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Chapter 35


Chelsea was drunk off her ass and I as I snuck past the front door; I saw the light in Nick’s office on. She clung to me as I helped her up the stairs and into her room. She crawled onto the bed and immediately passed out. I went to my bathroom, grabbed a bucket, a glass of water and some Tylenol and put it by Chelsea’s bed. Before I went downstairs to talk to Nick, I changed out of the dress and pulled my hair up.


I saw him typing on his laptop and I said, “I’m still mad at you.”


He didn’t look up, “awesome,” he said sarcastically.


Tears sprang to my eyes, “don’t give me an attitude.”


He looked up at me and asked, “Excuse me?”


But I stood my ground, “you heard me. If anyone has the right to be angry here, it’s me. I’m not going to let you ruin my night.”


His eyes softened a bit but his face was still hard, “So I take it I didn’t ruin your life this afternoon?”


I flopped myself down on the couch, “only sort of. I hate that you did that to me. I know he deserved it, but…” I closed my eyes and relived the mortification, and when I opened my eyes again, he was sitting next to me on the couch.


He sighed, “You cried over him Ally. I couldn’t ignore the way he hurt you.” He turned to me, “I can’t be sorry for it, and you can’t ask me to be.” I frowned at him, “but I will promise you that I won’t do anything like that again.”


I looked up at him; it was now or never, “I have a date tomorrow.”


I couldn’t read his expression but when he asked, “oh yeah?” I could tell he was trying to be nice.


“His name is Tyler Pearson,” I whispered as I curled up beside him. He wrapped his arm around me and I continued to tell him, “He told me he’d been trying to get the courage to ask me out for four years.”


He chuckled softly, “so how could you say no?”


I looked up at him, “I was afraid to tell you, afraid you’d get mad.”


He shook his head, “You’re a teenager, boys will come in and out of your life, and it’s my job, and I take it very seriously, to pick up your pieces when they walk away.” He ran his hands through my hair and I felt myself relax, “you’re too gorgeous for your own good baby. Everyone else sees it; I just wish you would.”


Tyler made me feel beautiful tonight. I shrugged, “yeah.”


“Why don’t you head up to bed, it’s late.” He stood up, and held out the bag I bought at the drugstore, “you uh, left this in the car.”


I blushed, grabbing it quickly and leaving the room even quicker.






I looked out the door and saw Tyler pull up the driveway. I grabbed the front of Nick’s shirt and brought him down to my level, “you embarrass me, and I will kill you.”


He looked amused, “got it boss.”


Tyler rang the doorbell and then smiled when I opened the door, “Hi Tyler.”


“Hi Ally, you look great,” I self-consciously picked at the hem of my shirt and blushed. Then Tyler turned to Nick, “Hi Mr. Carter, it’s nice to meet you.”


Nick politely smiled and shook Tyler’s hand, “you too Tyler. Have a good time today.”


I leaned up and kissed Nick’s cheek, “Bye Dad.” I felt him slip something into my purse and glared up at him when I saw it was pepper spray.


“Have fun baby,” He winked and shut the door behind us.


I smiled when Tyler opened my door for me and when he got in the car, I asked, “so where are we going?”


“I figured we could get something to eat, and then go for a walk somewhere.” He looked over at me, “is that okay?”


It sounded perfect, “it sounds perfect.”


He took me to his favorite pizza spot, which just happened to be Alessandra’s. She grinned when she spotted me, “Miss Ally!”


Alessandra threw her arms around me and I blushed when I saw Tyler staring at us, “Hi Alessandra, how are you today?”


“Better now that I see you’re beautiful face.” Then she turned to Tyler, “and who is this charming young man? Is he your date today?”


“This is Tyler,” I smiled and Alessandra put her hands on his shoulders and kissed each of his cheeks.


“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.”


“You too, I see you in here sometimes, right?”


Tyler laughed, “Yes, you make the best pizza in town.”


Alessandra winked at me, “You have good taste in men.” I blushed and when Alessandra led us to a private booth in the back she winked at me again.


Tyler smiled at me, “So I take it you know of this place?”


I laughed, “Ever have the Carter Pie? It was named after my Dad.”


Tyler laughed, “That one is my favorites!” When Alessandra came back, Tyler ordered us our food and she made more comments about my taste in men but left us alone when she brought us our pizza. After the meal, I tried to give Tyler some money for the meal but he refused, and when he tried to give Alessandra some money, she refused.


After Alessandra’s we went to the beach. It was October but the weather felt like August. We talked about everything. He told me that he had two older brothers and a younger sister who passed away from cancer when he was younger. His parents were divorced and he lived with his mom and they both were real estate agents and wanted him to follow in their footsteps, but he wanted to be a doctor. He asked me about my life, how it was to live with a father like Nick. And I told him about it; that touring was for the most part boring, but watching people I grew up with and admired so much live their dream was so much better than anything I could’ve hoped for. Tyler grinned and slipped his hand into mine and told me that if he had someone like me on the sidelines, he’d never see a reason to give up on his dream either.


I never wanted it to end.






But it had to, and when the sun started to set, he drove me back to my house and walked me to my door and asked if he could kiss me. I blushed and nodded, and when he kissed me, I swear I saw fireworks. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I whispered.


“Yeah,” he whispered and he kissed me again. “Bye Ally.”


“Bye Tyler. Thanks for today; I had a lot of fun.”


He grinned and kissed my cheek, “I did too.”


When I closed the door behind me, Nick seemed to appear out of thin air, “Have fun?”


I could hide the goofy grin, “Tons.”


“Good, come into the kitchen with me, I want to hear all about it, but first, I need to talk to you.”


“Okay,” I frowned when I saw Chelsea in the kitchen, nursing a cup of tea.


I bit my lip; I knew what this was about. “Hi Chels.”


Her eyes were red-rimmed as she smiled up at me, “Hi Ally.”


“Chelsea said you two went to a party after the dance last night. That Tyler invited you two,” Nick said, crossing his arms.


“He did,” I answered, “but nothing happened.”


He leaned down slightly to try and intimidate me, and it worked, “Then why does Chelsea have a killer hangover right now?”


I looked at Chelsea and then back at Nick, “There was alcohol there.”


I swear I heard him growl, “God damn it Alexandra.”


“I didn’t drink anything!” He glared down at me, “I swear. Tyler gave me a beer but then he grabbed a soda for himself and said he had to drive, so I put down my beer and grabbed a soda too.”


He was still glaring at me and his voice was low when he said, “if I find out you’re lying to me Alexandra Nicole, so help me, you will not be seeing the outside of this house until you’re thirty. Got it?”


“I swear I’m not lying,” I whispered. He looked like he didn’t believe me. “Why don’t you believe me?”


“Because the last time I asked, you were lying to me. And your best friend is sitting at the kitchen table trying not to throw up because she had too much Vodka.”


“I told you I was going to be good from now on,” I argued feebly, “I went because I just wanted to spend some more time with Tyler.”


“Go up to your room, I’ll be there in a few,” he pinched the bridge of his nose and looked over at Chelsea. “You feeling okay yet Chels?” She nodded slightly, “Good, because you’re grounded.”


I walked up to my room and threw myself down on my bed. I had the perfect day; I didn’t want it to be ruined. When Nick knocked on the door and sat on the edge of my bed, I sat up and faced it. I wouldn’t let him ruin my day. “You can think whatever you want, but I know what I know, and I know that I didn’t have a sip of alcohol last night.”


“I believe you,” he said, “Chels told me that you didn’t.” Then he sighed, “You didn’t text me to let me know.”


“I know I said that I’d play by your rules, but that one’s stupid.”


He frowned, “I just want to know you’re safe, that’s not a crime.”


“It’s not,” I agreed, “but it’s not a crime for me to be a teenager either.”


“I know,” he scowled, “but it is a crime for an underage girl to get drunk.” I couldn’t argue with that, but I knew what Chelsea was like. “She told me about the trial next week. You think I should cancel my trip to LA?”


“No, I don’t think Chelsea would want you to. She’ll have support here.” He nodded. “Did you really ground her?”


Nick grinned, “Hey, if she’s gonna live in my house, she’s gotta play by my rules.” He nudged me, “So I take it you and Tyler are going on a second date by the way he kissed you goodnight.”


My eyes widened, “you were spying on me?!”


He chuckled, “Don’t fault me Ally, I couldn’t help it.”


“Yes, there’s going to be a second date. I really like him.”


“You just met him,” he gave me a pointed look, “don’t go rushing into anything just yet.”


I blushed, “well duh, I won’t, but…” I shrugged, “he took me to Alessandra’s and then we walked on the beach and just talked.” I bit my lip and blushed again, “I know it’s only one date, but it felt good…I’ve never felt like that before.” When I finally looked up at him he looked pained. He looked like he wanted to lock me in the closet and keep me there for the rest of my life. “Why are you looking at me like that?”


He sighed, “I hate that you’re not a baby anymore. I miss you being knee high, tugging on my jeans, holding up your arms and me picking you up and carrying you around on my shoulders.” He looked at me sheepishly, “I don’t want you to grow up.” He put his hand over his heart, “It hurts.”


“Don’t you always say that I’m always going to be your little girl?”


He grinned, “yes, and don’t you forget it.”


I knew I wouldn’t.