Naughty or Nice - Alexis Winter Page 0,38

beat your ass like you deserve, but I will. Come over here,” he demands.

I look over at Carson and can see him shaking. I don’t know what he did, but I don’t care. I don’t want to see him hurt. So I do the only thing I can think of. I move to stand in front of him. I cross my arms and try my best to look bigger than I am. Carson’s older so of course his head sticks up above mine.

Jared comes to a stop a few yards away. “Move, Felicity,” he demands.

“No!” I say. “You’re not hurting my friend.”

“Well, if your friend would behave himself, I wouldn’t have to.”

“I think Mrs. Wells would like to hear about this when she gets home.” I’m only nine, but already I know that she wouldn’t be okay with her boyfriend punishing her son like this. Ground him, sure. Take away his bike, yep. But hitting him with a belt? No way.

His eyes squint at me as he tries to make up his mind on what he wants to do. “You going to tattle on me, kid?”

“You’re not hurting my friend,” I say again, getting more and more scared the longer he looks at me that way.

My mom must see us from the window because she comes outside. Standing at the door, she yells, “Everything okay out here?”

I look at Jared and he looks at me.

“Yeah,” he yells back to her. “I was just looking for Carson but I found him.” He points his finger at him. “Don’t run off,” he says, loud enough that my mom can hear. He turns and walks away, but to Carson’s house.

Remembering that almost makes tears form in my eyes, but I will them away. That’s the sort of thing that Carson and I don’t talk about anymore. He hated growing up the way he did, and I hate it for him. He’s such a good, caring guy. Sure, he got into some trouble as a kid, but what boy doesn’t?

When the song ends, we pull apart. “I’m going to use the restroom,” I tell him and he releases my hand as he walks in the opposite direction to the table. I quickly use the ladies’ restroom and wash my hands. When I walk out, I bump right into Chad’s back.

“Oh, hey,” he says, steadying me.

I smile. “Hi, sorry. I should watch where I’m going.”

He waves his hand through the air. “You can bump into me anytime.” He offers up a flirty smile and finally, I see what Carson was talking about.

“Well, I should get back.” I point in the direction of Carson.

He nods his head in the same direction. “He doesn’t like me much, huh?”

I laugh. “Don’t take it personally. Carson’s never liked any guy that gave me attention.”

“Ahhh, I seem to remember that.”

“What do you mean?”

He laughs. “I got my first black eye from him.”

I gasp. “What? When?”

“The day after we all went to the Winter Wonderland Festival here in town.”

“That’s the day you broke up with me,” I remember out loud.

He nods. “Yup, he’s why.”

“What happened?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I know that you guys left pretty early, and I stayed and hung out with some friends. We were skating and playing hockey once the crowd thinned out. The next thing I knew, he was back and he was pulling me over the wall that separated the ice from the sidewalk. He yanked my ass up over it, threw me on the ground, and demanded that I stay away from you. I was caught off guard. I knew of him, but I didn’t actually know him. I had only heard stories and him threatening every guy to stay away from you. I didn’t think he’d actually do anything, so I told him to fuck off, that I liked you and that you didn’t belong to him.”

“Ohhh,” I say, listening to his story.

“Then he punched me. I got a few hits in on him too though. All in good fun, huh?” He laughs like it’s a fond memory.

I nod and fake a laugh. “Right, right,” I agree. Guys are so weird. Pretty sure if some girl attacked me, I wouldn’t be laughing about it, even all these years later. I’d still be holding a grudge.

“Anyway, I don’t know if you two are still just friends or what, but here’s my number. Call me if you want. We have a lot to catch up on.” He passes me a business card and walks away.

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