Page 11 of Carter

He motioned to the bed. “Come on, Angel. Get in.”

“No,” I refused.

“Come on. Don’t make me beg.”

“Would you really beg?”

“For you? Absolutely.”

God, he did things to my heart.

I stood my ground for a measly ten seconds, and then I went over to him and collapsed next to him so that we were shoulder to shoulder. I stared up at the ceiling and shook my head in disbelief.

“Why didn’t you come to my window?” I asked, my voice giving away my disappointment.

“I did,” he answered. “But I heard your uncle moving around. I thought he was going to be up for a while and that you wouldn’t be able to get away.”

“You should have said something. At least then I’d have known you were there. Even if it was something little. I would have told you I was coming.”

He sighed again. His face turned in my direction, and I could feel how hard he was staring at my profile. I kept my eyes pinned to the water-stained ceiling, ignoring the way my heart hiccupped in my chest at his attention.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

I was too stubborn to let this go. I turned my head to him and stared into his eyes as I retorted, “How would you feel if I brought a boy into my bedroom?”

Without skipping a beat, he replied, “That’s not my business. You can do what you want. I’m your moral support, the shoulder you cry on when the piece of shit breaks your heart.”

I studied him carefully, waiting for signs he was lying in that statement. He appeared amused still, but I thought I could feel his body stiffening beside me. Maybe it was in my head because nothing in his face spoke of the same jealousy that probably showed in mine. I swear I heard a piece of my heart snapping. How many more years of being his best friend would it take for him to look at me any differently?

“Fine,” I whispered to him, turning away before he could see the glossy look in my eyes. “Well, I’m going to tell you never to do that again.”

“Never do what again?”

“You know what. Never bring a girl into this room. You do it one more time and I’m never going to step foot in here again. This isourplace. I’m not going to share, Carter. You wanna do the nasty, then do it in a ditch.”

“How am I going to convince a girl to kiss me in a ditch, Leah?”

“Oh, please. You can take her to a laundromat and she’d think it was the most romantic place ever.”

“Are there any laundromats around?”

“There’s one down the road, but you should carry a knife with you when you take her there. Some shady people lurking around.”

“I’ll consider that when I take the next girl there,” he joked.

“See? I can be helpful.”

When he didn’t respond, I glanced at him. He was smiling wistfully, and I would have given an arm and a leg to know what he was thinking. What the hell was putting that smile on his face? Why was he so difficult to read?

It wasn’t fair how well he kept his thoughts to himself. I might have to train myself to do the same thing.

“Is Russell still checking up on you?” he then asked, that smile morphing into a frown.

“Yeah,” I answered. “He checked up on me twice tonight. I don’t know what his problem is.”

“He knows you’ve been seeing me. I bet you he’s trying to catch you in the act. Be careful with him. I don’t trust him at all.”

“I don’t trust him either, but he’s never been all that bad to me.”

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