Page 57 of Lonely
“Keep doing that.”
He stopped because he was a fucking tease, worse than Anna.
“What about you?” I asked. “Who got away?”
He gripped me, over the wet patch.
“You.”
TWELVE
Carter looked over at me when I entered the living room with two bottles of beer and a shot for us each. I handed him one, and he sniffed it.
“Damn, this is strong stuff. Are you trying to poison me? Get me drunk so you can take advantage?”
He smirked playfully, and I returned his smile, throwing back the shot and wiping my mouth. He did the same, grimacing.
I placed the empty shot glasses on the coffee table and handed him his beer. It was weird to have him here in my space, outside of Wellard.
The first time I saw him from my window, they had pulled him out of the police car, handcuffed. He’d looked around at the woods, the manicured lawns, and finally, Wellard asylum.
I knew what he’d seen: the turrets, the tall windows, the thick clouds overhead, and the crows huddled on the roof. Wings tucked close to their bodies.
An officer had said something to him and led him forward. Carter had looked up, and I swore he’d seen me watching him.
We clinked bottles and swigged our beer. I couldn’t look away, but he was watching me, too, and I enjoyed how it felt when he studied me, like I made him hungry forsomething.
I broke the silence. “Are you going to run away?”
His throat bobbed as he swallowed down his beer. “I haven’t decided yet. I’m not going back to that place.”
No, I wanted him here with me. He wasn’t going anywhere.
The cold beer slid down my throat as I took another large swig, suddenly parched.
Carter put the empty beer bottle on the coffee table. “I won’t be leaving here, will I?”
I didn’t see the point in lying. With the bottleneck pressed to my lips, I shook my head. “No, you won’t.”
A humorless chuckle escaped him as he dragged his teeth over his bottom lip. “I’m walking out that door, old man. You can’t stop me.”
My eyes dropped down his body and back, and I felt myself grow hard and achy for him. He said he wanted to leave, but the look in his eyes told a different story.
He was here, wasn’t he? Carter hungered for something, and I wanted to find out what.
“If you want me to stay, you have to fight me, and we know how that went last time.”
There it was. A filthy, erotic smirk. The kind that made my heart thud harder.
I swore my ass tingled in response.
My beer was empty, so I put it down next to his. Carter’s eyes burned into the side of my face.
I turned to face him, undoing my belt and pulling down my zipper. “We had a deal.”
The dimple in his cheek grew deeper. He said nothing, but then he dropped his gaze to my hands, and I shoved down the front of my pants and briefs.
The cold air hit my balls as he wetted his lips.
