Taming the Beast

Chapter 11 (Caroline)

“What do you mean?” he asked. My eyes flickered over to his truly curious face before I sighed.

“I’m only 18, why would I have a toddler? Preston is my brother’s son. Well, I’m practically his mom, but

he’s not my biological son, but he is my nephew… and that was my brother you saw with us,” I

explained. His eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

“Where is Preston’s mom in all of this?” Keegan asked. I looked down at the crumbled napkins in my

hands and sighed.

“She left my brother, Danny, to deal with Preston on his own,” I answered softly. Keegan touched my

arm gently. Fire shot up my arm, but when I looked at his face, it held nothing but sympathy.

“I’m sorry,” he said genuinely. I shook my head as a soft smile played at the corner of my lips.

“Don’t be. I love that kid,” I said. I bumped his shoulder lightly with my fist before I started dabbing him

again. “I’m sorry about spitting all over you. I can’t imagine how attractive that looked on your end,” I

joked. His hand was still on my arm.

Trust me, I noticed.

“I don’t think anything could make you unattractive,” he muttered quickly. My eyes shot up to his as he

blushed lightly. He averted his gaze and shrugged a little. My ears were hearing things. That was the

only excuse I could come up with.

~

The next day, I was anxious for lunch. I knew exactly why too.

Keegan.

He was all I could think about lately. I wanted to get to know him. I wanted to get inside his brain and

learn everything. I wanted to crawl under his skin and stay there. My leg shook nervously as I waited

for the bell to ring to signal the start of lunch. I stared at the clock; watching the time tick away. As soon

as the bell rang, I jumped up and grabbed my bag. I packed my lunch today, so I went straight to my

table. I pulled out my lunch bag and started dumping its contents on the table. Stacy and Mariana slip

into their seats at our table.

“Damn, what’s gotten into you?” Stacy laughed. I couldn’t very well say that I was waiting on Keegan

because I needed his touch, his voice, his face, his everything. I wondered briefly when I got psycho-

stalker on the poor unsuspecting kid. I just wanted him to hold me and never let go.

See? Psycho.

Stacy and Mariana went on about some party that was going to happen this Friday. I could care less.

My attention snapped to one of the cafeteria entrances where Gregg was. I smiled lightly to myself. Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Keegan wouldn’t be far behind. Sure enough, he was through the door next… with Natasha hanging off

of his arm. It felt like my heart stopped as I froze. Natasha was on the volleyball team with me.

Everything about her was fake even if no one came right out to say it. I never really got along with her

in the first place, but now…

I hated the bitch.