“Yeah,” I answered with a grin. “Not going anywhere, okay?”
He nodded. “I am sorry though. I know I overreacted.”
“You did,” I agreed. I then laughed at his wide-eyed expression. “What? I’m just agreeing with you.”
His eyes squinted a little. “I know, but you didn’t have to agree right away or anything.”
I laughed a little harder.
“Fine,” he sighed, “I know I did, but you were pushing—”
“Because I care.”
“I know.” He nodded, his lips finally tugging up. “And I’m glad you do, but you can be so pushy, and stubborn, and all growly and stuff over me.”
My brows lifted in amusement. “Growly?”
“Yes.” He rolled his eyes. “You get all demanding and macho, and don’t get me wrong, it’s hot and everything, but, Tanner, you told on me to my parents.”
I pressed my lips together, trying to contain my laughter. Apparently I didn’t do such a great job as Carter ended up saying, “And it’s not funny.”
I may have snorted.
“I’m serious.” He pushed at my chest.
I grabbed hold of his hands and wrapped him back in my arms, my laughter breaking free at the same time. “Listen,” I managed to say around the chuckle spilling forth, “let’s just get to bed, let me take care of you, and we’ll deal with your tattletale issues tomorrow.” He struggled a little in my arms. Unable to move, he bit my chest. “Ouch!” I laughed. “If anyone bites, it’s going to be me, yeah? You know, when I’m being all macho and shit.”
He bit again, but this time his small snicker touched my ears. My chest felt lighter at the sound, and I was almost lightheaded at the thought of truly taking care of Carter and putting all this bull behind us.
“Right.” I ducked down, and before Carter had the opportunity to react or figure out what I was going to do, I pushed my shoulder against his stomach and lifted him. He flipped over my shoulder with an oomph and a loud laugh, and I held on, racing upstairs with him in a fireman’s lift.
As we went past the spare room, I smacked his ass and shushed him, my reminder for him to be quiet. He grunted and pinched my ass cheeks in response. We carried on to his room, and I was never more relieved that it was at the opposite side of the house, with a couple of rooms separating us from his parents.
I needed to make Carter scream.
The morning light spilled through the curtains, and I drew Carter closer, not quite ready to get up yet. He stirred, and I smiled at him, then brushed my lips over his. “Morning.”
“Morning,” he breathed before stretching into me and groaning.
“You okay?”
He hummed in response. “Deliciously sore.”
I moaned at the visual of a writhing Carter and captured his mouth in a heated kiss, immediately needing his lips. The image of last night and pounding into him was too close to the surface to ignore. After forcing myself to pull away, I asked, “Too sore?” I searched his eyes, waiting for his honest answer.
“Well,” he said with a laugh, “it depends on what you have planned.”
Casting my gaze over his face and then chest, I then lifted the sheets, my eyes landing on his erection. “Well, I am hun—”
“Knock, knock.” Two sharp taps on the door interrupted us and had us separating like we’d been caught making out by, yeah, Carter’s mom. I snorted as Carter fumbled with the sheet, his cheeks heated and his eyes wide as he stared at the door.
He closed his lids briefly before calling out, “Yeah?” His voice was higher pitched than normal, causing me to snort quietly and earning me a smack on my chest.
“Ooh, you’re up.” I snorted a little louder when Carter threw a look of disbelief at the door. “Do you have time for breakfast before work? You’re in bed a little later than usual.”
He groaned. “Err, just toast, Mom, thanks. Give me five.”
There was a moment of silence before his mom spoke again. “But didn’t Tanner come back?”
I chuckled. “Morning,” I greeted loudly.
“Morning, Tanner. So you’ll need more than five minutes, I assume.”
I cast an amused glance at Carter who’d turned a brilliant shade of red. “No, no…,” he half muttered, half stumbled.
“Nonsense,” she continued. “I remember what your dad was like at your age. He had quite the stamina and appetite. There was this one ti—”
Carter shot out of bed at the same time he yelled “No!” He grabbed a towel off the linen basket and was wrapping it around himself as he opened the door just a crack. “Mom, seriously, toast is good. I’m going to be late otherwise.”
He stood at the door, his muscles tense, one hand gripping the towel, the other on the door. Amusement danced in my gut, and I was so tempted to rile him up and make the situation so much more awkward. His reaction if I were to sidle up to the side of him, out of the view of the door, and start playing with his sexy-as-fuck ass was difficult to resist. I shifted on the bed, in half a mind to do just that, but my movement caused Carter to swing his head around to face me. He squinted immediately, sending me a silent order to stop exactly where I was.
I threw him a big-ass grin as laughter caught in my throat. I edged closer to the bed, knowing full well when I stood, I’d be on show for his eyes only, sticking out for his… admittedly, for my own amusement.
As I swung my legs over the side of the bed, his eyes widened, jaw tensing. “Thanks, Mom. Ten minutes.” He quickly closed the door, leaving behind his mom’s trailing laughter.
It took longer than ten minutes before a frazzled Carter was pulling on his pants and grabbing a slice of cold toast as he raced out the door. I laughed, watching him leave, feeling so relieved that I’d had time to put an extra-large grin on his face this morning.
After our ridiculous nonargument of yesterday, as Carter had dubbed it, the sex had been pretty fucking epic. I was more than happy if every stupid half-assed disagreement ended up with us sorting everything out so quickly and shooting our loads.
Yeah, it was how every day should end and start as far as I was concerned. Well, except for the bullshit.
“So”—Marcy sidled up next to me—“you sorted everything out last night then?”
I nodded and shared a cautious smile with her. While she was super easygoing and seemed supportive of our relationship, interacting with any parent had alarm bells ringing. It wasn’t something I was exactly used to. “Yeah.”
“Good job.” She patted my arm tenderly. “You’re good for him.” My brows lifted in surprise. “He’s so calm and doesn’t like to unsettle the waters. He’s always been the same. Don’t get me wrong. He has a backbone and knows how to stand up for himself.” I nodded at that, not imagining he would have been given much option to be any other way with a mom like Marcy. “But he would also prefer to fly under the radar and make the best of the situation.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked as I closed the front door and we both headed to the kitchen. It was actually something I admired about Carter. He gave people the benefit of the doubt and tried hard to see the good in every situation and person. I just worried some idiots would mistake that for him being a pushover.
Marcy went straight to the coffeepot, poured a mug, and handed it to me. “No, it’s not. Carter’s changed in so many ways since high school. I’m not sure if he’s told you how difficult high school was.” He had, and I hated knowing he was treated like dirt. “At the time we didn’t know the extent of how bad it was, and his dad and I still feel so awful about it all. Christ, I was so angry when I discovered some A-holes had actually told everyone he was gay. It was his personal business, not a secret, as his dad and I pretty much knew by the time he was ten, but still, the idiots who used it as a way to attack him—” She broke off, her face letting me know she wasn’t kidding; she was one seriously pissed-off woman.
“Anyway,” she continued, “we didn’t find out until just before he graduated. We dis
covered he was so worried about disappointing us because he put up with their bullcrap that he thought it best to just carry on.” She shook her head. “After that, when he went to college, his confidence grew. He really came into himself. Had friends, was popular, obviously excelled at his studies. We saw him fight for himself, his dreams. He told us one time about another student at college who was having some difficulty with some bigoted idiots. I’ve never been so proud of him as I was once I discovered Carter intervened and stuck up for this guy. I don’t even think he was his friend at the time. Anyway.” She paused and took a sip of her coffee before shaking her head and continuing, “I suppose my point is it’s the reason why his dad and I were so surprised with him letting this idiot at work, his new stupid boss, take liberties. It’s just not the Carter we’ve known since he’s been a man.”
My gut unsettled at her words, and I knew she was right. While I’d only known Carter for a few months and we hadn’t been together for all that long, his confidence was one thing that drew me to him. I had to agree with Marcy: Carter allowing the fuckwit from work to behave the way he had reeked of wrongness.
Chapter Eighteen
CARTER
My nightmare week continued. It seemed therefore appropriate that it ended with me trying to not blatantly stare at my watch urging the seconds to hurry up.
Despite Tanner and me sorting things out, and the bone-melting sex as a result—the only positive to my week—I was eager for the week to be truly over.
Not wanting to be out and definitely not wanting to relax too much, despite Lauren’s attempts to get me to drink, I sipped on my Coke. Lauren was in the middle of telling me how the guy she’d been hooking up with had some kinky requests.
“For real, he pulled out this triple X—”
I raised my brows, not quite sure if I was horrified or amused.
Lauren laughed. “Exactly! My reaction was pretty much the same.”
“So what did you do?” I paused. Shit, do I want to know? I squinted, waiting for her response.
“I strapped that bad boy on—”
I inhaled my Coke as laughter rippled through me. So not what I was expecting the triple X monstrosity to be. I spluttered as the drink went the wrong way and unceremoniously shot out of my nose too. Hacking, while reaching for a napkin off the side of the bar, I held it to my face.
Tears ran down Lauren’s cheeks, her laughter loud and drawing the looks of our coworkers. But between my coughing and drags of air to try to breathe, it could have well been my own smoothness that garnered attention.
“Whoa there!” Lauren said with a laugh. She reached over and thumped my back. “You going to live?”
I coughed some more and nodded, aware tears had also dampened my cheeks. “I think so,” I gasped. “Christ, woman. Warn a guy next time.”
She pulled away from me, her grin still in place. Lauren looked far too proud of herself. I shook my head and smiled widely. Laughter still bubbled in my chest, and my throat was raw, but after the week I’d had both were welcome.
“You need a drink now?” Her words held every trace of her amusement. She leaned onto the bar and signaled the bartender. When she looked back at me, she quirked her brow in question.
“Sure.” I gave in. “But just the one.”
With a quick wink at me, Lauren ordered us drinks. She was a good friend, who truly kept me sane, especially ever since Scott had come on the scene. I glanced around the bar, seeking the guy out.
It didn’t take long before my eyes landed on him. Scott was talking to one of the young nurses, his hip resting against the bar. It was funny how such a good-looking man was so damned ugly. I supposed that’s what hate did though. It bred ugliness, pushed it through veins until it reached part of a person’s soul. That was definitely the case with Scott.
Just as I was about to look away, hearing Lauren say thanks to the bar staff, Scott’s eyes met mine. I froze, eyes widening when his gaze roamed my face and an expression I couldn’t quite place lit his features. Clenching my jaw at the absurdity of being forced to be at the stupid bar by a man who loathed me, I dragged my eyes away and reached out for the drink Lauren held out to me. I downed the contents in one, feeling the burn of the liquor as it raced down my throat.
“Wow, Carter. That wasn’t intended to be a shot.”
I flicked my eyes to hers and saw concern on her face. With a forced smile, I bobbed my head, trying to conjure some words. I needed to leave and get home to Tanner.
That thought was enough to center me, and my mouth relaxed into a more natural smile. Home and Tanner sounded perfect. While my place technically wasn’t home to him, I had every hope that one day it would be.
“Thanks, honey. But you know what, I’m going to head home.” Screw the time. I’d deal with any BS ramifications on Monday.
Her brows dipped as she reached out and took the empty glass from my hand. “You sure?”
“Yep.” I nodded. “I’m just going to head to the restroom and… crap, I don’t have my car. I’ll send Tanner a text. It shouldn’t take him long.”
“Okay. I’ll say goodbye now though. Harriet’s calling me over.” Lauren kissed me on the cheek and walked away. It was time to bail.
I texted Tanner while heading to the bathroom. He shot back a text immediately, saying he’d be ten minutes. I grinned. I could handle ten minutes. After emptying my bladder, I washed up and headed out the side door of the bar. It was quiet, especially considering it was still daylight. Though I imagined most people were still at work.
Almost at the end of the side alley, I heard the bar door open and slam shut. The sound had me glancing over my shoulder. My jaw tensed as my gaze landed on Scott, and I turned back to face forward. Scott called my name, making me pause.
I huffed a deep breath and turned to face him. Having no issue with making eye contact, I did just that, not sure what I expected to find. Distaste, hate maybe. But instead, everything about the Scott a few meters before me screamed sadness.
I remained silent and waited for him to speak. The moment seemed to stretch as he took a couple of steps in my direction, his eyes flitting quickly over my face and then into the distance before landing on me once more.
“Look.” A tremble embraced that one word, and I dipped my brow, confused as heck. Scott released a heavy breath and shoved his hands into his pockets. Before me, he rocked back on his heels a moment as if contemplating how to continue. “I just…. Fuck.”
I tensed as the word echoed around the alley. It was loud and if I wasn’t mistaken, filled with hurt and confusion. Tempted to speak, though with no idea what to say or what his intentions were, I gave him nothing and kept my mouth shut. Anxiety crawled across my skin. Regardless of what was going on, Scott had been the source of my misery for weeks. That knowledge alone was enough to keep me quiet, but not enough to have me turning and walking away.
Scott glanced into the distance. He lifted a shaky hand and ran it through his hair. I followed the movement. It was a shame; he had great hair and was a handsome guy. Yeah, he was still surrounded by all that ugly only possible when you were a douchebag, but still, there was something vulnerable about him.
“Shit,” he finally said. “I’m sorry. Okay. I’m so fucking sorry.” There was a punch behind the words, as though each syllable was a struggle, but his eyes were back on mine and spoke of hurt.
I swallowed hard, not quite believing what was happening. Everything felt a little surreal. Maybe that shot hadn’t been the best idea.
Scott chewed on his bottom lip, and I saw his arm twitch. I glanced at his hands: both were tightly fisted. Fear slithered through me, and I made to take a step back.
“No!” Scott’s voice boomed around the small space. “Fuck. Please don’t.”
I hesitated a second before remaining still and asking, “What is it you want?” Tiredness washed over me. All I wanted was to be home, with Tanner wrapped around me. Everything about this confrontation had my nerves teetering on th
e edge.
He lowered his arm, which he’d reached out toward me when I’d made to leave. “I’m doing this all wrong.” A humorless laugh escaped his mouth. “Everything about this is wrong. God, everything I’ve said to you, what I tried to do to you.” Scott shook his head. With a clenched jaw, he stepped forward so he was in reaching distance of me. My gaze dropped to his throat as he swallowed, before jerking back up when he cleared his throat lightly.
“I mean… I was… hell, am a worthless piece of shit. I’m sorry. For everything.”
My eyes shot wide. This was really happening. How? Why? My brain nudged me, tried to shake me into a response, but I couldn’t quite comprehend the weirdness of the moment. “Umm…,” I started, not quite sure how to continue. It wasn’t okay, what he’d done, how he’d behaved, but I was clued up enough to recognize there was something bigger going on.
Thank God, Scott carried on as I was sure my “err” stretched out awkwardly. “You don’t need to say anything. Just know that I’m sorry. I’ll also be leaving soon. I just need to meet with Denver and let him know my plans, and you won’t have to see me again.”
I considered pinching myself, still not convinced I hadn’t stepped into the twilight zone. Instead, I gave voice to my confusion. “But why?” I shook my head.
His humorless laugh was back. He shook his head and pursed his lips before answering. “I’m sure I’m going to get into trouble for even talking to you, but….” He shrugged. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter that you put the complaint in against me. God, I’m surprised it wasn’t put in weeks ago. I deserved it.”
Confusion swam around my struggling brain. Complaint? Frowning, I shook my head. “I—”
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter. I deserved it. I received a warning, but I think it’s just best that I leave. My head’s so fucked-up.” He paused, his face paling. “It doesn’t matter. Just, I’m sorry. What I said to you, how I treated you….” He shook his head again. “Fuck, I’m surprised you haven’t punched me.”
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