Page 106 of Stand Your Ground
Gone was the awkward rookie who stumbled over his own feet the night I first met him. Tonight, he looked like he belonged here — like he owned the place. His outfit wasn’t overly formal, just a perfectly tailored navy jacket and crisp white shirt with the collar undone, no tie in sight. The fabric stretched just enough over his broad chest and shoulders to remind me exactly what was underneath. His beige slacks cut a clean line down his long legs, hugging those thick thighs and that impossibly toned ass. Even playing with a dog and a kid, he exuded a swagger I wasn’t sure when he’d picked up… or how he’d learned to wear it so damn well.
He looked devastatingly handsome, but it wasn’t just the clothes. It was the way he carried himself, like he finally believed he deserved to stand tall, to be seen. Confidence dripped off him in a way that startled me, in a way that made me wonder if this transformation was my doing, or if he’d simply been waiting for the right moment to step into himself.
That confidence rattled me, too. Because every new layer of him I uncovered made it harder to pretend I wasn’t peeling back my own defenses along the way. I didn’t want to want this, the butterflies and the stuttering heartbeats — not with him, not with anyone. But my pulse apparently didn’t care what my brain was trying to tell it.
I still felt a little raw as I watched him from across the yard, like all my nerves had been exposed the night I confessed everything to him, and even a slight breeze had me wincing. That man had held me reverently as I broke in his arms, and he’d been with me every day since — even if all I had to offer him were a couple hours after work. It was like he didn’t want me to be alone after what I’d told him.
Or maybe like he never wanted me to be alone again.
And all of it was just too much. I was dressed to kill in a champagne-colored dress that fell like starlight over my slight curves, but inside, I was as uncomfortable as a nun in a strip club. Add in the fact that I couldn’t help but think of Lacey, of how my sister would get married soon just like Will and Chloe, and I had yet to decide if I’d be a part of it or not…
I was sick over it.
I wanted to be there with her, to hold her bouquet if she wanted, or help her navigate a giant dress when she had to pee. I wanted to see her all blubbery as she professed her love to the man who’d stolen her heart.
He was a man I didn’t even know, and somehow, that made the pain of it all worse.
And I knew I couldn’t be there with her without facing my biggest demons, without being in the same room with a man who’d assaulted me and the two people who were supposed to protect me but didn’t.
Inside, I was an emotional tornado.
And at the same time, standing there in that fairy-tale backyard, surrounded by friends and love and light, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so safe. It was the lingering feel of Carter’s arms around me that had me feeling that way, despite how my mind raced.
That contradiction unsettled me. It was confusing and terrifying and dangerous.
I was still swimming in that discomfort when Carter looked up. His eyes found mine across the crowd as easily as if there was a tether between us, invisible but undeniable. He smiled, his warm, dark eyes dancing in the glow of the party, and I felt my own lips curve before I could stop them.
My stomach dropped like I’d stepped off the high dive, like there was no ground beneath me anymore and I didn’t know if I was diving into the safety of water or the certain death of concrete.
“Earth to Liv,” Maven said beside me, snapping my attention to her. She arched her brow with a knowing grin as she waved my fresh martini in front of my face until I took it. “You okay over there?”
“I’m great,” I lied. Or was it a lie? Ididfeel great, but I also felt… nervous.
Of what, I had no clue.
“Mhm,” she said, sipping her glass with her eyes still assessing me. “Then tell me what I just told you about the Sweet Dreams initiative and who signed on to help.”
I cringed. “Um… Cardi B?”
Maven swatted my arm playfully. “Brat. I knew you weren’t listening!”
When my eyes drifted back to Carter without permission, I wanted to smack myself. And Maven clocked it immediately.
“Oh, I see. We’re a little distracted, are we?” She looped an arm through mine and led us away from the bar to one of thecocktail tables. “I have to say… he seems like a completely new man. How are thoselessonsgoing?”
I sighed, curling my fingers around the stem of my glass. “I think he’s well past ready to graduate.”
“So, that’s it, then?” Maven asked. “Deal’s done, debt paid, and you two just… go back to him being a bumbling fool around you and you pretending like it annoys you?”
My throat was tight when I nodded. “That’s the plan.”
Carter’s gaze swept to mine, and this time, he sent me a wink that had my stomach fluttering like a jar full of fireflies.
“Huh,” Maven mused, sipping her drink with her eyes sliding to me again. “I don’t think your student agrees with this post-graduation procedure.”
My ribs squeezed painfully tight around my lungs, but before I could laugh and wave her off with all the nonchalance I could muster, there was a clinking of glasses and a call of attention to the makeshift dance floor near the pool.
Mia and Ava stood there together, Mia tapping a fork against her champagne glass as Ava bounced excitedly on her toes next to her, eyes alight with mischief.
