Steeling Her: A Romance Novel

Nick

“To fresh pussy!” Caleb yells before we all down our shots. Feeling the whiskey trailing down the back of my throat, I suck in a breath between my teeth. I shake my head and squeeze TJ’s shoulder.

“To new chicks.” TJ whispers beside me, making me laugh. I go to grab bottles of cold beer from the fridge in the kitchen. I feel a hand stroke on my shoulder, the long nails trailing along the material of my shirt. I smile down at the glass bottles, knowing who it is.

“Hey, babe! Long time no see!” I rise back up to my full height and turn over my shoulder to see Maya in a tight black leather mini-dress, boobs screaming out at me. Damn. “You look . . . good.” I snap the caps off the tops of the bottles hearing the hiss.

“Good? Just good?” Her hands trailed down my abs, getting close to the waistband of my boxers. Her red lips, with a smirk, make me want to take her right now. Her blonde wavy hair and perfume is overpowering.

“You’re right, you look hot tonight. This little dress for me?” I take her waist, rubbing her butt cheek. The leather feels good in my hands. I take a sip of the beer in my hand and let my eyes roam around her figure. She always had a great body, and it looks every better without clothes.

She leans in closer to me, allowing her breasts to push up on my chest. Her lips graze my ear as she whispers, “Only for you, Jackson.” She kisses the lower part of my ear. God, I love it when a girl does that. My little buddy is already excited for the night ahead of me. I place my hand wholly on her ass, allowing my fingers slide up her dress and feel her panties—her wet panties.

She looks hot tonight. Maybe I can pull two girls for to the night? I’ve done five before, so it’s not like I can’t do it. Damn, that night was wild.

“Nick? Hello . . .” Her face is close to mine, snapping me out of my daze.

“Yeah? Sorry, what did you say?” I ask her. I usually don’t listen to what Maya says anymore. It’s usually about a relationship or a date; something I’m not interested in. I’m not into being tied down to anyone, no matter how hot the girl is. Especially not during my college years. Football is my focus, and when I’m finished with that, that’s when I’ll start thinking about dating. I doubt I’ll settle with anyone, though. I like the game too much. So much variety.

“I was thinking, maybe we could go out to dinner next week? Like, just the two of us?” I sigh to myself. Here we go again.

I look around to the masses of bodies around the kitchen. Some are making out, some are flirting, and others are fighting. I run my fingers across my jawline and exhale deeply. “Maya, you know I don’t date. I need to stay focused on football. I’m on scholarship; I can’t afford to slip or I’m off the team.” I’m trying everything in my power to make up the best excuse. I’m pretty sure this works when girls want to get serious with me. Majority of the time, it comes with a slap.

“Nick, you and I know that’s not true. You’re talented enough, girlfriend or not. Give us a chance. You might like it?” I shake my head no, making a deep frown etch onto her caked face. Three, two, one.

“Ugh! Nick! What is your problem committing? You make up the same excuse every time! Grow some balls and ask me out!” She storms off, leaving me standing there with my legs in a V shape leaning against the counter behind me. Noticing I still have TJ’s bottle in my hand, I finish mine and start drinking his. I grab him another and meander through people to get to the couches where the guys are on surrounded by girls. As I approach them, I get a few seductive “Hi Nick”s thrown my way and I nod my head at them, checking them out as I walk past them.

Not tonight.

I sink into the couch beside TJ and hand him the bottle. “What took you so long, bro?” he asks, taking a sip of the freshly opened beer I gave him.

All I say is Maya’s name for him to understand and leave it alone. He leans forward to stand up, looking down at me he asks, “I’m going to look at the talent, you want to come?”

I shake my head and reply, “Maybe later. I want to sit and drink for a while first.”

He shrugs and comments, “Suit yourself, more for me.” Walking off back into the foyer, I spot Maya and her posse gathered over at the wall opposite to where me and the guys are sitting. Some were sending me their best glares. I’m pretty sure I’ve slept with all of her friends. So I tip my bottle towards them, acknowledging that they’re staring at me.

Then I see a girl walk in and she catches my eye immediately. A tight red dress hugs her curvy hips, accentuating her tiny waist. She’s wearing Skyscraper heels and us clasping onto her bag like her life depends on it. Nice breasts too, I can tell they’re real. Not too big, but perky, along with a tight ass and toned legs that are to die for. Damn, this girl. Sitting on the edge of the couch, I’m waiting for her head to turn around so I can see her face. All I see is her long wavy brown hair that flowing down her back, making me want to pull on and bend her over.

“Turn around,” I whisper to myself while taking another sip of the beer. “Turn around,” I repeat and, finally, she lets me see her stunning face. I feel my eyes widen and my brows shoot up. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of her. Her striking blue eyes fall on mine as we stare at each other. I see the her cheeks blush and she quickly looks away from me. She’s shy. I like shy.

Her plump lips that are so moist, making me want to pull her in and kiss her. She has high cheekbones, and her biting down on her lip is making them stand out even more. All I’m thinking about is locking on to those luscious lips.. Tasting her—tasting both sets of lips.

“Hey, red dress!” I hear Ryan speak up beside me on the couch. Her head snaps to him and then looks behind her. She looks at me, then back to Ryan, then points to her herself. “Yeah, you, come here. You look a little lost? Wanna come sit here?” He pats his knee, making her own eyes widen in shock.

She slowly shakes her head and says, “Um, n-no thank you. I’m just trying to find my friends.”

She waves her hand and starts to walk away until Ryan stands up and says, “Let me help you. I know my way around?”

I know what he’s trying to do, but I saw her first. “Leave her alone, Ryan,” I order him, keeping my eyes on her. Her eyes once again land back on me, and I can’t tear my gaze away from her. She’s sexy as hell, and she looks nervous. I stand up to allow her to check me out and was about to say something to her, but TJ interrupts me.

“Look who I found,” he says with a huge grin and an arm over Haley’s shoulders.

What the fuck?

“Haley! What the fuck are you doing here?” I put my anger into words. I see the girl snap her head around to my sister. My sister does the same to her.

“Carter! Thank God! I couldn’t find you! I thought you went back to the dorm. I was going to call you but I didn’t have your number! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” She shakes herself off of TJ and makes a run over to the girl. Carter? Her name is Carter? Fuck, that’s hot.

Both are wrapped up in a hug. I can see her smile and relief on her face. How does she know my sister?

“I just came in now. I was going to come find you guys. This guy was going to help me.” She points over to Ryan standing there smiling at her. He only wanted to help her to get in her underwear. But she looks so naive.

“How do you two know each other?” Hearing a familiar voice. Oh wait, shit, that was mine. I press my teeth at how creepy I sounded. Dammit Nick, you had to ask that didn’t you?

“Carter, this is my brother, Nick. Nick, this is Carter, my new roommate.”

Roommate? Fuck! Why? Why does she have to be my sister’s roommate? I turn my head around and take a sip, mumbling “Fuck” to myself as I stretch out my hand for her to shake, stepping a little forward, and she does. Feeling her skin on mine turns me on even more. I’m in trouble.

“Hi, nice to meet you, Carter,” I tell her, staring into her crystal blue eyes. She has the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Now I’m starting to sound like a girl. Fuck, Nick, act like a guy.

“Nice to meet you too, Nick,” she mumbles averting her eyes around the room taking a step back from me. Is she scared or nervous? The way she’s says my name takes me back a little. It just rolled of her tongue so naturally. So perfectly.

“That’s TJ, Nick’s best friend. All of these guys play football for this college—”

“Football?” she interrupts my sister, surprisingly enough. She seems shy, but she can voice an opinion. She looks around to each of us while Haley nods her head skeptically at her reaction. So she has a thing for football players? Hey, I can try use that to my advantage. No Nick, she’s your sisters roommate.

Seeing her face turn nervous, she backs out and walks away from the group. What the hell? That’s one way to hook up with a football player. What’s her tactic? I’ve never seen this. She just walked away from all of us, leaving us in shock—leaving us wanting more.

“Is she alright?” I ask Haley, watching her tiny frame leave the room and getting a few of the guys’ attention, all eyes watching her perky butt move from side to side while she leaves quickly. That’s a good ass right there. I press the rim of the bottle to my lips and appreciate the sight.

“She’s just a little . . . shy. She’s super nice and cool! Her mom did our furnishings in our dorm room! And theres more stuff on its way too!” Trying to find her in the crowd, I catch TJ’s eyes and he smirks at me, knowing I’m looking for her. I roll my eyes and walk away from the group as well. Coming back to the kitchen, I bend down to get another beer and as I look up to find the opener, I see a red dress head out the back.

I quickly stand up readying myself to follow her but Maya stands in my way. “Nick, baby, I want to go home. Come stay in my place tonight. Alice won’t be coming back so we can be as loud as we want. None of the girls will say anything!”

Not looking at her, I stare at the door and see red once more. She comes back inside and starts to mumble something to herself. Her face turns into a smile but I can see that she’s not comfortable being here. Taking another deep breath, she turns her head to see me watching her. She begins to panic again.

She takes off again into another room. What is up with her? I’m so confused. Usually when I tell a girl I play football, they’re all over me; not running away from me.

“NICK! Fucking hell! I’m right here!” I snap my attention back to the kinky blonde standing in front of me. Seeing red in her eyes, I blink, just staring at Maya. I need to get laid.

I crash my lips into hers and place the bottle down on the counter. Taking hold of her waist, I pull her body close to mine and kiss her hard. I feel no emotion in this kiss. I need this mouth on my dick now. “Lets go back to yours.” I grab her hand and walk out of the house. Seeing Carter and my sister outside, I immediately let go of Maya and make my way over to them.

“Haley! Where are you going?” Taking hold of my sisters arm, I feel Maya creep to my side and shove her off a little so it doesn’t look like much is going on. I don’t know why but I don’t want it to seem like it is. Usually I don’t care, but I’m feeling a little different tonight. It could be that the alcohol is hitting me harder than I thought.

“We’re going back to our dorm. Carter got grabbed and was taken upstairs. but TJ rescued her. So, we’re going home.” I can see the way Carter’s darting her eyes and how she was holding on to her arms as a sign of protecting herself. I make eye contact with the brown-haired girl. I see the wetness in her eyes even as she looks down at her feet. I can feel anger build up in my body at who the hell had the audacity to touch a girl like that. My sister’s friend and roommate. When I find out who it was, I will kill him.

“Haley? Look who grew up! I love your dress!” Maya compliments my sister. But Haley has never liked her. So she ignores her and shoves off her compliment. Maya is just trying to suck up to her now but she only wants one thing: me.

Clinging on to me more, I can feel the leather rub on me and her hand teasing my waistband. I’m slowly getting more turned off and more annoyed with the way she’s acting in front of my sister and her new friends.

“Babe, lets go. Before I get tired . . .”

I roll my eyes and ask my sister, “Do you need me to walk you girls back to your dorm?” I see Carter take a step away from my offer, afraid that what happened to her tonight will happen to her again. She has her guard up. I know girls like her. Kind of. Well, not really.

“No, it’s cool. TJ said he’d walk us back to our dorm—” I see Carter take my sisters shoulder and say lowly. So low I almost missed it.

She said, “You guys can stay here, I can walk myself home.” In response, Haley turns her body to face the timid girl standing behind her.

“Niiick, come on. Are we fucking or what?” Maya whines in my ear seductively. She’s trying too hard now.

“Give me a fucking minute to talk to my sister, will you?” I growl at her. She’s getting on my last nerve. She takes a step back off me, feeling frustrated.

“After what just happened to you? No way. We’re not leaving you to walk home by yourself, Carter.” Haley takes her hand, and I see TJ jog out the house with some water in his hand. He starts to hand it over to Carter and I snatch it out of his hand.

Turning it upside down, I squeeze it to see if there is a hole in the top of the cap. Then I open the cap and find its seal broken. It’s been spiked. I pour the water on the grass and tell the girls, “It was open, that means it’s been spiked. Next time, TJ, check before giving any of them water, or any drinks for that matter.”

I see her staring at the water splashing the grass, then she looks up to meet my gaze.

I just want to take her home and bury myself in her. I shouldn’t be thinking that, after what had happened to her. She looks shaken. But it’s the only thought I have.

I can’t do that to my sister, though. It’s her roommate. She doesn’t have many friends because they usually use her to get to me. Once I bang them, they never talk to her again and keep crawling back to me. That’s how I know who her real friends are. In a way, I’m helping her, and I’m also getting laid.

Once the water bottle is empty, I crush it and Carter sends me a tight lipped smile. I automatically send her back one of my own. I don’t know why, but she’s piqued my interest in her. She’s so different. Hot, but different.

“Come on, I’ll walk you girls home.” Hearing Maya groan beside me, I take her hands off me. TJ steps forward.

“I can take them, Nick. It’s cool. You look . . . busy.” I grind my teeth at TJ. I know he’s just teasing me, but he’s teasing me in front of these girls. He takes my hand to give the bro handshake.

I know he won’t try anything with them. He’s my best friend. I trust him with my life. But I could kill him right now for saying that. Seeing Carter already walking away, I can’t tear my eyes away from this enigma. Maybe she isn’t interested?

Pfft, what girl isn’t interested in me?

Maybe she has a boyfriend? Hey, I’ve slept with girls who cheated on their boyfriends. But if she does, she doesn’t seem like the type to do that.

Who is this girl?

***

Carter

I step into the front door of the house and into the booming music. I can feel the beat in my chest and drunk people crashing into me. I grab on to my clutch for dear life.

Just try have fun Carter.

A drunk girl dragging a guy behind her walks right into me. I apologize to her while she gives me a glare, although she’s the one who walked into me. I look around to see if I can find Haley or Danielle. Instead, I meet a pair of light green eyes on the corner on the couch. They look like the trees you see in the forest. Hunter green.

He’s hot. He’s wearing a black t-shirt and ripped denim jeans that hug his thighs. I can see the muscles in his arms nearly tear through the material. The faint outline of his six pack is evident through his shirt. The dirty blond hair is highlighted by the blue lighting above him, making him look even hotter. Looking away from him and feeling myself blush, I avert my eyes to the staircase in front of me, trying to find my roommates. Not seeing the blonde or brown-haired girls that resemble them, I walk around to another room, biting down on my lip keeping my head down.

“Hey, red dress!” I hear a voice beside me. I snap my eyes to see a guy sitting with his legs spread open. I look behind me and look to the blond man, meeting those green eyes again before I look at the guy who called for a girl in a red dress. I point to myself to ask if it’s me he’s talking to?

Bobbing his head up and down, he says, “Yeah, you, come here. You look a little lost? Wanna come sit here?” He pats his knee, indicating I should sit on his lap.

Not happening. Ever. Creep.

Feeling my eyes widen, I shake my head slowly to decline and not try to hurt his feelings. “Um, n-no thank you. I’m just trying to find my friends?” I wave my hand around and start to move away from him, but I see him rise up to his feet.

“Let me help you? I know my way around.” He sends me a smile. Maybe this guy isn’t that bad. I was about to thank him and agree for him to help me but I hear a deep husky voice perk up, making my eyes fall back on to his. “Leave her alone, Ryan.” I watch his eyes trail my body and he stands up to his full height. Towering over me.

Wow.

I let my eyes wander around his body but another voice grabs my attention. “Look who I found.”

I look up to meet his eyes focus on someone else when he speaks again, “Haley? What the fuck are you doing here?” Hearing the anger in his voice, I realize he said Haley. I whip my head around to see her standing there with a gorgeous guy. Long black hair in a white shirt and black jeans. His arms slinked around her shoulders in a possessive manner.

Seeing Haley standing there, she squeaks out, “Carter! Thank God! I couldn’t find you! I thought you went back to the dorm. I was going to call you but I didn’t have your number! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” Slipping away from the guy’s arm, she makes a beeline for me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and hugging me. I’ve never had a friend like her. It feels good to know someone actually likes me for me. I smile to myself and feel happy I met her. I’m glad she’s my roommate, she’s so caring.

“I just came in now. I was going to come find you guys and this guy was going to help me.” I point to the guy, who I know now is Ryan, standing there with a beer in his hand smiling down at me. It was nice of him to offer to help me find Haley and Danielle. He’s large, with broad shoulders, much like the other guys who are surrounding us tonight.

“How do you two know each other?” Hearing his smooth voice knocks me back to reality. His voice is low and inviting—sexy even.

“Carter, this is my brother, Nick. Nick, this is Carter, my new roommate,” Haley introduces us with her arms still around me.

Brother? Wow, alright then. Her brother is hot. Like, Calvin Klein model hot. But he probably gets that a lot of the time.

He whips his head around and mumbles something to himself but I couldn’t catch it. Seeing his back muscles move hypnotizes me. He’s so toned. God, he’s so good looking.

He shifts the bottle to his other hand and holds it open for me to shake as he steps a little closer to me. I do unknowingly and shake it. His cold skin meets my warm one. His hand is rough and worn but it feels good—too good.

“Hi, nice to meet you, Carter,” he says, staring into my eyes. The way he says my name causes an unfamiliar feeling inside me. His bright green eyes glint in the moving lights, and I can’t hear the music anymore. I stare at him and snap myself back to reality.

“Nice to meet you too, Nick,” I mumble shyly, averting my eyes around the room and taking a step back from him. I’m a little intimidated by him. I see a lot of girls staring at him in the room, and I can’t help but feel so out of my depth. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be talking to him by the looks of things. He’s one of those guys that gets every girls attention when he enters a room, and I’m one of those girls who sits in the corner by herself, going unnoticed.

“That’s TJ, Nick’s best friend. All of these guys play football for this college—” Haley points to the guy whose arm was around her earlier and then to the rest of the guys.

“Football?” I interrupt her in surprise. Oh God, not again. I can’t be here. I shouldn’t be here. I look around to each of the guys standing around us while Haley nods her head skeptically at me. Time to leave. I need to get out of here before someone recognizes me and won’t leave me alone about my family, trying to befriend me to get to my dad so they have a shot in the NFL. Especially college football players.

I begin to feel nervous. I back out and walk away from the group. Meandering through the crowd, I make my way up the stairs to try find a bathroom but I notice all the doors are locked.

Dammit.

I begrudgingly make my way back down with guys trying to feel me up along the way.

Air, I need air.

I see double doors and make my way towards them, passing by the kitchen.

I shut the door behind me and walk out into the patio with a range of tables and chairs, inhaling and exhaling at a rapid rate to relax myself. “They’re all football players? All of them? I should’ve known!” I pace back and forth on the tiles, hearing my heels click on every step.

Clearly, it’s not going well for me. I decided to go back inside and find Haley or Danielle. Opening up the door, I whisper to myself, “Okay, come on, Carter. You can do this! It’ll be fine.” I smile to try to convince myself of that and to rid my discomfort. It’s not working so well.

I take another deep and slow breath in and I turn my head to see him again. With a girl standing in front of him. Should’ve known he’d have a girlfriend.

What, no! Carter! He’s you’re roommate’s brother! It’ll be awkward.

Seeing each other, I back away from him again and make a run for the door, only for me to run into someone and spilling their drink over them. “I’m so sorry!” I apologize to him.

He looks down at his shirt and then up to me changing his expression almost immediately. “Uh, it’s cool . . . Would you mind helping me clean this up?” he asks me with a small smile on his face.

I nod rapidly and tell him, “Lets go to the kitchen. I’ll clean you up—”

He shakes his head to me and interjects, “Upstairs is nearer, lets go there.” He grabs my hand and pulls me up the steps, leading me back through people heavily making out and grinding on each other. He swiftly opens up a door that leads to a bedroom and I walk towards another door to open it to see if it’s the bathroom.

What the—?

I thought the doors were locked? Feeling his hand wrap around my wrist, he pulls me closer to him, sliding his shirt off his back.

He’s ripped, but something doesn’t feel right. Stepping closer to me he pulls my hair back making my head go back. He takes my waist and trails his tongue up my neck, kissing it. I try to push him off and I hear banging on the door. He snaps his head and yells “We’re busy in here!” before turning back to me to carry on. “You’re so sexy in this dress!” he says seductively but I’m frozen in place.

I don’t know what to do. How do I get out of this? I don’t want to be here anymore. I feel so uncomfortable and out of my depth. The banging starts again, except harder. It’s so hard, the door starts to vibrate.

“I said were busy in here!” he yells, louder and angrier. But the banging keeps going, and the guy storms over to the door, unlocking it and swinging in open wide to see TJ and Haley behind him. “What the fuck do you want?” The guy gets in TJ’s face but TJ pushes past him and grabs my arm gently, pulling me out of the room. “Dude! She was fine! TJ, don’t cock block me!” the warning in his tone makes TJ spin around but allows me to walk over to Haley.

Walking back up to the guy, he gets in his face and tells him in a warning tone, “Touch her again, I’ll fuck you up, and so will Nick. You’ve been warned!” We walk outside and wait for TJ to come back with a bottle of water for me. I’m so scared right now, all I want to do is go home. I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to curl up in my sheets and just sleep for the night.

“Haley! Where are you going?” Hearing his voice again heightens my nerves. I see his girlfriend by his side but he steps a little out of her touch. That’s a little unusual to do to your girlfriend, I wonder to myself.

“We’re going back to our dorm. Carter got grabbed and was taken upstairs but TJ rescued her. So, we’re going home.” My eyes dart around in the open air and my hands take hold of my arms, stroking them and keeping people away from me. I make eye contact with his gaze, feeling the wetness in my eyes and averting them down to my feet. I just need to leave as I shuffle my feet around. This is why I don’t come to these things. I ruin everyone’s night, as well as my own.

“Haley? Look who grew up! I love your dress!” I hear another female voice speak up to complimentHaley, but she ignores her by the looks of it and doesn’t respond. His girlfriend is so pretty, no wonder he’s with her. The dress she’s wearing hugs every inch of her body perfectly, and her brown eyes focus on Haley. Her blonde hair being swept up by the cool wind makes her look like a Victoria’s Secret Model about to hit the runway. Her smile is beaming towards my roommate, who brushes her off and stares at her brother with a pointed look. “Babe, lets go. Before I get tired . . .”

Nick rolls his eyes and asks his sister, “Do you need me to walk you girls back to your dorm?” I take a step away from him. I don’t need to be babysat and I don’t need another guy feeling me up. I can’t have him near me, he’ll find out about my family and only befriend me because of that. I need to stay away him, from them all. I can’t be used again.

“No, it’s cool. TJ said he’d walk us back to our dorm—” I rest my hand on Haley’s shoulder and say lowly. I actually borderline whisper it.

“You guys can stay here, I can walk myself home.” Then Haley turns herself to face me as I stand a short distance behind her. I just need to go home, go to bed, and just cuddle up to myself.

His girlfriend whispers something in his ear for him to turn around and angrily say, “Give me a fucking minute to talk to my sister, will you?” I could see she was bothering him. Maybe they had a fight? Why am I even thinking about this? A guy like that will never like a girl like me. He’s taken and would never see me like that. I can admire him from, afar I suppose. Or not at all, my subconscious tells me.

“After what just happened to you? No way. We’re not leaving you to walk home by yourself, Carter.” I see TJ jog out of the house with some water in his hands over Haley’s shoulder. He starts to hand it over to me before Nick snatches it out of his hand. Turning it upside down, he squeezes the bottle and studies the cap.

What is he doing?

Then he opens the bottle and proceeds to pour it on the grass.

What is he doing? Wasting good water.

“It was open, that means it’s been spiked. Next time, TJ, check before giving any of them water, or any drink for that matter.” I stare mindlessly at the water splashing the grass. I look up, dumbfounded at him and meeting his piercing stare again for the umpteenth time tonight. I feel a small surge ignite in my body.

His eyes study me hard for a short time, like he’s thinking of something. I don’t know. I haven’t known him long enough to know what is going on in his mind. Do I want to know what he’s thinking? Is he judging me on what happened tonight? Does he think I’m easy because I left with that guy? Does he think I’m a slut? Does he think I’m a drama queen because I needed TJ’s help? I will never know.

Once the water is gone from the bottle, he crushes it in his bare hands, twisting the body of the plastic around. I send him a thankful smile, but I know it was an awkward looking smile. Much to my surprise, he sends me one back.

“Come on, I’ll walk you girls home.” I hear the girl beside him groan out loud, like were bothering her, but he removes her hands from him while his best friend steps forward.

“I can take them, Nick. It’s cool. You look . . . busy.” The look he sends to his best friend is like he’ll be up for murder, but his friend just smiles. He takes TJ’s hands to give him a handshake with a secret message. I decide to walk away, leaving the party behind me. I hear the click of heels. I know it’s Haley and Danielle close behind, but she’s struggling to walk in them.

TJ walks beside Haley, keeping close to her. Seeing their hands brush off one another’s arm from the corner of my eye. I smile to myself. I wonder how long they’ve kept their feelings for each other from Nick? It’s obvious they both like each other.

“Are you okay, Carter?” TJ asks me on the walk back. I simply nod my head but don’t say anything for a while.

I speak up minutes later in the dead of the night. “This is why I don’t go to parties. I get into stupid situations and ruin everyones else’s night . . .” I mumble quietly.

“Hey, you didn’t ruin my night. I’m glad I get to walk you all home. So, I know you’re safe.” I feel TJ’s large hand rest heavily on my shoulder, weighing it down. I know he’s looking at Haley when he said he wanted us to be safe.

He’s sweet. But it’ll all change when they find out my last name. It always does.