Page 49 of Blinded By Love

Took in?

So, are the Nights not his biological family?

"He is always mad at the stupidest things," Carter rolls his eyes.

"Dad, you know how he is," Natalia says, trying to back up Hayden.

"Well, he is never grateful for what we did for him. He always acts like a child and it's ridiculous," Carter says.

“He’s grateful, you know how he is. He was never good at expressing things,” Alex says in a soft voice.

Carter looks at me. “Sorry for that. He never knows when to quit. We haven’t seen him since the summer. He’s been distant since then.”

“It’s fine. Every family has problems.” I shrug.

“Sorry if this might seem personal but I’m just curious, are you and Hayden involved or-”

"Dad!"

"Carter!"

Natalia and Alex yell, Natalia’s face turning red while Chris laughs lightly.

"No, it's fine." I look at Natalia and Alex before looking at Carter again. "No, Hayden and I aren't involved. I probably wouldn’t even consider him a friend."

Carter nods his head silently, thinking of something but not saying anything out loud. "Interesting. What do you want to do when you're done with school?"

"I want to become a journalist. Maybe live in California or New York."

"Why New York and California?"

"I love the city and the weather in New York. I love California because I'm familiar with the atmosphere there."

"Well, I have traveled to New York many times and it's hard to find a stable place to live in. Do you have that kind of money?"

"Carter, I don't think that is an appropriate question to ask," Alex says, giving him the look.

"It's fine Alex, really," I say looking at Alex and then back at Carter. "I wouldn't say I’m the luckiest girl in the world who has money and expensive things, but I work hard for what I want."

"That's good. It's good that you know what you want to do in the future. You seem like a wonderful young woman," Carter says, making me confused cause he seemed like he didn't like me that much.

"Thank you, Mr. Night. I appreciate it."

"Of course. Also, if you need anything at all please don't hesitate to ask. Any friend of Natalia or Hayden is a friend of ours. Family even."

"That means a lot. I will definitely keep that in mind."

"Good. Now let's finish eating," Carter says, relieved that all of the tension is gone.

"Oh, do you have Christmas off dad?" Natalia asks Carter.

"No, I have Christmas morning off, but I have to go back to work after 1:00 pm."

Natalia nods her head and continues eating. She looks bummed out but she doesn’t say anything to Carter about it.

The rest of dinner is spent in silence, but one of us would exchange a few words. Alex would ask me some questions, same with Carter. Once we were all finished, we washed our plates. Alex got mad because I was trying to help her, but I have always been taught to wash my own dish.

After the dishes, I was still a little tired from the road trip, so I went straight upstairs to the guest room.

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