Shannon glared at Jared just as he stood up to greet me. "Hey there, we didn't mean to wake you?" They both had a guilty look on their faces, but it was Jared who wouldn't even look at me. My mind went into overdrive, attempting to figure out what was going on. What rule had been broken? Did this have anything to do with Jared leaving dinner early? The questions were filling my head so fast, I was having difficulty concentrating on Shannon's question.
"I woke you, didn't I, when I closed the door? I I'm sorry. You okay?" Shannon stood there, shirtless and I knew he had to be freezing because I was.
I cleared my throat and spoke. "I was just wondering where you went and then I heard the door close." I folded my arms tighter around me and was unable to stop my eyes from wandering back and forth between the two of them.
I could already see the wheels in Shannon's head turning and knew that he was attempting to figure out how much of their conversation I overheard. "I didn't mean to slam it shut, sorry. Jared couldn't sleep either, so we just came out here to talk." He looked backward at his brother, who finally made eye contact with me, but his stare seemed cold and empty. "Want to join us?" He asked, drawing a chair between them.
"No, it's fine. I didn't mean to disturb you guys. I'm just going to shower." I strained to smile, but the thick tension surrounding us made it almost impossible. Closing the French doors, I marched directly into the huge, luxurious bathroom. I ran the water and got undressed. Using the hair tie on my wrist, I pulled my long hair up in a bun.
A nice hot bubble bath would hopefully relax me a little more and then maybe I would try and talk to Shannon about what happened. Leaning back, I covered my eyes with a damp washcloth and hooked my leg over the side of the porcelain tub.
After soaking for a while, I could feel fingers trailing along my ankle and I laughed. "I was going to come talk to you when I got out, Shannon."
"You can still speak to him, but I'd prefer you talk to me first." Jared responded with a slight grin, but something in his tone bothered me. Was he angry with me?
My eyes opened instantly when I heard his voice and I pulled the washcloth from my face. "Talk about what?" I sat up and covered my chest as if he hadn't already seen me naked a million times.
"Carrie, we need to talk for a minute. We have rules and they're meant to be followed for good reason. I'm not just saying that to be a jerk." I looked at him confused and then he pulled his phone out, holding it for me to look at the shots of Shannon and me holding hands as we entered the movie theater.
Looking back at the screen, his eyes drifted over to me. "I've already spoken to Shannon about this. People are already talking about you. What am I supposed to do now? Some comments are good and some aren't so nice. Stay off of social media because I don't want that to affect your thinking. Okay?"
Glaring at him, I felt my hands beginning to shake. I nodded my head. Sighing, Jared sat on the edge of the tub. "I don't give a damn what they say about us, but I do care what they say about you. Follow the rules and we won't have any issues."
He was talking down to me and it pissed me off. I get what he was saying and why he was saying it, but damn, just talk normal to me.
Shannon walked into the bathroom and rubbed his hand over his face. "Damn Jared, I told you that it was my fault and you said that it was fine. Leave her out if it."
Jared turned to look back at his brother and then over to me. "I'm just talking to her, calm down. I'm making sure that we're all on the same page, and we are, right, Carrie?"
I nodded my head, already wondering what was being said about me. I couldn't wait to get out of the tub and check it out for myself.
Jared smiled as he got up and leaned down, over the bathtub to kiss me. "I appreciate you taking time out of your relaxing bath to talk to me. You two enjoy the rest of your night." Standing up straight, he walked past Shannon. "Sleep well, and goodnight."
Shannon looked at me before following Jared out. He quickly returned and leaned back against the door. "I'm sorry, I should have known better. It was my fault, Carrie. Please, just ignore what he said, he's only concerned about what will be said about you."
I pulled the plug and stood up. "Shannon, can you grab that towel?" Nodding, he unfolded it and held it open for me. I stepped out of the bathtub into his waiting arms. "I know he means well, but I need to see for myself what was said. I should have known better, but I wasn't even thinking, I'm sorry."
He held me tighter, "No, it was my fault. I should be the one apologizing. Carrie, wait, don't pay attention to what was said."
I pulled free of his hold and rushed over to my phone, taking a deep breath and reading the comments that ranged from polite and sweet, to furiously angry. Before I could get through all of them, my phone was ringing and I saw my sister's name lit up on the screen.
