Simply Falling

Chapter 35

"Don't you dare touch her!!" Someone growls venomously.

"Why not? What are you going to do?" Johnny snickers.

"Watch it pal, I'm a black belt in karate. Don't make me prove it." The familiar voice warns.

Johnny gets pushed on to my sofa.

A look of fear flashes across his face as he scrambles away.

When he's gone, I laugh at his retreating figure, too distracted to think about anything else.

"Did he hurt you?" Carlos asks, eyes scanning my body for any signs of harm.

I shake my head as I turn to face him.

He looks at me with concern and relief.

My heart flutters as I realize that he cares about me.

I should be mad at him right now for Heaven's sake!

God, I'm pathetic.

"Before I bombard you with questions, let me get one thing straight. You're a black belt?!?" I say.

And of all the things I wanted to say to him, I chose that first.

He looks amused. "Nah. I've just always wanted to say that."

I shake my head, laughing.

I can't help it.

I can't stay mad at him for long.

He has that effect on me.

And I hate it.

Carlos steps closer to me and my breath quickens as I get a flashback of our kiss.

I look him in the eye as he says, "Angel, I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

He looks so sincere and apologetic, all my willpower to stay mad at him, crumbles down like a ton of bricks.

"Thank you for coming. It means a lot to me." I smile at him.

"So, what made you change your mind?" I ask.

His hazel eyes are warm and glowing.

We are now standing less than a foot apart.

I catch a whiff of his familiar scent.

He's wearing the same clothes he wore to our date earlier.

" What do you mean?" He asks, feigning confusion.

I shoot him down with a pointed look.

"Okay, first of all, you are a terrible liar. And second of all, do you really think I'm so dumb?" I ask, feeling slightly insulted.

"Aw, what gave it away?" He asks, as though he was betrayed.

"Hmm let's see... Probably the fact that you said you couldn't come to my party on Tuesday because of your soccer match. I asked around and found out that there was no match. Then on Wednesday, you said you couldn't come because you had to visit you Grandma. I asked your mother, she said that your Grandmother is in Ghana and that you weren't going out of town this week. Seriously Carlos, do I need to remind you about every lie you said? You could have just told me that you didn't want to come because you hate parties. I would've understood. After all, at Zack's last party, you were so secluded. Why didn't you just tell me?" I say, feeling frustrated and angry again.

"Because, I didn't want to hurt you. Especially for such a stupid reason. Look, I'm sorry I lied to you. I really didn't want to. I'm just really glad I came to my senses after our date and came here." He says, searching my eyes for forgiveness.