Unraveling (16 page)

“Has he –uh- been with a lot of girls?” I asked.

“Honestly? Not really. Jared’s too busy, being Jared, to waste his time with a girl, even a one-night stand. I’m not saying he’s a saint, because I know he’s not, but he doesn’t sleep around, if that’s what you’re wondering. That’s just not him. Now Holden, on the other hand, has slept with practically every woman under the age of thirty in a ten mile radius.”

“That really bothers you, doesn’t it?” I asked.

She shrugged. “It shouldn’t, he’s not my boyfriend or anything, it’s really just the point of it. I don’t think it’s right to sleep around like that. I’m not saying you have to wait for marriage or anything, but I think you should wait for that one special person. The person that leaves you breathless when they walk into a room, the person you miss the minute they’re gone. I think you should be
in
love, not lust. If that means I’ll be a virgin the rest of my life, so be it. But I’m not giving it up just because some guy thinks with the wrong head.”

I laughed loudly, and Jared looked over at us with a funny look.

“Well said,” I told her. “I agree completely with you.”

She smiled. “I really like you, Katy. I don’t have many friends, but I think we could be.”

“I think we could be too,” I said. I didn’t think Piper would mind, so I asked Karlie if she’d like to join us at the mall.

“Yes!” she squealed. “Jared never wants to take me shopping!”

“What are you screaming about?” Jared asked, appearing in front of us. “I can’t be distracted my entire match by you two.”

“Katy, invited me to go shopping tomorrow with her
and her friend,” Karlie explained.

“Really?” Jared looked at me with a raised brow.

“It will be a girls day,” I shrugged.

Jared grinned. “
That sounds like an awesome idea. What time are you going? I can drop Karls off at the mall.”

“No, no,” I waved my hand back and forth, “I’ll pick her up.”

“You sure?” he asked, putting his hands on his hips.

“Positive, there’s no point
in you having to drive out of your way. I can pick her up,” I assured him.

His smile grew. “I’ll text you my address,” he winked and walked back over to Dan.

“I’m so excited now!” Karlie squirmed on the bleachers. “Tomorrow is going to be so much fun.”

“It is,” I smiled. “So, how come you live with Jared and not Dan and Patsy?”

Karlie sighed. “I love Dan and Patsy, but Jared is my brother. When he got his own place, he asked if I wanted to move in and I said yes. Dan and Patsy didn’t mind; they know Jared will take care of me. He always has.”

“You and Jared are very close,” I commented.

“We are,” she said, pushing her long hair back, away from her face. “Most siblings aren’t, especially ones eight years apart, but Jared’s always been there for me.”

“That’s good,” I said, starting to freak out a bit as the people began to trickle in, trying to get the best seat.

Holden was among them, Patsy trailing behind him.

Holden took the space next to me, and Patsy took the empty place next to Karlie. I could feel Karlie tensing, beside me, but I didn’t know how to comfort her.

“Hey Holden,” I said.

“Hey,” he replied, looking down at the floor.

Okay, then.

Dan climbed into the middle of the ring, and spoke to the crowd.

I didn’t hear a thing he said, because I was too busy watching Jared.

Jared danced from foot to foot, shaking out his arms, with his eyes closed. I saw his lips moving silently, and wondered if he was praying. He looked imposing, dangerous even, as he stood there.

Dan sai
d something and Jared bound into the ring, under the ropes.

The other guy soon followed. He was a little shorter than Jared, but bulkier. They were definitely on even footing.

I was so lost as to what was happening that I jumped when the other guy threw a punch at Jared.

I jumped straight up out of my seat and screamed, “Jared! Get him!”

I swear I could hear Jared chuckle.

Jared
ducked out of the way of the guy’s flailing fist and sunk his own fist into the guy’s side. The guy -what did Dan say his name was? Joe? Josh? Jake? I’m pretty sure Dan said his name was Jake- grunted from the impact, throwing a kick at Jared.

Jared seemed to glide around the ring. A few times, I was sure his feet weren’t touching the ground.
His body glistened with a sheen of sweat, but he didn’t seem to be breathing heavily.

He was incredible, the only
way to adequately describe him was, a beast.

Jared completely dominated in the ring. The other guy never stood a chance.

The fight was over in a matter of minutes. Jake fell down and stayed down.

Dan came back into the ring
and declared Jared the winner.

Jared didn’t smile, when Dan raised his arm in the air. Instead, he looked solemnly at Jake. I could tell Jared felt bad, but what else was he supposed to do.

Jared climbed out of the ring and Dan tossed him a towel. He wiped his face, chest, and arms, clean of sweat and then made his way towards us.

“I’m
gonna go shower quick, and I’ll be right back. Don’t run,” he pointed at me.

“I won’t,” I laughed.

“Good,” he said and made his way out of the gym, causing quite a few females to turn his way. I honestly couldn’t blame them.

Holden stood and pulled his shirt off. H
e grinned at Karlie and said, “Are you going to root for me, kiddo?”

“Not likely, Sharky,” she snorted.

“Aww, I’m hurt,” he put his hand over his heart and grinned cockily. “How will I ever win my fight without you on my side?”

“I’m sure you’ll manage,” she sneered.

“Lighten up, kiddo,” Holden said.

“Call me kiddo again
and I’ll kick you in the balls,” she said, vehemently.

Holden rolled his eyes. “I doubt that.”

“Wanna make a bet?” She challenged.

“No,” he squeaked.

“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.”

“Y
ou 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 to
o well.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Is this seat taken?” A guy asked, pointing to the empty seat next to me.

Oh crap.

“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
assured 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 glass 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 ho
pped 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 cucumber,” 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 God! 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.