What's That Supposed To Mean?- 11

Chapter 11

I woke up in a sudden movement, blinking. Living room.

I pushed myself slowly up, rubbing my eyes. I felt drained and I hadn’t done anything exhausting. In fact, I’d done the opposite; sitting on a chair outside my house. But still, I felt drained.

I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I got up and walked to the kitchen. The clock said twelve thirty. I shrugged; at least I had gotten more hours of sleep than usual. I made myself some breakfast, sitting down and eating in silence. Which, let me tell you right now, was not good.

Everything that had happened yesterday including all my stupid depressive thoughts came back, coming over me like a bucket of water. I sighed, shaking my head. How could that kiss had happened? It didn’t make any sense. How could that kiss give him the answer he was seeking? Was he stupid or something? He was probably trying to see if his stupid annoying charm worked on me. Well, it didn’t. It made me even more annoyed. And the fact that I liked the kiss! Yeah, now that made me furious!

“Morning sleepy head!”

“Good morning, Samantha!”

I looked up at my dad and Liz who both stood there, my dad in his bathrobe. My dad had just woken up; he walked as if he was ninety years old. Liz on the other hand was dressed and ready to go.

“Morning, Liz,” I said with a smile and then turned to my dad. “Morning to you, too, dadster. It seems I wasn’t the only one being a sleepyhead today,” I said, smiling. He chuckled, making himself some breakfast. “Sit, I’ll make you some,” I said.

“No, no, sit down and eat. I’m not that old.” He smiled. “I just felt like sleeping in. I never actually do and I think we all need it sometime. Not everyday, though, don’t get any plans. That means sleeping away a lot of time.”

“Very true,” Liz agreed. “Gives us more energy. Anyways, I will go now. Jenny and Tyler already went into town and I’m supposed to meet them there now. I will see you both later. Have a great day. Samantha, you look as beautiful as always!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Warren. Bye.”

“You, too, Liz,” my dad said before she walked away.

“So,” I said when we were alone. “Any plans for today?” I asked. He sat down with his breakfast, shrugging.

“No idea. Maybe I’ll take John and Mason and some of the guys from the pack to see how things are going around here. Contact a few other packs in other cities, see if everything is under control. You never know when something might happen. The packs today are very competitive.”

“Weren’t they always?”

“Yes. Even more. But today it is for different reasons, sometimes. It’s the showing off and having the biggest and most powerful pack that creates the war today. Before, what started the wars were anger and complications or stealing, mating, family things. More of those things. Today it’s just nonsense. All the Alpha’s are younger and they think differently.”

“What if Noah will be like that? He already is,” I said. My dad nodded, more to himself than to me, sighing.

“Noah is just like that, right now. We all believe in him and that he will change when he becomes Alpha. Hopefully he’ll find his mate soon enough; that will probably change him as well.”

“He will,” I said quietly. “He’ll change. He just needs time.”

I don’t know why, but thinking about Noah and how he was acting made me feel sorry for him. Because I looked at him, in his eyes in those moments when we were arguing or glaring at each other, and all I could see was emptiness. What if he was really empty, longing for something? I wanted to help him somehow but I didn’t how. The Riley gene had taken over me completely; believing, caring and sympathetic. I’m not bragging, it’s just who we are; everyone knows that, werewolf or not.

Noah Black

I was tired of this. I was tired of the repeating questions that kept popping up in my head. I felt like taking a gun and blowing up my own head.  I needed my daily dose of women. I had to get out of this house, find a girl, get what I need, and disappear for the day.

I got up, took a shower, got dressed, ate breakfast and left, doing it all as quick as possible. My dad wasn’t mad anymore; I knew that, but none of us had anything to say, as always.

I went out, grabbed my car keys and hurried away. I drove to town, trying to push away and ignore all the thoughts and questions that came to my head all the time.

Who should I be with today? I thought about all the girls that I knew would easily come with me and give me what I wanted, though I couldn’t remember any names. Except one that had been stuck all night and day: Samantha.

Out. Push it out from your head, Noah.

I sped up; I needed a girl right now.

I parked on my usual place, got out and walked in to the “hottest place for youths.” It wasn’t the hottest place at all; boring, dirty and dead. But all the girls were here, the desperate ones. Those who were stupid enough to do anything with you after just one second of eye-contact. If even that. But everyone knew me here, guys and girls.

The girls were already smiling and waving, coming towards me.

Brunette, find a brunette, my mind told me. I obeyed, but I didn’t know why.

Scanning the crowd, there were a lot of blondes as well and I figured I could just pick one and go. Suddenly, though, just as I was walking towards a group of girls, a hot brunette, just like I wanted, walked up to me with a smile, her white teeth shining.

“Hey, handsome. Where’ve you been? We were waiting for you…” she said in a voice that seemed to be her “sexy voice.” It didn’t work on me.

“I’ve been busy,” I answered simply. The less attention I gave, the more they wanted me.

“With what?” she asked, biting her lip. Ugh, don’t do that, you are not succeeding.

“That’s none of your business.”

She glared at me for a split second and then she was happy again.

“Do you want to get out of here?” she asked, finally. I scanned the crowd again. I had been with this girl once before but that had been quite a while ago. I couldn’t remember her name, though, it wasn’t surprising; I couldn’t remember the name of any girl I had slept or fooled around with. I hadn’t slept with many, to be honest. A few, but not like everyone else thought. I usually made out with them or just had them with me in case I felt like doing something. Sometimes we did it, sometimes we didn’t. Usually, we didn’t.

I’m not cold and selfish like everyone also thinks. I do care about the girl who is my mate but there is still no sign of her and I’m getting impatient. The only reason I’m not sleeping with that many girls is just that, because I wouldn’t want my mate to sleep around before finding me either. But I’m a guy; I need it more.

“Let’s go,” I said after a while. The brunette giggled, grabbing my hand and dragging me out of there. I held her back a little; I was the one who took them away, not the other way around.

I took her to my car and she climbed on top of me as soon as I was sitting. They were so easy. She giggled and flipped her hair every two seconds. It was annoying me so much I wanted to just strangle myself. I was getting impatient so I just grabbed her face and pulled her towards me quickly.

Our lips moved together but it wasn’t exactly together. It wasn’t good. My lips and my mind were waiting for that taste, those special lips, that good kiss that was calm and smooth with lips moving in sync. And this wasn’t it. It wasn’t the good or in sync. It wasn’t what I was looking for, it wasn’t what I wanted.

It wasn’t Samantha.

Samantha Riley

It was finally time.

Arianna had come over at four and had looked through my closet while I had washed my hair, showered, shaved and put make-up on. We decided to go with a simple black and fitting dress that hugged my curves. I liked these kinds of dresses, not to show my body, but because I liked feeling them on my skin. I knew where it ended and I knew it was still on me instead of worrying that my boobs were falling out or that the dress was sliding up and having to smooth it down all the time.

Arianna blow dried my hair into nice silky waves that I left falling down my back. It wasn’t anything special but it was a date at a very nice restaurant; of course I had to look nice.

I put on a pair of high heels; simple black pumps, grabbed a small purse and put all my stuff in, and stepped in front of the mirror. Arianna stood behind me, proud and smiling.

“You look freakishly amazing,” she said, practically jumping up and down. I laughed.

“Thanks you. It’s not too much?”

“Of course not! Tyler is going to melt when he sees you. Everyone should see you in this, but you know what? Next time there is a party or a wedding or any kinds of those events, we’ll make you even hotter and then they’ll see you. They will aaaall melt.”

“Ari, you’re making me uncomfortable,” I said, laughing nervously. “You know I don’t like much attention. It feels like everyone will be staring. I’m not that… wow. I’m just wearing a black dress, stop freaking me out.”

“Sorry,” she said, smiling sheepishly. “But you’re beautiful. And we have to hurry because it’s six o’clock and he should be here any minute now. Let’s go.”

I nodded and followed her downstairs where my dad was. He was just on his way out, probably going to Uncle John as usual.

“Hey- wow!” He stopped, eyes wide on me. “Sammy… You look so beautiful!”

“Thanks, dad,” I said, grinning. “Not too much?”

“No. I’d rather have you in big jeans and a big t-shirt but that’s not going to happen, is it?” he said, laughing. Arianna immediately shook her head proudly.

“Nope. Never ever. Your daughter is getting older, Uncle B. Better get used to it.”

“Oh, sweet Arianna, I know that very well.” He laughed. “I’m trying. But I’ll be over at John’s just so you guys know.”

He gave me a hug, kissing me on my forehead.

“Have fun tonight.”

“I will,” I said, chuckling. “Have fun with Uncle John.”

My dad smiled and opened the front door. Then he stopped again, turning.

“If Tyler does anything or anything happens, you know you have all the Blacks, your cousins and me to call, right? Don’t forget. Now, run along. Your guy is here.”

Right. They had been in town these days, “catching up” as my dad had said and checking out the old things. I almost forgot that we lived in the same house while they were visiting. Had he been home to get ready? I never really paid attention to that.

Arianna waited for my dad to leave and then I followed her out. Tyler stood there, exchanging a few words with my dad, and then looked at me. His eyes went up and down and I immediately felt weird. Even though I was sure of myself, confident and an “I don’t care what everyone thinks” person, I had a small issue with too much attention. I knew guys would look and all that, especially in a dress like this, but I didn’t like when many eyes were directed on me alone. I felt a bit uncomfortable and that was because Tyler wasn’t the only one there. Of course there was my dad but Uncle John just had to be outside, waiting for him and Mason and the twins just had to play ball. Thank God not all of them were out.

“Mamacita!” Theo and Leo called out, making everyone laugh. I grinned at them, shaking my head. It wasn’t so bad now; I only had that uncomfortable attention thing at the beginning. Having the twins there with a joke made it a lot better.

“You look beautiful,” Tyler said, smiling.

“Thank you,” I said. “You look great yourself.”

He did look good in his suit. I loved a man in a tux or a suit or whatever they were called, and Tyler didn’t look so bad. But I felt as if we were much older and that was neither good nor bad. Arianna grinned, joining Mason and the twins who stood and watched my every move. Uncle John smiled proudly at me and I wanted to laugh. He was so cute when he always looks so proud and happy for me, like I was his daughter. You could say I was; he was like my second father.

“Are you ready to go?” Tyler asked. I nodded and followed him side by side to the car. “I got to borrow it,” he said, grinning.

I just smiled back again, getting in. Mason gave me a thumb up, winking. I chuckled and waited for Tyler to get in and start the car.

Then we were on our way to the restaurant.

"Here we are," Tyson said. I looked around; how did it go so fast? Was I so wrapped up in my thoughts? He went out of the car, came around and opened the door for me.

"Thank you," I said, stepping out. This town may be small but this restaurant was really big and beautiful. The lights looked beautiful, too, to the almost dark sky. I looked in through the window as we walked to the entrance; there were many people in there. We went inside and immediately a man came up to us, asking if we had reservations.

"Yes, Tyler Warren," Tyler said and the man searched the long list in front of him. He nodded.

"Follow me," he said. He led us to a table almost in the middle with two seats. There were two menus and a long candle next to a few shorter roses on the center of the table, a little bit to the side. Tyler pulled out my chair for me and I sat down, smiling thankfully.

As soon as he had taken his seat, I opened the menu and looked for something to eat. I had only been here once but that was a very long time ago. It was me, my dad my Aunt and my cousins and all the Blacks. I don’t remember what we came her for, though. Probably a celebration.

"What are you thinking about?" Tyson asked, putting down his menu. I didn't have time to answer. "Is it Noah?"

That surprised me because I didn’t understand why he would ever guess that.

"N-"

"Because he's a jerk," Tyler said, once again not letting me talk. "I've seen how he behaves around you; you don't deserve it from him. He's an asshole."

"He's not an asshole," I said immediately. Why was Tyler so hateful against him? Noah had done nothing to him, and I knew that very well. Or I didn’t but I defended him anyway, because I wanted to. "He's not an asshole. He's just going through some stuff."

Like I always said, I knew he would change sooner or later. I didn’t like the way he was acting and behaving but I couldn’t do anything about it anyway, so I just ignored him as much as I could and vice versa. Besides, that kiss that happened… I didn’t know how to act around him now.

Ugh, I shouldn't have thought about it. I could already feel the bad mood taking over my mind and I didn’t want to ruin this for Tyler. I just still couldn’t figure out why he’d guess Noah.

"I'm sorry, but I think he is," Tyler said, bringing me back from my thoughts. "I mean, I do remember a little bit from a few years ago, he was the same back then. Now he’s older and that makes it even worse somehow because he doesn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. You can’t think that what he is doing is right?”

"No, I don’t but that doesn’t mean I don’t think he’ll change,” I said, snapping. I immediately felt bad for doing so but I didn’t like the way he talked about someone I had grown up with and had a past with, even though it was just negative things. I still cared about Noah, I didn’t want him to get hurt or anything and Tyler was just the son to a family friend we never saw.

Two hours later we had finished our meals. It had been filet mignon with fries and a salad. We didn't talk much to be honest; it was more like "chit-chatting". I asked him a little bit about his life in Washington D.C and he asked me about New York, and that was pretty much it. It was almost awkward.

"Are you ready to leave?" he asked me, finally.

"Yes," I said, getting up. I followed him out to the car, got inside and we drove back home.

"The dinner was awful," Tyler suddenly said. He looked at me, chuckling. "Oh come on? I was not the only one being bored."

I laughed, nodding. "Okay, you're right. It was awful."

"See. Maybe we didn't start off good."

He parked his mother’s car where it was before and we went out, slowly walking to the front yard.

"Let's sit out here for a while," he said, taking me to the chairs and table. Why not? He seemed more relaxed now and maybe we could have something interesting to talk about. We both sat down, looking up at the sky where the stars were starting to show.

"It's beautiful," I said, smiling as I gazed. He nodded.

"Yeah, especially with you here," he said, looking at me with a small smile. He looked into my eyes. “I like you, you know,” Tyler said in a low voice. “We haven’t known each other for long, but when I saw you I knew you were something special.”

Oh crap. I wasn’t good at these things. I was confident and not caring when it came to other things, but I still had my weaknesses and issues and this was one of them. I wasn’t good at responding to these things and in this situation, I had been on one date with the guy, didn’t know him well enough and he was already telling me he liked me and thought I was “something special.”

It freaked me out. So what do I respond? I’m not going to say “I like you too” because it wasn’t exactly the truth. Sure I liked the guy as a normal visiting friend who I didn’t know much about. Not in a romancy kind of way. One date couldn’t decide that, not for me.

He seemed to have taken my long silence the wrong way, though, and he started leaning in. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Samantha, breathe.

He’s just going to kiss you! Haven’t you kissed a guy before?

Yes, I have, but I don’t want to lead him on!

You won’t lead him on, for Christ’s sake, just play the game!

What game? I don’t play games, not with guys! He’ll think I like him back!

He’s coming closer; there is nothing you can do!

Shut up!

You shut up!

Do you realize you’re telling yourself to shut up? Just shut up!

Oh my god, I was fighting with myfreakingself while Tyler was just coming closer and closer every second! I wanted to slap myself but it wasn’t a good moment for that. I was deciding whether or not I should let him kiss me or not. Maybe I should tell him that I wasn’t ready and just tell him the truth? Or maybe I should just let him kiss me already and get it over with!

I mean, he was a good guy. He was nice, good-looking, caring - or at least, I hoped he was - but the thing was that I didn't know him! Sure, maybe a lot of people kissed on their first date and all. But I wasn’t like that!

Oh crap, he's close. Fine, I'll just do it. Overreaction, like always.

I shut my eyes nervously. I waited, feeling how he was getting closer and closer.

Any second now…

I could feel his breath on my lips. His lips barely touched mine and I knew he was going to kiss me now. I took a quick deep breath and-

“Well, well, well.”