A/N:- Hey guys. I'm super sorry about how long it's taking me to update this book. I started this book as a naive thirteen year old in the May of 2015, and it's the May of 2017. Wow. Also, my life has been crazy recently. I moved to New Jersey and we're still setting up everything here. So that's why it took me so long to update. I don't want to give up on Love Happens because we came so far with it. Are you guys ready to finish it together?
~H💜
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While Cage and his teammates hit the showers and changed out of sweaty clothes into something a little more hygienic, I was waiting for him along with the rest of his fangirls out on the field. It felt strange, standing at another high school, surrounded by nobody you knew, so I stood to the side, scrolling through my phone while everybody talked exitedly amongst themselves about some party.
Gabby left, but that was only because Jason came back to pick her up. "You came here to support your boyfriend, Kit," she told me before she left. "So don't look at me all betrayed like that cause I'm leaving. I'm doing you a favor by giving you some alone time with your boyfriend."
"Okay, okay," I rolled my eyes at her, my cheeks sorta warm from her overmentioning Cage (I had a boyfriend!!!). Call me cheesy but it still was taking me time to process that Cage Alexander Loren was mine. I don't know where it adds up, but I'm glad it does.
I leaned against the bleachers, texting Mom because my mother was so entertaining to text. Here's how today's conversation with her went.
Mom: did cage's team win???
Me: yessssssss.
Mom: when will u b home?
Me: IDK, but before the curfew, don't worry!!
Mom: what does idk mean
Me: I don't know.
Mom: but you just typed it, how can u not know wat it means
Her texting slang was so 2006, but I guess I needed to suck it up and deal with it, even though it gives me a headache sometimes. I let out a small sigh, wishing Cage would hurry up. Aleisha seemed to be deep in conversation with a group of her own friends and I didn't want to intrude. A bunch of girls were staring at me and whispering though (probably because I was wearing Cage's last name on my back). Feeling super alone and awkward, I huffed impatiently, wishing Tanner and Cage would be out soon.
Luckily, my prayers were answered. Less than a minute later, a group of attractive boys, all fresh and clean, were making their way out of the locker room, and towards us. I grinned as I spotted the dark haired boy with the gorgeous smile, and waited as he approached me.
"Aren't you quite social," he commented, as he addressed the fact I was standing a good ten feet away from where everyone else were standing. I rolled my eyes, looking away sheepishly. "Gabby ditched me for Jason."
He smirked. "That works for me. Now I have you to myself."
I tried my hardest to fight back a blush, but the warmth that crept into me was overwhelming as he leaned into my touch. His fingers twirled around mine, as he pressed his lips against my forehead.
Immediately, a bunch of those girls who were staring at me began to swoon (almost mockingly?) and I found myself pulling away from Cage, annoyed. Cage steadied his hand on my shoulder, glancing at the group of girls. "Is there a problem?"
One of them was really pretty- with dark brown hair and dimples, and she stepped forward giving Cage a look. "We were just trying to understand why Cage Alexander Loren has a secret girlfriend he never told us about. Who is she?"
"Bethany," Cage spoke, almost irritated. "What I do and who I date is my choice. I don't have to publicize it to everyone. It's my business, not yours."
She narrowed her eyes at him, before they fell on me. "Really, Cage? Isn't that rich coming from you? As I recall, you were my date for prom last year and you told me that everything you had was mine."
He stiffened. "I was different back then. Younger, and clearly more stupid."
Bethany scoffed, glancing at the blonde girl next to her. "Just wait till Maya gets a load of this."
Maya. There was that wretched name again. I glanced at Cage, curiously and I realized that he indeed, looked quite pissed off (which was a really attractive feature on him). "I don't get what your problem is. Tell Maya to leave me alone. I'm done with her, I've moved on."
The blonde next to Bethany smirked. "And she's your upgrade? Why would you ever go from a goddess like Maya to someone like..." She laughed scornfully at me. "Someone like that?"
Okay, enough was enough. I wasn't going to stand here and watch these girls get their way any longer. Hold up, losers, Kirstin's here to slay the day.
"Okay, you know what," I stepped away from Cage and towards them, crossing my hands across my chest with a scowl on my face. "I'm sick of this crap you've been spouting from your heavily done lipstick smothered mouths. It's Cage's life, not yours. Who he dates is beyond you, and clearly none of your concern. So I'd appreciate it if you kept your irrelevant comments that make zero difference to us to yourself."
Tanner came up behind us, letting out a hoot. "Damn, baby! You heard her, guys. Now leave my pals alone!"
Bethany looked extremely irritated and she scowled at Tanner. "Whatever."
Cage rolled his eyes, tugging at my arm and pulling me to the side where Tanner joined us- away from those annoying girls.
"Who were they?" I asked, and Tanner let out a laugh. "Maya's army. They're hot but they don't really have too many brain cells. They've been bothering Cage since sophomore year."
"You took the brunette to junior prom?" I raised my eyebrow at Cage and he sighed. "Maya and I broke up and I wanted revenge by going out with her best friend. It was dumb- I regret it."
Tanner glanced at Bethany before looking back at me. "Beth used to be really nice, until Maya corrupted her mind. Now, Bethany only cares about her manicure and the newest season of The Bachelor."
"I'm hearing so much about this Maya," I muttered. "But I barely even met her. For someone with so much power and control at school, shouldn't she be here?"
"Thank god she wasn't here today. If she saw that Cage brought you along, she'd have had a mental breakdown in front of everyone," Tanner retorted. "Not that you wouldn't be able to handle her Kit- you're the perfect answer to her psychotic mess."
Cage grinned a little at that, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "That was actually one of the reasons to why I was so into you. That feistiness inside you is so... hot."
I raised my eyebrows at that, super nonchalant but my heart did do a loopdeloop in my chest. Maybe I was going under a cardiac arrest.
Cage twisted his fingers through mine, before shooting those girls a hateful look. "I'm sorry you had to be there for that. They've only been making my life further complicated, but now that you're here, it's so much better."
I pressed my palms against his cheeks, smiling up at him, as his arms fell around my waist. "Well, the next time they trouble you, just hit me up and I'll karate chop them into space."
Cage let out a laugh before leaning in to peck my lips and Tanner groaned. "Okay guys. Cut it out. I'm still here."
"CAGE!"
We both glanced up to see one of Cage's teammates running over, a big grin on his face. "Yo, dude, are you going to be there tonight at Ralph's?"
Cage shrugged loosely, glancing down at me where he was still holding me in his arms, not giving me the chance to let go. "I don't know, man. Whatever my girl wants to do."
The boy smiled at me, holding out his hand. "Hey, you must be the famous Kit Dawson. I'm Nathan- your boyfriend's number one bro."
"Actually," Tanner interrupted. "That's me. But I guess Nathan could be your second best friend."
Nathan was attractive in a golden boy kinda way, in every way Cage was not. While Cage had the bad boy smirk, swoon worthy messy dark hair and blue eyes, Nathan had lighter hair and a good guy smile- super genuine and sweet. I liked him instantly and shook his hand. "Hi Nathan! It's really nice to meet you!"
"Same," he laughed. "It's unfortunate I couldn't make it to the Hawaii trip or I would've met you earlier. Cage has been talking my ear off about you for months now."
I laughed and Cage rolled his eyes with a smile. "She gets it, Nate."
"So yeah, our friend Ralph's having a party," Nathan explained. "You guys should totally come, we could hang out!"
A party? With the people who hated me? I glanced towards the group of girls who were immersed in a conversation with the team players, and grimaced. Cage tightened his grip on my hand. "If you're not into that, we could do something else."
I glanced at Nathan's face, and it was clear that he looked a little disappointed that Cage wouldn't be coming. I could see how much his friends and classmates adored Cage (who doesn't adore Cage?), so I gave in. I think I could go through this party if it meant Cage was happy.
"I don't mind going to this party," I finally said as convincingly as I could, and Nathan's face broke out into a grin. "Awesome!" He cheered, first bumping Cage. "Tonight's gonna be lit!"
"Okay dude," Tanner turned to Cage. "I'm getting a ride with Aleisha and the rest. You two lovebirds can ride together."
Nathan and Tanner left, both of them extremely pumped and excited. Cage turned to me, clearly unconvinced. "You sure, babe?"
"Am I sure about what?" I asked as innocently as I could, trying to ignore what the use of the word babe did to me. He rolled his blue eyes as we began to walk towards his car, which was parked several feet away. "About the party. I swear, if you aren't up for it, I don't want you to feel obliged just because you're my girlfriend."
"Trust me, Cage, I'm up for it," I laughed, pressing my lips lightly to his cheek. "I'm a big girl, don't you think I can handle it?"
He rushed his fingers through his hair as we approached his car, before giving me a devilish grin. "The last time we were at a party together, you definitely showed me that you could handle it."
I understood what he was implying- the party at Hawaii where he had almost kissed me- and I blushed, like the idiot I was. I couldn't even muster up a coherent response so I just ducked into his car, as smoothly as I could. He followed and before I knew it, we were sitting in his black Toyota Highlander. He gave me a side look, almost hesitating. "By the way, I don't think I had the chance to tell you this. You look gorgeous."
I caught a peek at my reflection in the rear view mirror and wanted to scoff. "Gorgeous?" I scowled at my face (my hair was messy, my eyes had dark circles under them yay). "I don't know what you're talking about."
He rolled his eyes slowly. "You're freaking beautiful, Kirstin. But the jersey. It looks..." He swallowed as his eyes trailed down from my face to my collarbone, taking in my outfit. "It looks so freaking hot."
I met his burning gaze and wanted to die under it. As the fiftieth blush in the past hour began to creep over my cheeks, I couldn't help it. He was resting his hand in the space between the seats, leaning in slightly so I saw my chance and I took it. Before I knew it, I was reaching out and my fingers locked into his hair. Our lips crashed and that was probably the fist time I had ever initiated a kiss. He reacted instantly, surprised at first before his hand slipped to the nape of my neck. I could feel him smiling against my lips, as he kissed me slightly harder, and that was it, I was pulling away, for breath. I know. Inexperienced me.
"I love you."
He was smiling at me with a gaze so adoring, that my stomach sort of did a crazy backflip and I wanted to kiss him again. How did he do this to me? Turned me into putty in his own hands.
"I love you too," it was hard for me to muster up the courage to say the words, but I did. Because I meant it. I did love him.
His face broke into a gorgeous, dimpled grin. "If I told you all those months ago when we met that we'd be here together one day, you wouldn't freaked."
"To be honest, I'm still freaked. It all happened so fast," I admitted and he smiled, pressing his knuckles to my cheek. "You make me so happy, baby. Whenever I'm with you or around you... You make me want to be a better person."
I closed my eyes for a second, letting his words sink in. He really knew what to say all the time, it just wasn't fair. A heavy sigh escaped my lips and I tilted my head backwards, helplessly. "I... I can't top that. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you-"
He laughed at me, shaking his head as he started up the car. "I get it. Now let's get to the party before Tanner assumes we've been kidnapped and calls 911."
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