Inner Beast: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Read online

  Me — Hey Sammi, just got home. Want to meet up tomorrow for either lunch or a girls night out? I could use the distraction and we can catch up.

  I throw my phone back on the bed and head over to the closet grabbing a silk nightgown and tossing in on. When I walk back into the bathroom I hear my phone go off. I lightly towel dry my hair then head back to bed. I climb into bed and grab my phone. It’s a reply from Sammi.

  Sammi — A girls night out would be amazing, let's do it.

  Chapter 5

  The cab pulls up to the nightclub that we agreed to meet at. I reach up and hand the money to the cabbie before exiting onto the sidewalk. The music can be heard from outside. The air remains warm. I start walking to the entrance of the club and can already smell the liquor and sweat. The usher lets me walk in with a nod of his head. Once inside the temperature feels significantly warmer. I weave through the swarms of people who are already high from the atmosphere and who knows what else. I get to the bar and flag the bartender down ordering my go to, a muddled mojito. The scent of mint and the refreshing crisp taste of lime is what I crave at times like these.

  I turn and look into the crowd looking for Sammi. It doesn’t look like she is here yet. We normally meet at the bar when we go out, so I plan to wait here until she gets here. I turn back to the bar and the bartender hands me my drink. The music is loud and I can feel the sound travel through me, the beat of the bass vibrates through me. I can feel all my stress from yesterday dissolving. I take a drink of my mojito and groan. Just what I needed. I set the glass down on the counter as I hear Sammi calling out my name. I turn my head and see her walking towards the bar waving. She is wearing a cute mint green tank top with black fabric shorts. Her brown hair is pulled back and her tanned skin contrasts the mint colour giving her a nice glow. I chose to wear a feather light, pale pink wrap dress. Anything else in this heat would have been suicide. I’m so excited to see Sammi then when she gets close to the bar I pull her into the biggest hug and plaster on my biggest smile.

  Fake it girl, ooze happiness.

  “Hey Ali, how are you?!” Sammi says.

  “I’m so much better now that I’ve seen you. It’s been so long. Its gotta be over two weeks. I know we talk on the phone almost daily but still. Feels like an eternity.” I say.

  “I know what you mean. What did you order?” Sammi says as she leans into the counter with her hand up indicating to the bartender she is ready to order something.

  “Oh, mojito.” I say. Looking down into my drink.

  “Well your taste for drinks hasn’t changed.” She says laughing. “You could always try something new.”

  When the bartender comes Sam orders a beer which he immediately pops the top off, and hands to her.

  Sam turns to me. “So, my brother and his house. How did that go?”

  “That was direct and to the point. You don't let up do you?” I say laughing at her bluntness. I roll my eyes and answer her. “It was fine. I didn’t expect him to be there though and I feel like I was ambushed. Was I the only one who didn’t know he would be there?”

  “Who did you think was going to be at his house if not him?” She asks smiling.

  “His assistant.” I say, matter of factly. “I figured I would be going over everything with her. Thats was I have been in contact with, up until I got to the house that is.”

  “Ohh. Well that makes sense then.” She says taking a sip from the beer. “So everything went well then?”

  “Yup, everything was fine. Why do you keep asking? Did you except it not to go well?” I ask her.

  Sam frowns, “Its just been awhile since you guys have seen each other and it feels like there is more to your history than I know or that you will share. I was just wanting to make sure he was bring nice and not an asshole. Checking in.” She says.

  “Well thank you for looking out for me.” I say. “I appreciate it.” I continue smiling at her to help lighten the mood. I continue.

  “But all that happened was a quick walkthrough of the entry. He told me where he wanted to start and it sounds like he wants to do this one room at a time. He probably wants to see what I will do before committing to the rest of the house.” I leave out the towel situation, needing to change the subject so I defer.

  “Your message said you had news.” I say which causes Sammi to light up like a spark inside her has just come alight.

  “Yah, well, this might be my last ladies night out on the town for awhile.” She says coyly. “Cole and I have decided to have a baby.” She says gleaming, smiling so big my heart aches. I reach out again embracing my arms out Sammi so quickly.

  “Oh my god! Why didn’t we start with that news. That so exciting. You must be so happy. I can’t wait to be the little ones crazy aunt who spoils her silly.” I say to her. I pull away and there are tears in her eyes.

  “Why are you crying?” I ask.

  “I’m just so happy. Are you happy? Because I feel like I'm rubbing my good news in your face.” She says. I burst out laughing and wipe her tears away.

  “Do not apologize to me for being happy. Of course I'm happy. Now let's get this party started we have huge life milestones to celebrate and it may be the last time we get to do this for awhile.”

  For the rest of the evening we dance, drink and laugh. We dance until the soles of our feet hurt. Until our outfits are stuck to our skin and our hair is dripping with perspiration. I grind against complete strangers and let loose without a worry in the world. Afterwards we share a cab and I’m the one dropped off first. I hug Sammi tightly one last time and tell her I love her and will call her later. I walk into my apartment, lock the door, walk over to my bed and curl into a ball. Where I end up crying myself to sleep.

  Chapter 6

  Alexis 16 years old.

  I was grounded for two weeks after I broke curfew, but I had no regrets. Those two weeks were long and mostly celibate as the only time I was aloud to see Carter was at school. We made the most of our time together and often went off school grounds during lunch hour. Carter would drive us somewhere secluded, as soon as the ignition shut off our clothes were off in a heap of passion. Clawing at one another, gasping for air. Afterwards we would rush back to school.

  Those two weeks are over now. Carter has been doing exceptionally well with the hockey team and tonight on my first night of freedom I plan on going to one of his games to support him. There have been talks about scouts or something coming. Maybe they were called recruiters. Normally they come and watch games for the seniors who will be graduating but rumour has it that they have their eyes set on my man and I couldn’t be prouder. It has always been his dream to play for the NHL. When I asked him before what it takes to make it he told me his plan is to start with an established college team, then hopefully get invited to the drafts and get picked for a team. He has been committed about putting in the work and sometimes we don't see each other for entire weekends because of it.

  The game starts tonight at seven, so after school me and a bunch of the girls gets together at Courtneys to get ready. We spend time gossiping about things happening at the school. Who kissed who and… pretty much just who kissed who.

  “Oh my god” says Courtney. “Did you hear about Travis getting caught in the locker room with Sarah.”

  “Oh, yes” says Becca. “They were both suspended from school. I heard Travis’s parents are pissed because he won’t be able to play when the college recruiters come tonight. They were harsh and said he threw his life away.”

  Courtney chimes back in. “Sarah is devastated. Her parents grounded her for an “eternity” she said and they’ve forbid her from seeing him again.”

  “What!?” Says becca. “They can’t do that. Thats ludacris.”

  I continue doing my hair while they gabber about the ongoing drama at school right now. Honestly the situation sucks but they got themselves into that mess. They should have known better than to have sex in the locker room. From what
I heard it wasn’t even well hidden, heard they were going so loud that the classroom next door heard their groaning and moaning and that’s why the the coach was called to check on who ever was in there.

  Idiots. They deserved to get caught. So glad that Carter is respectful for me and future orientated. He wouldn’t risk his career for a quickie in a dirty locker room.

  I finish my final hair curl and lean away from the mirror before tousling it out. It’s now six-thirty and its already going to be a hassle getting into the arena.

  “Are you guys almost finished?” I ask. “We should probably get going.”

  “Yah, I’m ready.” Says Courtney.

  “Me too.” Says Becca.

  “Well let's go then,” I say walking over to the bed where my purse sits. I turn around and the girls are already heading towards the door.

  We carpool there together in Courts car and when we get there it was just as expected. Busier than ever. We had to park it least a five minute walk away and once we got to the entrance we had to stand in line. By the time we actually entered the arena it was after seven and we hadn’t even found our seats yet. The music is playing and the announcer is announcing the starting line up. They must have already mentioned Carter because I don't hear them say his name. We climb the stairs and I shiver, forgetting every time how cold it is in this building and cursing myself for not wearing something warmer. I’m currently wearing a black t-shirt, jean shorts and my ked sneakers.

  We find our seats and sit down. The music has stopped playing and the sound from all the fans has decreased. Everyone is focused on who has the puck and what side of the ice they are on. I look out onto the ice and see my man. Number fourteen, the age we started dating. It has always been easy to remember it because of that.

  Carter glides down the ice with such ease. Like he was made to skate. He passes the puck to his teammate. He team-mate shoots, but misses. The apposing team skates off with the puck. I look over at Becca and she is zoned into the game like everyone else in the arena. Cout is staring at her phone, and every few minutes I see her typing into it. Odd because all the people she normally messages are here.

  “Court, everything ok?” I ask her.

  Courtney turns to me with one of her big fake smiles. I’ve known this girl forever and know when she is faking it.

  “Yes, everything’s fine. Why?” She asks.

  “You just keep sending messages off, just checking to see if anything was wrong.” I say.

  “Nope, just checking a few things.” Court shuts off the screen to her phone and tucks it into her sweater pocket. She seems quiet, closed off.

  The buzzer blares and I turn my head back to the ice. Our team fist bumps skating past one another, the fans are cheering ear splittingly loud. I look up onto the screen and see that Carter just shot a goal. My heart swells. I look down towards the glass and notice a few guys in more formal attire and suspect they’re from the colleges.

  Carter looks up into our section of seats and waves. I wave back and blow him a kiss. Court grunts pulling out her phone again. I look over at her confused but choose to ignore it.

  That was my first mistake.

  Chapter 7

  Carter. 14 years old.

  I’ve been crushing on the same girl since kindergarten. Something about those lop-sided blonde pigtails that stuck out of the sides of her head at the time. All I wanted to do was yank on them. Ali was the most spontaneous and outgoing kid in our class. Always shooting her hand up in the sky when the class was asked a question. She didn’t care if she was right, it was more about participating. Through the years we stayed in each others classes but we never spoke. I’ve seen her go through all the awkward stages, pig-tails, missing front teeth, and puberty. Alexis “Ali” Jenkins is my soul mate and I'm afraid to talk to her. I’m afraid that these feelings only go one way. When we were kids I watched from afar, learning and falling. Every year my heart grew fonder.

  Ali doesn’t know this but in kindergarten Tommy actually pulled one of her pigtails and I was suspended for two days after I punched him at lunch time. I told Tommy if he ever hurt another girl again I would do worse. He told the teacher and I was at risk of being expelled. My parents sweet talked the principal and explained I would never do anything like that again, that I was a sweet kid. They asked why I did it and I didn’t tell them. I never told anyone why I punched Tommy, he deserved it and that’s all that mattered. He never teased Ali again after that. I’ve been protecting her through the years in little ways. When someone would tease her about her missing teeth I would set them straight, I learnt that throwing punches isn’t the answer. So I had to change tactics, fight fire with fire. I was mean with a purpose.

  I’m standing in the hallways talking to the guys from the hockey team. We have an upcoming game this weekend and the guys think we're going to lose, which in that mindset we already have. Ali’s locker is just down the hall from me and I can see her talking to a few of her friends. Every once in awhile I swear I see her glance my way, when I see her friends look over at me too I know for sure she has been looking over my way.

  I walk away from the guys without saying goodbye. They’ve irritated me anyway.

  When I start getting closer to her I wonder what I was thinking. Why I thought now would be a good time, in front of all her friends and mine. Why I chose a time where I could be utterly humiliated in front of the whole school. I try to calm my nerves and uncertainty and clear the shake from my voice. She has watched me walk towards her this entire time. The distance is closing between us quickly. The tension rising, the feeling of nausea so strong that I'm afraid I may throw up on her. Which, would make me the laughing stock of history. We are a mere two feet apart and it feels like the entire hallway has gone silent. Her friends are looking at me and I wear if I turned around and looked every single betraying asshole at this school is watching to see what happens next.

  “Hi Alexis” I blurt out.

  I reach up to hold onto the straps of my backpack. Gripping them so hard that I’m sure my knuckles are white. I keep a smile plastered on my face, portraying confidence instead of fear. Ali is staring at me, she looks stunned. I worry that I was right and this was stupid.

  “Hi Carter,” She finally says. “What’s up?”

  I laugh, mostly to hide the expel of relieve that has come over me. She actually talked to me. I look at her friends and notice that they are glued to everything that we are saying and doing.

  “Can I talk to you alone for a second?” I say.

  “Sure.” She says.

  We walk off a few steps away from her group of friends. I keep holding onto my backpack, when it appears we are out of hearing range from the nosy people around us I stop and turn to her. I decide to just blurt it out, before I chicken out.

  “I’ve been meaning to say this for awhile. I like you and I was hoping we could hang out sometime” I say.

  To my surprise she blushes and looks down to her shoes shyly. Probably trying to hide the reaction she has had. It’s adorable, her hair falls into her face and it takes everything in me not to reach up and brush the hair out of her face. To see what her skin feels like.

  “I would love that” she say.

  I feel like my heart has cracked open, and my brain is a scattered mess. I cannot think of what to say next so I reach for my phone in my back pocket.

  “Awesome, here is my phone. You put your number in my phone and I’ll put mine in yours. We can text later and arrange something?” I say.

  I hand her my phone and take hers. I add myself as a contact. Carter T. And under “company” I put, yours. I don't know how long it will take her to notice, and it was probably the boldest thing I’ve ever done. I hand her back her phone and without looking at it she tucks it back into her back pocket. So I do that same when she hands me mine. Even though I want to exam the number, stare at her name and I'm curious as shit as to whether she did anything like I have just done.

 
“talk to you later?” I say to her. Mostly because I’m impatient and need to check without her noticing.

  “Yah.” She says. “Talk later”

  I smile at her and wave while I walk away, back to my group of friends over by my locker. Back to listening to them tell us how hard this game is going to be, but I don’t care. I just got her number, Ali’s number. That one girl that has always held my eye. I turn and look at her again as she stand with her friends. They are all laughing. Throwing their heads back. Ali is still blushing. She looks beautiful. The most beautiful girl in this school and she didn’t turn me down.