Page 62 of Carter

“Because you’re being walked all over by Carter. You need to be woken up. I thought he’d see you with that guy and start to realize what you meant to him. He needs to face reality that you won’t be waiting around for him.”

I frowned at her and crossed my arms. “I’m not being walked all over.”

She sighed in defeat. “Friends with benefits never works out for anybody, not unless one party agrees to give the other more.”

“You’re under the assumption that one of them will always want more.”

“Leah, sex with a random stranger or someone you know lightly can come with no strings attached. But sex with the same guy that youlivewith and spend almost every moment with can’t. You have a history with the guy. You started this offfeelingfor him. He’s exploding in popularity. Girls are drooling at their tables just to get near to him, and it’s only going to get worse.”

“What does that have anything to do with my relationship with him?”

The concern poured out of her eyes as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “Imagine girls putting their hands all over him, and him allowing them because he’s technically not doing anything wrong. That’s essentially what’s happening, right? You see the girls rubbing their chests against his shoulder and leaning so close, he could probably feel their breaths againsthis face. It’s hurting you, and that’s because you’re in love with him. He needs to know that. It’s only fair on him that he keeps proceeding with this arrangement if he knows how you’re feeling. You have needs too and you’re settling for less. Guys like the one you danced with tonight would bend over backwards to have a chance with you. Stop undervaluing yourself.”

With that, she gave me a hug and said good night, leaving me to mull her words over in the restroom alone. I stared at myself in the mirror for a while, fighting back my emotions.

She was right, wasn’t she?

I needed to hear this. I know I did.

It still stung, and I wound up rubbing my chest, taking deep breaths, knowing that this time around no one was going to come in here and make me feel better.

I couldn’t keep doing this.

Twenty-Three

Carter was in a mood. A very dark mood.

Understandably.

I was in one too.

He hadn’t said a word to me after we got home. He just shut himself up in his room for a long while. I showered and got ready for bed, deciding I was most definitely going to leave him alone.

I was just about ready to crawl into bed when his door opened. He came bursting in a few moments later, standing in the middle of my room, staring at me with hard eyes and a mouth pressed in a line.

Hesitantly, I turned to him. The air was charged, that feeling of a confrontation was thick in the air.

“Did you do it on purpose?” he suddenly demanded solemnly, breaking the silence.

“Do what exactly?”

“Make me jealous, Leah. Did you do it on purpose?”

My eyebrows shot up. I was pissed. “I’m insulted you could think that low of me.”

“I’m feeling a little insulted that you thought you could chat some guy up just to piss me off.”

“I didn’t chat him up.”

“You certainly didn’t shut him down, either, did you?”

My body tensed and anger shot through me as I icily retorted, “I did nothing wrong! He came to me, and we talked a little.”

“And you danced.”

“It was harmless. You’ve misunderstood the situation, Carter.”

He chuckled scornfully. “Fucking hell, Leah, you are naïve. I didn’t misunderstand shit! That guy was all over you because he wanted you to spread those legs wide for him. I saw him sitting there all night looking at you, practically humping the chair he was sitting on.”

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