Forced To Love You

Shipped

Christian stayed away the rest of the evening. He sent one of the maids who actually worked the weekend to deliver my food. I didn't know if it was out of embarrassment or anger.

I stayed in bed the entire day. I was unbelievably bored without TV or my phone or anything to keep me entertained. Only my books and magazines that I was slowly making my way through. I hated that I was so cut off from the world. It didn't feel fair. What was Christian trying to hide that he was worried I would tell?

When Madison came back, I was so relieved that it nearly took away all the pain I was feeling. I'd missed talking to her and having her keep me from dying of boredom. Plus... we had a lot to catch up on.

She shut the door before she called out my name. "Blair? Are you in here?"

"In here." I pushed the blanket away as I sat up further, welcoming the conversation no matter how good or bad it would be.

She walked in and stopped in the doorway. Her eyes widened only slightly as she took me in. "You look terrible."

I glared at her. "I really didn't need to hear that today."

She smiled and walked over to sit on the bed. She looked at my ankle before she looked back at me. "Christian said you aren't allowed on your foot."

"What all did he tell you?"

"Did you two..."

I shook my head. "Oh, my gosh. No, we didn't do anything. Actually..."

"What?"

"I... I think he tried to kiss me but I pushed him away."

"You think?"

"Okay, well it happened. Yesterday. We were yelling at each other and then..." I took a breath and sighed. "I haven't seen him since."

"You probably hurt his feelings. How would you feel if the love of your life rejected you?"

"I'm not..."

She gave me a pointed look that shut me up. "You're everything to him, Blair. You might not be able to tell but he really cares about you."

If she knew then it must be true. I didn't know Madison very well but I knew she took this seriously. Maybe I should be, too.

"You need to have more in-depth conversations with him. Talk to him about your love life up to when you met him."

"There isn't one. I've never had sex or kissed a guy or anything. I've never even slept in the same bed as a guy. Do you how pathetic that would be for me to admit to him?"

"He doesn't know that yet?"

"Well... he knows I'm a virgin and I know he's not. But he doesn't know much more."

"Tell him, Blair. Talk to him."

"I doubt he wants to talk to me now."

"Then you really must not know you too well. Even after that, he'd probably be really excited to see you. If you put forth the effort, he might like that and forgive you."

I sighed. Christian was such a complicated person. I hardly knew anything about him. It was hard to feel anything toward him when he was still such a stranger to me.

"So... why are you holed up in here? Did Christian tell you to stay here?"

"My ankle isn't healing right so his dad wants me to stay off it as much as possible."

"And you're actually listening?"

I rolled my eyes. "If it gets me out of here faster then I'll do whatever is asked of me."

She grabbed one of the pillows and threw it at me.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"I can't believe you still want to leave. Christian's hot and... you have me now."

"That's not good enough for me. And if I could take you with me, I would."

"I want you to stay, Blair. I want you to want Christian, too. I just... I want this to work out. For the pack and for my own selfish need, too."

I rolled my eyes at her. "I feel like I'm being shipped in a story or something."

She laughed. "Well, I'm shipping you two. I want you to end up together happy and in love."

I wasn't sure about either of those things. At least not with Christian. I didn't see myself being with him in that way.

We were too different.

"Twisp is a really nice town. I wish you would just give it all a chance. See everything we have to offer before you decide to leave."

It wasn't a bad idea. I'd never been outside of North Carolina. My family didn't travel much when I was younger and when I moved in with my aunt, we couldn't afford to travel. I'd always wanted to but I never had the means to do so.

"What is there to even do around here?"

"Christian."

This time, I threw the pillow at her.

She laughed and put her hands down behind her. She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling as she calmed herself down. "Maybe that would fix all of your problems."

"You're impossible."

"Yeah, but fucking him's not. I'm sure if you asked him today, he would do it."

I laughed in surprise at how crass she was. It was hard to believe that she was the same person I met when I first came to the mansion, all timid and shy.

She was starting to make me like being there though I could have done away with her pushy attempts to get Christian and me together.

She got to her feet and looked around the room. "Have you showered lately? How long have you been laying here in bed?"

"It's been a few days. But I don't smell."

She rolled her eyes. "Bath time. I'm not going to let you stink around Christian."