10. Netflix and So Not Chill
Netflix and So Not Chill
SARAFINA
I plopped the last scoop of fresh whipped cream onto the still-warm apple cobbler when I felt a presence suddenly looming behind me. I didn’t need to turn to know exactly who it was.
“If you need a volunteer to lick the bowl, I’d be happy to oblige.” Carter crooned, already reaching around me, but I moved quicker, pulling the bowl away with a smirk.
Wide hands hit the counter on either side of me, and I turned, intending to say something snappy, but the closeness of him, the look in his expression , stole the breath right out from under me.
Nerves hit me like a freight train as I shyly dropped my gaze, realizing he wasn’t about to budge. “Maybe I was going to eat that.” It came out a meager whisper.
“Yeah?” He murmured with a lazy grin, while the scent of him invaded all my senses. All manly, musky, and damningly intoxicating. Like sexy fresh laundry, if that was even a thing.
“Yeah.” I slowly ran my finger around the rim of the bowl, collecting the last bits of whipped cream for myself.
He chuckled low and deep. “Oh, you shouldn’t have done that, pretty girl. I’m faster, remember?”
It was a fast glance Carter made behind him, confirming we were alone in the kitchen, and then it happened all at once— he gripped my wrist, and before I could put my finger into my own mouth, his plush lips slid over my finger instead.
I gasped as his tongue swirled over the pad of my finger and he sucked the whipped cream clean off it. I nearly dropped the mixing bowl, but Carter was already there, steadying it in my hands.
I might have been gaping as he gave me a lopsided grin and slowly backed away without offering another word.
When he finally disappeared around the corner, towards the sound of laughter, I collapsed against the counter, still hardly able to catch my breath.
What in the ever-living fuck was that? Maybe it was nothing.
We were just friends… because friends totally sucked things off each other’s fingers. Right? It was certainly a first for me.
In a complete daze, I carried the spiced cobbler to the buffet table, completely forgetting to dust it with cinnamon.
Sloane grabbed me the moment the cobbler hit the table. “Wow, that smells amazing.” She lowered her voice, eyes glimmering as I murmured thanks. “But why do you look like you just got a lobotomy?”
“What?” I asked, shaking myself out of my stupor as Jules closed in.
“We just saw you-know-who sneaking out of the kitchen, like he didn’t want to be seen.” Jules explained with a raised brow.
Sloane was desperate for answers. “Did he make a move?”
“Of course he didn’t.” Jules answered for me, handing me a plate of cobbler as the corner of her mouth pulled into a smirk. “But did he?”
Jules served Sloane the next scoop as I struggled to explain. “We just uh—he uh—well I?—”
“What?” they begged.
Right on cue, one of my mom’s friends appeared and affectionately rubbed my back. “This smells delicious, Sara.”
“Help yourself.” I smiled, shooting the girls a warning look. “The apples are from the Bishop’s orchard. ”
“Oh, how lovely.” She chimed, serving herself a plate.
The sound of River’s voice startled me from above.
“Cookie.” She demanded, from Carter’s shoulders.
He was wearing a red reindeer nose, and she was clearly already on a sugar high, but he lifted a cookie anyway.
River promptly stuffed it into her mouth so she could slap her ribbon reins.
“Mush! Dasher. Mush!” she chanted, and a puff of crumbs flew out of her mouth, straight into Carter’s hair, making him groan.
A strange feeling washed over me as he gripped her little feet and galloped away, making the sound effects and all.
“I think someone has a little crush.” Jules commented while I stared at the last place Carter had just been. “River.” She clarified quietly. “He’s good with her—with all the kids.”
“Yeah, he is.” I agreed quietly. During the lawn games, the kids had figured out he was a real-life G.I.
Joe no thanks to Liam and Cade—the two of them had gotten a real good laugh when Carter was mobbed by about a dozen very small, very demanding tyrants begging for an airplane ride.
At one point Carter had five different kids hanging off him, hounding him for another turn—he’d put on a good show, letting them tackle him to the ground, which made them all cheer with delight.
And then, he of course gave them all another ride, because Jules was right, he was a total natural.
I tried not to dwell on it as I shook my head. “Today has been so weird.”
“Good weird, or bad weird?” Jules brows crunched with concern.
“To be determined?” I sighed, and she looped her arm through mine, pulling me towards the living room. “How’s Doug?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I don’t know, long distance sucks.” She rolled her eyes. “I do not recommend.”
Liam walked by, and Jules plucked a cookie off his plate, and he grumbled, but let me do the same. “Thanks, Lee.” Jules called sweetly. “Just helping you keep your figure. ”
Liam practically grunted at us as he headed past us to grab a seat for the Tricky Turkey gift exchange.
“Wow, this is exactly what I wanted.” Carter chuckled, pulling the t-shirt out of the gift bag. “Who intercepted my Christmas list from Santa?” He held the shirt up against his chest, and I grinned as the room erupted into cheers and chants, begging him to put it on.
“Take your top off!” Cade called across the room with a smirk.
Carter shook his head with a disbelieving grin. It was clear the shirt was going to be far too small to fit his massive frame, but he tried anyway. A moment later, his arms were tangled above his head because he couldn’t get the damn thing over his massive shoulders.
“Sorry, guys.” His voice was muffled as he struggled to get the shirt off, and I breathily dropped my gaze when his undershirt rode up, revealing row upon row of muscled stomach. “It’s too small.” He huffed, finally freeing himself.
“Shall we make some alterations?” Theo grinned and flicked out a pocket knife, looking at Cade.
“Guys.” Carter’s hair was mussed as he put his hands up, backing away with a smirk. “Don’t make me hurt you.”
“Yeah, sorry, there’s no way in hell you’re getting out of this one.” Liam grinned and whipped off his sweater, leaving him in a fitted white t-shirt.
Across the room, chairs were already being shifted out of the way.
“Don’t you want to play dress-up?” Cade rammed into Carter, tackling him to the floor in front of the Christmas tree before my brother and Theo piled on.
The room was filled with laughter and clapping as the heaping pile of flailing muscles shifted across the floor. And because he was being a good sport, I could tell Carter was only halfheartedly fighting back by the time they finally pinned him.
“Hmmm,” Jules muttered with a roll of her eyes. “Dinner and a show.”
Sloane hummed in agreement.
“Come on, guys.” Carter complained with an amused chuckle as the sound of fabric ripped. “Really?”
They hauled him up a moment later, and Cade was already howling with laughter as I clapped a hand over my mouth. Stretched over Carter’s broad frame was a way too tight bikini t-shirt . One of those vacation shirts with a slender woman’s torso, big boobs, clad in a hot pink triangle bikini.
“That’s one ugly broad!” One of my father’s friends, Richard, shouted.
Carter shook his head with an amused laugh, the tips of his ears burning an adorable shade of pink.
When his eyes met mine across the room, there was something soft and almost pleading in them.
I bit my lip, concealing a grin, and circled my finger in the air.
His chest shook with silent laughter as he appeased me, lifting his arms out.
He did a slow spin for the room, and the peanut gallery erupted in approval, clapping, whistling, and just generally making Carter blush.
As I looked around the room, everything felt right. Everyone who was supposed to be here was. The sounds of my friends and family’s laughter, the smells of spiced desserts, and reheated leftovers filled the air, and I didn’t know if anything could be more perfect or more comforting.
I honestly couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt this way.
I’d had all these huge dreams and aspirations for college, and it hadn’t been long before I’d realized it was all just a big pipe dream.
Not only was I beginning to doubt myself more and more, and overthink things, but part of me wondered if I was even cut out to be an artist. None of my work was all that groundbreaking, anyway.
Not to mention, the dream of a normal college experience was long gone.
Part of me wasn’t even entirely sure why I was pursuing my master’s degree, not when I just desperately wanted to get the hell out of there.
My grandiose plans of living in the college dorms, of making new friends—it couldn’t have been further from my reality.
Apparently, it was never in the cards for me, because I was a socialite from Briar Rose, and all people saw was a chance to make a quick buck off of me.
I was the girl the paparazzi would pay an arm and a leg for a photo of, especially a nude.
A harsh reality I’d learned the very first week I’d showered in the communal dorm bathrooms.
The last several years had been incredibly lonely, but nobody in this room knew. It didn’t matter though; after graduation, I’d come back to Briar Rose and forget all about college. This was my home, and these were the people who loved me, and I couldn’t wait to come home for good.
I blinked, realizing the game had long been over, and I’d gotten stuck with an oversized dog calendar that featured a different dog pooping every month. I chuckled, I’d probably give it to River, she’d get a kick out of it, though I doubted her mom would .