Playing With Fire (Guarded Hearts) Read Free

comfortable with Carter.
    Chris sat down next to me. "What the hell where you doing having lunch with Carter James?" Shit, was he mad?
    "He is in my first three classes and offered to show me where to go and stuff. You're back early. I thought you weren't getting in until tomorrow." He looked at me for what seemed like forever. Could he tell that I was attracted to Carter? God, I hoped not.
    "Let's go back to your room." He stood up and held out a hand to me. This was not good. Damn, I should have just told Carter no.
    The walk to my building took about half the normal time because Chris was practically pulling me with him. I could tell he was angry. His whole body was tense. I was dreading getting to my room. I was silently praying my roommate was there, but her emails said she'd be getting in later tonight. We got to my door and I unlocked it. Chris pushed me in and closed the door. I'd tripped and was now on the floor, looking up at him.
    "You are mine! That means you don't disrespect me by sitting there and flirting with Carter Fucking James at my school!" His foot found my side, and I bit back the scream that tried to push its way out. "You want to go be with him, Madison? You want to go be one of the many whores he fucks and never calls again?" Another kick against my thigh this time. "You will stay away from him and any other prick that comes up to you, do you understand me?" I was crying so hard all I could do was nod. He opened the door, slammed it, and left me there.
    I hated that he got like this, and I hated myself for letting it happen. The first time Chris had ever hit me was our first summer together.
    We were going to the beach with his family and I'd just bought a new bikini. I wanted to look nice for him. We were only on the beach for about a half hour when he leaned in my ear and said we were leaving because I didn't feel good. I felt fine and was confused by it, but I figured if he wanted to leave then we should go. We said our goodbyes to his family and drove back to his house.
    He wouldn't talk to me the whole way home and when we got there, he dragged me up to his room. As soon as he closed the door, he slapped me so hard that I fell to the floor. He called me a slut for wearing that bathing suit, and told me he could see how much I loved all the guys' attention. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. I hated being the center of attention. After that day, he never asked me to go to the beach again.
     
    *  *  *
     
    When I got to class Wednesday morning, Carter was waiting for me and it brought a smile to my face. I quickly wiped it off, though. "Carter, listen, we can't hang out again like we did on Monday."
    "What? Why? What happened? Did I do something that pissed you off?"
    God, this was hard. "No, you didn't do anything. It's just best if we don't hang out."
    "Let me guess. Your boyfriend doesn't want you hanging out around the lower class. You know, Madison, I thought you were better than that." He walked into class.
     
    Carter
     
    Why the hell was I so upset? I barely knew the girl and she had a boyfriend. The thing was, I knew I wasn't imagining things. There was something between us, and it had been the first real thing I'd had ever felt. I knew that fucker Chris was the one who was behind this. I stole a glance at her during class every chance I could get. Luckily, she never caught me.
    When she sat down in English, she winced like she'd been hurt and I wondered what that was about. Chris had better not been putting his hands on her. That was one thing I couldn't stand, no matter who it was. I needed to catch her outside and ask her.
    I was packed up and ready to leave five minutes before the bell rang. I needed to catch Maddy and talk to her. The professor dismissed us and I raced out the door. I wanted to be waiting for her. I saw her leave and stepped up beside her. "I need to talk to you." The look on her face was unreadable, but she seemed sad.
    "Why? I thought I pretty much