Page 60 of Steeling Her
How the hell am I related to that?I smirk at her. She’s a drunken mess right now. I catch TJ’s eyes; he rolls them and face palms himself. I snort at his reaction to Haley. She reaches us and swings an arm around Carter, pulling her towards her and trying to whisper, “Ryan waaas lookin fo’ youuu, girl! I ga-ve him yourrr numba’!” She hiccups, and I feel a burning sensation in my body.What a little traitor.
“You what?” I practically yell at my sister. Her eyes widen as she tries to focus her attention on me, but her eyes keep drooping. I realize I said that out loud. “Haley, Ryan’s a creep!” I back my words up. I push TJ towards her and mumble, “Put her to bed. Now.” I narrow my eyes at my sister for setting her roommate up with fucking Ryan Averman, of all people. He’s such a dick to girls. I suppose I’m not much better now that I think about it.Fuck.
“She was probably just kidding, I doubt she can see anyone right now anyway . . .” she mumbles over to me while I watch TJ practically pick my sister up bridal style and drag her into her room.
Then I see Danielle sucking the face off the guy who was on her arm. I smile and shake my head, averting my eyes back to Carter. She’s standing there silently, looking at something behind me. I turn around and see a group of girls walking up the hallway.
“Hey, Carter!” One of the girls in the group coming towards us beams as she unlocks her door while a guy is feeling her up from behind, dying for her to open the door. I laugh to myself.
“Hey guys! Hey, George!” He waves at Carter once she acknowledges him. And they’re off once that door opens, slamming it behind them. “They’re such a cute couple!” Carter says while smiling at the door.
You can hear the soft tone in her voice. I watch a small glint in her eyes as she focuses them back on me, her hair perfectly wavy like she stepped out of the water at the beach. I lick my lips, almost tasting the imaginary salt. She tucks a strand behind her ear with a shy smile.
“You ready? She’s knocked out inside! I put a bucket next to her bed in case she vomits. She’s going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.” TJ chuckles to himself and I smile back at him.
“Serves her fucking right for drinking so much. She’s such an amateur.” We all laugh but it stops abruptly once we hear moaning coming from one of the doors nearby. Carter’s eyes widen and her entire face goes bright red. “That better not be Haley!” I stare at TJ, who has his fist in his mouth trying to keep his laugh in.
“That’s Danielle,” Carter whispers.
“Oh . . .fuck!” Danielle moans out, and I literally don’t know what to do anymore. Next, we hear a series of yes’s, then banging, then a slapping sound I know all too well. I puff my cheeks out trying my hardest not to laugh, but it’s too hard.
“Alright . . . So we’re . . . Uh, going to leave . . .” TJ trails off and chuckles. He leans in to hug Carter. She wraps her arms around him and pleads for us not to leave, but I do not want to hear that.
“Bye, Carter! We’ll see you tomorrow at 11?” I hug her tight and instinctively breathe her in, her scent wrapping themselves around my senses.God, she smells amazing.Looking down at her, I see her shift her head against my chest to stare up at me. I kiss her forehead and leave her standing there in shock along with TJ, who replaces it with a grin. I freeze at my own action and feel my embarrassment coming out again for the hundredth time tonight.
“YES!” Danielle practically yells, and we decide it’s time to leave.
After walking away and hearing the door shut, TJ nudges my side as we wait for the elevator. “You told her, didn’t you?” I can hear the smirk in his tone without even looking at him. “You told her you like her.” I shake my head and he laughs, punching me on my bicep. “Then what the fuck was that, Jackson!” He has a playful tone that is low, trying to keep his voice down. I have no idea what that was. My mind and body were out of sync; I don’t know why I did that.
“We kissed,” I reply sheepishly and shrug. .
He sighs. “No shit, Nick! I fucking saw you kiss her head just five seconds ago!” He grabs my head and brushes his knuckles in my hair playfully and I swat him away laughing.
“No, TJ, we kissed; like we made out. Like three times tonight!”
“What?” he exclaims. “Nick! Are you serious?! About fucking time you grew a pair man!” We laugh at each other and step into the elevator, pushing for the ground floor. “When’s the wedding?” he teases me and I roll my eyes and yawn. I punch him hard enough to give him a dead arm; caught him perfectly. “Fuck . . . I hate when you do that man!”
He tries to hit me back but I dodge it with ease. Both of us playfully fight with each other as we leave the building. We see that it’s dark outside. People are still walking around, usually couples or people walking to their place so they can fuck. Girls stumble on their own feet, making the both of us laugh at them.
I can’t wipe the huge smile off my face. It’s beginning to hurt my cheeks now. “You look like you’re on crack, Nick.” TJ pinches my cheeks and I grin even more as I shrug it off. He’s just jealous I got somewhere with her. “Nick! Jesus, snap out of it!”.
“What?” I spin my head around to face him. His dark black hair framing his face and a five o clock shadow that is making him look older.
“Is she alright?” he asks.
“Who?” He sends me a deadpan look and I knew instantly who he was talking about.
“The girl you’re in love with,” he teases me and I roll my eyes when he clasps his hands under his chin and stares dreamily over to me for dramatic effect. I swear he was a drama queen in his past life. He relishes in any drama that doesn’t involve him.
“I’m not in love with her, TJ. You’re such a douche you know that?” Laughing at him, I put my hands in my jeans pocket as we walk back home. He’ll collect the car tomorrow morning because I know he doesn’t want to see Kelly, and I don’t want to see her best friend. “What about her?” I push him to repeat what he said.
“Is she alright? She looked a little pale tonight.” I remember thinking that when I saw her better in the light from her dorm room. She did look a little washed out but she said she was tired.
“Yeah, she was just a little tired, you know? Assignments were piling up for her, so maybe she’s not sleeping well? I don’t know? I’ll check on her tomorrow.” That excuse was more for my own thoughts. I can’t help but worry a little. She’s looked so drained for the past couple of days. I know it’s nearing the end of the semester. She might be feeling the pressure?
Our feet shuffle through the grass as we make our way into the house. Laughing at each other, TJ puts his key in the door and we hear footsteps rapidly hitting the wood. I see a figure running at both of us, and I prepare myself for the possibility of catching a thief in the act. Then another body comes into contact, tackling the person onto the ground to the side of us. Seeing that it’s Rob on top of Ryan trying to restrain him, TJ and I stand there, wondering what the hell is going on.
“Let me fucking go, Rob!” Ryan raises his voice at his twin, who is trying his best to calm him down. “ROB! I said let me go! NOW!” He squirms under his brother, trying to get away from him. Giving up, he relaxes his body immediately.
