Fighting to Survive (Guarded Hearts Book 3) (8 page)

“You’re back!” She situates herself on his lap before picking up his sandwich and taking the last bite of it. He laughs and gives her a big hug.

“Angelina, this is my friend Christen.”

She looks over at me, smiles, and then she turns back to Shawn and whispers loudly, “She is really pretty.” I smile. Angelina climbs down off of Shawn’s lap and comes over to me. “I have a lot of princess toys. Do you want to play?”

“Sure!” She runs off quickly and disappears down the hallway. I stand up and take my plate into the kitchen, thanking his mom for lunch on my way.

Shawn walks into the kitchen and wraps his arms around my waist. “I want to take you somewhere tonight, okay?”

“Okay.” Angelina is yelling for me because she’s ready to play, so I give Shawn a quick kiss and head off to find her.

***

Shawn refuses to tell me where we are going tonight, but just tells me to dress nice. I brought a couple of dresses with me and I choose a black strapless one for tonight. It stops at almost mid-thigh and has some rhinestones scattered around the top of it. I like it because it’s really simple but still dressy. Shawn lets me get ready in his room and is waiting for me out in the living room. I obviously don’t do well with surprises because I’m going insane trying to figure out what we are doing tonight.

When I walk out of his bedroom and find him waiting for me, he looks amazing. Shawn is definitely not a guy who likes to dress up, but he’s wearing a dark blue button-up shirt and khakis. His shirt makes his eyes look mesmerizing and I seriously hate that we’re staying at his parents’ now because all I want to do is jump on top of him.

He walks up to me and places his hands on my hips, still holding me at arms’ length, and looks me up and down. “You look beautiful, babe. You ready to go?”

“How can I be ready if I don’t know where I’m going?”

He just smiles at me and leans down to give me a kiss. We walk out to his car and he opens the door for me. I love the little things he does for me. He gets into the car and then pulls away. “So do you know what you are going to do for the summer?”

“I always go away with my family. Usually it’s a trip that gets planned by my mother and it’s one mindless activity and party after another.” Last year we went to Hawaii and my mother spent the entire time commenting about what I ate, how my bathing suit looked on me, why I was wasting my time with school, and when I would settle down. She also always coordinates our trips with friends of my dads who have sons that she wants to set me up with.

“Why don’t you spend it with me then?”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, Maddy and Carter and Holly will be home. My mom even told Jason that he and Nicole can stay with us for a while.”

I would much rather be with my friends than be constantly nagged and judged all summer. My mom would flip out, though. “I don’t know, I think my parents would go insane.”

“Okay, well it’s up to you.” He seems disappointed.

We pull up outside of a restaurant, and Shawn gets out of the car and opens my door for me. The sign says the restaurant’s name is Haven and it’s a Brazilian steakhouse. When we walk in, he gives the hostess his name and she immediately walks us back to a table. She walks away without even giving us a menu and I’m really confused.

Shawn laughs and I look up at him confused. “I see you looking for a menu but there isn’t one.”
What? How the heck can you order food then?
“They serve you everything on their menu and you get to choose what you want to eat.”

I look up and see waiters walking around with all kinds of different meats on huge skewers that look like swords. They’re stopping at each table and serving it to the guests. Our waitress comes and takes our drink orders.

“So what do we do?”

He laughs again and I kick him under the table. “Ow, sorry. There is a little red circle in front of you; on the other side it is green. When you are ready to eat, you flip the card to green, and when you need a break, you put it back on red.”

“This is so cool! I’ve never been anywhere like this. How did you find out about this place?”

“I had always wanted to come here, but I never had the money to do so. With all of the fights that have been happening lately, I have a little extra money. I just wanted to take you somewhere nice.”

He is the most amazing guy. I lean over the table and kiss him. “Thank you. I’m really excited.” The food is absolutely amazing. Sitting across the table, looking at him, I can’t believe he’s real. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. All I’ve really ever had were meaningless relationships, but it’s different with him.

When we finish dinner, we walk out to the car but he doesn’t drive back the way we came. “Are we not going back to the house?”

“No, I’m not done with you yet.”

I smile and try to figure out where else we might be going. We pull into a parking lot, but I’m really not sure where we are. As we are walking, I can see a building which looks really nice. It’s all brick with huge windows. It seems really modern, and the doors are really tall, almost like what you would expect a castle to be like. The front is lit up with big spotlights and outside is a sign that says Midnight. When we are almost at the door, I notice Carter and Madison standing outside. When she sees me she smiles and we give each other a hug. “What are you guys doing here?”

Mads smiles at me. “Shawn called us to see if we wanted to meet up with you guys.”

I feel him come up behind me and he wraps his arms around me. “Surprised?”

“Yes! But I still have no idea where we are!”

He laughs. “It’s a club, babe. Come on.”

When we walk in we go straight to the bar and order a round of drinks.

“Hey, Chris, I’m going to go to the bathroom, you wanna come with?” I nod my head and follow her. “So, how is it going?”

We walk in and even the bathrooms are really nice. “It’s going great. His family is so nice, and honestly, I’m really falling for him.”

She smiles at me. “I can tell. It’s crazy the way you guys look at each other.”

“Yeah. I just hope he feels it, too. I’m kind of scared that I’m going to fall for him and then it’s all going to fall apart.”

She shakes her head. “Trust me when I tell you he is just as invested. You can see it, it’s like you guys have been together as long as Carter and I have.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you know that on our first date Carter brought me here. I can’t believe how much has happened since then.” Madison and Carter have definitely had it rough, I don’t know how she’s done it. “You ready to go back out there?”

“Yes!” We walk back out and find the boys by the bar where we left them. I walk up to Shawn. “Do you want to dance?”

When he looks down at me, he smiles and nods his head. We walk out to the dance floor and start moving to the dance song that just started. I’m standing with my back to Shawn and moving against him. I hate that we’re going to his parents’ after this because all I want to do was to rip his clothes off.

I just might need to give up my morals for one night.

The way she’s moving against me has me going absolutely insane. She’s grinding and rubbing against me, and instead of enjoying it, it’s just torture. It might be enjoyable if I knew I could take her home after this and be able to have her, but that isn’t the case.

She turns to face me and the fire in her eyes gives me hope she might change her mind. She lifts her hands and runs them through my hair.

“You’re killing me, babe.” She smiles and leans up to kiss me. “It’s a good way to go, though.”

Christen laughs and we keep dancing. After almost an hour, I’m absolutely exhausted and more than a little ready to take her home. I’m sitting at a table with Carter because we had given up on trying to keep up with the girls about twenty minutes ago.

“So, how is everything?”

I look over at Carter. “It’s going good. She is really down to earth and we have been having a great time together.”

“Just good?”

“I don’t know. How did you know when it was right with Madison? I remember a couple days after you first met her you were pissed because she said you couldn’t hang out anymore. Jason and I thought you had really lost it, but I get it now. It’s only been a little over a month but I would not be willing to just let her go.”

“Time doesn’t matter. People try to use time to justify the validity of things, but the only thing that matters is the way you feel. I knew Maddy was the one because I would do anything just to make things better for her. I would sacrifice what makes me happy just to be able to take care of her. That’s how you know it’s right.”

Everything he just said made so much sense. The girls come up to the table looking like they might finally be ready to leave. Christen sits down next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. “You tired, babe?” She nods her head and when I look over at Carter, he motions his head toward the door. “All right, come on, girls.”

We walk out to the car, I open the door to let Christen in, and start the drive back to my house. “Hey, Christen, I—” When I look over at her, she’s sound asleep. I don’t want to wake her when I pull into my driveway, but when I open her door to get her, she opens her eyes. “Good morning, beautiful.” I scoop her up in my arms and she relaxes against my chest.

Maybe Carter was right. Maybe time doesn’t matter. I place her on my bed and grab her something to change into. I know she’ll be uncomfortable in what she’s in, and I also like seeing her in my clothes. I nudge her a little and she opens her eyes and smiles at me. She reaches up and grabs my face between her hands, pulling it toward her until our lips touch. When I pull away from her, I want to try to take things further, but I can see she’s in no condition for that.

I help her get dressed, although it’s more like dressing a doll because she’s barely conscious. When I crawl into bed with her, she relaxes against me and I kiss the top of her head. “Good night, beautiful.”

I love you

Today is the day we’re going from Shawn’s house to my house and I’m not at all ready for it. I love staying at his house and spending time with his parents. I’m not ready to be back in my tension-filled house.

As we pull up to my house, my stomach drops. I know how judgmental and unfair my parents can be, especially when it comes to people who aren’t as well off as we are. All I can do is hope they are nice and willing to at least get to know him. Shawn grabs my hand and I look over at him.

“You okay? You seem like you’re in another world.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go.”

We get out of the car and walk into my house. “Mom? Dad?” My mother comes into the room, dressed to perfection as always. She walks up to me and gives me a hug, making sure not to wrinkle her clothes or let a hair fall out of place in the process. My dad walks in behind her and wraps me in a big hug.

“Welcome home, Cece.” I can tell just by my mother’s tone she is unhappy with me.

I pull away and stand next to Shawn. “Mom, Dad, this is Shawn Matthews.”

My dad steps forward and offers Shawn his hand. “Hello, Son.” My mother doesn’t make much of a move, she just smiles and offers him a polite hello.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Daniels, your house is beautiful.”

“Thank you, dear.” My mother then turns to me. “Cece, we are going to the club tonight around six.”

She turns and walks out of the room and my father follows her. I guess that’s the best I can expect from them. Hopefully, after they get to know Shawn, they’ll be more accepting of him. “Sorry about the less than warm welcome. Unfortunately, my parents aren’t the warm and fuzzy type.”

Shawn pulls me close to him and puts his hands on my hips. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m sure I can charm them at dinner.”

He wiggles his eyebrows at me, making me laugh. The only thing I can think though, is that I hope they give him a chance to charm them. Shawn isn’t rich—strike one. His father isn’t someone influential—strike two. And he doesn’t go to an Ivy League school—strike three. To me, none of that crap matters, but to them, it’s everything. They’ve never understood me, or the fact that I don’t find happiness in all of those trivial things. It’s one of the biggest reasons I wanted to go away for school and live on campus. I’ve only been back home less than an hour and I already feel like I’m suffocating.

“Hey.” I look up at Shawn, smiling when I realize I had just zoned out. “You back on earth now?” I laugh and nod my head. “Okay then, Cece, do you want to show me where to put the bags?”

I punch him in the arm and give him a dirty look. I lead Shawn up the steps and into my room. My mother told me on the phone there is no way we would be staying in the same room, so I walk him down the hall to show him the guest room. “I need to grab a shower before we go to dinner.”

“Okay, babe.” He leans down and gives me a kiss before going to lie down on the bed.

The entire time I shower, all I can think of is everything that could possibly go wrong tonight. Even though my parents and I aren’t close, it still matters to me if they like the person I’m dating. I feel like if they just give him a chance then they would love him like I do.
Wait. Did I just say I love him? Do I?
I’ve never been this serious about anyone before and I really care about him, but is it love?