Page 75 of Carter

“What? Is it illegal to go out, Carter?”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

I froze and raised a brow at him. “Why would I want you to come with me?”

“To look out for you. You can’t be serious going out looking the way you do and not get bad attention.”

I glimpsed down at my skinny jeans and black top. This ensemble was excruciatingly tame, and it would not garner “bad” attention. I was certain of that. If anyone was at risk forany kind of attention at all, it was Melanie because she was stunning.

“Calm your tits,” I countered. “We’re not cruising through the West Side. It’s just a night out with a few drinks. I don’t even know why I’m telling you. You’re usually not home, anyway.”

“I was thinking about what I said to you at the bar in front of Jared a couple days ago.” He sighed and looked down at the floor. “I realize how I sounded, and I was jerk.”

“Well, I’ve forgotten all about it.” Total lie. “It doesn’t even matter.”

I went to walk past him, but he stood in my way, looking down at me with a serious expression. “How about you stay? We’ll order pizza and spend time together. I have something I want to tell you. Something important.”

His whole demeanour was all strange. He was acting vulnerable, and his pleading blue eyes were melting the ice around my heart. I looked away from him, thinking of Melanie and our night out together.

“I can’t,” I replied quietly. “Melanie’s probably waiting for me already. It’s way too last minute.”

He sighed unhappily and let me through. I grabbed my clutch off the kitchen counter and pulled out my phone to text her.

Me:How far away are you?

Mel:Five minutes.

Me:I’ll be waiting outside.

“Have a good night, Carter,” I told him.

When he didn’t respond, I looked over my shoulder and saw him standing a few feet behind me, looking dejected as ever.I couldn’t understand it. Wasn’t he having a field day with all those chicks? How was this fair?

I got angry just thinking about it.

I opened the door and got out of there before my heart could tell me otherwise.

*

“So what’s your problem?” I asked Melanie, digging into our calamari.

Our first pit-stop was at a restaurant, and we were having only appetizers. It was wise not to get overloaded on food right before we went out drinking.

Like I predicted, Melanie had dolled up. She was in skinny jeans too, but her top was lacy and cut up in places that made it look like it’d been through a shredder—but in a good way—and left very little to the imagination; the girl had some serious cleavage.

She made a face at me. “What do you mean?”

“You look like you desperately needed a night out too. I want to know what your problem is. Does it have something to do with the boys? You know I’m perceptive, right? I’ve seen you staring at Rome every now and then.”

Mel was shocked to say the least. Her mouth dropped. “You seriously noticed that?”

“Oh, yeah, definitely.”

“I’ve been looking like you this entire time?”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, you stand there sometimes and just stare at Carter with this hateful look on your face. I didn’t think I was doing it too.”

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