Page 20 of Breaking Free (Guarded Hearts)
She walks in smiling. “Hey, I just wanted to see if you guys—” Her sentence cuts off when she sees the bags on my bed. “Going somewhere?”
“I’m, um…I’m going to L.A. with Drew for a little while.”
Nicole’s mouth drops open. “You’re going where?!”
Drew also turns to me. “A little?”
Ugh! One at a time!“Yeah, Nic. I need to get away for a little bit. I want to go and I hope that you’ll help me dodge the boys until I’m out of reach and only have to hear them yell on the phone.” I know it’s a childish move, but I am so not in the mood for a confrontation. Not only that, but if Drew is around I’m afraid it will turn physical.
I can tell she isn’t happy about it, but Nicole was one of the most supportive people I know. “Okay, but you better leave soon. Shawn and J are still asleep, but I’m pretty sure Carter will be here soon.”
Great. That’s the last thing I need.
“I’ll take your stuff down to the car.” Drew grabs my bag and mutters a thank you to Nicole on his way out.
Once he leaves, Nic puts her hands on her hips and gives me a look. “What’s going on? LA?”
“Listen, you said it yourself that I haven’t been myself lately. Drew is helping me get back there. He’s like my own personal version of therapy.”
“I get it, babe, I do. You just need to make sure that you’re doing this foryou.”
“I am.” I want to hug her so badly and I feel tears spring to my eyes knowing that I can’t.
“Plus, I wouldn’t mind a little bit of his therapy, if you know what I mean.” We burst out in laughter and it’s almost like it always had been between us.
When I hear a car pull up outside the house, we look at each other, knowing that it’s probably Carter. I think Drew is waiting in the car, which is definitely good. The front door opens and closes and I hear Carter throw his keys on what I can only assume is the table. Nicole leans in to whisper in my ear. “Jason and Shawn don’t have their cars here. I’ll grab Carter’s so he can’t follow you guys.”
I feel like a ridiculous teenager sneaking out after curfew, but I’m so not in the mood for the drama right now. Hopefully it won’t even get there. We walk downstairs to find Carter on the couch. “Hey, you look a lot better today, Holls.”
There is no way I would dare to tell him that it’s because of Drew. “Thanks, I’ll see you later.”
Carter stands up from the couch. “Where are you going?”
“Nowhere important.”
I can tell Carter doesn’t believe me. “Wait a second.” He walks over to the window. “Is thathiscar outside? Why would you go back to him after all he put you through?”
I’m about to try and give him a vague answer when Drew opens the door and reminds me that our fight leaves soon and we need to get to the airport.
Carter’s face reddens. “Flight? Where are you going?!”
I walk over to the door where Drew is. “Go to the car. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I want to stay and be here for you.” He glares in Carter’s direction.
“Drew, it’s my brother, he isn’t going to hurt me, and you will only make the situation worse.”
I can see the internal struggle in his eyes; he doesn’t usually back down from what he wants. “Five minutes, then I come back.”
I nod my head and he walks off to the car. When I turn around, Carter is standing with his arms folded. “Where are you going? And why is he here? Do you not remember how you have been the past couple days? Why would you put yourself in the same position to get hurt again?”
“Carter, I know you don’t get it, and I love you for wanting to protect me. I need to live my own life, though. As much as you want to, you can’t save me from everything, I need to make my own mistakes and learn from them.”There, I tried to handle this like an adult and be mature about the whole situation, let’s just hope it’s reciprocated.
“You already made this mistake and now you’re making it twice, so no, I can’t just let it go.”Nope, it didn’t work.I look over at Nicole and she gives me a thumbs up.
Carter turns toward Nicole in frustration and seems to be pleading with her to talk some sense into me. I take that opportunity to run. As childish as it is, it’s also hysterical at the same time. I run out to Drew’s car and jump into the backseat yelling, “Go, go, go,” like I had just robbed a bank.
When I look back, I see Carter running out of the house and yelling something I can’t hear. When I look over at Drew, he’s laughing. “You know you just looked like a crazy person, right?”
