The DarkNess Within Him | ✔

Chapter Thirty Two

Carter's face is dull when I push past him into his small house. He looks like a wreck with unkept hair, scruffy clothing and an uneven shave. His house looks even worse and the stench coming from it has me wanting to rush to the bathroom and vomit.

The curtain blinds on the windows are closed and even the lighting is dreadful. I study the half eaten box of pizza on the table wondering how Carter can even eat in this place with all the clutter. If I was here on a happy visit, I would pick up the clothes from the floor and clean but I'm not. So I won't.

Ever since Carter's mother died three years ago, he's turned his small house into a pig sty but I've never seen it this bad before.

"Mikayla, what do you want?" Carter demands with an annoyed sigh. I drag my gaze back to him now.

"I saw Vicky. In that bar, the day you kissed me. I saw Vicky. You kissed me to make her jealous, didn't you?" I ask with a straight face, not wanting to blow my cover.

He doesn't answer. He just looks down and stares into his hands while I exhale at his silent confirmation.

I didn't see Vicky that day but I had a feeling that he wouldn't admit to anything if I didn't give him reason to. If I didn't make him believe that I knew why he did that. I guess I was right.

"That nosy Mer told you about Vicky, didn't she?" He scoffs, looking up to scowl as his lips twist in an unattractive fashion.

"Does it matter? I mean, first, you kiss me. Then, you refuse to tell me why and let me attack you with assumptions. And now, I find out that the apple of your eyes happen to be Vicky of all people." I roll my eyes when I say her name, stopping to show my level of disdain at the thought. Vicky isn't a nice person. The reason I don't like her much has nothing to do with Mason.

She is mean, unfriendly, crude and downright cruel. She's been through a bad phase that unfortunately had me intertwined in it but that doesn't stop the fact that she has a personality I wouldn't want to associate with. What do all these men even see in Vicky? Granted, she's beautiful and very flirty but beyond that, is a person who just isn't nice.

"There is nothing wrong with Vicky." He argues fiercely and I watch his green eyes turn a musky black before quickly mellowing down "You just prefer to misjudge people."

"I misjudge people?" I ask aghast, raising my hand to clutch to my chest.

"Yes." He says through gritted teeth "You do. You see people in a linear way. You always prefer to see people in one way, never wanting to see the other layers to a person. To you, if a person looks at you the wrong way, they will forever be seen in your eyes as bad. If someone smiles at you, they will always be seen in your eyes as good. You don't care to see the depth of anyone's personality! You're a very bad judge of character and think in a shallow way about people!"

It stings. What Carter just said, stings. It stings so very bad that I feel my feet take a step back as I look at him with hurt eyes, feeling the muscles of my stomach contract ferociously.

"I know you want to ask why I never told you that I loved her but what did you expect from me Mikayla?" He yells at me. Every last word strained as his voice echoes in the small space of his house "When I was with Mer, you hated her. You disliked Vicky because Mason was screwing her. You don't have alot of friends but the few ones you do have, you look at them like property. You always feel the need to control who they should be around. Mason hated that about you."

It's spite I see burning in his eyes for me and I don't understand why. Where did I go wrong with Carter? I understand everyone else feeling negative about me but not Carter. He's always been my emotional comfort. He's always been there for me as I have been for him so why does he suddenly hate me so?