Read Playing With Fire (Guarded Hearts) for Free Online Page B

say thank you to his dad. "Sure, that sounds fun."
    His smile was huge, as he went and got his cell phone. "Hey, dad…we're leaving in about an hour, but we're going to stop at the grocery store first…Maddy and I are going to make dinner tomorrow...okay, great." He hung up the phone and smiled at me. "I think he fell in love with you already."
    After breakfast, we cleaned up and then got in the car. I brought a notebook and a pen with me so I could use his phone to look up recipes and make a shopping list. The drive to Carter's house was about three hours. Halfway through the ride, I had the menu all figured out. I was surprisingly excited for all this. He reached over and grabbed my hand. I looked over at him.
    "Thank you for coming home with me, and for agreeing to cook dinner. I don't think we've cooked for a holiday since my mom died." I squeezed his hand. He didn't know that I was just as happy about this as he was.
    We went to the grocery store and got everything we needed. Carter seemed to always find a way to touch me, and I kind of loved it. We pulled up to his house and my nerves started to kick in. Here goes nothing.
     
     
    Carter
     
    I wasn't nervous for Maddy to meet my family. As soon as we parked, Anthony came out of the house. He looked over at Maddy and then looked back at me.
    "Who's the hottie?"
    Maddy and I started to laugh. "Ant, this is Maddy, a friend of mine from school. Maddy, this is my brother, Anthony." She smiled at him. Anthony was a little shorter than me, but he played football for the high school so all the girls loved him. He had a buzz cut and blue eyes like me so he was used to getting attention, but he wasn't going to get it from Maddy.
    "Why is she just your friend? Do you not have eyes?"
    I laughed again. I was pretty sure when Anthony was made, they forgot to put in the filter that the rest of us had. "Is Holly home?"
    He looked at me and laughed. "Who the hell knows where that girl is?"
    "Come on. Why don't you help me get the groceries inside?"
    We all went in and my dad was sitting in the living room reading the paper. He stood up when he saw me and gave me a hug. I really missed being home with my family. My dad was about my height, with light brown hair that he refused to accept was going gray. I pulled away and grabbed Maddy's hand, pulling her next to me. "Dad, this is Madison Stevens. Maddy, this is my father, Michael James. ”
    She gave my dad one of those smiles, and he was a goner. "It's so nice to meet you, Mr. James. Thank you so much for inviting me this weekend. It really means a lot."
    My dad was a hugger so he wrapped his arms around her. When he let go, he looked at me and gave me a look that said he knew I wanted to be more than just friends. "It's very nice to meet you, too. Don't think twice about making yourself at home here." He sat down and went back to reading his paper.
    We got everything put away but, unfortunately, my house only had four bedrooms; one for my dad, and one for each of us kids. Dad didn't believe me on the phone when I said Maddy and I were just friends, so he planned for us to stay in the same room.
    Most parents would never allow that, but my dad was realistic and knew if we had wanted to do anything, separate rooms wouldn't have made a difference. I could tell she was uncomfortable. I walked her to my room and shut the door. "I'm sorry about this whole room thing, I'm gonna sleep on the couch." Maybe it was just my imagination or wishful thinking, but I thought she looked disappointed.
    "Um…okay."
    We spent the rest of the night prepping things for tomorrow. My dad was watching the news so I asked Maddy if she wanted to go watch a movie with me. She thanked my dad again for inviting her and walked off to my bedroom. I was about to follow her, but my dad called me. "Carter, wait a minute; come here."
    Maddy looked back at me as if asking what she should do. "I'll be there in a minute, okay?" She nodded her head and went into my room.