Page 46 of Leah

I frowned. “He was a shit dad. You had every right not to go.”

“He wasn’t always that way,” he muttered. “He used to be great before Mom died. I antagonized him out of anger, and I did it to deflect my own feelings.”

Shit, he’d never opened up to me like this before.

I was completely speechless.

“Death does things to people,” he explained quietly. “It changes them, and I shouldn’t have blamed him for changing. I was just too stubborn, too hurt. It’s why I had my armour on all the time, keeping people like you and the Myers at a distance. Anyway,” he went on, shaking his head as if abolishing whatever thoughts he had in there. “All that happened in the past. No point dwelling.”

“As long you’re okay.”

Something told me he wasn’t, especially when he grabbed the bottle and took another swig. That was the most Carter had ever spoken to me about his feelings. I was absolutely gobsmacked. A part of me wanted to push for more, but I remembered how much that had upset him before in the past.

No, I’d let him decide for himself how much he wanted me in.

He moved on from that, and we talked about lighter things. It felt like we’d fallen back into our old selves, and the awkwardness from before faded into the background. The alcohol helped, immensely. Like,morethan immensely.It loosened the screws we’d twisted solidly into place, made removing them less difficult.

Here, in the dark, close to each other’s bodies, we were the old Carter and Leah, laughing and poking fun. I thought I’d see him as a famous dude now, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He had changed in appearance, and he was a little cockier than he’d ever been before, but he was still Carter.

My Carter.

The guy that made my heart beat faster and my skin run slick from nerves.

When he started talking about his tour and all the places he’d seen, I hung on to his every word. He’d become so worldly, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t envious of all the people he’d met,all the countries he’d visited, and all the different variety of food he’d eaten.

“You’ve always wanted to see the world, and I’ve just rubbed my travels in your face,” he then joked, staring at my dreamy expression.

“Someday I will.”

He looked thoughtful for a moment, before replying, “Maybe you should finish out the tour with me.”

I let out a laugh in disbelief. “Go with you? I can’t do that.”

“Why not?”

Did he not realize how absurd that was? “Well, because I have a life here.”

“It can’t be put on hold?” he asked, surprisingly serious.

“I’ve got a job—”

“I’ll pay you out.”

“I don’t want your money.”

“Then I’ll find a job you can do, and you’ll get paid that way.”

I rolled my eyes, dismissing that. “I’m also applying for junior accounting positions at some firms.”

“Give me your resume and I’ll have people distribute it to the best firms.”

Dismissed that again. “Need I remind you, I also have a life here, Carter.”

“You could push your life back a year.”

“No, I can’t.”

He didn’t reply for a couple seconds, and then he said, “You know, Leah, you’ve just given me three reasons why you can’t come with me, and not one of them was your boyfriend.”

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