Page 94 of Shattered Mind

Stretching up on my tiptoes, I try with all my might to reach the box where it sits on a high shelf and after the third attempt, I admit defeat and turn to Carter.

“Carter, could you help me get this down, please?”

He looks up from the wrench he’s examining and lets out a chuckle, placing the tool down and taking careful steps towards me.

Carter reaches above me, his hands grasping the box and pulling it to the edge of the shelf, leaving it hanging there. I wait for him to lift it down, but he just smirks at me.

“I think you can reach that now,” he says playfully.

I look between him and the box, raising an unimpressed brow. “Seriously?”

“Mm-hmm.” His smile conveys just how proud he is of his little joke, and I roll my eyes at him, reaching past him for the box.

Standing on my tiptoes again, I grip the box on either side, the cast on my wrist making that difficult, and pull it from the shelf, completely misjudging the weight of the items inside it.

“Oh fuck,” I grunt as I drop back to the balls of my feet. My arms are dragged backwards from the weight, and I stumble slightly. Carter reaches out, attempting to takethe box from me but I let go too soon and the entire contents are dumped over my head.

“Oh shit,” he gasps with a laugh, and I drop my arms in defeat as I stare at the piles of tinsel and baubles at my feet.

My eyes shift to him, a scolding insult on the tip of my tongue, but the moment they land on his face I burst into laughter.

Red glitter covers his head and shoulders as he stands there in hysterical laughter. I join him, buckling over as the moment replays itself in my mind, only making me laugh harder, until tears stream from my eyes and my stomach hurts from exertion.

“You’re covered in glitter,” Carter wheezes and I look down at myself, noting the same red sparkles on my shirt.

“So are you,” I point out and he wipes his eyes as he inspects himself.

“Jesus Christ, what a mess.” He looks at the floor around us.

“That was your fault.” I scold him.

“It was. Poor judgement on my part, but at least it made you laugh,” he says and something in my chest cracks.

He’s right.

That is the first time I’ve laughed in weeks, and honestly, I feel lighter now. For a second, I wasn’t in my parent’s attic, clearing out their belongings. There was no Grayson Calloway haunting my waking thoughts. We were just two people fucking around.

I clear my throat. “I’m gonna go take a shower.”

He nods, his eyes taking on a sympathetic gleam. “Me, too.”

***

It takes three attempts at shampooing my hair before it stops sparkling. I’m surprised my scalp isn’t bleeding from the vicious scrubbing I just subjected it to.

I found glitter in parts of my body no person should ever find glitter in, and I have no clue how it managed to get there considering I was fully clothed.

I turn the shower off and wrap a towel around my body before climbing out.

Wiping the condensation from the mirror, I pick up m hairbrush and begin tackling the knots in my hair just as the doorbell rings.

I pause, listening for footsteps to indicate that Carter is answering it, but all I’m greeted with is silence. I sigh and reach for the robe hanging on the back of the bathroom door. I pull it on and cringe at the feel of the fabric against my wet skin.

The doorbell rings again and I yank the door open in annoyance, muttering curse words as I pad on wet feet across the hallway and down the stairs.

The bell rings a third time just as I reach the door, and I pull it open with more force than necessary, ready to give the person on the other side a firm telling off for their lack of patience.

But when my eyes land on the person on the other side, I lose all train of thought.

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