Page 101 of Steeling Her
“I just wanted to tell your stupid ass and your friends.” I whip my head around to face the other two culprits, who are looking worried and guilty right now, confirming my bluff. “ I’m taking this to the police and pressing charges against all of you. I just thought I’d let you all know so you can come up with a lie as to where you were when it happened, even though you’re clearly seen on camera spraying my car with paint and smashing it up.” I smirk back at her shocked expression. “What did you expect, Maya? Me to run, cry, and hide from this? To let it all blow over and let you continue to walk all over me? That I would back down from all of this and let you get the upper hand? Let me tell you this and your fucking backup dancers, you fucked with the wrong girl.” I stand a breath away from her scared face. “You really pushed the limit now. You don’t fuck with a Steel. You do, you pay the damn price. I won’t hold back on the charges, Maya. Everyone has a breaking point, and I’ve reached mine. You knew who I am, who my parents are—”
“My dad is a detective! You can’t prove shit, Carter!” she defends herself. Like that shit’s going to help her.
“By the time I’m through with you and these charges, Maya, not even your goddamn father can help you get out of this one. Not even the fucking President can get you off.” I snarl back at her. I have so much anger towards her and her two idiot friends that I don’t even care about how I look right now. I make good with my threats. I won’t hold back, not a single bit. She’s speechless right now as I just stare at her. I may be smaller than her, but I sure as hell look bigger than her right now. “There’s so much evidence against you, your dad can’t help you with this. You’ve been caught, along with your little friends too.” I scowl as I look at the two of them sweat, still telling me that they’re guilty. They may as well hold up a sign saying “‘I did it” thanks to the looks on their faces.
“This is what you like, Nick? Huh? A bitch who is bullshitting her way through college, taking girls’ boyfriends? Careful, Haley, you might be next,” she taunts them, and I sigh in frustration.
“You know what! You can think all you like that he was your boyfriend, but it’s sad when it’s only you who sees it that way. He even denies it.” I hate bringing Nick into this, but it’s necessary to get it through her delusional brain of hers that they were never official.
“Like he’d ever ask you out, you little troll.” She growls back, looking at me from head to toe. I start to laugh at how stupid she looks. For such a pretty girl, her appeal is wasted on how stupid she really is. I can see why Nick never wanted to be official with her.
I’m backing off the lawn still staring directly at her. “The police will be in touch, along with my lawyers and possibly my father. The only one you should be terrified of is the last person I mentioned.” I laugh at her once again. Her face is priceless. I know I was a bitch, but you’ve got to be one to beat one at their game.
After a certain distance, I stop and look over at Nick, who has a slight smirk on his face. I turn back to Maya and shout, “Oh, and another thing. He’s not yours, Maya. Never was and never will be, so you can fucking forget about that one. So, stay the hell away from us, Haley and TJ included. I’ll be filing a restraining order against you.” I walk back down the street mumbling “Stupid clingy hoe” to myself, and I feel a hand grip mine. I intertwine my fingers together with Nick’s.
“That was hot—really hot,” he whispers to me and I smile, a little glad I got that all of that off my chest. I feel so good. Maybe my words were a little harsh, but I think it needed to be known that I don’t like being punched around.
“Was it too much?” I ask him softly.
“Are you fucking kidding me? That was epic! When you went all ‘Don’t fuck with me! I’m a Steel!’ That was so cool! It made me want to be a Steel!” Haley laughs beside me. It feels weird to have her on my side again. But is it short lived?
As if she knows what I’m thinking, she backs away from me and walks next to TJ. I look up to him and he mouths, “Give her time.” I nod back in understanding and rest my head on Nick’s arm, feeling so drained by all of this. I just wish my relationship with Haley could back to normal, but I understand why she’s mad at me. But she has to understand that it’s not like that between me and Nick. We like each other, but she’s feeling hurt because she thinks I don’t want to be friends with her. I do.
I actually miss her already.
“I wish I said that shit to her. Stupid bitch,” Haley mumbles to a laughing TJ. Hearing them kissing makes me smile, but Nick squeezes my hand. I wrap my other hand around him, taking his attention away from his best friend and sister making out behind us.
“You need to talk to her, Nick,” I say lowly so only we can hear my voice. He sighs, staring back down at me. I know he’s agreeing with me; they need to talk this out. He needs to accept that they have both fallen for each other and can’t help it. They are really sweet together too. I just wish she was accepting about whatever is happening between me and her brother.
“Don’t give me those eyes, Carter.” He laughs a little, knowing that he’ll give in to my puppy eyes. It always worked on my dad and brothers. I keep looking at him like that. He starts to laugh and look away. “Stop!” he bellows with a huge contagious grin and wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him.
“Stop what? I’m not doing anything,” I tease him and he laughs once more, showing off his pearly set of white teeth. He rolls his eyes at me and leans down.
“Not yet, I need it to soak in a little more. That shit is still weird,” he whispers before kissing me on my own lips. I smile into the kiss and peck him back. I appreciate that he’s trying with this entire thing. It was a huge shock to him. I get why he is so protective of his sister, but they both need to realize that we’re all in the same situation. I just hope they both come around in time.
We’re all walking back towards the campus, and I feel so much lighter after getting that fire off my chest. It needed to be said; she needed to be put back inside her little box. If I wasn’t going to do it, then another girl definitely would have. She’s rotten to the core.
I most certainly don’t regret what I said, maybe I shouldn’t have used my name to state a point to not push me to my limits, but it was the heat of the moment. It just flew out of my mouth and I can’t take it back. I was so mad at what she did to my car.
When we finally reach it again, there’s nobody around my unrecognizable car anymore. I stand there and stare at it with Nick while the other two walk inside the dorm building, leaving us alone.
“I’ll call the dealership tomorrow morning if you want? I’ll tell them to fix it for you,” he consoles me, and I smile at how nice he’s been to me throughout all of this mess. I just ridiculed his psycho, clingy ex—or whatever she is—and he’s super chilled with it. I lean my head against him and he slings his arm across my shoulder, making me press closer to his body.
“Thank you, Nick,” I whisper to him and he presses his lips on my head to comfort me.
“You know I’m here for you, right?” I nod back at the question, one I know the answer to in a heartbeat. I know he’ll be there for me.
“I need to call my parents though. They need to know about this so they can organise the down payment to fix my car. I don’t have enough in my account at the moment.” He nods and we stay outside while I make this dreaded phone call. My dad will flip his shit once he hears about it. So, I fish out my phone from my pocket and start to dial the number I’ve been told to know off by heart.
Ringing and waiting has me antsy, until it suddenly stops and I’m met with a, “Hi, Carter, honey! How are you feeling?” His tone is always light and cheerful when I call him. He’s my dad, I’m so close with him that I can tell him anything; except about guys. He can’t handle that topic.
“Hey, Dad! I’m good . . . well . . . sort of.” I back track my words. I’m not really that good after what happened, and I can’t lie to my dad.
“What’s wrong? What happened? Is it that Jackson kid again? Or is it the other one now?” He panics slightly. I hear some whistles in the background, knowing he’s at work, but he always takes my calls unless he’s extremely busy.
“No, it’s not them, don’t worry.” I smile at Nick, who now knows I’m talking about him. He sends a weak yet encouraging smile my way. “It’s just, well . . . my car got vandalized today, and I need it fixed-”
“Vandalized?!” he roars, and I flinch at my phone taking it away from my ear. “What do you mean it’s been vandalized, Carter?” he squeaks out. I know he’s not happy at all. “What happened?” he continues his twenty-one questions at me.
