Rebel With A Cause (4 page)

She sighed.
“
I don’t hate you. However my parents hate me because of Carter, and they’re really cracking down on me. They won’t let me go anywhere now. So, I was going to go and stay with Carter but now he’s got all of those girls with him…
”

“
So, you want to stay here?
”

“
Just for tonight, if that’s ok,
”
she said, taking the hot drink from his hands and sipping quietly.

“
Sure,
”
he said.
“
But you know, if you left Carter, you could go home to your parents and be a normal teenager.
”

She shook her head.
“
I love Carter. But sometimes, I wish he was a normal boyfriend.
”

“
Katie, you have to realise that Carter will never be a normal boyfriend. He’s been a player for too long.
”

Kaitlyn shot him a dirty look.
“
And how would you know?
”

“
I know the type. My older brother, Brady, is the same. But then he screwed with the wrong girl and now he’s in Mount Eden Prison for grievous bodily harm.
”

“
Grievous bodily harm?
Really?
”

Marcus nodded.
“
He was in love with this girl called Alison, and they were having an affair. Except t
he
girl
had a
boyfriend
and he
was so jealous and angry he went after Brady and the rest is history.
”

“
Aren’t you afraid of the same thing happening to you?
”

Marcus smiled tightly.
“
No, I’m not. Because I know that Carter, however much he tells himself he does, he doesn’t really love you. Not in the way that he thinks he does.
”

“
That made…no sense,
”
Kaitlyn replied, staring into her chai latte.

“
Sorry. Anyway, my point is, if Carter really, truly loved you, he wouldn’t want anyone else. And he would be beyond murderous when he lost you.
”

“
So you think Carter doesn’t really love me?
”

Marcus looked pityingly at Kaitlyn.
“
Sweetie, I know he doesn’t.
”

At eight thirty, her phone alarm went off, signalling the beginning of the school day. Angrily, she switched the alarm off
and looked around. Abruptly, she realised that she wasn’t in her own bedroom, or even at Carters. Where was she?

“
Katie?
”

She rolled over and saw a half-naked, half Asian hunk lying next to her, with sleepy brown eyes and tousled brown hair. Marcus, she realised.

“
What am I doing here?
”

“
You don’t remember? Look down.
”

Kaitlyn looked down to see herself in Marcus’ shirt, and not much else.

“
What exactly happened last night?
”

“
What do you think?
”

Kaitlyn started to panic.
“
We didn’t – we didn’t sleep together last night, did we?
”

Marcus smirked.
“
You were begging for it.
”

“
Oh no.
”
Her face coloured in shame.
“
Oh my god.
”

Marcus stopped smiling and gather
ed
Kaitlyn in
to
his arms.
“
Relax, Katie,
”
he soothed.
“
You had a little rant about Carter, said if he got a night off, why couldn’t you?
”

“
So we did?
”

“
We did. But don’t
worry;
I know it was just a one night thing.
”

She breathed a sigh of relief.
“
Thank god.
”
She moved away and collected her clothes from the night before. She quickly got dressed in Marcus’ en suite bathroom and came out to find him nowhere in sight. She did, however, hear the shuffling of pots and pans coming from the kitchen.

“
Marcus?
”
she called.
“
What are you doing?
”

“
Making breakfast!
”
he yelled back.
“
Is eggs ok with you?
”

Kaitlyn smiled. She knew he was being sarcastic. When they had been together, Marcus ha
d learned
that eggs in any form were her favourite. He’d make them at least three times a week for breakfast, right after they’d had a really steamy night, and sometimes just because he wanted to.

“
Eggs are fine,
”
she said, walking into the kitchen.
“
Hey, can you drop me off at Carter’s place afterwards?
”

Marcus looked up suspiciously.
“
Why?
”

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes.
“
Because I need to get to school, and all my stuff is there. Plus, he’ll probably still be asleep or screwing around, so he won’t need his car.
”

Marcus smirked.
“
You’re going to steal his car? What a naughty little girl you are.
”

She rolled her eyes.
“
Whatever. I’m not little. I’m
seventeen
fucking years old. But anyway, will you?
”

Marcus smiled.
“
Sure Katie. And you come back soon, you hear me? You look like you need some pampering.
”

Fifteen minutes later, Marcus was dropping her off outside Carter’s rented flat, with a disgusted look for the house and a sweet smile for Kaitlyn.

“
Good luck,
”
he said, before driving off. Kaitlyn turned around and despairingly walked inside, hoping that Carter was not screwing a girl in his bedroom, where her stuff was.

Luckily for her, however, Carter was passed out on the sofa. Unfortunately, he was just in his boxers, and there was a tall, tanned, big breasted
,
blonde bimbo in nothing but her
knickers and Carter’s shirt, asleep on top of him. Carter never let
 
her
 
sleep like that.

Sighing, she made her way to his bedroom, suddenly wishing that she wasn’t with Carter anymore. Ignoring the rest of Carter’s house, she walked straight to his bedroom, and changed into her school uniform. She let her red-brown hair fall loose around her shoulders and slashed on her eye make-up. That was enough for the school day.

Silently laughing, Kaitlyn went into the lounge and grabbed Carter’s car keys out of his jeans pocket. She then left his house, not bothering to lock it behind her. There was nothing worth stealing anyway.

She arrived at Rosehill College about half an hour later, with ten minutes to spare before class. She pulled Carter’s Evo into a parking space and switched off the engine.

Here we go again
, she thought tiredly.
 
Another life to live.

The truth was
,
Kaitlyn hated school. Just like any teenager, really. But she didn’t see the point in it. She was immersed in the world of street racing, and she didn’t need an education, or even a job. Street racers made heaps of money, and she was the hottest girl in the circuit. She could land another racer easily.

So, instead of heading to class, Kaitlyn texted her friends to meet her on the bottom field, where none of the teachers would see them.

It was the perfect way to spend the day, really.

Seven hours later, school was finally over, and Kaitlyn had successfully managed to wrangle her way out of five of her six classes. She was grinning to herself as she walked to the car, but her grin faltered when she saw Carter leaning against
it
.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, unlocking the car
and throwing her backpack on the backseat.

Carter shrugged.
“
Just wondered where my car had got to.
”

She didn’t even bother rolling her eyes. It was such a Carter thing to say.

“
So, can I have my keys back?
”
Carter asked, holding his hand out for them. Sighing, Kaitlyn handed them back. She really didn’t have a choice.

“
So, why didn’t you come home last night?
”

Kaitlyn ignored him and got in the car. Carter’s mouth flattened into a grim line and he followed suit. As soon as the car was
running
, he locked the doors and began the long drive home. After five minutes, he asked her again,
“
Why didn’t you come home last night?
”

Kaitlyn decided there really was no escaping it.
“
I went to Marcus’ place.
”

She could feel the change in atmosphere in the car. There was so much tension. Carter was visibly shaking, and his grip on the steering wheel had tightened so much his knuckles were turning white.

“
You.
Went.
Where?!
”
he growled angrily.
“
Why the fuck would you do that?!
”

She wrapped her arms around herself and looked out the window.

“
Because,
”
she whispered.
“
Marcus cares about me. He was asking me how I was, cooking me breakfast and treating me like a princess.
”

Carter snorted.
“
He doesn’t care about you. He’s just using you to piss me off. He’s just begging for an ass whipping.
”

“
You’re wrong,
”
she said.
“
Marcus
 
does
 
care about me. He cares about me more than you do.
”

“
No, he’s just trying to make me angry.
”

Kaitlyn saw red at that.
“
God, Carter!
”
she burst angrily.
“
Not everything is about you!
”

Carter shot her a dirty look.
“
I never said it was,
”
he growled.

“
You don’t have to!
”
she screamed back.
“
You act like it all the time! You just expect everybody to fawn over you! God, I didn’t
even
care that you cheated last night! I hoped you would be able to get this selfishness out of your system by giving you a break, but all it’s done is made you more of an arrogant jerk!
”

Carter pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor and swerved angrily all over the motorway.

“
Carter!
”
Kaitlyn panicked.
“
Carter, slow down!
”

“
No!
”
he yelled.
“
You just sit there and shut up! We’re going home!
”

“
What for?
”

“
You need to learn your lesson,
”
he threatened dangerously.
“
I’m going to show you
who’s
boss.
”

It was the first time Kaitlyn had felt physically threatened by Carter, and, against her better judgement, she felt herself strangely turned on by it.

“
I love you,
”
she
choked
.

Carter visibly relaxed a tiny bit.
“
Good,
”
he replied.
“
Because I love you too, and no one – I repeat, no one – is taking you away from me.
Ever.
”

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, and despite the speed they were travelling at, Kaitlyn had never felt
safer
in her life.