"I didn"t think so," Karlie grinned. "I"m sure your posse will cheer you on, anyway. You don"t need me."
"But I do," Holden whispered under his breath.
"What?" Karlie gasped.
"Nothing," he said, his jaw clenched. "I"ve got to go get ready."
We watched him walk over to Dan and start warm ups.
"I will never understand him," Karlie said. She looked over at Patsy to make sure she was occupied and then whispered to me, "He"s always sending me these mixed messages. I don"t know what to make of them. I"m so confused."
I shrugged. "I don"t know what to tell you. I don"t exactly have a lot of experience in the guy department."
"You don"t? But you"re so pretty," she gaped at me.
I shrugged. "I"ve only ever had one boyfriend and that didn"t turn out too well."
"Oh," she said.
"Is this seat taken?" A guy asked, pointing to the empty seat next to me.
Oh c.r.a.p.
"I- oh- um-"
"Yes, it is," Jared, growled out, standing behind the guy. He was freshly showered, drops of water still clinging to his hair, and he"d changed into a pair of jeans that hugged his body and a plain white t-shirt. His tan skin looked even darker next to the white of his shirt.
"Oh, my bad," the guy grinned at me and winked before moving off to another part of the bleachers.
"I swear," Jared sat down, "I leave you alone for five minutes and the wolves descend."
"Not wolves, men, Jared," Karlie pointed out.
Jared chuckled. "Okay, squirt. The men descend. Happy, now?"
"Yes," she laughed.
"Are you hurt?" I asked Jared, inspecting his face and arms for cuts or bruises.
"Nah, he only got a couple of hits in and they weren"t good ones. I"m perfectly fine. Promise," he added when he saw my doubtful expression.
I still looked at him skeptically.
He chuckled. "If I was hurt, would you kiss it and make it better?" I blanched and he only laughed harder. "I was only kidding, kitten. Don"t look at me like that."
I tried to school my expression into something resembling normalcy, but with that comment, it was kind of difficult.
"Sorry, I shouldn"t have said that," Jared looked at me apologetically.
"It"s okay," I a.s.sured him. "It was just in jest. I know you didn"t mean it like that."
"Sometimes, I forget that you"re so breakable," his brown eyes darkened. "You"re like this fragile piece of gla.s.s that someone has placed in my hand and if I make one small stumble, you"re going to go crashing to the ground, shattered at my feet."
"I don"t want to be breakable," I whispered.
"I know you don"t," Jared said. "But you are, and that"s okay."
17.
I ENTERED THE ADDRESS JARED HAD GIVEN ME, into my navigation system, and went to pick up Karlie.
I pulled up in front of a small cottage at the end of a cul-de-sac, in a nice neighborhood.
The house had a small front porch with a lone rocking chair. Its roof was grey with blue siding and an orange door.
It was charming and definitely not the bachelor pad, I had envisioned for Jared.
I parked on the street and hopped up the porch steps. I knocked on the door and heard Jared holler, "Just a second!"
The door opened and Jared grinned. "You"re here."
"Yep," I nodded, swaying slightly back and forth in nervousness.
"On my front porch," he chuckled. "Is this a dream?" He smirked, rubbing at the dark stubble covering his cheeks and chin.
"I don"t think so," I laughed.
"You"re right," he said, motioning me inside. "If it was a dream, you"d be naked."
I gasped.
"I"m kidding, Katy. Laugh, it won"t kill you," he winked, walking into the kitchen. "I was just making a sandwich. Karlie should be down in a minute," he pointed up stairs.
He plopped down at the small kitchen table and took a monster bite of his sandwich. Swallowing, he said, "Sit down, Katy. Make yourself at home. Mi casa es su casa."
I pulled out the chair across from him.
"I really hope you know what you"re getting into, taking Karlie shopping. She never goes, so when she gets the chance, she gets kind of crazy," Jared grinned crookedly.
"I think I can handle it," I said.
He took a sip of Mountain Dew. "I"m sure you can, you"re always so composed."
Maybe on the outside, I wanted to say.
"Yeah, that"s me, cool as a cuc.u.mber," I said, instead. Oh gosh, did I really just say that?
Jared chuckled. "You"re funny."
"I wasn"t trying to be," I said.
"Oh, I know," he winked.
The sound of feet bounding down the steps had me turning around.
"Hey Katy! I"m ready! Thank you so much for taking me with you! I know you didn"t have to!" Karlie said as she appeared.
"Squirt," Jared interrupted her. "Pipe down, before you scare Katy away for good."
"Sorry!" she blushed, grabbing a lightweight sweatshirt from the coat rack and pulling it on.
"Come here, Karls," Jared said, standing and pulling out his wallet.
"No, Jared," Karlie backed away. "You don"t need to give me any money."
Jared rolled his eyes. "Don"t worry about it, Karlie. I want you to get some nice things. You never get to go shopping. Take it," he held out the wad of bills."
"No, Jared, that"s your money," she shook her head.
"Don"t argue with me Karlie Elizabeth, I mean it," Jared growled, looking at his sternly.
"Fine," she took the money from him. She counted out the bills and her eyes widened. "Seriously, Jared, I can"t take all of this!"
"Yes, you can. Buy something nice," he leaned against the pale orange painted wall.
"Really? Are you sure?" She looked up at him.
"I wouldn"t offer it, if I wasn"t," he grinned.
"You"re the best big brother ever!" Karlie stretched up to her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Thank you!"
"You"re welcome, squirt," he said, as she ran out the door.
We heard a squeal and then, "Oh my G.o.d! Katy! Is this your car?"
Jared chuckled and rubbed his face. "Despite her girlyness, Karlie is way more into cars than I am."
"I can tell," I said.
"What time do you think ya"ll will be back?" he asked.
"Um... probably after dinner. I think Piper wants to eat at some restaurant in the mall."
"Okay," he said, "just don"t stay out too late. It"s a school night for Karlie and she needs to go to bed."
"Don"t worry, Jared, I"ll have her home at a reasonable time," I laughed.
"Sorry," he blushed, "I worry about her like I"m her dad."
"It"s okay," I a.s.sured him.
"Thank you for doing this, Katy," he said, warmly, reaching out as if to touch my cheek. He let his hand drop to his side, sadness filling his eyes. It hurt to know that my reluctance was what put it there.
"Really, Jared, I"m happy to do it. Karlie is awesome," I smiled, trying to ignore what I saw in his eyes.
"Katy!" we heard Karlie yell.
"I guess that"s my cue to get my b.u.t.t out of here," I told him.
"Be careful," he said. "I"ll see you later."
"This is seriously, the coolest car, ever!" Karlie"s voice spiked a couple of notches. "It"s like a s.p.a.ceship!" She petted the dashboard.
"Thanks, it was a gift from my mom. I would"ve been happy with something less extravagant," I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders.
"What!? No!" She gasped. "I"d die and go to heaven if this was my car. It"s beautiful," she rubbed the leather seat.
"It"s definitely nice, I"m not complaining," I smiled over at her and turned into the mall parking lot.
It took fifteen minutes to finally find an empty parking spot in one of the garages. Any mall was packed on the weekends, but in a college town it was a hundred times worse.
I called Piper and she said she was in Macy"s so Karlie and I headed in that direction.
Karlie was in awe by everything we pa.s.sed, and I felt sorry for her. She was in more need of girl time than me.
"Oooh! Oooh! Katy! Look at this jacket! It"s so pretty!" she was stopped, gaping at one of the various mannequins stationed throughout the department store.
"That would look great on you," I told her, honestly. It was a yellow, hooded Anorak jacket.
"You think? You don"t think the yellow would clash with my hair?" Karlie asked.
"Not at all," I fingered the soft fabric. "You should try it on."
"Okay!" she turned and began scanning the rack next to the mannequin for a jacket in her size.
We were supposed to meet Piper in the fragrance department, but at the rate we were going, it would be nighttime before we made it there. So, I text Piper the section we were in and hoped she"d be able to find us.
"Look at this, Katy!" Karlie held a loose black and white striped tank top with a red heart on it, in the air.
"Nice!" I said.