Page 29 of Carter

And fuck, I’d wrap you up if I could,

lay your gentle heart in my hand

and give you all you deserve.

*

Wanting a little more.

Like a fucking hungry puppy.

I was a fucking idiot.

Unprepared. Uncaring.

I knew, deep down, where this was going to lead.

That was the third strike against me.

Ten

Well, this was awkward.

We were all sitting in the impressive dining room that belonged to the Myers family.

Carter and Rome were on the verge of fighting, Rome’s parents were staring at me like I was some stray cat in need of shelter, while simultaneously glaring at Carter like he was a fly in need of swatting, and I was just sitting there trying to buy their welcome with the sad look of a recently homeless eighteen-year-old girl.

How fantastic.

Maybe turning to Rome wasn’t such a good idea. I mean, the tension was almost unbearable. He and Carter never met eye to eye; it was more eyeforan eye if anything when it came to them. I didn’t get the hatred. Maybe it was just a guy thing. Rome was almost as big as Carter, so perhaps one needed to out-alpha the other or something.

I started this awesomely painful situation off with a plea. “We were just hoping for a place to crash for a couple days.”

Blank stares.

“Or a day even, if a couple days isn’t possible.”

More blank stares.

“Hell, just a few hours would do.”

Christ, being a beggar was hard stuff.

Rome’s mother, Marlena Myers, finally broke with emotion. She smiled kindly at me, easing me immediately with her warmth. “Oh, Leah, I can’t believe you’ve been kicked out. Of course you can stay.”

Yeah, I skewed the truth a little. Figured telling them we ran away might dampen our chances for help. Make us look all rebellious, you know?

Rome’s father Harold nodded in agreement. “Absolutely, Leah. You’re like family, dear.”

I smiled back. This was looking good. At first, when the zebra car owner found us in his car and screamed at us to get out (swinging the world’s most non-threatening zebra handled Swiss army knife at us), I thought heartily about returning to the trailer. I was sure Russell hadn’t discovered me yet, so maybe I’d put the entire night behind. But Carter was unyielding in his decision never to go back, and as we walked for hours in the shopping centre, waiting for the pounding rain outside to stop, my thoughts travelled to Rome and how good his family had been to me.

We were close. When I wasn’t hanging out with Carter, Rome would be there to pick me up in his Jeep and we’d drive to the bar his family owned. At least a night a week we’d dine there, and Marlena would be kicking around, talking to me like I wasn’t the trashy girl everyone thought I was. They were quite disconnected with my side of the tracks, though. They lived a little ways out, their multi-generational house—which felt like a mansion to me—was on an acreage while their bar was in the centre of Abbotsford. They were familiar with other people, and while I had a feeling they’d heard about Aunt Cheryl’s activities, I know they didn’t paint a bad picture of me. It was why I was so comfortable with them and had decided to show up here with Carter to ask for a place to stay until we figured out our next step.

Issue was, Carter wasn’t doing a good job selling his side of the story. He hadn’t wanted to come here, but tough luck. I didn’t blame them for frowning. He was being broody and quiet. While I was warm, he was cold, and don’t get me started on the glare he was sporting. Looking like some bad boy didn’t help matters either.

“I’m sure we can have a room ready for you,” Marlena carried on, staring solely at me. “There’s no rush to leave either. We could certainly use more hands at the bar. We’ll work something out for you.”

Shit, what about Carter?

---