10. Carter’s Palace Of Love #2
Carter slams the drawer, the package disappearing inside, his cheeks igniting as Adam yanks me into his side, and I’m dying to know what’s in there.
“Carter said you were coming, but none of us believed it.”
Garrett raises his hand. “I said you’d be here. Bet everyone a hundred bucks.” He pulls a wad of hundreds out of his jeans, fanning them at his face. “Thanks for showing up.”
Emmett pulls one bill free and stuffs it in my hand. “Ollie gets one of these since she made it happen.”
Cara steals a bill. “And I get one because I brought her.”
“Stupid stipulations,” Garrett grumbles, tucking his money away before anyone else can claim some.
Cara pats Adam’s shoulder. “Did you know you’re Liv’s favorite Viper?”
His face lights up as he stands a bit taller, running a palm down his proud chest. “Really? Me?”
“Yep.” I ignore the look of shock and betrayal Carter wears. “You’re like a brick wall out there.” I’m also pretty sure Adam’s the sweetest man in the league. Every time he’s complimented in a postgame interview, he gets all shy and looks away from the camera.
“Ollie played hockey for fifteen years,” Carter tells him.
“Really?” Adam eyes me up and down. “I want you to tell me you were a goalie, but you’re fucking tiny.” He folds his lips into his mouth. “I’m sorry. Tiny’s not a bad thing, it’s just—”
“Not good for a goalie, I get it. I tried for a year when I was eight.” My nose wrinkles. “It was the worst. I’m not built for the guilt that comes with losing. I’m too sensitive and couldn’t separate myself from the loss. I’d cry the entire car ride home because I’d blame myself.”
Adam nods and gestures all around him, to Carter, Garrett, and Emmett, to the rest of his teammates sprinkled throughout the house. “Some losses are harder than others but it’s always a bit easier when I’ve got these guys to lift me up after.”
“Is your girlfriend here? I haven’t met her.”
“Oh, uh…” Adam palms his nape. “No, she wasn’t feeling up to it tonight. Maybe next time. She’d love you.”
You’ll hate her , Cara mouths over his shoulder, and the look nearly everyone else wears, including Carter, tells me the same.
“I’ll look forward to meeting her.” I nudge Garrett. “What about you? Anyone special?”
“Nuh-uh.” He gives me a lazy grin and a wink. “Why, you lookin’ for a midnight kiss?”
Carter scoffs, sweeping his arms out. “You can’t kiss my date at midnight!”
“For God’s sake, Carter, this isn’t a date.”
“You can’t kiss my not-a-real-date-but-actually-is-a-real-date at midnight!”
Rolling my eyes, I bury my smile behind the hand I drag down my face.
Garrett leans into me, mouth close to my ear. “Full disclosure, I’ve got five hundred bucks riding on you kissing him at midnight.”
Before I can respond, an eruption of cheer comes from the dining room, and Garrett claps his hands together.
“C’mon, Liv. Let’s play beer pong.” He tows me toward the crowded room where a gorgeous spalted maple table is covered in red cups and ping-pong balls. “You can be my partner. We’ll make Carter and Adam weep .”
Carter trails in behind us, hands tucked in his pockets, and I follow his glower to Garrett’s hand wrapped around my hip.
Oh my. Mr. Beckett is jealous.
His gaze flips to meet mine, and a smirk tugs at the corner of his mouth. He saunters over to me while Garrett and Adam fill six cups each with beer, arranging them in the shape of a triangle on opposite ends of the table.
His fiery stare burns every place on my body it touches. “Care to make this interesting?”
My fingers run up the line of his buttons. “What did you have in mind?”
His gaze bounces to my mouth. “I win, and I get your midnight kiss.”
My breath snags in my throat and Cara snickers. It’s been a few years, mind you, but in university, Cara and I were the queens of the beer pong table. We went entirely undefeated our sophomore and junior year.
“And if I win?”
“You won’t. My motivation is too high.”
I admire his tenacity; I’ll give him that much. Trailing my finger down his torso, I stop just above the waistband of his jeans. My single drink has gone straight to my head, because I’m seriously considering the possibility of me sticking my hand down there later. “Humor me.”
His green eyes twinkle with delight. “What would you like?”
I’d love a foot rub and to be politely railed into the new year if I’m being honest, but the request that comes out of my mouth is so much tamer.
“You have to take me to see Frozen II .” I’m dying to see it and I figure he’d rather be caught dead than at a public movie theater with a girl, watching a Disney princess movie.
The group around us groans, as if they know something I don’t.
The skin around Carter’s eyes crinkles, his wide smile pulling those dimples right in.
“Deal.” His fingers push back the loose curls hanging down the side of my face, tucking them behind my ear, where his hand slips to my nape as he hauls me closer.
“Joke’s on you, Ol.” He touches a tender, barely-there kiss to my jaw, warm breath dusting down my neck, making me tremble.
“I love Disney movies and I get to take you on a date.” As he walks away, bouncing the ping-pong ball off the table, he adds, “Now I win, regardless of the outcome of this game.”
Carter is good, as expected. So are Adam and Garrett.
But I’m better .
When Garrett and I win the first game, Carter quickly declares it’s a best of three scenario. And when we win the second game, too, it’s suddenly the best three out of five.
When I sink the first ball during the third round, Garrett lifts me into the air while the crowd we’ve gathered around us hollers.
“I’ve never seen Carter lose at anything so many times in a row before,” Garrett whispers when he drops me back to the ground, his hand on my back.
My eyes lift to meet Carter’s dark ones, already locked on us, an almost imperceptible tick in his jaw. I can’t tell if it’s losing that’s brought on this response, or the way Garrett’s been so blatantly flirting with me the entire time.
Ping-pong balls soar through the air as we trade points back and forth for the next several minutes, sloshing liquid all over the fancy table, until there are only two cups left on each side. With tensions high and Carter up next, Emmett calls out to me.
“Eh, Ollie, hold up! You dropped something!”
Having left everything with my coat, I peer up at him in confusion. His brows quirk, and I follow his pointing finger to a whole shit load of nothing before he hits me with a sneaky wink.
Message received .
Look, I’m a woman. I may be small, but what I lack in height I make up for in hips and curves. I’ve also been told I have a killer ass, something Cara likes to remind me of often with a gentle pat-pat whenever she strolls by me.
I tend to be a little self-conscious about the softness of my edges, the roundness of my ass, all things that have come via a healthy obsession with spending endless hours scrolling through desserts on Pinterest, or watching inspirational baking videos on Instagram, and then trying to recreate them.
But the truth is most men find all those dips and curves irresistible.
And Carter Beckett? He’s definitely most men.
I note the way he’s poised over the table, gaze flitting between the cup he’s aiming at and me. When I smile, he smiles back, soft and sweet. I almost feel bad for what I’m about to do.
Almost .
Turning my back on him, I bend over, right down to the ground, lingering there for a moment, just long enough to hear what I want to hear.
Ping…ping…ping .
“ Fuck !”
Adam chucks a ping-pong ball off the table. “Are you fucking kidding me, Beckett? You got distracted by an ass !”
He drags both hands down his face before gesturing at me. “It’s one bangin’ ass!”
Carter’s wayward ball rolls to my feet and I shoot up, holding it above my head. “Got it!”
Adam gently bangs his forehead off the wall, groaning, and Carter’s wearing the sexiest scowl I’ve ever seen. The alcohol in me dares me to kiss it right off.
Emmett claps my hand, howling with laughter, and Garrett grabs my face, kissing my forehead with a loud smack. He sinks his own shot with ease, then proceeds to rub my shoulders while he talks strategy in my ear.
“Just take it slow. Take a deep breath. Don’t rush your shot. We’ve got it in the bag. Any cup, Liv, any cup.”
He steps away and Cara darts in, slapping a hand to my ass. “Let’s go, baby!”
I set my eyes on the cup I want and get into position. I’m confident, and I know it’s warranted.
“Oh, Carter?” I call, and his mouth quirks as he watches me. “I went a hundred and eight games undefeated in university.” Eyes locked on his, I send the ball soaring, arrogant grin detonating my face when I hear that plop as it sinks into his drink, the crowd around us exploding with cheers.
Adam sinks to the floor, Carter grips the edge of the table, dropping his head with a growl, and Garrett spins me in his arms.
Drunk me realizes whatever I’m feeling for Carter is much more than an attraction to all his sexy bits, and I don’t really know what to do with that. Logic tells me to run, to shut it down before it becomes more, because this man will break me. Il logic says Eh, fuck it, let’s give it a shot .
I’m not sure which one will win, but the bold part of me swings two arms around his neck and says, “How does it feel to lose, big boy?”
Something daunting and feral flashes in his eyes, and his palm slides over my collarbone, fingers wrapping tenderly around the base of my throat.
“Trust me. The last thing I’ve done is lost.”