is talk about guys . . .” He rolls his eyes and brings his attention back to me.

“Well, that’s usually what girls do; talk together about guys . . .”

“And you? Do you talk about guys?” Quizzing me about myself, I let him down with a shake of my head.

“I’m not used to having friends that stick around long enough, so I tend to keep it to myself.” I shrug my shoulders to show I don’t care about it. It used to bother me before, but now it doesn’t anymore.

“Why’s that?” He finishes off the last of his drink and settles it back down on the red table.

“Usually, girls talk to me to get to my . . . brothers. So I just don’t bother telling people anything. It’s only disappoints me in the end . . .” This is the first time I’ve spoken about this to anyone. I haven’t even said this to Danielle or Haley.

“That’s the same for Haley, girls use her to get to me . . .” I watch his eyes roam around the diner in thought. “It’s not like I mean to do it to her, I can tell she gets upset by it. But that’s on those girls, not her. If they don’t want to be friends with her, then that’s on them. My sister is one of the most kindhearted people I know. She’d stick up for anyone, and in the end, I’m the only one who sticks up for her. I have TJ and she’s had nobody, well, until she met you and Danielle. She may have TJ too, but it’s not the same you know?” I nod, recognizing that she has nobody. I completely get it. I’m in that same boat.

Taylor comes back and returns his phone. She slides in next to him and lays her head on his shoulder in a comforting way. He looks down at her and I smile at the both of them. Once she makes eye contact with me, she asks, “How long have you two been dating?” I feel my eyes grow the size of saucers at her question and Nick clears his throat from the awkwardness that sits on the table in front of us.

“Um, we’re . . . Taylor, we’re not dating.” Her head springs up away from him and smirks, leaning back to look at us both.

“Bullshit! You guys are totally dating!” Her eyes dart back and forth between us, and we both shake our head to reply. We see her cheeks flush a deep red. Both eyes widen with realization that we aren’t a thing. Why on earth would he date me? “Shit! I’m sorry . . . I just thought that—”

“It’s fine. Honestly,” I tell her so she can stop her thoughts from spilling out. This is so awkward. Do we look like we are dating? I wonder to myself. No, why would some like him even look at someone like me?

“Well, thanks for that, Taylor. We better go before Haley starts to think that too!” He laughs, and I feel a sudden sting in my body at what he said. I slide out of the seat quietly and wave at his family before leaving out the door. I gulp down, remembering what he said. Is he ashamed to be around me? Do I drop the appeal he gives off to people in half? Am I really that bad to be around?

We walk back to my car and both of us hop in, allowing the car to sink nearer to the ground.

“You okay?” Nick’s voice pulls me back to reality. I nod and start up the car and we head back to his house so I can drop him off. I turn on to his street and he calls TJ.

“Dude! Are you at home? . . . Yeah! Walk outside! . . . Just do it, TJ! . . . Jesus, TJ, it’s not that hard! . . . You ope—okay, bye!” He shuts down the call and we pull up outside while Nick rolls down the window beside him. TJ’s face is priceless. He’s in complete shock.

“What the fuck! Holy—what?! Carter, this your car? Damn! She’s a beaut . . . Wow! Let me check out the inside!” TJ leans his head in through Nick’s window and looks around in awe, much like the expression Nick was wearing. “Holy fuck! This car is my dream car right now! You’re one lucky bitch, Carter! Ow! Nick! Jesus!” TJ rubs his shoulder and stares at his best friend.

“Don’t call her that! Ever! Even when you’re kidding,” Nick’s defensive manner catches my attention instantly.

“I’m so jealous, you got to ride in this baby, Jackson! Can I ride with you next time, Carter?” I nod, seeing the smile take over his face. “Can I hop in and take a pic with you guys?” I laugh at him and so does Nick.

He gets in through the back and hands his phone over to Nick. He takes a couple of pictures of the three of us for TJ and hands it back. After a while of them discussing my car, TJ sends Nick the pictures and they post it up online on their Instagrams. I look to see they have tons of followers. I deleted mine last year because I didn’t use it much.

They kept begging me to reactivate it so they could tag me in it. I didn’t know how so they did it all for me. So now I have Instagram again. Seeing the likes roll in for both guys, I smile at the picture and I decide it’s time for me to leave so I can get to my class on time. I wave to them as they stand there and watch me drive off.

I start to giggle at both of them checking my car out.

Boys.