Page 65 of Solstice

Were we?

I had an entire plan set in motion that I hadn’t told any of them about. I kept a secret with Poppy that neither of us planned to share with anyone else. And if I’d been capable of keeping that from her, then what was she capable of keeping from me?

“Yes. Fine,” I answered.

She nodded, gathering her laptop and books in one arm. “Good. Siobhan and Donnelly would like to talk to us at dinner once Poppy has gone home.”

I thinned my lips and watched as she headed downstairs, that annoying stoic look in her eyes. Ivy could be a good actress when she wanted to. She could turn on the Washington charm with an effortless grin. But Ivy never could beat me in a game of poker. I knew her tells like I knew my own, and now that I suspected she was hiding something from me, I wouldn’t stop until I knew what it was.

Ivy had her door closed when I passed by it on my way to find Carter. He was in the gym, running on the treadmill, sweat dripping down his naked torso. God, he was beautiful, a Greek statue come to life before my very eyes. I could stand here and watch him move for the rest of my life.

Carter always had a way of sensing my presence no matter how stealthy I’d tried to be. He stopped the machine when I stepped forward, grabbing his towel so he could wipe his face. I focused on the curves in his arms as he did, his muscles bunching in all the right ways.

“Keep staring at me like that, DC, and I might do a trick.” Carter’s grin almost brought me to my knees.

“If you do a trick, you might get a treat.” I leaned against the doorjamb, waiting as my proverbial knight hopped off the treadmill and stalked closer. His gym shorts hung low on his hips, reminding me of the time I’d fucked him right here on this rubber floor. How long ago that seemed compared to today.

“Is that a threat or a promise?” He eyed me with a smug expression that made me want to force him to shut up in the most despicable ways. If I wasn’t so damn caught up in all the other bullshit, I might have done just that.

“A gentleman never divulges all his plans before the endgame.”

Carter made a low laugh and leaned in to kiss me, smelling like sweat and man and deodorant, an alluring intoxicant for a hedonist like me. My cock throbbed, and I had to remind myself I’d come down here for a purpose.

All these years, and only one person couldreallybreak through to Ivy. If she was keeping a secret, Carter might be able to sniff it out before I could.

“Have you talked to Ivy today?”

His smile faded, replaced by concern in his eyes. “Yeah, why?”

“Did she seem strange?”

Carter narrowed his eyes, flipping his towel over his shoulder as he moved past me toward the showers. “No, I don’t think so.”

I followed him. “She was up before us this morning. I don’t think she slept well last night.”

He shrugged. “She’s shaken up over the fight with the king. We all are.”

Could be, but my gut told me otherwise. “No, this is different.”

When we got to the bathroom, he shucked his shorts and boxer briefs down to the white tile floor, stepping out of them before he reached into the shower and turned on the water, looking back at me with confusion in his eyes. “How so?”

“She’s hiding something.”

He snorted and shook his head. “Well, you’re the truth teller. Make her reveal all her dirty secrets.” Carter eyed me up and down, a sexy smirk coming to his lips as he grabbed at the ends of my shirt. “You staying for the show?” He leaned in and kissed the side of my neck, pressing his hard body against mine.

Fuck,Carter could always make me weak. Ever since I met him, I’d never been able to resist him. When his soft lips worked their way up my neck and collided with mine, I groaned and let him lift my T-shirt over my head. My jeans hit the floor next, followed by my boxers. When we both stood naked, the steam building between us, I pulled back to look him dead in the eyes.

“Promise me you’ll check in on her.” I raised an eyebrow, one hand going to his hair, the other to his cock between us. I gripped the tip and squeezed in just the right place to have him buckling at the waist.

“Of course, DC.” He gave me another kiss, accentuated with a bite on my lower lip. “Anything for you.”

I liked the sound of that. “Yeah?”

He sensed the devil in my tone because his grin deepened, and he nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Tell me what you want.”

I shoved him down to the ground and pushed my thumb in between his lips. “Open wide, Chicago.”

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