29. Don’t Poke The Crazy Lady #2
“We’d be the next Kardashians, and I’d be Kim, obviously.” I smile at the way her eyes crinkle with her laugh. “Are you upset with me? About the furnace? Maybe I didn’t think it through.”
When I woke up alone earlier this morning, my nipples were sharp enough to cut ice, my balls trying their damnedest to crawl up inside me.
I had a heating company on the phone six minutes later and paid an obscene amount of money to get them out there today.
I couldn’t help myself; the thought of Olivia so cold in her own home doesn’t sit right with me.
I want to take care of her however I can and I’m lucky enough to be in a situation that allows me to do that.
“I’m not upset with you, Carter. I’m just shocked. First lunch, and then the flowers and the note, and now this. It’s such a big gift. Are you sure you don’t want me to pay you back? I can put aside a little from each paycheck and—”
“No way. From me to you. That’s what a gift is.”
She sniffles and I’m worried she’s going to cry again. I’m not good with tears. They make me feel helpless and overwhelmed.
“Thank you so much, Carter. I’m sorry I wrote you off when we first met.”
“Don’t be.” I’d be lying if I said I wish she hadn’t.
We could’ve been screwing like rabbits and loving on each other all this time.
“Things happen the way they do for a reason. If you hadn’t shot me down, this here might not have been.
I might’ve had you once and let you go.” Though I highly doubt it.
“I already can’t imagine my life without you in it. ”
Her bottom lip does an almost imperceptible tremble. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“Being so…” She winds her hand in a circular motion like she’s searching for the right word. “Perfect.”
Oh, hello . My chest puffs with pride. “That’s why they call me. Mr. Perfect.”
My favorite chocolate eyes do a dramatic roll. “You’re lucky your cuteness overrides your smugness.”
“You make me feel smug.” My phone buzzes with my warning, the one that tells me I need to get my mom’s ass in gear. “I’m sorry, Ollie. I gotta get going. Call you tonight?”
She nods. “I’m gonna go through my closet and throw out all my holey sweats and long johns now that I’m not living in the tundra.”
I head to the front door where my mom’s putting her shoes on, thank fuck. “That’s cool. You’re not gonna need them anymore anyway. We’re gonna sleep naked so I can touch you all night long.”
“Oh, Carter, for heaven’s sakes.” Mom frowns, hands on her hips. “Can’t you keep it sweet for more than two minutes?”
“You said that in front of your mom?” Olivia buries her face behind one hand. “ Carter !”
I wink. “Bye, pumpkin pie. Like you lots.”
Her blush amps all the way up to ten before she mumbles out her response, and when I click my phone off and shove it in my pocket, my mom’s giving me the heart eyes.
I slip my feet into my boots. “Can I help you?”
“Pumpkin pie?”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“You have nicknames for your girlfriend.”
I grunt in response.
Mom pokes my chest. “Don’t grunt at me.”
I grunt again just to piss her off, except it has the opposite effect and now she’s got this little smirk glued to her face, one pretty damn similar to mine.
“Carter loves his girlfriend, Carter loves his girlfriend,” she sings.
Tipping my head back, I force out an exhale that lasts a solid ten seconds. “All right. That’s enough with you. I’m pulling a Dad.”
“Carter, don’t you d— ah !” Her shriek turns into a fit of giggles when I haul her off her feet and toss her over my shoulder like she’s a sack of potatoes, the way my dad always did, her laugh the same. “I love you, honey.”
“I love you, too, crazy lady.”
* * *
“I can’t stand him.”
“Carter.” My name is a flashing caution sign on my mom’s tongue. “Watch it.”
I throw one hand up, gesturing at the way that douchebag is handling my little sister. “I hate the way he touches her. Like he fucking owns her or something.”
Mom smacks me in the torso. “They’re dancing.”
“Not anymore! The show ended thirty minutes ago!” I plaster on a fake smile as Jennie and her dance partner move through the crowd toward us. As soon as she’s close enough, I yank her out of his grasp, enveloping her in my arms. “You were awesome, Jennie.”
Mom rocks her back and forth in a suffocating hold, and the second she releases her, Jennie’s partner swoops back in, wrapping his stupid arm around her waist. Jennie watches the way my gaze zeroes in on his hand on her stomach and snickers before clearing her throat and stepping away from Mr. Twinkle Toes.
“Wasn’t she beautiful out there tonight, Carter?” Douchebag Simon says to me.
“She always is.” Stepping between them, I angle her away from him. “You should go solo.”
“I had a solo performance in the first half.” Jennie squeezes my hand in warning. “Remember?”
“Yeah, but permanently. You should ditch pairs.” I lean into her, whispering, “Jerkwad’s bringing you down.”
She pretends to hug me. “You just hate him.”
“You’re damn right I do,” I accidentally say too loud.
I twist back to Simon. “Who you hooking up with tonight, Steve?” Olivia thinks I’m sweet but I’m kind of a dick sometimes.
If I don’t like you. And I don’t like Simon, which is why I sometimes, occasionally , call him by the wrong name.
He fucks every girl he dances with and he’s had his sights set on my sister for four years.
“I could ask you the same thing,” he replies with a smile so self-assured I want to punch it off his face.
“I have a girlfriend.”
“Right. So I’ve heard.” He checks his fingernails. “Can’t be all that serious, knowing your history.”
My jaw ticks as I speak through my teeth. “It’s serious.”
“Okay.” Jennie claps her hands. “I’m starving. Dinner?”
“Would you like to join us, Simon?” Mom asks, then refuses to meet my scowl.
“Oh, I’d love—”
“ No !” Jennie cuts him off. I love Jennie. She smiles sweetly at him. “Not tonight, Simon. I’d like some alone time with my family.”
The smirk I hit him with is smugger than it’s ever been, and I loop my arm through my sister’s and pull her away, leaving Simon standing there like an idiot with his jaw hanging.
“As much as I love this macho, overprotective brother bullshit,” Jennie starts, “I’d prefer you didn’t kill my dance partner before I graduate.”
“Is he free rein after graduation?” I ask semiseriously, leading my mom and sister through the parking garage.
“I couldn’t care less what you do to Simon Syphilis once I’ve got my degree in my hand.”
“Oh, for the love of—” Mom shakes her head. “You two are ridiculous.”
I know I definitely am, because when I drop them off two hours later and am alone in my car, I’m in the same position I was in last night after I got off the plane.
Drumming my fingers on the heated steering wheel, I hesitate for only a moment before I throw the car in gear and head in the opposite direction of where I’m supposed to be going.
Ten minutes later, I’m standing in front of Olivia’s dark, quiet house.
I should probably call her but instead I raise the key she left me this morning to the door and stick it in the lock.
It creeks as it opens and I step inside, quickly shutting out the cold.
A dim light flicks on from her bedroom down the short hallway.
“Hello?” Olivia’s hesitant voice calls. It’s followed by a scuffle, a loud bang, and then a quiet fuck me . Five seconds later, she pokes her head out of the doorway from her spot on the floor. The brightest beam blooms when she spots me. “Carter.”
“What are you doing on the floor, crazy girl?” I help her to her feet, smiling at the blanket that’s tangled between her legs.
I don’t know what in the hell she’s doing to keep getting wrapped in this thing that refuses to let go.
Kinda feels like a good euphemism for how I feel about holding onto her.
She flings her arms around me and smashes her face into my chest. “I didn’t know you were coming over again.”
“Neither did I,” I admit, stroking a hand down her curls. She rests her chin on my chest and I drop my lips to her nose. “Kinda just happened. Again.”
“Are you sure you’re not here to return my key?”
“Nope.” I swing her up into my arms. “Thought I’d check on the new furnace.
And your new bedtime outfit, apparently.
” Dropping her to the bed, I trail one finger down her thigh, stopping at her ankle.
She’s in only a pair of purple boy short panties and a loose T-shirt that shows off one creamy shoulder. “I’m a big fan.”
I tug my clothes off and climb into bed behind her.
Slipping a hand beneath her shirt, I cover her warm stomach and inhale her smell.
She’s my favorite scent, like the Sunday mornings my mom used to spend baking muffins for our school lunches.
She smells like the most intoxicating version of home, and I’m addicted to the feeling that comes with it.
“You must know you’re never getting that key back. It’s mine now. Already on my ring.”
“You can have it,” she whispers as I pull her shirt over her head.
“Good, ’cause I wasn’t asking.”
My fingers dip into her panties, making her moan, and her hair tickles my skin.
“You never ask for anything,” she rasps, bucking against my hand as I push two fingers inside her.
“Nah, only for you to be mine.”
Her hand curves over my nape as she angles her face toward mine, begging for a kiss. I give it to her, because I always will. “I’m yours.”
My mouth tilts as I look down at my stunning girl. Her eyes squeeze shut with a moan as I sink inside her. Taking her chin between my fingers, I silently beg her to look at me again. The feeling that floods my chest and overwhelms my entire body when she does is dizzying.
Olivia’s soft lips meet my chin, trailing up my jaw until she finds the corner of my mouth. “My heart’s never felt as happy as it does right now.”
Her words tumble tenderly off her tongue, and I empty everything I have into this woman my heart beats for.