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  “Well, I can see that,” she said – still peering at Jason.

  “No, she asked so I’ll answer. I don’t like my brother, and he knows what he was doing with that comment to Cara.”

  “It was harmless Jason, in fact, he seemed to be paying you a compliment,” she said, not backing down from the opportunity to learn something about the wrath buried deep inside of him.

  “Well, I can assure you it had nothing to do with trying to compliment me,” he said with a deceitful smile across his face. What the hell was going on with him?

  Ryan tapped Mila on the shoulder, whispered something into her ear, and she nodded profusely.

  “Well, thanks for the awesome night Jason, but we have a drive back up to Carlsbad,” Ryan said in his most genuine tone. He looked at me, gave me a wink, and then grabbed Mila by the elbow. Hunter must have taken his cue from Ryan because he was working on gathering Chelsea and all of their things.

  “Do you want to just ride with us Cara?” Chelsea was trying to pry me out of Jason’s place so that she could rant about him, I was sure.

  “That’s okay, I’ll take her home,” Jason chimed in, moving closer to me. Why were they making me feel so uncomfortable? Hunter must have felt the same way, since he was running his hands through his hair and sighing, trying to give Chelsea the hint that he was ready to go. She finally took it, gave me a hug, and moved in front of Jason. Dear Lord please let her leave peacefully?

  “Thanks for last night Jason.”

  I sighed loudly, completely relieved that she was at the very least cordial after the intensity displayed at the breakfast table. Hunter leaned in and gave me a hug, gave Jason the guy hug and the two of them were off. I don’t think I had ever been so thankful to see my friend go, and I knew that I would have to have words with Chelsea later. Right now though, I had to deal with this budding volcano that was Jason. He turned to me, grabbed my hand, and led me back into the living room. He stalked over to the end table to grab his cell phone and came and plopped down next to me.

  “What is this?” he said, opening the Facebook page on his cellphone.

  I looked, not sure of what he was talking about, until I saw on the ticker revealing exactly what he was referring to.

  “Oh, the friend request?” I asked, knowing full well that was what he was fixated on.

  “Yes, this damn friend request that is no longer a request because it’s been approved.”

  “Jason, your brother sent me a friend request, and last night, when I saw it, I added him. I wasn’t even looking into it when I did it.”

  “Well, defriend him. There is no need for you to have any sort of communication with him.”

  “Why are you friends with him if you hate him so much? And when are you going to tell me what the hell is going on between the two of you?”

  He looked at me, stunned by my newfound brazenness. “I can communicate with him from afar, but there is no reason for you to have any correspondence with him. What the hell are you two going to talk about?”

  “Nothing, but if I am going to be with you, it’s only normal that I get to know your family,” I shouted and my earlier mood crept back in.

  “You can get to know my family, except for Jacob,” he explained in a much calmer tone. “Chelsea is a nosy little shit too,” he said, and I could see the anger return to his eyes as he mentioned her name.

  “Yes she is, but she always means well,” I tried to defend my-oh-so intrusive friend.

  “Hunter needs to get her under control,” he barked, trying but failing to keep his temper to a minimum.

  “Well, Hunter has been with her for the past four years, and he knows how she is. He just tries to balance her out.” I don’t know why I always felt the need to clarify things for him, but it just felt so obligatory -- especially where Chelsea was concerned.

  “Poor guy! She’s a fuckin’ case,” and the angrier he got, the more southern drawl came spilling out. He stalked out of the living room back to the bedroom, and within a few seconds, I could hear the distinct sound of the shower water running.

  I slinked down into the couch and turned on the television. I didn’t even care what was on, I just needed a distraction. Jason came strolling back into the living room, wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, and while I wanted to run and jump on him, I was mad at him – so I stayed put.

  “Want to join me in the shower?”

  I thought for a split second that I might give in, but I decided against it and turned him down. He looked puzzled, but stalked back into the room and showered. The alone time gave me time to think. How did we get this deep in a matter of a few days? With all of the ups and downs, it felt like we had been dating for a few years. Could I possibly sustain a relationship like this? Emotionally, Jason could be utterly exhausting. He went from happy to angry in a matter of seconds; small things served as ticking time bombs, and he could be rather reclusive when trying to get information out of him. On the other hand, physically, he was astounding. I’ve never felt so comfortable with anyone. Was the physical aspect of our relationship enough to keep us happy? I know at the beginning, it could be a problem solver, but what about the fact that he closed down and got angry so often? Do we run to the bedroom to cure that ill? I was so flustered by my thoughts, not exactly sure what I was doing with this guy. Was he completely out of my league, and this was customary for people of his stature? I had so many thoughts running through my head that they were starting to weave a web, and now I had a headache.

  I walked into the kitchen to get a glass of water when Jason came walking back in. He was back to being uptight, so much so that I could see rigid shoulders through his muscle bearing shirt. He laid my bag and a gym bag of his own down on the floor, and moved about the kitchen without saying much to me. Here we go again. Is he mad because I declined the shower, or is this just his mood at the moment? Why was I even contemplating the reasoning behind this current mood shift?

  “You ready to go? I have to get to Invictus.”

  “Invictus?” I asked, puzzled because I had no idea what he was talking about.

  “Cross Fit gym. I need to go and workout.”

  “Oh… well, yes, I’m ready to go.” I paused to look at him, and could feel the tension radiating from his body. What happened to make him so stiff?

  <>

  The car ride to my apartment was refreshing on one end because Jason had the top down on the Shelby, but also frosty due to his silence. I lay back in my seat, allowing the crisp air to hit my face, and tried not to over analyze his mood, or lack thereof. It was a little after noon, and the sun was showing signs of creeping through the clouds, but for the most part, the monochromatic covering was winning the battle. My mood closely resembled the climate we were currently blazing through. The weekend started with me wanting to avoid him, being swept up in his tornado, riding the temperamental rollercoaster of his emotions, partaking in sinfully good sex, and now this -- how did we get here?

  I snuck a peek over to him to find him straight faced and focused on the road. His breathing seemed hurried, and his grip on the steering wheel was excruciatingly tight. Something was bothering him, and the disturbing thought that it could be me stained my mind. Maybe I was just being used as a trial session, and didn’t meet the criteria? Maybe he just wanted a weekend romp, and now he was done? The more I tried to analyze what was going through his mind, the more hurt I became, so I decided it was best to occupy myself, and I hummed a song that was stuck in my head.

  <>

  Surprisingly, Jason took my hand in one of his hands and my bag in another as he led me to the front door of my apartment. He still hadn’t said anything to me, and the awkwardness was without a doubt worthy of sprinting through the door, and throwing myself onto my bed – allowing my backed up tears to burst like a dam. As I sifted through my purse, I looked into his eyes in hopes of finding a glimmer of a softening mood – yet, I found nothing. We finally made our way inside, and he dropped my bag of
f on the floor near my bedroom door. He stepped over to me, pulled me into his chest, and kissed my hair.

  “Thanks for this weekend Cara.”

  And with that, he walked out of the apartment. All that was left of my fragile persona cracked as I lay sobbing like a baby on my bed. Chelsea heard my cries and came bursting through the door to my aid.

  “Oh my God Cara, what’s wrong?” She looked so pained, and I knew the way I felt was written all over her face. I was such a blubbering mess at this point that I couldn’t even put a coherent sentence together. She sat down on the bed next to me and gathered me in her lap, rubbing my head, trying her best to soothe my internal wounds. I finally sat up, bloodshot eyes, runny nose, and soiled face, and turned to her and poured my heart out.

  “Chels, I don’t know what happened. We were having such a great time. He took me to his house, showed me around, took me out on his bike, taught me to drive stick, went shopping, had incredible sex, the nightclub, and now this…” I stopped because Chelsea’s pupils dilated so far that I thought they might burst.

  “I don’t get him Cara. He’s incredibly hot, but that is about where it ends for me. He’s so hot and cold, and that’s tiresome.” I nodded my head in agreement, because in all actuality, she was right. She continued, “These rich boys think they can do whatever they want and that their money magically makes things happen for them. That’s why I told you not to let him boss you around… his money doesn’t mean shit. What happened anyway?”

  “I’m not really sure. You two had your little tiff this morning, but I thought we were over and done with that. You guys left, and he was angry because I friended his brother on Facebook.”

  Chelsea held up her hand to stop me. “More shit with his villainous brother? There’s something weird about that Cara. Did you friend request him?”

  “No. Of course not. I only approved it, which apparently is a cardinal sin.”

  “Did you ask him what the deal is? It’s one thing to not like your brother, but he has an unhealthy level of pure hatred for him, and I think if you’re going to be with him, you need to figure that out.”

  “That’s the thing, I tried. He said it was of no importance and that I could get to know his family, just not his brother. Besides, I don’t even know if we are together.” The thought stung, and I tried to move on, but Chelsea’s radar had gone up.

  “Wait a minute. After your whirlwind weekend, you don’t know if you’re going to be together? What the hell is going on?”

  “Well, he never said he didn’t want to be with me, in fact, he never said anything. The entire car ride down here was in pure silence. It was so strange. And, once we got here, he walked me in, kissed my head, and left.”

  Chelsea was shaking her head in sheer disbelief. Talking this out with her had made me feel a little better, but I had too many unanswered questions that made me feel inadequate.

  “Where was he going after he dropped you off?” Chelsea asked, startling me out of my reverie.

  “Invictus.”

  “The Cross fit gym?”

  “Yes, you know of it?”

  “Yeah, Hunter’s friends work out there. Give him a couple of hours, and hopefully after he’s had time to blow some steam, he’ll call you.”

  I finally managed an inkling of a smile, and lay down on my bed. My bed reminded me of him, and the first night we spent together, but I pushed that out of my mind as I fell into a deep sleep.

  <>

  My shaken emotional state must have been what kept me asleep for four and a half hours, because when I awoke, I could hear Mila, Ryan, and Chelsea laughing in the living room, followed by a cell phone full of text messages and missed calls. I anxiously sifted through the list of missed calls and there were two from my parents, one from Ryan and one from Mila – nothing from Jason. I filtered through the text messages and there were a couple from Ryan, asking if I was okay, one from Mila, and one from Chase – still no correspondence from Jason.

  I staggered out of my room, not entirely ready to face the world, but mustered up the courage to do so anyway. All three sets of eyes left the television screen and focused on me, with Ryan jumping out of his seat on the couch to take me in his arms. His compassion was welcomed, but brought me to tears. He stood holding me, and just allowed me to cry into his shirt. When I composed myself, I stepped back, wiped my eyes and nose, and took a seat on the couch next to the girls.

  “Pinks, what happened?” Mila’s face showed a mix of horror and surprise.

  “Long day with Jason… I’m a ball of confusion right now, Chels didn’t tell you?”

  Chelsea pretended to be wounded by my question, “ahem, I don’t run my mouth with everything.”

  I smiled weakly at her and mouthed I know, and she seemed to be placated by the simple gesture.

  “All we know is Chelsea did have her big mouth on full display at breakfast this morning, and we bounced. True enough Ryan did have to get to Carlsbad… we should have taken you with us.”

  “Thanks Mila, but I wanted to stay.”

  “Yeah, but the mood turned downright nasty; I should have pulled you out of there. I’m sorry Cara,” and Ryan’s words were my undoing. It was a simple reminder of the last time I felt bombarded, and alone.

  Chelsea handed me a box of tissues and taking my hands in hers, proceeded with her inquisitive onslaught.

  “So have you heard from him? He should have called by now.”

  Her words hit me like a ton of bricks since I knew that, four and a half hours later, I should have heard from him, but I hadn’t. I shook my head and looked into my brother’s steely eyes.

  “I had a ton of missed calls and texts on my phone but nothing from him.” I said, my lip quivering the entire time.

  “This is complete bullshit. You guys have been seeing each other for what, three days? Complete bullshit Cara.” Ryan’s protective big brother voice was on full display. “By the way, we stopped by mom and dads and they want you to call.”

  “Yeah, I figured. I had a couple of missed calls from them too.”

  Ryan looked down at his watch and knowing that he had to leave, asked me if I was okay. I gave him a very pathetic nod with a half-smile. He hugged me tightly, and told me everything would be okay. I really wished I could believe his words, but I didn’t share the same optimism. He kissed Mila goodbye, and walked out of the apartment.

  I moseyed back to the shower, but not before checking my Facebook on my phone. I was secretly hoping for a notification from Jason, but there was none. I did, however, have a message from Jacob Bradley. My curiosity heightened and I eagerly tapped the screen to read the message.

  From Jacob Bradley:

  Hi Cara. You probably know who I am at this point, but in case you don’t, I’m Jason’s older brother Jacob. The nasty comment he left on the picture, don’t worry about that. We have a very love/hate relationship and someday, we will work through it. Any who, you two look very nice together and I wanted to be the first from this side to tell you that. I look forward to getting to know you.

  Jacob

  Holy shit! If Jason knew that Jacob had written me, he would throw a conniption fit. Then again, he wasn’t really talking to me, so would he care? I went back and forth, contemplating if I should write him back or just ignore it. My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to write him back.

  To Jacob Bradley:

  Hi Jacob. I am well aware of who you are; you look almost identical to Jason. Thank you for the nice compliment. I do not know much about your relationship with your brother, but from what I can gather, I know it isn’t the best. I do hope someday you guys can figure it out.

  Cara

  I purposely left out the getting to know him part because, I wasn’t exactly sure if I would ever meet him. I stepped into the shower, and attempted to subdue the wandering thoughts looming freely concerning Jason. Chelsea knocked on the door before entering – which was a complete shock.

  “Hey Cara.”

&n
bsp; “Yeah…” I answered, yelling over the pounding drops of the shower water.

  “You haven’t tried contacting Jason have you?” Her voice was full of apprehension.

  “No! Why?”

  “Just wanted to make sure. He’s the asshole here, don’t go chasing after him.”

  I inhaled and exhaled deeply, regretting her words partly due to the fact that I planned to text him after my shower. Her demand was now staring me in the face, and I knew that I couldn’t contact him. I didn’t answer and she left the bathroom.

  I allowed the water to pour over my head and down my face. It was quite soothing, and after about five minutes, I cleansed myself, and got out.

  Walking down the hallway, I decided to call my parents. My mom answered the phone, and in her ever present cheery mood, she quizzed me on all things Jason. This was definitely the last thing that I wanted to dig into, but I obliged and let her know all about our weekend – minus a few parts that she didn’t need to hear about. She handed my dad the phone and I knew it wouldn’t be nearly as easy to placate him.

  “Hey Cars, how are you baby doll?”

  “Fine Dad,” I was awful at hiding the angst in my voice.

  “Cars, it doesn’t sound like you’re fine. What’s going on?”

  “Dad, it’s really nothing, I’m pretty tired from this weekend though.”

  “Ryan says you guys had a pretty wild night out last night, glad your brother was there with you,” and I could hear the concern in his voice.

  “We had a good time Dad.”

  “Where were you when we were calling earlier?” His tone was very stern and full of worry.

  “I was sleeping; I’m sorry, I missed quite a few calls.

  “Well, I’m off tomorrow… its film day for you right?”

  How did he know my schedule better than I did?

  “Yes it is, but I'm doing an extra workout, then I have a break, and then the film session.”