Chapter Twenty Three
SOPHIE
“We’re going to Little Italy?” My voice is excited as I look back and forth between Carter and the restaurant in front of us. I haven’t been here in… years. It was always the family favorite for birthdays and special occasions, and Carter came with us more than once. It’s in Willow Creek, so I haven’t really had a reason to come out.
“Is that okay? I know it’s kind of a tradition for your family,” he asks, looking almost nervous.
“Of course it’s okay,” I tell him, unbuckling my seatbelt and opening my door. “I haven’t been here in so long. If you listen closely, the Fettucini Alfredo is calling my name.”
Carter laughs as he gets out of the car and comes to my side. As we walk into the restaurant, hand-in-hand, my heart fills with… something I don’t want to name right now.
Once we’ve sat, Carter takes my hand across the table. “I should have taken you here on our first date, instead of that other restaurant.”
“Don’t worry about that any more.” I smile reassuringly. “In case you don’t remember, we ended up having a very good time that night.” Memories of that night in the truck bed nearly lights my body on fire, and I’m wishing he had kept that rental.
“I know, but it’s more than that.” He sighs. “When I would come here with you guys, I always wished that I could take you here on a date.”
My brow furrowed. “I’m confused. Why wouldn’t you have been able to?” It couldn’t have been a matter of money. My family was firmly middle class, but his family was on another level. He would have easily been able to afford to take me to a place like this.
“I guess I haven’t fully gotten into what kind of pressure my dad had me under.” He smiles grimly. “I wouldn’t have been permitted to leave town lines with you, much less spend more than what it cost to go to Sal’s or go see a movie. Dad knew it would look bad on him if I never paid for anything, but he was against me dating you enough to be petty about it.”
Knowing what I do about his dad now, it really shouldn’t surprise me that the abusive asshole hadn’t been my biggest fan. Back when I first realized, it really bothered me, but good riddance. He doesn't deserve the space it takes in our minds to hate him.
“After all of that, this should have been the first place I took you, that’s all I meant.” He says, squeezing my hand before releasing it. “Anyway, enough about that asshole. You said you haven’t been here in a long time. Why? Your family used to come here for everything.”
“After the accident, Tom couldn’t bear to come here without Sarah, so we just kind of stopped.” It had been really hard, coming here for a birthday dinner for the first time after her death and seeing the raw pain in Tom’s eyes. None of us had thought of it, and we turned around and went home.
We’re interrupted by the waiter, whose eyes widen in recognition. “Can… can I take your order?” He shakes his head, “I mean, I’m sorry. Drinks. Can I get you something to drink, Mr. Williams? I mean?—”
Carter lets out an easy smile, the same one I’ve seen on the poster in Jordan’s room. “Call me Carter. What’s your name?”
The waiter, now that I’m looking properly, can’t be older than his late teens. “Joey, sir. I mean, Carter. Could you…” His cheeks flush as he rips a piece of paper from his pad, “Could you sign this for me please? I’ve been following your career since you signed with the Vultures.”
“Of course.” Carter takes his pen and signs the little sheet of paper, and the waiter looks like he might faint in excitement.
“Thank you so much,” he stammers, pushing the piece of paper into the front pocket of his shirt. After that’s out of the way, Joey seems to have an easier time around Carter, taking our drink order, and once he leaves, I chuckle, shaking my head.
“What?” Carter gives me a knowing look, surely betting I’m about to give him a hard time about our waiter's reaction to him.
“Do you ever get used to it?” I ask, gripping his hand across the table. “I know you as just… Carter. It’s so strange seeing people fawn over you like that.”
“It’s… different.” He smiles, shaking his head. “If they’re sweet like that kid, it’s nice. I can see how much they love the sport and I love that I feed into that somehow. But if they’re pushy and demanding, which is more often than not, I’m not inclined to sign a single thing they own.”
“You deserve to be recognized for what a great player you are. For how hard you work,” I tell him truthfully. The next words catch in my throat with emotion—the knowledge that I should have said this way sooner. “I know I haven’t said this since you’ve been back, but I’m so proud of you.”
“Your opinion is the only one that matters to me, Soph,” he says, his expression serious. “None of this is worth it if I don’t have you at my back.”
A shiver runs through me at his words. Does he really feel that way? I push that thought away quickly. Of course he does. This is Carter.
I’m thinking I might feel the same way.
After dinner, he won’t tell me where we’re going. We’re clearly heading back to Ivy Glen, but then we pull into the parking lot of the rec center, and I still have no clue what’s going on.
“Did you forget something here earlier?” I turn and look at him, and he shakes his head, smiling.
“Nope. Just thought you might be up for a rematch of our race, since the last one ended prematurely.”
“It only ended prematurely because you knew you were going to lose and tackled me.” I raise my brow.
“I think it’s time to put your money where your mouth is, Hartwell.” He smirks, a challenge in his voice.
“I’ll put my body where your mouth is.” I breathe, and he groans, leaning back.
“Fuck, Soph. I call sabotage. How am I supposed to win when I have a raging hard-on?”
“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” I smirk, getting out of the car and heading across the parking lot, Carter following close behind me.
Twenty minutes later, we’re on the ice, and I’m skating as hard as I can. Shit, he’s fast. But more often than not, I’m doing sprints with my team so I’m not out of shape either. Adrenaline pumps through my veins, blood pounds in my ears. He’s just behind me, and it’s almost like he’s the predator, and I’m his prey.
Then we’re neck to neck, and I’m half wondering if he’s going to pull the same move and grab me in his arms, but eventually, we both pass the goal we deemed the finish line, breathing hard.
For a minute, we just look at each other, panting from the exertion. “Tie?” he finally asks, and I nod before he pulls me in, crashing his lips to mine.
His hands in my hair, my fists twisted in his shirt, we collide like two waves in the ocean. Nipping at my lip, he picks me up bridal style and skates me off the ice. I’m so lost in him, that I don’t realize that we’re in the locker room until he breaks our kiss, setting me on the ground directly in front of the lockers. Without a word, he drops to his knees, unlacing my skates and pulling them off, before unbuttoning my pants and pushing them and my underwear down my legs and helping me step out of them.
I expect him to drop his pants and take me hard and fast, but instead, he stays on his knees, looks at me, and says, “You said you’d put your body where my mouth is.” Then he pushes his head between my legs.
“Ohhhhh.” A sigh of relief escapes me when his tongue swipes through my folds, and he groans at the sound, hiking one leg over his shoulder and settles in like he’s about to eat his last meal. My back hits the lockers, the metal digging into me, and I don’t care because the feel of his tongue on me is so fucking good.
My hands land on his head as his tongue circles my clit, making tingles run from my toes straight into my pussy. “Permanent fucking seat,” he rumbles, referencing his words from our night by the lake.
“If I could only eat one meal for the rest of my life, my permanent seat would be on the floor with my head between your legs.”
He knows just how to work me, one hand gripping my thigh that’s propped on his shoulder, the other one digging into my hip as he holds me in place. “Fuck, Angel, forget the sitting. I could spend my whole life right here, worshipping at your altar on my knees.”
With the attention he’s lavishing on my needy clit, he may as well be worshiping.
My fingers twine through his hair and pull, earning a growl from him, the reverberations sending jolts of electricity through me, making me cry out. He works me with his mouth, periodically dipping his tongue inside of me and fucking me with it, before returning to my clit. “Come for me, Angel,” he says into my pussy before he pulls my clit into his mouth and sucks hard , tipping me over the edge as I fall into blissful oblivion.
He looks up at me, eyes dark, before standing and claiming my mouth with his. Tasting my release on his lips is so fucking erotic that my hands move to his belt.
But he stops me, a wicked glint in his eye. “We need more privacy for all the things I want to do to you.”
“But you’re…” I pull back and motion to the clearly bulging erection in his pants.
“Blue balls are worth it now, if it means I get to have you exactly how I want you when we get back to the hotel.” He smirks.“Don’t think for one second that won’t include your mouth on my dick.” A thrill runs through me at his words, and I can’t stop myself from kissing him again.
This whole night, the dinner, the race, and now this… he means it. He’s done everything to show me how much he cares and how much he did care, even back then. The feelings that I swear I’m developing rise to the surface, but I push them down. This won’t last forever.
“I agree, on one condition.” I pull back, raising my brow.
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“I agree, but only if you never use the phrase ‘blue balls’ in a serious sentence ever again.”
He chuckles and kisses me again. “Deal.”
The ring of Carter’s phone wakes me up. “Carter. Alarm.” I grumble from beneath the blankets. When it keeps going off, I raise my head.
Why isn’t he turning it off?
I look around, but he’s not in bed. Then I hear the shower running.
Sighing, I crawl to his side of the bed to turn off the alarm, but at the sight of the screen, my blood runs cold.
The screen is filled with countless messages, all from a contact named “Nicole”.
I’ve been stupid.
So, so stupid.
Bile rises in my throat as I scroll through them.
Nicole: I miss you baby
Nicole: Can’t wait to see you
Nicole: I need to feel your hands on me
Nicole: I’ll be there to see you soon
A selfie comes through of a model-thin blonde seductively biting her lip. I had thought it couldn’t get any worse, but I was wrong.
I’m going to be sick, right here in this hotel bed. My vision swims. It’s the same girl. The girl who was photographed kissing him right after he left.
He… he told me he didn’t know what was happening when those pictures were taken. Had it all been a lie? Could it be that he’s had her this whole time?
Betrayal turns in my gut. Why would he do this to me? Make me some kind of side piece while he has someone else waiting for him? Make me fall in love with him all over again, when he hasn’t meant a single word he’s said?
I’m such an idiot. I can’t believe I fell for it.
I need to leave. I can’t be here one more second.
Not able to get my clothes on quick enough, I rip my shirt over my head and nearly trip and faceplant when I pull pants on, but luckily he’s still in the shower when I slam the door behind me, marching out of Carter’s life before he can take off from mine, yet again.