Page 60 of Further To Fall

“A pussy move? Would it be a pussy move if I asked a guy I didn’t want touching me to kindly remove his hands?”

I snapped my head back down, moving into Carter’s space. “Did someone fucking touch you?”

Carter threw her hands into the air on an exasperated sigh. “No! It’s a hypothetical, you big jerk! How would you feel if you came into my classroom and found Kyle all pressed up against me?”

The temperature of the room seemed to rise as I pictured that scenario. What would follow would most likely get me arrested for assault. I blew out a breath. “I would not be happy,” I said through gritted teeth.

Carter’s shoulders slumped and curved in on themselves as she wrapped a protective arm around her middle. “Have you slept with her?”

I cringed, and Carter’s eyes went misty. “Firecracker, listen to me.” I reached out to pull her to me, but she took a step back. I fucking hated it when she wouldn’t let me hold her, when she revoked that precious right. My fist clenched around the open air. “I was a total shitshow after we fell out. I slept with a lot of girls. I don’t think she was one of them, but I honestly can’t say that with one hundred percent certainty.” Her face wore a look of devastation, and my heart plummeted.

Taking a deep breath, I pressed on. “I should have asked her to take her hands off me. I didn’t think about it from your perspective. I would want to kill someone if they put their hands on you.” Carter’s body softened a little. “I’m not used to considering someone else when I act. I’m sorry, I’ll work on it. I promise.” And I would. I never wanted to be the cause of Carter’s pain. I didn’t want her to feel pain at all.

She took a step forward, resting her forehead on my chest. She was still stiff, but at least she was touching me. “Sorry, I was jealous.”

“You’re allowed to be jealous. I’m glad you want me all to yourself.” She pinched my side in response, and I chuckled. Lifting her chin with a finger, I stared into her eyes. “I’ll try to be more conscious of how you might feel about female fans approaching me.” I searched her sparkling green eyes for understanding. “But you are going to have to trust me.”

She licked her lips. “Okay,” she whispered.

I bent, brushing my mouth softly against hers. Her lips parted, and her taste exploded on my tongue. I groaned as I felt my cock harden. Down, boy. This was not the time or place. I tore my mouth away from the drug that was Carter McCarthy but pulled her into my arms, her head tucking perfectly under my chin. I never wanted to let her go.

“Just promise me you’ll always tell me the truth.” Her words sent vibrations against my chest.

My stomach sank. “I promise.”

I knew I needed to tell her the truth about all the mistakes I’d made during our time apart, especially the one I’d had to maneuver to keep away from her today. All I needed was a little more time to cement her to me in every way possible so that she wouldn’t want to leave. Just a bit more time.

32

Carter

Ibounced up and down on the balls of my feet, body thrumming with the excitement of Eric’s win. This was his first fight with Austin as his coach, and he had annihilated his opponent. Austin had been beaming with pride. It had taken a couple of days for me to bounce back after seeing that girl wrapped around Austin, but I knew he was trying. And he was right, I had to trust him, or this would never work.

Liam, Ford, and I picked our way through the chaos of the crowd heading to meet Austin. As we turned the corner to the hall of locker rooms, I almost collided with someone.

“Oops, excuse me,” I said automatically before looking up to see who I’d almost crashed into.

“Well, hey there, Carter.” Lexi’s voice dripped with disdain.

My heart clenched. “Hey, Lexi, what are you doing here?”

An evil grin crept across her blood-red lips. “Didn’t Austin tell you? We work together. I see him all the time.”

I tried not to panic. There had to be an explanation. There was no way Austin would work with Lexi and not tell me. I sucked in a deep breath. I trusted him. Steeling my spine, I said, “Lexi, you’re jealous. And you have reason to be. Austin is the best man you could ever hope to know. But he’s not yours, and he never will be. He’s mine.”

Liam stepped forward. “Carter is everything you will never be, and that’s gotta burn. But if you don’t leave her alone, and I do mean completely alone, I will ruin you.”

Lexi’s face paled, and Liam sent her a feral grin. “I see you know I can do it. I have contacts all over this city, and you’ll have to get a job in Long Beach. Run along, and don’t come back.” Lexi sniffed and then took off toward the crowd. Liam squeezed my shoulder. “Don’t pay any attention to her, she’s a natural-born liar and manipulator.”

“Let’s just go find Austin.”

Ford stepped up then. “He’s probably in Eric’s locker room. Let me go grab him so you’re not accidentally flashed junk.”

I shot him a forced smile as I twisted my fingers together. A minute later, a sober-looking Austin appeared. This was not the beaming smile he had been wearing after Eric’s victory, and my stomach dropped. “Hey, Carter, come with me.” He tried to grab my hand, but I side-stepped the grab and just stared at him. He sighed. “Let’s go into one of the empty locker rooms so we can have some privacy.” I nodded, and he walked two doors down and pushed it open for me.

I walked inside, arms crossed over my chest. I knew it was a confrontational gesture, but I couldn’t help it, I needed the feeling of protection. As soon as the door swung closed, I asked, “Do you work with Lexi?”

Austin leaned back against the wall opposite me. “Yes, and no. She works for the UFL organization as a PR rep. She tried to get matched up with me, but I told them I wouldn’t work with her. I hardly see her, but Eric got assigned her as his rep. There was nothing I could do without causing a lot of drama.”

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