11. Chapter 11
Carter
S he stuck out like a sore thumb. There wasn’t anything about her that said she was ready to party—or that she had ever been to one before.
She even walked around with an empty cup.
When she sidled up next to Ethan, I glared.
Why did I care what she was doing? At a party like this, I shouldn’t even care that she was here.
Except I couldn’t stop watching her deer-in-the-headlights stare while she searched for something in the crowd.
Even as Ethan’s confident-he-was-going-to-get-some smirk stretched across his face, she looked past him.
Her eyes paused on mine, and there was something a lot like embarrassment in the look before she moved on to Benny.
I knew the look then—it was stubbornness.
“Dude, are you even listening to me?” I’m definitely not. Benny furrowed his brow.
“What’s up?” When I turned to look at him, I watched from the corner of my eye as Ethan wrapped his arm around Beth’s shoulders.
Benny groaned like having to repeat himself was a chore and he didn’t love to hear himself talk. “What are you staring at?” He moved to put himself in my position, glancing directly at Beth and chuckling. “Whoa, I’m surprised she’s here.”
“Me too.”
“Slightly less surprised to see Ethan set his sights on her.” When Benny shrugged and drank the last of his beer, my stomach tightened.
Why did I care? I knew that Benny had made up the story about his night with Beth, but he had made up stories about nights with a lot of girls. What made her different?
Maybe it was the way she was fluttering her lashes at a man that wasn’t going to take no for an answer as easily as Benny did.
Where Benny would just say it happened anyway because all he cared about was the clout, Ethan was the type to want exactly what she was likely hinting he was going to get.
Then Ethan draped his arm over her shoulder and led her out of the living room and away from the boombox playing loudly enough to drown out any conversation more than an arm’s distance away.
“Where do you think they’re going?” I asked, knowing when Benny lifted a single brow that it was an out-of-character question. We both knew where they were going. We had all done the same go-somewhere-a-little-quieter-to-talk move that got us into a bedroom—even if it wasn’t our own.
“If I had to guess, probably to do the same thing she wanted to do the other night. Know what I mean?” He turned and high-fived Anthony.
Anthony clapped his hand against Benny’s with a grin.
He had just walked up with a fresh beer—he had no idea what we were talking about, but he was usually pretty quick to enthusiastically agree.
“Hell yeah!” He nodded excitedly, then took a long gulp of cheap beer. “What did I miss?”
Benny nodded toward the hallway like it explained the last few minutes. “Beth is here,” he said.
“The girl from the other night that choked on your dick?” Anthony’s excitement annoyed me, but it wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t my fault either, but I couldn’t stop the low growl that rolled from my chest. “Nice!”
“She just walked away with Ethan.” I sounded about as frustrated as I had no right to be feeling.
Anthony’s eyes widened, and he turned to look down the hall, staring over the rim of his cup while he took an unbothered drink. “I mean, good for him, huh?” He shrugged, and I clenched my hand into a fist at my side.
“I need another drink,” I said gruffly before throwing the rest of my beer back.
I was walking away before I heard Anthony behind me. “What’s his deal?”
“He probably needs to get laid.” I could nearly hear Benny’s shoulders shrug but instead of turning back around, I kept walking.
I slammed the cup down on a table I walked past on the way to the hallway.
I didn’t need to get anything, I just didn’t like the idea of someone taking advantage of a girl that may not realize it was happening.
She had said she could take care of herself, but I wasn’t willing to wait for her to prove it.
Not when I had seen more than one girl leave Ethan’s room looking like she shouldn’t have ever gone in there in the first place.
The dimly lit hall was packed with people trying to find escape from the music or dancing by making out against the wall.
It wasn’t an unusual thing to see at these parties, and normally I walked by them without a second glance.
Normally I walked by them without looking for curly, brown hair that was tied back in too-innocent-to-be-handlebars braids.
When I didn’t see her in the hall, I knew she was behind one of the doors. “This is ridiculous, Carter.” Now I was talking to myself. Why did I care who Ethan hooked up with at a party? Normally I didn’t. Normally it isn’t with her.
I paused in front of the door, trying to listen beyond the hollow wood to hear what was happening.
The nosy feeling of guilt dried my mouth out.
Shuffling could’ve been need, and anticipation can sound like whimpering.
Her panicked, high-pitch grunt didn’t sound like she was begging for more, though.
I hesitated, my hand hovering over the knob.
What if I opened this door and she was on her knees?
What if she was exactly what Benny had said, and I had misread her innocence?
I considered walking back to the party and not finding out until I heard her grunt again.
“Please don’t do this.” When Beth’s voice cracked, so did my composure.
The door wasn’t locked when I turned the knob and threw it open, and nothing stopped it from crashing against Ethan’s desk.
He whipped around, holding Beth against the bed while he looked to see what had interrupted him.
Her eyes widened and when she saw me, they filled with shame that shimmered like about-to-be-shed tears.
I ground my teeth together when I grabbed the back of Ethan’s shirt with both hands.
When I pulled hard enough, he tumbled backward, falling from his position hovering over her on the bed to a brief ball on the floor. Then he jumped back up.
“What the fuck is your problem, Carter?” Ethan snarled at me, stepping toward me while Beth sat up and scooted back on the bed. She tucked her knees to her chest when Ethan shoved me.
“I believe she wants you to stop.” Even though my heart was pounding and my jaw was clenched, my voice was calm.
Ethan shoved me again, and I took a step back. “She was perfectly fine before you barged in here!” His body was braced for a fight.
I looked at Beth. Nothing about the look on her face said that she had been fine. The creases next to her eyes and the uncomfortable frown etched onto her lips told me she had regretted talking to Ethan at all. “Are you alright?”
“I think so.” She nodded.
I ignored Ethan’s grumbling when I held my hand out to her. “I’ll take you home.” When Beth climbed off the side of the bed, Ethan grabbed her arm. She gasped before narrowing her eyes and pulling her arm away. If his grip had hurt her, you wouldn’t be able to tell by her face.
“You can’t just leave.” Ethan stood in front of the door. He clearly didn’t realize that I would have no problem physically removing him. “We were in the middle of something. Now you’re all talk?” Beth cringed.
“She can, and she is.” I strongarmed him to the side, allowing for Beth to open the door to the stares inevitably waiting in the hallway.
Ethan stood behind us when she took the first step.
The staring I had expected was doubled. People had gathered in the hall when I threw the door open—a commotion always draws a drunk audience.
I put my hand protectively on her shoulder, guiding her through the judgment and toward the exit.
Even though the music was still playing just as loudly, it sounded muted behind the looks.
“She’s not going to fuck you, you know,” Ethan shouted, and I felt the words ripple through Beth’s muscles. I shrugged.
“Doesn’t look like she’s going to fuck you either.”