Page 197 of Steeling Her
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CARTER
“Where are you taking me, babe?” Ted asks seductively from behind me. He’s about to get a rude awakening after what he pulled outside.
“Don’t,” I state firmly, not happy with what he pulled out there. I’m not happy with either of them, I’ll just speak to Nick about it at a different time.
“Wait, why are you mad at me? I should be mad at you! You’re the one who was feeling your best friend’s brother up, Carter. Who is that guy anyway? And don’t say Haley’s brother, I know there is something you’re not telling me.” He yanks me back by my arm. I wince due to the sudden and unexpected movement.
“I’m allowed to be mad at you, Ted. You have been absent for the entire time you’ve here. You need to be present for Taylor. Do this for me, Ted. You’ve been on your phone more times than not today. It’s rude, and I don’t like you doing that to me or my family,” I snap at him. His stupid phone is about to ruin this relationship. I get that he has to work, but he could have told his colleagues that he’s not available today and deal with it tomorrow or later on in the night. Right now just isn’t going to cut it anymore.
He rolls his eyes and groans. “You know I have to take these calls, Carter. My career is important to me.” He lifts up his phone and I can see someone beginning to call him. I sigh and step away from him.
“Just answer it. I don’t care.” I stomp back towards the kitchen but he stops me. He steps in front of me and takes the call.
“Hey, can I call you back later? I’m in the middle of something,” he says to whoever is on the other line but doesn’t take his eyes off me. “Alright, thanks. Bye.” He hangs up the phone and smiles as he places it back into his pocket. “There, you happy? I did that for you.” He takes both of my shoulders and caresses them with both hands. A soft look adorns his face but I’m not buying it.
“I shouldn’t have to ask you, Ted.” I continue to walk around him to get back outside to the birthday girl. I want to see if she’s okay. I know she was a little shaken by the two hotheads who clearly don’t like each other. It’s one thing to not like each other and biting their tongues about it, but it’s another thing to get aggressive in front of kids. I won’t tolerate anything like that. It’s not the day for it.
As soon as I step back outside, I see her clinging on to Nick, who is talking to her parents. She’s smiling and giggling with them as they try to lift her spirits back up from the minor hiccup. I watch them as they interact with one another. She really has taken a liking to him.
“Who is he? I know he’s more than just Haley’s brother, Carter. I would appreciate if you could shed some light on him.” Ted follows me out and asks me the one question I wanted to avoid. To be honest, I don’t know how long I would have been able to avoid it.
I suppose this situation was inevitable.
“We dated,” I reply coolly, staring at how my niece is completely immersed by him. I totally get why, because I feel my eyes drift towards him as he talks to Danielle. “We dated in college,” I end the conversation and walk straight out to join them, not wanting to look at Ted. I was afraid of that, so I find myself running. I’m not ready to discuss the relationship yet, not with anyone. Even after five years, it still stings. And I hate that he still has that effect on me and yet, at the same time, I don’t.
I feel a hand wrap around my wrist and tug me back a little more aggressively than I would have liked. I know this is the moment that I have been dreading.
The talk.
“You can’t just drop that on me and walk away.” Ted moves closer to me in a hushed tone, wanting to now keep his voice down.
“It’s not something I want to talk about,” I declare calmly, quietly.
“You’re running, Carter. Why?” I pry my hand out of his and shake my head, refusing to admit that I am running. I don’t want to feel weak again. After breaking up with me, I came out stronger than ever. I was at my lowest point after it, but as the days pass, I found my strength again with the help of others who had supported me through that ugly time. Even with the strength behind me, I still have my weak moments like everybody else. It just happens to be when Nick is there, since he’s the main cause of it.
“I’m not.” I walk away again but this time diverting myself towards my mom. I need to stay as far away from Nick as I possibly can. Ted rushes over behind me and sits next to me, making a point to me that he won’t go away and neither is the conversation that we need to have.
“We’re talking about this, now. As I said before, you can’t just tell me that and walk away from me. I want to know. Is there still something there between you two? Did something happen that I should know about?” Ted shuffles closer to me than I want, but I know I have to address this sooner or later. The screech of his chair along the tiles sends a shiver down my spine. I just wanted to tell him later. Today is not the day. Judging by his tone and the previous reaction, he’s not going to like hearing about my past relationship with Nick.
“Nothing has happened between us, Ted. I just don’t think that this is the place to talk about it. Not while he is right over there. I don’t want anyone to hear this. It’s a private matter and I want to keep it like that. The conversation is done. We’ll have it another time.” I shut it down and set my back against the expensive woven chair I’m on. I exude the aura that tells him to drop the subject and, luckily, he gets it.
“Then when is the best time? Huh? You look like you’ve been avoiding this at all costs.” He sits forward, trying to get my attention, but all I do is stare at the barbecue creating a cloud of smoke trailing into the sky.
“I’m not avoiding this. We’re just not talking about it right now. Ted, it’s my niece’s birthday, and I want this day to be about her. I will talk to you later about it. I will come over tonight and we can talk about it then, okay?” I ask him to leave this for now. It gives me time to gather my thoughts and compose myself. The thing with Ted is, he brings the tactics he uses in work into our relationship, and I hate that. He wants to tackle this head on, and while I appreciate that, there is a time and a place for it; this most certainly is not it.
I haven’t seen Nick so hotheaded like that since . . . Ryan Averman. He doesn’t have the right to be like that now. He chose football, this is the life he chose and is going to have.
I thought if I ever saw him again, he’d be engaged or married. I honestly didn’t think he’d be single for so long. Then again, he was always a playboy.
Come on, Carter, give him a little credit. He was loyal and trustworthy in your relationship.
A part of me is glad, yet another part of me is sad for him. I would have been happy for him if Nick had chosen to move on from us. It would have hurt to see another girl look at him with love in her eyes and him staring right back at her, but I would have put on a brave face and accepted that it just wasn’t meant to be.
Even though he broke me in two, I still want him to be happy. It’s what everyone deserves.
“Okay,” Ted says unconvincingly.
