Chapter 34
Tate
People are continuing to spiral in the gamer community.
They’re stuck between praising Haven and slut-shaming her.
Some of them think she cheated to get to the top.
Some are convinced she’s secretly married to Carter and that I’m just a sexy masked intruder.
One guy made a whole thread analyzing our posture in side-by-side photos like he’s on a fucking CSI deep dive.
I’ve had enough, so I open Twitter and stare at the blinking line for exactly five seconds.
Haven is curled up on the bed beside me with her legs tucked under her, and I can’t help but glance at her for a second before typing. Her chest rises and falls slow and steady, the kind of sleep that looks impossible after the day she’s had.
My thumb brushes the screen as I post. She’s asleep, and for one tiny moment, the world can burn around us and it wouldn’t matter.
Carter wanders out of the hotel bathroom with wet hair and a fresh hoodie. “You had to post something again huh something,” he says flatly.
“Yup.”
His phone suddenly starts pinging wildly. “Well now someone just tagged us in an edit where I’m hugging her while you stand in the background.” He groans as he flops down next to me. “We need a PR team.”
“You are the PR team.”
We’ve been sitting in the hotel room for over an hour, killing time while Haven finishes whatever she’s wrapped up in.
Empty chip bags, sticky soda cans, and wrappers are scattered across the floor.
Carter’s on the end of the bed with his phone in hand, scrolling lazily.
I’m on the floor, leaning against the bed, absently picking at a bag of chips.
“Your phone’s going off like crazy,” I say, nodding toward him.
He groans. “I know, it’s Hunter. Asking when I’ll be back, he’s sent ten messages in the last five minutes.”
“Ten? The dude doesn’t know how to survive without you.”
“He’d probably starve if I left for a month,” he says, shaking his head.
“I mean, that’s friendship, right?” I say, tossing him a chip. “Loyalty, dedication… mild obsession.”
He catches it without looking, muttering, “Mild obsession is putting it lightly.”
Haven steps inside a moment later, her posture just slightly off, like she’s holding it together out of habit more than energy. Her makeup is still intact, but there’s something underneath it now—fatigue, maybe, or just too many people pulling at her at once.
Carter is on his feet before I move, crossing the room reaching for her. “Hey,” he says softly, his hands settling on her arms. “You good?”
She nods automatically, then shakes her head right after. “I don’t know. They kept asking the same questions. Just… different versions of them.”
I push off the floor slowly. “What kind of questions?”
“About you. Both of you. About us.”
Of course they did.
Carter’s thumb brushes over her arm. “You don’t have to answer anything you don’t want to.”
“I know,” she says. “I just… didn’t expect it to feel like that.”
“Like what?” I press.
She exhales slowly, dropping her head forward until it rests briefly against Carter’s shoulder. “Like I don’t get to just have this, like it has to belong to everyone else too.”
“It doesn’t. They don’t get that part, that’s ours.”
Her eyes lift to mine. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Say it like you mean it.
Don’t half-ass this. She needs to know this isn’t temporary. That this isn’t something that disappears the second it gets hard.
Carter nods beside her. “Always baby.”
She breathes out, some of the tension easing out of her shoulders.
“Alright,” he says after a moment, glancing at both of us. “I think it’s time we check out.”
I groan, stretching my shoulders and grabbing the duffel I’d dumped on the floor.
Haven shrugs into her hoodie, pulling the sleeves down over her hands, and starts stuffing the few things she brought back into her bag.
Carter folds his blanket off the bed, tucking it over his arm, and shoves a couple of wrappers into a plastic bag.
I zip my bag up, slinging it over one shoulder, and Haven bumps my arm lightly as she passes. “Race you to the lobby?” she teases, but her voice is soft, still carrying the traces of exhaustion.
“Not fair,” I chuckle and shake my head. She’s out the door in a flash but I follow, catching up with her as we make our way down the narrow hallway. Carter leads with the key cards in hand, moving at that calm, measured pace he always takes.
He steps up to the front desk, sliding the key cards across the desk. “Checking out,” he says, politely.
The woman behind the counter glances between the three of us, something curious in her expression, but she keeps it professional. “Everything okay with your stay?”
“Perfect.”
I lean against the counter with my arms crossed, watching Haven out of the corner of my eye as she spins one of the pens between her fingers.
“Receipt emailed,” the woman says. “You’re all set.”
Carter nods, grabbing it. “Let’s go.”
I glance at Haven as she walks beside me, her shoulder brushing mine for half a second.
We step out and she falls into step beside me while Carter moves a few steps ahead, carrying the bags.
We walk in silence, the rhythm of our steps pulling us along.
At the car, we start packing our stuff in. Carter opens the trunk, sliding in the remaining duffels and backpacks. Haven hands me a smaller bag, then climbs into the passenger seat.
I toss my bag in the back and slide into the back seat.
Carter leans over to click his seatbelt and starts the car, the engine humming to life. “Long drive back,” he says, glancing at us.
No one talks again for the first few seconds.
The engine sound fills the space,but it doesn’t smooth anything out.
I lean forward, bracing my forearms against my thighs, staring out through the windshield without really seeing anything.
My leg starts bouncing before I catch it. I stop it, but it just starts again.
“Hey,” Haven says quietly.
I don’t answer right away.
“Hey,” she repeats, turning slightly in her seat now with one knee angled toward me.
I drag a hand down my face and lean back, forcing myself to look at her. “What.”
Her eyes narrow. “You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing.”
“That,” she says, nodding toward my leg before reaching back and pressing her hand flat against my knee to still it. I go still under her hand. “Relax Tate.”
I let out a deep breath. “I am relaxed.”
She gives me a look that calls that out for exactly what it is. “Sure you are.” She keeps her hand on my knee as she turns back around.
Carter glances at us briefly, then back to the road.
His playlist starts with ambient beats and no lyrics—but halfway through the third track, Haven stitches the Bluetooth to her phone and reaches forward to crank the volume.
Something darker pulses through the speakers now.
She leans her head back against the seat, one foot propped on the dash.
Carter slows the car as a gas station comes into view after a few miles. “I’m actually going to stop here for a sec,” he says, pulling in.
I glance at him. “Do we need gas already?”
“No but I need something to drink,” he shoots back, cutting the engine.
Haven sits up straighter in the passenger seat, suddenly more awake. “If there’s slushies, I’m getting one.”
I snort, pushing the door open as we pull to a stop. “Of course you are.”
Haven makes a beeline for the slushie machines once we’re inside, grabbing a cup and filling it without hesitation.
“What’d you get?” I ask, leaning against the counter, watching her.
“Cherry,” she says, like it’s obvious. “The only correct answer.”
“Respectable.”
Carter walks up beside us with his own cup, and I know it’s going to be something stupid before I even look. “Tell me that’s not what I think it is.”
She leans over, peering into his cup, then immediately starts laughing. “No. Absolutely not. Carter, what is that?”
He looks between us, completely unfazed. “It’s blue raspberry, lime, banana and cola.”
Haven shakes her head, laughing while she grabs a straw and poking it into his drink. “I’m trying it.”
“You’re going to hate it,” I tell her.
She takes a sip. Her face shifts just slightly before she swallows. “Okay, that’s… not good.”
“Thank you, I’ve been telling him for years.”
Carter rolls his eyes, taking his drink back. “You both have absolutely no taste.”
“Yeah,” I grin, grabbing my own cup and filling it with straight cola, because I’m not insane. “We’re definitely the problem here.”
Haven bumps her shoulder into mine. “You’re the problem in general.”
I glance down at her, holding her gaze. “Didn’t hear you complaining earlier.”
Her smile sharpens just a little, but she doesn’t answer. Carter clears his throat, heading for the register.
“Pay now, flirt later,” he says.
I follow, shaking my head. “You’re just mad your drink sucks.”
“It doesn’t suck.”
“It absolutely sucks.”
Haven laughs again, and for a second, everything feels lighter.
We head back out, drinks in hand, and Carter tosses the keys in the air before catching them again.
We drive for miles, past gas stations, too many trees and not enough houses between them.
I catch Carter’s profile in the rearview, and my mind drifts back to the little text I sent him at the gas station earlier.
The one that made him glance at me funny, just for a second, before he tucked his phone away.
Carter slows the car near a twisted little side road, the rusted metal gate barely hanging off one hinge.
“No signal,” Carter says checking his phone. “Looks like a dead zone.”
“Perfect,” I say, unbuckling.
Haven leans forward slightly, peering past Carter. “Wait… why are we stopping here?”
I smile without looking at her. “Because some places are meant for us alone.”