Trying Not to Love You
Page 31

Mom walked over to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him to the trunk of the car to help with the bags. "Jackson, you need to calm down. You are making this worse for her. Help me and your sister get these bags in the house and then I'll go talk to her and see if she wants to go to the hospital."
"Mom, I'm not ready for this yet." Jackson was a nervous wreck. It was kind of cute seeing him like that because normally, he was the big tough guy. "We don't have anything set up at the apartment; we haven't even had the shower yet."
"Jackson, just relax. We are all here, and we will help you and Chloe with everything." Mom reassured him.
We got all the bags into the house. Jaylinn, Mrs. McCormick and I put all the food away while mom and Jackson went upstairs to check on Chloe. Thirty minutes later, mom and Chloe came downstairs and asked if I was ready to go get our pedicures.
"Chloe, are you sure you are up to going?" She still did not look as if she felt very well. Her flushed cheeks and pinched eyes let me know her pain had not gone away.
"Yeah, I need to get out and get my mind off this pain. The doctor said if I still have these pains by tomorrow morning to head over to the hospital. I was just at the doctor on Monday. With my being only two centimeters dilated, I am probably experiencing painful Braxton Hicks contractions. They aren't coming close together or anything, so he isn't too worried."
What the hell is a Braxton Hicks? "I have no idea what the hell that means, but if you still want to go, let's go." I told her laughing.
By the time we finished our pedicures, and had stopped for ice cream, Chloe said that she was feeling much better. We got home and convinced Jackson that Chloe really was fine, so they headed home for the night.
Heading up the stairs to my room, I thought I heard Hailey's giggle. I stopped and waited for it again. I needed to make sure it was Hailey before I walked in on Mason or Cooper with some girl. I heard it again and knew that it was definitely Hailey's giggle. I knocked on Mason and Cooper's door. Cooper opened it and I saw Hails and Mason on his bed. Cooper and his friend Amy were sitting on his bed. Hunter and some blonde I did not know were sitting on the floor.
"Hey Hails, I thought I heard you. What are you up to?" I made sure not to look in Hunter's direction.
What the hell was he doing?
"Just hanging out. I came over to see you, thinking you would have been back by now, but Mason said you were still out with your mom and Chloe."
I glanced over at Hunter, then the girl next to him and then back to Hailey again. I said, "Ok, well, I don't want to interrupt you guys. I'll see you later." I turned around, shut the door and walked towards my room.
What the hell was Hunter doing with that girl? So f**king much for him waiting for me.
Just as I was about to open my door, Hunter called my name. I turned to him and said, "Hunter, whatever you are about to say, don't. Just go back in there, and I'll see you later." I walked into my room, locked the door and grabbed my iPod. I cranked the music on full blast and started to clean my room. If he tried to knock, I did not hear him. Around midnight, I fell into an exhausted sleep.
The next morning I woke up early and went downstairs to help my mom start cooking for Thanksgiving. I needed to stay busy so I would not think about Hunter. I needed to focus on me. I would not survive my heart being broken again.
"Good morning baby girl, how did you sleep?" Mom asked from the sink where she was washing the turkey out.
"I slept just fine. What do you need help with?"
"Start with making the stuffing."
The rest of the morning and early afternoon, I stayed busy helping my mom in the kitchen getting everything ready. A few hours before dinner, I went upstairs to take a shower and get myself ready before everyone came over. As I was going back downstairs, I ran into Hunter on the stairs.
"Hey."
"Hey, got a second to talk?"
"No, I need to get back downstairs and help mom get everything out for dinner…maybe later."
"CC, please don't do this. I don't want you pissed off at me. I'm not interested in that girl; I was just talking to her. She came with Amy. I couldn't just ignore her." I knew she did not mean anything to him. How could she? We have not even been here for months, but still, it bothered me.
"Hunter we aren't together. It doesn't matter who you talk to or don't. Now please excuse me; I need to go help mom." I refused to give in to my emotions. I wanted to hug him and tell him I believed him. I just could not take a chance with my still-mending heart.
"We're talking about this later CC," he stated.
Nodding my head, I passed him on the stairs and went to the kitchen to help mom set the table for dinner. I loved Thanksgiving dinner; we always got together, ate way too much food and watched football. I was setting the table when mom walked in with the turkey; once everything was on the table, we all sat down to eat. Everything was going great. Jackson and Chloe were there, but you could tell she was not feeling well and it looked like Jackson had not slept in days.
I kept feeling Hunters eyes on me throughout dinner. I caught Cooper looking at me and then at Hunter and shaking his head. I was not giving off any kind of signals so I do not know what he was thinking.
I think Mason caught on to the tension that was coming off Hunter and me because he spoke up. "Kenzie, what's wrong with you? You are really quiet today?"
"Nothing, I'm fine, just a lot going on lately. I'm good though, nothing I can't handle."
"Is Dominic still harassing you at school?" he asked.
"He is leaving me alone for the most part. How are things going with you and Hailey?" I already knew the answer; I just did not want to talk about Dominic.
"Good." Mason looked over at Hunter and asked, "Are you seeing anyone?"
"No, I'm hoping this girl from school will give me a chance, but lately she has been really distant, so we will see what happens."
Mason just glared at him when he said that. I was curious enough to ask, "Have I met this girl? I don't remember seeing anyone hanging around."
"Guess you're not paying attention then." Hunter's cell phone chirped. He reached in his pocket, read the message then cursed under his breath and stood up.
"I have to go. Thanks for dinner Mr. and Mrs. Cahill. Mom, Jay, I'll see you guys a little later. I'll be back before dessert and then I'll take you home."
"Dude, what's going on?" Cooper asked, standing up to follow Hunter into the kitchen with his plate. I could not hear what he said but when Cooper came back in, he looked at Mason and nodded his head.