Seventeen
Leah
T hey were probably gone, and that was okay.
I didn’t need another awkward dinner, anyway.
I got dressed for work the next morning, my movements slow, contemplative. I’d barely eaten, and my stomach was gnawing at me.
I did my make-up, unable to peer into my own damn eyes because I was not liking what I was seeing. He was gone all over again, and I was so damn sad.
“When will this stop?” I asked myself, pleading for a moment of respite.
I’d worked so hard to minimize these emotions, and I was swamped in them all over again. It frustrated me to have someone affect me in this way. I had given Carter too much power over my feelings, and I was unable to regain it, or maybe he was unwilling to relinquish that power and leave me be.
But if he didn’t want to leave me be, wouldn’t he have showed up at my door? Anyone could have told him where I lived. Hell, Rome even knew.
I wasn’t going to lie. I had strained my ears all night, listening to every sound, wondering—maybe even hoping—he’d show up.
That was silly of me.
He was a rockstar now, and I was still…Leah.
I snuck out of the apartment when Melanie was in the bathroom. I didn’t want to face her. I’d gone straight to bed when I got home last night, and she hadn’t come back until later anyway. She didn’t check up on me even though she’d blasted that many texts my way to ward me away from Carter. Either she knew I needed space, or she was going through her own thing, too.
I had a feeling Rome was tormenting her in the same way Carter was me.
Weren’t we such sad souls?
I wondered how many people out there were still hung up on their ex-lovers, and did they find the secret to healing?
Or were we destined to live in perpetual grief, reminded constantly of a past that did not want to be forgotten?
*
Work was slow, and I was in a fog.
Lunch time should have relieved me, but I wound up in the backroom, trudging around in circles. I felt directionless, my thoughts picking apart yesterday morning and the night before that. I couldn’t switch off, so I meandered around, searching for tasks to complete.
I was being a busy body on purpose. I needed to be distracted, and suddenly, I wished I was working at the bar again. That hustle and bustle had been good when I needed it.
I could faintly hear Gary’s voice in the background, and I knew he was talking to a customer. We’d barely spoken today, which was good. I felt snarky, my patience gone, my mood dry.
I stood still, waiting for him to call me out because he was always a lazy dick when he was with a customer. He didn’t know this place like I did—I stocked the shelves, and if this person was looking for something, Gary would be handing me to them in, oh, 3, 2, 1—
“Leah!”
I rolled my eyes, feeling my lips quirk up.
“LEAAHHH!”
I made him sweat and checked the time on my phone before tucking it back into my pocket. Then I hurried out of the backroom, ready for another distraction. My arms were crossed, my Joker smile was twitching at my lips as I saw him standing at the counter, his back turned to me, facing—
I stopped mid-step and stared bug-eyed at Carter.
What?
He looked over Gary’s shoulder, his gaze meeting mine, and he mischievously smiled at me. Gary sensed my presence and turned around, his sweaty face looking flushed for once.
“There you are,” he said gruffly. “Grab your things and get out. You have the rest of the day off.”
I blinked at him in surprise. “What?”
“Get out,” he repeated.
“I can’t—”
“You’ll be paid just the same. Treat it like a holiday but leave it out of the books.”
Without another word, Gary walked past me for smoke number thirty-six. Leaving me alone with Carter, who looked like he was proud of himself with that cheeky smile of his.
“Surprised?” he said.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him quietly.
“Seeing you.”
I took a moment to respond, my thoughts criss-crossing in a mad rush. “I…I thought you had to be gone yesterday.”
Carter’s stare didn’t leave mine as he spoke softly, “I extended our leave.”
My lips parted. “You…could do that?”
He shrugged. “I just did.”
Silence filled the space between us as I took him in. Wearing another pair of jeans and a top that accentuated his sexy figure—
And I looked like a dump truck on fire.
“You weren’t supposed to leave the house,” I said just then, running a conscious hand over my hair, smoothening it out because, yeah, I was unprepared for this.
“It’s not an issue if they don’t know about it,” he replied, chuckling at my bewildered face. “By the time everyone realizes, it’ll be too late. It’s important we’re one step ahead of them. Grab your things and we’ll make our getaway.”
“But…” I glanced over my shoulder in case Gary was still kicking around. “How did you manage this?”
“Because you mentioned he was a dick, and dangle money in front of a dick, and they’re yours.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “The old money trick, huh?”
He winked. “It works like a charm. Anyway, hurry up.”
“Wait, whose car are we taking?”
Did I seriously ask that?
Was I about to leave with Carter?
“Mine,” he said. “Leave yours in the employer’s parking lot, and I’ll drop you off back here when we’re done. We gotta go. Pretty sure people spotted me walking across the street to get here, and I’m a little paranoid.”
So much for staying away.
My heart was beating riotously as I went to the backroom again and hurriedly grabbed my bag. I felt flushed everywhere, hardly able to absorb this sudden development.
Carter hadn’t left—he had come for me. Oh, my God.
I paused for a moment, wondering if I should let Melanie know what just happened, but I resisted at the end. She’d find out eventually. For now, I liked the idea of spending some uninterrupted time with Carter.
You got this, Leah . I told myself. It’s just another harmless dose of Carter…
So long as we weren’t entirely alone in a bedroom with a bottle of vodka.