Rebel With A Cause (2 page)

Kaitlyn gave him a small smile full of sympathy, scowling again
before he could notice
.
Carter
hated when people felt sorry for him, but they couldn’t help it after that night with Marcus.

Carter and the other racers had
placed a
five grand
bet,
throwing in
their girlfriend
as an extra twist
, because it was a race of the best
street
racers in the Auckland region. Carter had
come second
,
Marcus had come first.

But Carter didn’t
seem to
care that he’d lost Kaitlyn to Marcus. What he
 
did
seem to
 
care about was the fact that he’d lost five thousand dollars. When Marcus had left New Zealand
to visit his grandparents over in South Korea
, only then could Kaitlyn return to Carter.
However,
Carter had already moved on, and screwed a different girl each night.

Kaitlyn
still
felt uneasy thinking about that experience.

“
I
am
 
not
 
losing another
 
cent
 
to him,
e
ver,
”
Carter continued. Kaitlyn sighed and folded her arms across her chest.
Boys and their stupid male egos.

“
Whatever,
”
she
replied
tonelessly.
“
So when are we leaving for Otara?
”

“
Around ten,” Carter told her.
“
The race starts at midnight, but I want to get there before hand so I can psych out the competition.
”

“
So where should I meet you?
”

Carter looked up,
a tiny bit
surprised.
“
Can’t you just stay here? I mean, you normally do.
”

Kaitlyn sighed and slid down to the floor. She sat with her back against the
fridge
,
her knees bent and clasped to her chest,
and looked at the floor.

“
I got grounded y
esterday.
Majorly grounded.
Dad ha
s decided he’s going to pick me up from school and take me to his work until he finishes, and th
en I'm going home with him. Mum ha
s
to
tak
e
me to school, too. They’re watching me. In fact, I'm not supposed to be here at all. They said they’d ring the school to check if I was wagging.
”

“
Can’t you just leave?
” Carter asked. “
Pack your bags and come and live with me?
”

Kaitlyn looked up in surprise.
“
Are you serious? I can come and live with you?
”

Carter
suddenly
looked uneasy
, like he felt he had to offer, but didn’t really want her
.
“
Maybe, it just
d
epends on how tonight goe
s, and if you can sneak away
.
If
your parents are going to bring the cops down on me, then no.
I make money illegally. There’s no way I can have cops swarming around my place.
”

It seemed to Kaitlyn that he’d only offered to prove that he loved her
.
Well, his actions proved otherwise
.
What a
jerk
.

“
Don’t worry, babe,
” Kaitlyn said casually, as if his indifference didn’t bother her.
“
I'll find another place to crash. It’s all good.
”

Carter smiled and intimately grabbed her neck, hungrily pressing his lips to hers. Kaitlyn responded with less enthusiasm. After the whole deal with Marcus, and now with her dad, Kaitlyn wasn’t too sure how much she liked
Carter
. He
used her, and he was turning out to be a real asshole
.

Except he
 
did
 
buy her anything she wanted.
Oh, it was just too hard to choose.

“
So, Otara races?
”
she asked
eventually
, breaking the kiss.
“
Are you sure?
”

Carter narrowed his eyes at her.
“
Of course I'm sure. Marcus is a jerk. He stole my girlfriend, not to menti
on my five G’s. He’s a real
dick
.
”

“
I know. I was forced to date him, remember?
”
Kaitlyn reminded him.

Carter growled.
“
You never will again, Kaitlyn. I promise you that.
”

Carter’s angry words stirred something inside Kaitlyn, and she found herself falling hard. She was a hopeless romantic, and hearing Carter make promises to her, really turned her on.
His promises gave her hope, and hope made her more willing to please.

“
I love you,
”
she said
impulsively
, wrapping her arms around Carter’s waist.
She pulled his face down towards hers for a passionate kiss.

“
I know, Katie,
”
he replied arrogantly
, once the kiss was over
.
“
I know.
”

At ten ‘o’clock that night, Carter and Kaitlyn left Carter’s Manurewa East home, and
Carter
drove
them
to the Otara races. As soon as they arrived, they noticed Marcus
was there, and he was
leaning agai
nst his new car, a
crazily
souped up Spy
der.

“
What the fuck is he doing here?!
”
Carter growled.
“
He’s supposed to be in fucking
Mangere
or
Asia
or
something!
”

Kaitlyn felt nauseous
, and
when Marcus spotted her and blew her a kiss
, she wanted to flee
. Her memories of her time as his girlfriend made her sick. Marcus was one weird kid.

Of course,
now that he’d spotted her and Carter, they couldn’t leave.

Carter
was too busy
mentally screaming in frustration, and he
didn’t even notice the scared expression on Kaitlyn’s face.

“
Fuck, he’s seen us,
”
Kaitlyn
spat
, using anger to mask her fear
.
“
Now there’s no way we can go.
”

“
I wouldn’t go anyway,
”
Carter said
stubbornly
, pulling his car into line with the others.
“
I’m not losing to this
kid
, and running away would
just
be even more humiliating
than it was losing to him
.
”

Kaitlyn sighed and clutched her stomach
, a bad habit that she did when she needed to spew
.

“
He’s going to want me back, you know. He’s going to try and take me away from you,
”
she said
nervously
.

“
Let him, then,
”
Carter replied, glaring at Marcus.
“
As long as he doesn’t take any more money from me, I’m good.
”

Kaitlyn sank lower into her seat.
“
Yeah,
”
she said sadly.
“
Money’s why you’re in this.
”

Carter rolled his eyes.
Kaitlyn was being so dramatic.
“
You sho
uld be glad all I want is money,” he told her.
“
At least I’m not
getting it on
with other girls.
”

They
sat in an awkward silence for a moment.

“
But you wish you were, don’t you?
”
Kaitlyn asked.
Carter
looked out the window and
didn’t reply.

Sighing, she hopped out of Carter’s
cherry red
Evo and
made her way
over to the sidelines. She crossed
her arms and pos
ed against the wall
as she surveyed the crowd.

A snarky voice interrupted her.
“
Trouble in
p
aradise
?
”

She felt Marcus’
strong
arms wrap around her waist
,
and
he pressed
his lips
to
her neck.

“
Piss off, freak,
”
she said in a bored tone.
“
I’m not interested in you. You know that.
”

“
Doesn’t change the fact that we had so much fun together,
”
he replied
cheekily
.
“
And I know you loved it.
”

Kaitlyn scowled as she remembered all those
hot
nights with Marcus. She had felt so guilty because she was in love with Carter,
and they had
never
officially
broken up,
but she had no choice. Carter had lost her
to Marcus
, fair and square.

“
Shall I make everyone bet their girls again?
”
Marcus
whispered
intimately
in her ear.
“
I know you’re just dying for some attention.
”

Kaitlyn looked down at the ground as her face coloured in shame. Marcus was right. Carter was always hot and cold with her, and deep down she knew that he would prefer sleeping around
.
S
he was better off without him.

Kaitlyn
loved
Carter,
and wanted to make him happy, but her heart would break every time he looked at another girl.

“
Carter gives me attention,
”
she snapped angrily.

“
Really?
”
Marcus’
tone suggested that he knew she was lying. His
arms withdrew from around her body and she shivered.
“
You know where to find me, Katie,
”
he said, before disappearing into the crowd.

Carter’s voice came from her left.
“
What’d he want?
”

Kaitlyn sighed and looked to
where Carter was approaching.
“
Just making the same offer as always,
”
she said
wearily
.

“
What offer?
”

“
He told me to leave you for him.
”

Carter snorted.
“
Yeah
right,
a
s if that would actually happen.
He
can’t seriously think
girls prefer him over me?
”

Kaitlyn looked at Carter and stared blankly at him. She knew Carter was a ladies man, and
cocky
, but she didn’t realise he was
this arrogant
.

“
What?
”
he snapped, noticing her staring at
him.
She looked away and shook her head.

“
Don’t worry,
”
she said.
“
So, how much is it tonight?
”