Read Online Rebel With A Cause by Ashleigh Neame - Free Book Online Page B

smoking?”
    He shrugged. “Since I made the biggest mistake of my life.”
    Bekah sighed. She looked out at the marshlands below the Overlook, where she and Carter used to play as kids. It was the only place where they had truly been happy, before their lives went to pieces.
    It was also the last place where Carter saw his parents alive.
    “Oh yeah?” she asked. “What was that?”
    Carter exhaled the smoke. “I asked Kaitlyn to marry me.”
    Bekah’s eyebrows shot up. “Are you serious?”
    Carter nodded. “Yeah.”
    “Holy crackers, Carter, I never thought I’d see the day when someone made an honest man outta you.”
    That earned her a small half-smile. “Yeah, me either. But I don’t think she will. As much as I love Katie, I get the feeling that she ’s too immature to make that decision. I shouldn’t have asked her.”
    Bekah hugged her cousin. “What would your parents think?”
    Carter frowned. There was no way he could fool Bekah. She knew the real reason behind him coming. The truth was that Carter missed his parents intensely. He’d been fourteen when they died, and he’d gone into such a deep depression that he’d screwed up his life even more. He played the field, screwing anything with legs, and took up street racing. He’d ended up in hospital quite a few times before he met T-Man, his best mate, and the one who taught him how important it was to do a defensive driving course.
    “They’d probably think I was growing up,” he said after a pause. “I know my mum would be happy.”
    Bekah smiled. “She would. Katie’s been the girl to tame you. She’d love any girl who could make you settle down. ”
    Carter gave a kind of half-smirk. “She hasn’t tamed me though, not really. I mean, I love her and all, but I still want other girls.”
    Bekah rolled her eyes. “Of course you do, you’re a teenage guy .”
    There was a pregnant pause, while Bekah eyed her cousin admiringly.
    “What?” he asked, feeling her eyes on him.
    “You’re growing up. I always worried that you’d never be happy again, but maybe Kaitlyn can help you regain some control of your life. Maybe she can make you into the sweet guy you used to be.”
    He chuckled and took another deep drag on his cigarette. “I doubt it.”
    Bekah was stumped. In the past few minutes she had glimpsed a view of her old cousin, the old version from when they were kids. She could picture him playing on the old swing set that used to be at the Overlook, and sliding down the slide with her as a toddler.
    Only the arrogant Carter that was often showing through was pissing her off.
    “What went wrong, Carter?” she asked him. “Why are you so down on yourself?”
    Carter barked a harsh, bitter laugh. “That’s a dumb question, isn’t it?”
    Bekah just eyed him sadly.
    “My parents died, Bex, right when I needed them the most. And what’s worse, I hated them the day of. My dad was supposed to come and watch me play soccer, but he decided that he and mum would rather go out for brunch than see me play. They sent me off with the coach and his son.”
    Bekah felt like she wasn’t getting it all. It was one soccer game, and his parents had been to countless others. What was so special about this one?
    “It was the first time I ever won Player of the Day. I got a trophy, a certificate and a free lunch. And they didn’t even care.”
    “I’m sure they did, Carter. Maybe they were just busy?”
    He snorted. “Yeah, right, busy . If they were busy, why had nothing in the house changed? Why was everything as it was when I left? The only difference was that they weren’t there.”
    Bekah sighed internally. “Did you ever find out why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why they’d gone out for brunch ?”
    He shrugged. “Nope. But I really don’t care. They left me, and now I just have to deal with it.”
    “So, what does this have to do with not wanting to marry Kaitlyn?”
    “Everyone I get close to leaves, Bex. My parents left, you