Page 67 of No One Else

The corner of his mouth lifts the slightest bit. “Going rogue then.”

“Listen, man. Just stop it. She’s not interested.”

He gives me a level look, crossing his arms over his chest, that damn watch taunting me with its obscene display of wealth. “What’s it going to take then? Five hundred?”

I stare at him, not wanting to reveal my ignorance, but I have no idea what he’s talking about. “Five hundred?” I ask carefully, keeping my expression neutral.

“I’ll give you five hundred dollars right now to step out of the picture.”

I strive my hardest to keep my face the same, but my jaw wants to drop. Is he serious? Does he actually think she’s for sale?

“Listen,” he continues in that perpetually bored tone of his, “you’re an amusing diversion for her, but we both know she’ll come back to me. I wanted a break for a while, but now that’s done. It’s time to get back together again.”

I finally find my voice, sputtering, “Are you delusional? You two aren’t on a break, you’re broken up. Natalie and I are dating and there’s no amount of money you can throw in my face that’ll change that.”

He narrows his eyes fractionally. “Playing hardball? Fine, I’ll give you seven hundred. You and her won’t last, anyway. But me and her? We have history. The same friends back home. Our parents run in the same circles. She followed me here to Suncoast for God’s sake. What do you even have to offer her?”

I swallow heavily, not needing a reminder of all the ways they fit together. “I love her.”

He makes a noise of derision in the back of his throat. “You’re horny for her, that’s it. Has she been holding out on you? She can be a prude like that,” he adds as a throwaway. “Listen, I’ll be generous. I’ll give you a thousand. That’s my final offer.”

I grit my teeth, working to get my temper under control. How can he talk about her like that? He dated her for three years and just acts like she’s a thing. Another object he can buy.

I glance up, four other guys now hovering by the second floor railing, watching us. I step in closer, lowering my voice. “Out of respect for Natalie, I’m not going to even acknowledge that last bit, or otherwise I’d have to beat the living shit out of you.” The first true emotion finally crosses his face - uneasiness. Good. I want him to sense what I’d do to him if I didn’t have a laundry list of reasons why it would be a bad idea. “You had your chance with her and you blew it. I’ve waited a long time for her and there’s no fucking way in hell I’m bowing out now. So get the fuck out of my face with your parent’s checkbook. Leave me and Natalie alone.”

I turn around, twisting the doorknob hard, getting out of the house before I do anything I’ll regret. I might have got a few good licks in, but once his friends made it down those stairs, it would have been five against one on his turf. Even I can’t beat those odds.

I get in my Bronco, pulling away from the curb, and glance back one more time. Carter’s at the window, his face no longer set in a smirk. I stare at him for a moment before I focus on the road and putting as much distance between me and him as possible.

I head back to the gym, knowing Natalie’s shift has ended. I don’t want her to see me right now all worked up and pissed off.

I do run into Luke, though, just finishing up with a new client. He takes one look at me and says he’ll meet me in five minutes in the employee locker area. I head back there, pacing beside the benches, still agitated.

What did she ever see in that guy? Did he completely hide it around her? He must have because there’s no way the Natalie I know would have put up with that bullshit.

“What’s got you looking like you’re ready to bite someone’s head off?” Luke asks, strolling in.

“Carter,” I grunt.

“You run into him?”

“Something like that,” I mutter, sitting on a bench and bending forward to prop my elbows on my knees and rest my head in my hands.

“You go looking for trouble?” He sits down next to me, taking a sip from his water bottle.

“Does Charlotte have an ex-boyfriend?” I ask, ignoring his question.

“Yeah,” he says slowly.

“You ever have problems with him?”

“No. She’s never even spoken to him since they broke up as far as I know.” He chuckles to himself for a second. “She said she actually switched to a whole other class last year when she saw him in one of her classes on the first day of the semester. She ended up switching to Psychology, the class we had together, so it all worked out.”

I nod, happy he and Charlotte are at the stage where they can say everything worked out for the best. Dating for nearly a year, he’s actually planning on asking her to move in together soon.

But Natalie and I aren’t there yet. I thought once we admitted we liked each other and started dating, everything would be great. But now Carter’s sniffing around again. And I can’t even get her alone long enough to do anything I want to.

Don’t get me wrong, our tryst in the library stacks was fucking hot, but I don’t want that to be the norm. Sneaking around, constantly worried about being caught. We’re not teenagers anymore. We should have somewhere we can be alone together.

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