Page 56 of Steeling Her
“It’s not a bad thing, Carter.” His voice drops to a lower tone, and I feel my heart stop. When he said my name in that tone, it brought me back to the first night I met him—when I shook his hand.
“It’s not a good thing, either,” I joke. I see a smile lift at the corners of his lips. I once again look at them and then back to his eyes.That look. What is he thinking?I ask to myself. He smirks at me, and I realize how at ease I am with him. He makes it all so simple.
“Did you know that every star we see is bigger and brighter than the sun?” He grins at me as I’m stating a fact. “And when a star ‘twinkles’ it’s actually not due to the star at all, it’s due to the Earth’s turbulent atmosphere,” I inform him just because I find space interesting. I always have.
“I didn’t know that . . . that’s kinda cool.” He cranes his neck backwards and looks up at the sky once more. “Why do you know a lot about space?” he asks the sky while I just watch him. Everything he does intrigues me.
“I always liked learning about space. I have a telescope at home; depending on the night, I look out of it at midnight just to look at the galaxy. It’s so beautiful.” He turns back to face me and leans back on his hands.
“People don’t realize how beautiful nature is,” he says to me and we both go silent. I play with my hands for a bit while I listen to our breathing and the light chatter below us. After a while, I look up to meet his gaze. His green eyes pulse like paint diffusing in water, and I’m hypnotized by him.
“You know, I’ve never had a girl criticize me on my game . . .” I bite my lip, not taking my eyes away from him. His face inches closer to mine, taking me back to the night when he came and sat with me instead of being at the party. It feels like that night all over again. There’s something floating in the air above us, like a spark.
“I’m sorry—”
“It was kinda hot.” My brows shoot straight up and I stare at him like he’s lost his mind. I practically insulted him.
“What?” I exhale rapidly after realizing his proximity. He’s close—so, so close.
“It was sexy actually . . .” He breathes back on to my lips, allowing a tingling sensation to take over. His eyes are bright green and so close. I can’t look away. “You’re so different, Carter. A good type of different. I’ve never met someone like you . . . You’ve intrigued me from the moment I met you . . .” I feel like this isn’t real. I intrigued him?
I can’t say anything back. I can hear my heart in my ears and the pulsing sensation in my neck. But he angles his head to the side and leans in, placing a hand behind me. Staring at each other for some time, neither one of us is backing away from this.Kiss me. Just kiss me,my body screams at him but my mouth is silent.
Finally, like he can’t take it anymore, he leans in and presses his lips perfectly against mine. I shut my eyes. His hand reaches up to the side of my face. The kiss is so gentle, so soft and packed with emotion. I’ve never been kissed like this before.
I sit there, shocked, and he pulls away slightly. We stare at each other once more and I lean back into him, wanting that feeling again. I’m already missing his lips. He lightly nips at my lower lip, and I open them, allowing his tongue to slip inside and caress mine. We move in sync with each other like it’s meant to be. I feel my lips get a shock, jolting me to not stop this moment.
My hand reaches up to his hair and I run my fingers through it. Feeling his moan vibrate through me, I keep playing with his hair. My stomach is in knots and my mind has gone foggy. The pace picks up, and I kiss him back with everything I’ve got. I don’t want to stop this moment, it’s so perfect.
This is all so new to me. I feel his thumb brush my cheek as we make out for some time. On the roof of a sorority house, I’m kissing my roommate’s brother. And he’s kissing me.
Once we feel the pace slowing back down, he pulls away with a smile on his face. I feel myself copying his smile. My lips feel like they’re on fire, and where he touched me feels cold when his warmth leaves. I miss his touch. I’m so breathless after that. His hand still on my face, I rest my own on top of them. His smile grows wider with every moment that passes us. I bite on my lip, trying not to grin like an idiot. He brushes his thumb over my lip, silently asking me to release it.
There is no sign of my heart rate slowing down. It’s thumping hard against my chest, and I’m almost vibrating after each one. I’m shaking from the kiss we had, and I can’t pull myself together. My mind is blank, and yet, all I can think about is him.
“That was better than what I imagined it to be like,” his whisper tickles my lips, and I grin back at him, like he wasn’t meant to say that out loud. It finally registered that he did. His cheeks turn into a crimson color, and I can’t wipe the smile off my lips.
“I know how you feel,” I softly say back to him. I watch the smile accelerate onto his gorgeous face.
He kissed me. Nick kissed me.
The loud ringtone in his pocket cuts through our moment, and he removes his hand from me with a grunt to fish it out. Seeing Haley written across the screen, he sighs and answers her.
“Yo! Wha—TJ? What’s wrong?” he asks with a slightly raised voice. “She’s what? Shit! We’ll be down in five . . . Yeah . . . Yes, Carter’s with me . . .” He smiles back over to me and I press my lips together when they talk about me. “That doesn’t matter, man, take her away from Maya and I’ll be there in five, alright? Cool! Yeah, cool, bye.” He hangs up and turns to me.
“So your roommate, my sister, has started a shit storm with Maya and I need to take her away from her. I need to go down now before knives are thrown across the room.” He chuckles and I nod, agreeing that we need to separate them from each other. Maya isn’t the nicest person. We hesitate before we move.
He helps me down the side of the house with my heels in my hand.
Reaching to the ground level, I slip back on my heels while holding onto the wall. We can’t stop smiling at each other as we walk side by side into the house, our hands brushing off one another in the process. He holds the door open for me and I thank him shyly. That’s when we hear the screaming match taking place in the kitchen.
“You’re borderline stalking my family, Maya!” Haley yells over TJ, who is holding her by her shoulders to stop her from launching an attack. Haley bumps off of TJ. People have gathered around both of them, relishing in the tense atmosphere.
“Pfft, the only person stalking you and your family is your roommate who can’t keep her grimy hands off what’s not hers!” Maya checks her nails like it’s the most interesting thing in the world, and I feel Nick tense up behind me.
“Maya! Enough!” Her eyes whip to Nick and her face lights up then drops once she sees me. Her eyes narrow into slits, and she shifts her position so her body is facing him. Standing there with a body full of confidence, she’s not letting up. Her hands on her hips shows off how much of an attitude is radiating off her. This makes every guy in the room check her out.
“My point has been proven. How sad. She can’t get her own damn boyfriend so she has to steal others.” She points at me while people start to laugh lowly behind her. Liking the attention she’s getting, her face starts to produce a smirk. It’s feeding her ego.
