Read Online Lost (Captive Heart #1) by Carrie Aarons - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Carrie Aarons
Ads: Link
years old.
Tucker looks confused. “What the hell?”
“Here I am, falling into the same old traps. Tucker Traps. That should be your invention or something because God, you’re so good at it. You get everyone to play into your little charades. You’ve got me practically supporting and encouraging you, eating out of your goddamn hand just like I used to. But that was before you FUCKING KIDNAPPED ME!”
“Hey, now come on, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.”
“I don’t care if your head was in outer space, you took me from my job at gunpoint, threatened to kill me, and are now holding me hostage. And silly little Charlotte, here she is acting like she’s on vacation! You probably think you’ve got me right where you want me, huh? Not this time!”
I stomp out of the cabin, or at least I try to. Tucker grabs my arm, swinging me back around to face him again before he pins me to another wall.
“I haven’t said it yet, but I’m saying it now. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry I dragged you into this mess, Charlotte. It’s eating me up inside that it was you in that bank. That I could have gone so far as to hurt you. You know me, you know the real me, the sane me, would have never done that.”
I don’t look him in the face, instead turning my head like some insolent child. He doesn’t try to make me look into his eyes, just keeps going.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about with this whole manipulation business. The only thing I’ve asked is that you don’t leave, and you know why you can’t. I haven’t made you do or say anything besides that. I’ve never trapped you or played you, or whatever you’re going on about.”
I can’t stand to listen to him downplay it any longer. “Oh no? You don’t remember why we stopped talking all those years ago?”
Tucker’s face looks completely blank for a moment, and then his cheeks redden and he has the decency to look ashamed. “Char, I—”
“Yeah. So don’t fucking lie to me and say you never played me.”
16
Tucker
Eight Years Ago
F ucking asshole .
I slammed my way out of my house and started down the driveway, pissed off and seeing red.
That prick. Why did I have to get stuck with such a prick for a father?
“Second rate college,” my ass. I’d worked my ass off in high school to get where I was today, and UConn was a damn good school with a damn good football program. Sure, it wasn’t Texas or Ole Miss, but there were so many players in the NFL who came from schools no one had ever heard of. Or seen play in a BCS bowl game.
It didn’t matter what he said anyway. UConn was one of the only Division I schools that wanted me, and I’d made my decision. I was verbally committed. I wasn’t changing my mind now. He always accused me of being a quitter, why wasn’t he pleased with this decision?
Because he was never fucking pleased.
I walked aimlessly through the neighborhood, pacing the sidewalk until I decided to head over to the playground. I stepped into the Morsey’s backyard, thinking about a time so long ago when I’d sat with Char on the back steps. Now we were all but strangers. My fault really.
Something rustles in the grass as I walk through their lawn. Staring out into the middle of it, I see Char there, lying flat on her back with a book held up over her face. She was reading.
My sneaker must scuff on something in the grass, because Char glances up, her expression turning from calm to irritated in two seconds flat.
“What are you doing?” I don’t miss the annoyance in her tone.
“Just passing through. What are you reading?”
She looks like she might not answer, but a couple of seconds go by and then she does. “This book by Chevy Stevens. You’ve probably never heard of it.”
I walk closer to her. I always forget how hot Char is until I see her. With her quiet personality and nerd status, it’s easy to pass her by. But when it’s just us, I remember how, just … pretty she
Tucker looks confused. “What the hell?”
“Here I am, falling into the same old traps. Tucker Traps. That should be your invention or something because God, you’re so good at it. You get everyone to play into your little charades. You’ve got me practically supporting and encouraging you, eating out of your goddamn hand just like I used to. But that was before you FUCKING KIDNAPPED ME!”
“Hey, now come on, I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.”
“I don’t care if your head was in outer space, you took me from my job at gunpoint, threatened to kill me, and are now holding me hostage. And silly little Charlotte, here she is acting like she’s on vacation! You probably think you’ve got me right where you want me, huh? Not this time!”
I stomp out of the cabin, or at least I try to. Tucker grabs my arm, swinging me back around to face him again before he pins me to another wall.
“I haven’t said it yet, but I’m saying it now. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry I dragged you into this mess, Charlotte. It’s eating me up inside that it was you in that bank. That I could have gone so far as to hurt you. You know me, you know the real me, the sane me, would have never done that.”
I don’t look him in the face, instead turning my head like some insolent child. He doesn’t try to make me look into his eyes, just keeps going.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about with this whole manipulation business. The only thing I’ve asked is that you don’t leave, and you know why you can’t. I haven’t made you do or say anything besides that. I’ve never trapped you or played you, or whatever you’re going on about.”
I can’t stand to listen to him downplay it any longer. “Oh no? You don’t remember why we stopped talking all those years ago?”
Tucker’s face looks completely blank for a moment, and then his cheeks redden and he has the decency to look ashamed. “Char, I—”
“Yeah. So don’t fucking lie to me and say you never played me.”
16
Tucker
Eight Years Ago
F ucking asshole .
I slammed my way out of my house and started down the driveway, pissed off and seeing red.
That prick. Why did I have to get stuck with such a prick for a father?
“Second rate college,” my ass. I’d worked my ass off in high school to get where I was today, and UConn was a damn good school with a damn good football program. Sure, it wasn’t Texas or Ole Miss, but there were so many players in the NFL who came from schools no one had ever heard of. Or seen play in a BCS bowl game.
It didn’t matter what he said anyway. UConn was one of the only Division I schools that wanted me, and I’d made my decision. I was verbally committed. I wasn’t changing my mind now. He always accused me of being a quitter, why wasn’t he pleased with this decision?
Because he was never fucking pleased.
I walked aimlessly through the neighborhood, pacing the sidewalk until I decided to head over to the playground. I stepped into the Morsey’s backyard, thinking about a time so long ago when I’d sat with Char on the back steps. Now we were all but strangers. My fault really.
Something rustles in the grass as I walk through their lawn. Staring out into the middle of it, I see Char there, lying flat on her back with a book held up over her face. She was reading.
My sneaker must scuff on something in the grass, because Char glances up, her expression turning from calm to irritated in two seconds flat.
“What are you doing?” I don’t miss the annoyance in her tone.
“Just passing through. What are you reading?”
She looks like she might not answer, but a couple of seconds go by and then she does. “This book by Chevy Stevens. You’ve probably never heard of it.”
I walk closer to her. I always forget how hot Char is until I see her. With her quiet personality and nerd status, it’s easy to pass her by. But when it’s just us, I remember how, just … pretty she
Similar Books
