Red Flags (21 page)

That text from Chelsea warmed my heart. As
brash, intrusive, and nosy as she could be, Chelsea was always
there for me. I wanted to fill her in on our night, but I knew that
now wasn’t the time, nor was Jason’s home the place to do it. I
settled for a quick text right back to her.

to Chels

*Yes I stayed. Things are better. Long night that I
will fill you in on when I get a chance. <3 U!*

My phone rang and startled me. I answered it
on the first ring, hoping to avoid waking Jason.

“Hello…” my tone was guarded since I failed
to check the caller ID and had no clue who was on the other
end.

“Hey Cars, its Dad.”

I relaxed, hearing my dad’s voice was a
welcomed sound.

“Hi Dad. What cha up to?”

“On our way to the airport, Ryan’s taking
us.”

Guilt overcame me. I had no idea my parents
were leaving today. I knew they were leaving over Spring break, but
I had been so wrapped up in my own bubble that I didn’t even think
to find out what day they would be leaving.

“I’m so sorry Dad. I should have been there.
Where’s Mom?”

“Don’t worry about it Cars, I know you have
quite a bit going on.” I could feel the warmth in his voice.

My mom got on the phone, excitement level off
the Richter scale. “Hey gorgeous,” I really hated that name, “going
to miss you. What are you doing for Easter?”

“I really don’t know Mom, I haven’t even
thought about it.”

‘Well, promise me you and Ryan will do
something together.”

“We’ll try Mom.”

“Okay! Have a good week, and we will try to
call periodically. I love you Cara, here’s Dad.”

My dad was laughing as he got back on the
phone. No doubt his laughter stemmed from the excitement that my
Mom had failed to contain. Ryan was shouting something in the
background, but with all of the road noise, it sounded muffled, so
I was unable to make out exactly what he was saying.

“I hope things are better for you Cars,
remember what I said, you don’t have to take anyone’s crap.”

“I know Dad, I know.”

He kissed me through the phone, told me he
loved me, and hung up. My parents were phenomenal, but my dad had
been that constant rock for me, more so than anyone else in my
life. His words resonated with me, and I knew the way Jason spoke
last night was completely unacceptable, and so was the way I
responded. If I could say that I was learning anything, it was
mutual respect.

Hanging up the phone, I looked up to find
Jason, in nothing but his boxer briefs, admiring me from afar. His
ripped abs were bulging, begging me to touch him, but I recognized
the power of our touch, and it would lead to sex that our fragile
union couldn’t withstand at the moment. He walked briskly over to
me and planted a kiss on my forehead.

“Who was that?”

“My parents. They’re leaving for the Bahamas
today for a week.”

"Awesome.” And he paraded into the kitchen.
“You hungry?”

“Actually I am. What are we having?”

“What do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

“Fine, but you can’t be in the kitchen or
anywhere near it. Go outside and take a swim, or go back to the
room.”

I took his advice and went for the swim. In
nothing but my panties, I marched towards the door that led to the
back patio.

“Um, you’re going out like that?” Jason
asked, peering at my body.

“Yes sir. We have done some pretty crazy
things in this pool, so a swim is harmless.”

“Yes, but it was night time. Put a top on,
the neighbors will be getting' a free show.” He smiled, wickedly,
like the cat that ate the canary.

I grabbed my bikini top out of my bag and put
it on, basically running back to the kitchen, where Jason shot me
the thumbs up, showing his approval. I swam laps in the pool for at
least 20 minutes, killing two birds with one stone: morning
workout, and relaxation.

Jason came to the patio with two plates in
his hands. He sat them down on the outside table, and scurried back
in to grab two champagne flutes. He laid out pigs in a blanket,
with bacon and cheese omelets. The flutes were filled with Mimosas
and I hopped out of the pool and pranced over to the table. Jason
met me with a towel to dry off, and sat me down in my chair,
pushing me closer to the table.

We ate, made small talk, but then he ran his
hands through his hair, and I knew something heavy was on his
mind.

“When are you going to make up with Mila?” He
asked, and eyed me curiously.

“I don’t know, haven’t really thought about
it. Why?” I asked, and continued shoveling the mouthwatering omelet
into my mouth.

“I know you’re pissed at her like you were
with me, and yet, you and I have made up. I just want to see the
same for you and your friend.”

“Well, Mila and I had our issues before this
came about,” I paused to take a sip of the Mimosa, “her and my
brother just don’t sit well with me.”

“Is that your choice?”

“No, and I know it’s not, but I know her, and
she is unstable in relationships, thus making her jump often.”

“Well, baby, gotta let it be. If Ryan knows
about her dating habits, and is okay with it, then he has to deal
with her, not you. Make up with your friend.”

“That’s not it. She doesn’t know when to just
shut the hell up, so talking to her is like talking to a wall,”

“I doubt that, and I hate to think that part
of what set you over the top is this situation involving me. I
swear to you, she was just trying to help me. I called her and
asked right then and there what we should do. She’s not out to get
you.”

“I will give her that, but I know why she
went with that plan. She knew Chase would be around and that was
her way of being nosy and keeping Chase out of my life. She’s such
a hypocrite.”

“Well, I’d like to keep Chase out of your
life, but I’m sure my reasoning is entirely different than
hers.

Jason shifted in his seat; just enough to
reach into his pocket and pull out his cell phone. He looked at the
screen and laid it down on the table so that it was visible for me.
It was a text message from Mila.

April 6 from Mila

*No Cara at home, hope that means you guys are
better!*

Chapter 10

I was blood curdling mad. Was she trying to
wreck things for me? What if I wasn’t with Jason, the little prefix
to her text would have given him a conniption. I contemplated
responding to her text but with Jason within arm’s length, I would
never be able to get started. I pushed the phone back over in his
direction, and got up to take our plates into the house; I’d
suddenly lost my appetite. Upon my return, the phone was in the
same position that I’d left it in, and Jason was sitting, staring
into the deep blue pool water.

“Did you respond?” I failed miserably at
trying to hide the disdain behind that question.

“Yes,” he smiled wide, showing off his
beautiful pearly whites.

“What’s so funny?”

“You!” Now, I added a dose of irritation to
my anger. Mila condescendingly mentioned yesterday that she would
butt out, and yet, here we were, chasing the same train. Why did
she feel the incessant urge to interject herself into my affairs?
Why wasn’t she busy making sure that my brother was happy? On the
other hand, why was Jason getting a kick out of it? I’d never been
an overly jealous person, if that’s what he was hoping to
accomplish, but I was hotly annoyed with her.

“Don’t know why you’re filled with glee right
now, and what did you say to her?”

He sat back in his chair and laughed.

“I just told her we were working on things,
and thank you.”

‘Thank you for what?”

“For her kind words. Damn Cara, when did you
become the prosecutor for San Diego County?”

“Since when did you and my roommate become
best friends?”

He leaned in, staring me in the eyes. “Hey,
we had a good night and up until now, a good morning, don’t ruin
it.”

I pushed the loose strands of hair out of my
face, and took a deep breath. I would deal with Mila my own way, no
sense in getting Jason involved because for some strange reason he
saw me as the antagonist in this blatantly obvious situation. Jason
changed the topic, moving to a far more pleasant subject matter. He
told me that we’d be heading to the San Diego Paintball Complex
today with some of his buddies from the gym. Excitement surged
through me; I’d never been paintballing before and I liked just
about anything that had to with physicality. I didn’t know any of
Jason’s friends, so therein lay my sole source of apprehension. I
didn’t know much about Jason, and his friends were an important
step in our relationship. If the friends don’t like you, it makes
it difficult to keep it going.

We arrived at the SDPC and there was a group
of coeds waiting outside the entrance. My excitement would
alleviate the tension that had been building with Mila over the
past few days – shooting should definitely release the stress.
Jason hopped out of the truck and ran around to my side to open my
door and help me out. His friends stood gawking at us, as if they’d
never seen him with a girl before.

We walked up to the entrance and the
introductions began. Jared was a tall, but rather thin, pale red
head, and his girlfriend, Jenny, was just as thin, only shorter
with strawberry blond hair. Chris was a tall, husky brunette, with
sleeves of tattoos filling both arms. His biceps were bulging from
his arms, almost as if they were trying to escape the layer of skin
they were trapped under. He was attached to a tall brunette by the
name of Becca. She was overly friendly, although her appearance
would have made you think otherwise. She was equally tatted, and
while she and Chris matched based on appearances alone, there
didn’t seem to be much more there. Finally, I meet Devon and
Stacey. Devon was a medium built, African American guy, with a low
fade. His big brown eyes sparkled as he reached out to shake my
hand. Jason eyed him and he quickly went from enamored to reverent,
all in a matter of seconds. Stacey, a tall, curvaceous girl, with
long brown hair, highlighted with bits of blond and green eyes,
looked at me with pure malice in her eyes. Her artificial handshake
and tight smile told me that something was amiss with her, or she
was just a stuck up bitch. Her reaction to Jason was on the
opposite end of the spectrum. She rushed over to him, threw her
arms around his neck, while bending her right leg at the knee. She
whispered something in his ear, and he smiled, genuinely – making
me want to vomit.

We made our way inside and Jason flashed a
card that got everyone through. We hurried out to put on our gear,
and Jason handed me my face mask, tank, and a ridiculous amount of
body pads. There were pads for my elbows, knees, my torso, and
gloves. I noticed no one else was wearing them so I refused but
Jason, being as persistent as he could be, didn’t relent.

“Cara, you have never been paintballing
before so you should wear these.”

I felt ridiculous, being the lone ranger with
all of the protective gear. “No! I’m okay. No one else is wearing
it, so I should be just fine.” I smiled at him, trying to reassure
him that I wouldn’t break. I turned to my left to see Stacey
laughing while braiding her long brown hair and tying a bandana
around her head. She whispered something in Jenny’s ear, and
smirked at me in the most elementary fashion. I didn’t know what
her deal was, but I refused to allow pettiness to get in the way of
a good time.

We sat through a boring orientation that felt
never ending, when in actuality it may have lasted for about 15
minutes. Jason tossed me my gun, and the teams were divvied up.

“Alright, me, Jason, Jenny, and Devon against
Jared, Chris, Becca, and Cara,” Stacey said, smiling viciously at
me.

I looked to Jason, wanting desperately for
him to shift the teams, but he didn’t so I wasn’t going to look
like the pathetic, wimpy girlfriend by asking him to. My emotions
must have been pretty transparent because Jason made his way over
to me, concern etched all over his face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Lies! He barks, “tell me, NOW!”

“Nothing, let’s just do this, and have a good
time.”

“Stacey?”

“Drop it Jason, let’s have fun.” He stared at
me a while longer, searching my face but not finding the answers to
any of his thoughts. He prepped me for our match and we made our
way over to the group.

A few moments later, the whistle blew and we
were off. The adrenaline rush from running around, ducking for
cover, and shooting when I saw an open target had plastered a huge
smile on my face. I took a shot at Devon and hit him smack in the
center of his face mask. I felt accomplished. Jared jumped in front
of me and shot at Jenny before she had a chance to take a shot at
me, hitting her in her right shoulder. I decided to stalk Jason,
and make sure that I got a good shot in on him, when I noticed that
I was being stalked. Stacey was trying every angle to get a good
shot at me, so I took a few at her, ducking and dodging as I did
it. She had rolled and hidden herself so well, that I lost sight of
her. Unfortunately, this didn’t feel like a fun game anymore, and
instead, I felt like the prey being hunted. I crouched behind a
boulder and rolled to my right, seeing Becca, and signaled for her
to come near. She made her way over and I whispered to her the last
place that I had seen Stacey, and she signaled for me to follow
her, taking cover as we moved.

The game continued, and while my team was
dropping like flies, I was enjoying the adrenaline packed, yet
peaceful time. Jason and Stacey were still in for their team, while
Becca and I were still in for ours. I thought I was getting the
hang of it all when I turned to my right and was face to face with
Stacey. I froze, my heart racing, and I stared into the face of my
paintball nemesis. She lowered her gun and shot me, hitting me in
the knee and upper thigh, paint exploding all over me. The shots,
at such close range hurt with a pain that I couldn’t even describe.
She looked at me, unapologetic and murmured, “bitch” as she ran by.
I dropped -- knee aching more than anything, and luckily for me,
the whistle blew and play was suspended for our break.