The excitement in his eyes lit up his face, and he immediately took off like a rocket, following Rett into the house. When they finally fell asleep, both of them on the couch, my life couldn’t be more perfect.
“Leave them, Ms. James.” Carter’s eyes flashed in the dark, while he waited for me in the hall. “I finally have you all to myself, and I don’t want it interrupted.”
With a smile, I followed him upstairs and into his room.
“Move in with me,” he said suddenly, watching me from the bed.
“What?” I laughed. “You’re crazy.” I stood in the doorway and watched him strip. One of my favorite activities, since he looked so damn good while he did it. Every muscle in his body rippled with little effort. The light gray sweatpants he’d put on before dinner did absolutely nothing to hide his dick, but I loved when he slid them off all the same.
“Move in. You’re always here. This is your house as much as it is mine, now.”
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer. Not because I was playing another game with him. Rather, I was trying to figure out exactly what to say. I mean he stood there, completely naked and all brain-power sort of drifted away while I stared at him.
“Get naked, Ms. James.” He growled low in his throat when I pulled my shirt over my head and unhooked my bra. Then, I slid out of my pajama shorts and climbed on the bed.
“Time for sex, Carter.” I snapped my fingers when I caught him staring at my ass again. “Come on.”
“I’m planning on it,” he teased.
When he slid into my body a second later, taking me from behind, I stuck my head into the pillows to keep from making any noise.
“Yep,” he groaned. “Perfect.”
He grabbed my hips and pulled my body back as he thrust forward.
“Gotta make it quick, Avery.” He picked up the pace, and I moved one hand between my legs to make sure that he didn’t finish before I did.
We’d mastered the quickie in the last few weeks, for necessary reasons. Though I swore, even if it only lasted a few minutes, Carter never failed to make sure that I came before he did. Which I proved right a few seconds later when he reached down and his fingers joined mine on my clit.
“Come on, Avery.” He thrust harder. “Let’s go.”
Stars burst behind my closed lids, lighting up my mind as my body clenched around his. I felt him pull out just in time and a warm splash hit my ass while he groaned behind me.
“Stay there,” he ordered. “I’ll get a towel.”
I didn’t move. Mostly because I didn’t want to make a mess, but also because I knew he’d take care of me. Carter always did.
When we were both clean and in bed together, he pulled me against his chest.
“I love you, Avery. And you’re moving in with me.”
I snorted. “Good luck with that. Chris wouldn’t know what to do if I didn’t live there.”
He slapped my ass under the blankets. “You’re never there. I’m sure he’ll be just fine.”
“Carter?” I curled into his arms and threw my leg over his hip, making sure that I got comfortable, even though he couldn’t possibly be.
“What?” He yawned.
My heart started to race, thumping loudly in my ears and making it so that I could barely hear myself think, let alone speak. “I love you, too.”
“I know.”
I smacked him on the chest, but he laughed in response.
“Now, I just have to convince you to move in and have my babies.”
Ice poured down my body, and I couldn’t move. Not only that, but I laid awake the entire night after coming to the realization that I didn’t deserve Carter.
Not only that, but I had to do the one thing I told him I wouldn’t.
I had to run.
Again.
20
Carter
Avery left me. She stopped answering my calls or texts. She ignored me when I showed up at the school, and not even Chris could help me get through to her.
“What the hell did I do wrong?”
The beer I hadn’t had a sip of couldn’t answer back, though. And sitting in Lucy’s bar at lunchtime, waiting for Will Anderson, did nothing for my self-esteem. I couldn’t even remember what he looked like, and yet I compared myself to his memory. I was lucky he even agreed to meet me after I’d lied to Avery about it and rescheduled the meeting.
“Hey, you’re Carter Malone, right?” I looked up from my still-full glass and stared into the eyes of a hesitant man.
“Yeah, Will?” I held out my hand to shake his, turning away from the bar. “Nice to meet you.”
Will Anderson stood there in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, wearing a baseball hat indoors. He had stark blue eyes, and blonde hair that stuck out from under his hat. He looked like a fuckin’ model and I wanted to punch him in the face just for existing.
Then I remembered where I’d seen him before. “You’re playing baseball professionally now, right?”
He shook my hand and nodded. “Yeah, I play for Boston now. About as close to home as I’ll get, though.”
After he ordered a beer and set his hat down on the bar next to his stool, Will turned to me with a grim expression. That’s when I saw the faded scar that ran down the side of his face. A scar with the pink still fading, and I realized he must have gotten it in the accident that gave Avery her scars.
“Deacon insisted I speak to you, and damned near threatened me when I tried to tell him no.” Will took a long drink from his beer. “I figured it would be in my best interest to make the trip.” He laughed. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Avery James.” Two words. Even saying her name hurt, but I didn’t let that slip through my mask. “I want to talk about what happened with you two.”
“Shit, man. I can’t talk to you about Avery.” He slid back from the bar. “I’m sorry, but that’s not gonna happen. If Deacon had told me on the phone, I’d have saved myself the trip.”
When he turned to leave, I grabbed him by the arm to stop him. “Please, Will. I’m in love with her. But she won’t talk about you. She won’t tell me what happened. I can’t ask her to move forward if she’s still heartbroken that you left her.”
Baring myself like that, to a virtual stranger, cut deep. Except I needed the information, and the only person in the world I stood a chance of getting it from was standing in front of me, about to walk away. I had to stop him, because I couldn’t get Avery to talk to me about it, let alone anything else right now.
“Fuck, man. You really do love her.” Will whistled, but he didn’t leave. Instead, he turned back around and ordered another drink. “You’re not gonna drink?”
“No,” I told him. “Avery’s rules about not drinking at all when you’re going to drive are stuck in my head. I ordered it thinking I might be able to push past it, but I can’t.”
“Ha.” He held up his phone. “She got me too. I already made sure that I’ve got a ride from my brother when I’m done here. Fuckin’ A.” He slapped me on the shoulder. “She gets under your skin, doesn’t she.”