“Thanks, Miss James.” Linc’s little sister, Emma Hayes, smiled at me as I dropped my bags on the steps next to her. “I really have to get home and get a few hours of sleep. I’ve got midterms tomorrow and I’m a raging bitch if I don’t get at least four hours of sleep.”
Emma had to be at least twenty, so thinking of her as just a babysitter or teenager would be a mistake. But to Deacon, who had a decade on her, she was young.
“How many classes left to get your degree, Emma?” I walked her to her car, just because I could.
“Just this one,” she beamed. “I’ve been working ahead to graduate early. That way I know I’ll have a leg up with the competition.”
I couldn’t help laughing. Emma Hayes had always been an overachiever. She’d actually been a student at the high school where I did my student-teaching when one of her older brothers died overseas. “How’s Linc handling his baby sister joining the force?”
Emma snorted as she opened her car door. “He’ll get over it. After all, I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t for him. He wouldn’t let me join the military, so he’ll just have to suffer through me doing things my way.” With that, she was off, and I stared up at Deacon’s silent house.
For about half a second, I contemplated staying up and trying to get some grading done. Then, I walked into Deacon’s living room, all thoughts of anything but sleep vanished into a puff of smoke. Rett, curled in a blanket and using the edge of the couch as a pillow, snored softly. I couldn’t help it. I pulled him into my lap and cuddled that little ball of warmth with all I had, falling asleep with him in my arms.
At least until I heard the front door creak open a little while later. Part of me thought about waking up and telling Deacon to shut up, but then I heard another set of footsteps, and I decided to sit still.
The last thing I needed was to see some half-naked woman that my brother snuck in for a booty call after his night at the club.
Thankfully Deacon didn’t come into the living room, because then I really would have to see them. Instead, he led his guest through the hall into the kitchen and I let out a deep breath I hadn’t realized I held. I’d almost fallen back asleep again when I heard an achingly familiar voice filter out from the kitchen during a conversation with Deacon.
“Thanks, man.”
Fucking Carter Malone was in my brother’s house, in the middle of the night. Suddenly I saw red, and I wanted to kill both of them—with my bare hands.
“Okay, now that you’ve got an ice pack for your jaw, tell me why I should give you her number.”
I slid my arm out from under Rett’s neck, disentangling my body from his and the blanket that had ended up wrapped around both of us.
“I fucked up with her,” Carter’s admission stopped me in my tracks.
Honestly, I probably looked like a crazy person. Standing in the middle of my brother’s hall with my hair messed up and my clothes all askew. I couldn’t chance making a sound, not when the conversation had just turned interesting.
“I told her she’s a fuck-up, and that she’s putting on a mask for everyone.”
I never, in my entire life, expected to hear Carter baring his soul like that for anyone, let alone my brother. Without a doubt, I knew he was talking about me. What were the chances he’d called someone else a fuck-up and then talk to my brother about it?
Deacon’s laughter came hard and fast through the hall, practically slamming into me. All of a sudden, I found myself pissed off that my big brother didn’t stand up for me to his friend.
“What do you expect, man? Ever since her accident, she doesn’t even like to be touched. I doubt for a minute you would have the upper hand with her.”
My body went rigid at his mention of my accident. Instinctively, my hand sought out the scar on my abdomen, and I realized I hadn’t even thought about it in a few days. Since the night I’d walked out on Carter, actually.
Everything I’d lost, everything I had hoped for in my life, and planned for so carefully. It all came crashing back down onto my shoulders at once.
“You remember that kid she started seeing when we were in school? Will Andrews, right?”
“Yeah.” There was an edge to Carter’s voice, and I’d give almost anything to see his face right then. He sounded jealous, which made no sense. “The one she called her boyfriend all through elementary school. Way back when. I remember. Fuckin’ douche is what he was.”
Deacon laughed, and I wanted to hit him. “Yeah, him. Kid still doesn’t know which way is up. Her childhood sweetheart. Well, a while back, they got in an accident, and she hasn’t been the same since. She used to plan, ya know. Hope and dream for her future. But after all that went down, she’s turned into a female version of me. She takes risks she shouldn’t, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to bail her out of trouble before it bites her in the ass.”
One of them slapped their hand down on the counter, scaring the piss out of me and I almost knocked into the wall in my surprise.
“I’ll give you her number,” Deacon said after a few moments of silence. “Maybe you’ll be able to break through to her in a way no one in my family has been able to.”
Hearing Deacon, the man I looked up to for my entire life, sound so helpless and emotional, talking about my accident, reminded me that I didn’t belong in that hall. That the rules, the ones I’d followed my entire life, had led me to the reality I found myself in.
Now that he was home, with Rett still fast asleep on the couch, I didn’t really need to stay any longer. I didn’t need Carter’s pity either. I didn’t need to have my brother expose my weaknesses to the one man who had the power to hurt me.
I wanted to run away again. To go home and curl up in my warm bed and forget about everything in my life, but I didn’t. Instead, I curled around Rett and tried to fall back asleep. Where only a few minutes before I’d wanted to spy on my brother and get to the bottom of why Carter was there, I found myself exhausted and tired of keeping everyone at bay.
If Deacon wanted to give Carter my number, I couldn’t stop him. But I would make sure to block him as soon as I got the first message.
“I know you’re awake,” Carter’s voice whispered into my ear sometime later.
He wasn’t wrong, but I wouldn’t give him anything, even if he’d completely taken me by surprise and snuck up on me.
“I asked your brother for your number, but I’m only going to send you one message.” He ran a hand down my hair, and I relished the way it felt. “I’m going to make sure you have my number, Avery. When you’re ready, my offer stands. I want to take you out. I want to re-do that night. You deserve so much more than that, but I’ll wait until you’re ready for me to give it to you.”
I waited, hoping I’d be able to hear him leave. I should have known better, though. He didn’t move, and he didn’t take his hand away from my hair. At least, not for a long few moments. Then he sighed, and leaned down so that his mouth touched my ear.
“One day, Ms. James. One day, you’ll give me a chance to make it right.” Carter pressed his lips to mine in a hesitant and gentle kiss. When he finally pulled away, he took a piece of my heart with him.