Page 48 of A Better Place

“Awesome. Text me. I’m always around.”

“Sweet.”

“See ya, kid. And if you need help finding something to wear to that wedding you and your mom will be attending, let me know.”

He groans. “You were serious? I actually have to go?”

“Maggie. Dress. Dancing afterward.”

“Got it. Dress pants and a tie okay?”

I smirk. “That’ll do, boy. That’ll do. Talk soon, kiddo.”

“Yeah,” he says, seeming distracted, probably either hoping to call Maggie before bed or, more likely, imagining her in a dress.

I step out of his bedroom and see a flash of blond hair and hot-pink slippers flit around the corner. I step into the living room just as Carly hurdles the back of the couch and sits down. She crosses her legs as she fumbles for her Kindle, patting down her hair to tame the wild that just happened. It’s obvious she was listening to the conversation I was having with Jack, I just want to know how much she heard. But the fact that she’s panting for breaths and trying to look like she wasn’t listening tells me she heard quite a bit.

Maybe this should bother me, but it doesn’t. I want her to know how I’m feeling. I want her to know what is going through my head when it comes to the two of us.

I clear my throat and approach the back of the couch. She pretends to startle like she didn’t know I was standing there.

“Hi there.”

“Oh! Hi! I didn’t see you. You finish talking with Jack?” Her voice is high-pitched, and the words are coming out fast.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Oh good. Yeah. Thanks for talking to him. I mean, he must have felt like he could talk to you about whatever it was he needed to talk to someone about, and yeah, his mom isn’t that cool to talk to and divulge all his boyhood secrets to, so thanks for coming over and…” Her hands are waving around, and she keeps licking her lips, drawing my attention to them, but I can tell she’s nervous.

“Carly,” I say, putting a hand on her shoulder, leaning over the back of the couch and effectively stopping her rant, “you’re rambling.”

“Yeah.” She sighs. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what is wrong with me.”

“What did you hear?”

“Hear? Hmmm?”

“Yeah, you little cutie. What did you hear before you sprinted around the corner and dive-bombed onto the couch?”

“Hmm? Oh that? That was nothing. Just something fun I like to do. Keeps my heart rate up, my blood pumping, you know.”

“I’ll let it slide this time.” I grin.

She sighs again. “Thanks.”

“Don’t even mention it. I’m gonna head out. I promised Miss Harper I would let her read to me tonight. Something about a frog and a toad.”

Her eyes go soft, and she bites the corner of her mouth again. This time I don’t hesitate to reach out with my thumb and release her lip from her teeth. Her lip is soft, and what I really want to do is lean down and kiss her until both our lips are swollen. Her sudden intake of breath causes my eyes to shoot to hers.

“Don’t,” I murmur.

She looks at me questioningly but doesn’t say anything.

“Don’t be nervous around me. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.”

“I’m not…” She begins to protest, but I stop her by pressing my thumb against her lip.

“Yeah, you are. But we’ll get there. I promise, one day…” I lean closer to her. “…one day we’ll get there. Together.”

“Okay,” she says breathlessly.

“Okay,” I say, my voice quiet. “I’ll see you soon? And next time I’m here, I plan to cook in that kitchen of yours.” I point back toward it. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how kick-ass it is,” I tell her.

“Oh yeah. Jack and I remodeled it last year, with Barrett’s help.”

“I can tell. I’ll see you soon,” I repeat, this time not as a question, then bend down and press my lips to her forehead. We’ve touched more tonight than we have the entire time we’ve known each other. When I pull back, her dark-chocolate eyes are closed then flutter open, her gaze slowly moving over my face.

Tonight I came over to her house, expecting to talk to Jack for a few minutes, and what I got was so much more. In Jack’s words, I feel like I could conquer the world. And after tonight I know there’s no way I’ll be content staying in the friend-zone with Carly.

But I also know she wants so much more than that too.

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