Page 7 of Further To Fall

“Carter is one of the kindest and most genuine people I’ve ever known. Do you know why she moved here?”

I shrugged. “You said she got a job.”

“Yeah, a job that pays next to nothing teaching little kids in the ghetto.” I swallowed down the guilt that was starting to take root in my stomach. “She’s had one boyfriend in her whole damned life, and I’m almost positive she’s still a virgin. She might be a little naïve, but she has a good heart. And you have made her feel like dog shit on the bottom of your shoe.”

I took a deep breath, rolling my shoulders back to alleviate some of the tension there. “I fucked up. I’m sorry.” Apparently, the ghost of Hailey was still alive, well, and wreaking havoc on my life. I knew that when she cheated the way she did and fucked up my life so royally, it had changed the way I looked at women. I didn’t want to let someone close enough to cause that kind of damage again, especially when it knocked me off my fighting game for so long. But that was no excuse for being such an ass to an innocent bystander. I was a dick. “I’ll fix it.”

Liam let out a breath that whistled between his clenched teeth. “You better fix this. And soon.” With that, he headed upstairs, leaving me alone with my guilty conscience.

I wipeda palm on my jeans as I balanced three boxes of cupcakes with my other arm. Were three boxes overkill? Probably. But the cupcake place that Liam said was Carter’s favorite had like fifty-two different flavors. How was I supposed to know what she liked? I bit the bullet, reached out, and knocked on her door.

She lived in a decent area, but her building’s security was shit. I could walk right up to her front door without buzzing at a gate or anything. Not smart for a single girl. I heard muted footsteps, and the door swung open. There stood Carter in some super ugly, fuzzy sock-looking things, short-ass shorts, a slouchy shirt that hung off one shoulder, glasses perched on her nose, and her strawberry-blonde hair piled on the top of her head. I tried not to think about my gaze lingering on those legs that seemingly went on forever.

“You shouldn’t open your door without checking to see who it is first,” I blurted.

Carter wrapped an arm around her middle, looking past me as though she expected someone else to be behind me. When she didn’t find anyone, she straightened and brought her emerald eyes back to mine. “Uh, hi.”

“Hi, sorry to be pushy, you should just be careful. LA isn’t the safest place in the world.”

“Well, thanks. I guess.” Her eyes roamed over my face, then she gave a slight shake of her head as though scolding herself. “What are you doing here?”

“I, uh, brought you cupcakes.”

She pushed her glasses up her nose and stared at me. “Are they poisoned?”

I let out an uncomfortable chuckle. “I know I’ve been an asshole to you, but do you really think I’d poison you?”

She shrugged sheepishly. “I don’t know, maybe.” I turned at the sound of a door opening and saw an older woman peeking her head out of another apartment. Carter waved at the woman, who scowled in return, and then turned back to me. Hesitating for a moment and then taking a deep breath, she started speaking. “Look, why don’t you come in.” Stepping back, Carter ushered me over the threshold.

A blast of cool air hit me as I took in my surroundings. Carter’s apartment was one of those shabby chic deals: white, overstuffed couch with a million throw pillows and a brand new wooden coffee table that was purposely scuffed up. I’d always thought that look was stupid, but it somehow worked for her. I also noticed that there was paper, glue, glitter, scissors, and the like everywhere.

“Sorry about the mess, I’m making decorations for my classroom.” She bent down, clearing the craft explosion, and I tried not to stare at her ass. Carter’s eyes darted from the paper she was trying to put into piles, to me, to the cupcakes, and back to her piles again. “You can set those down here, I guess,” she said, gesturing to the cupcake boxes with an incline of her head. “Do you want one?”

I cleared my throat. “Uh, no thanks. I start training again tomorrow so I can’t eat any refined sugar.”

Her head snapped in my direction as she lost a few of the papers on her pile. “You can’t eatanysugar? Like, at all?” She seemed appalled, as if I’d just told her I murdered little, fluffy kittens.

“Not while I’m training.”

“That’s awful. Why don’t I put these in the kitchen so you’re not being tortured by the smell?” She took the boxes from my outstretched arms, careful not to touch me in the process. Fumbling just a little, she managed to get them safely to the kitchen counter. “Thanks, by the way. Sprinkles makes my favorite cupcakes. Please, sit down.”

I sat back on her girlie, white couch and prayed I didn’t get any stains on it. “Yeah, that’s what Liam said. He also set me straight on a few things.” I cleared my throat and rushed through my next words without meeting Carter’s eyes. “Look, I’m really sorry I’ve been an ass to you. I had the total wrong impression of who you were, but that was my fault, it had nothing to do with you.”

Carter walked back over with two bottles of water. Handing me one, she plopped down on the opposite end of the couch and eyed me suspiciously. “And who exactly did you think I was?”

I felt a bead of sweat roll down my back. Cracking the bottle of water, I took a swig, buying time to come up with an answer that was truthful but didn’t make me seem like the judgmental asshole I definitely was. “I see a lot of girls come around Liam. Most of them are looking for someone with a big bank account who can buy them designer clothes. Or someone who can make them famous. Or, even better, someone who can do both.”

Carter’s forehead wrinkled slightly as she studied me. Why did it feel as if she could see into the depths of my soul? I shifted uncomfortably. “I get the feeling that’s not the whole story,” she said.

I let out a half-laugh, half-cough. “Well…” I started to peel the label off my water bottle. “You also kind of remind me of someone.”

A hint of a smile played at Carter’s lips. “An ex?”

“Bingo.” It burned to admit that I had been such an ass to a girl who might actually be Mother Theresa in a smoking-hot body, just because something about her had reminded me of Hailey. God, I was such a dick.

“She screwed you over?”

I hesitated in answering, my vision stalling on Carter’s long-ass legs all twisted around like she was a fucking pretzel. Her skin was creamy white, and I found myself wanting to reach out to see if it was as smooth as it looked. When I pulled my eyes away from her legs and towards her face, a flush was staining her cheeks. I forced myself back to the conversation at hand. “Yeah. She did.”

---