7. Haven
7
Haven
T he drive back to the Airbnb is quick, quiet, and entirely too comfortable.
Carter doesn’t fill the silence with meaningless chatter like I half expect him to. Instead, he just lets it exist, one hand on the wheel, the other resting casually on the gear shift, fingers tapping out a rhythm against the leather. The low sound of my music fills the space between us. It’s… nice. Which is exactly why I have to pull myself back down to earth the second we reach the Airbnb.
Carter puts the car in park, glancing over at me as Cassie unbuckles her seatbelt in the back. “I’ll pick you guys up in a couple of hours,” he says, draping his arm over the back of his seat as he twists slightly toward me. “Figured I’d take you somewhere cool for dinner.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Cool how?”
His mouth quirks like he’s keeping a secret. “You’ll see.” Cassie butts in her with questioning. “Is it, like, a small-town diner or a full-on themed spot?”
Carter’s smirk deepens. “A little of both.” I narrow my eyes, suspicious. “Why do I feel like this is a setup?”
Carter shrugs, unbothered. “Because it probably is.” Cassie snorts, nudging my arm. “Well, I’m excited.”
I roll my eyes but step out of the car anyway, grabbing my bag. “Fine. But if it’s a trap, I’m making you buy my food.”
Carter laughs, and the sound sinks into my skin in a way I don’t like. Or maybe I do. I don’t know, fuck. I need to get out of this car.
Cassie and I grab our stuff and head inside, and as soon as I shut the door behind us, she turns, arms crossed, one perfectly manicured eyebrow arched. “So?”
I blink. “So… what?”
She tilts her head. “What do you think?” I hesitate, which is apparently all the answer she needs.
“Mmmhm.” She shakes her head, grinning like she’s already solved the puzzle. “You like him.”
I scoff, moving past her toward my bag. “I literally just met him in person. It’s not that deep.”
Cassie rolls her eyes. “Haven. Be serious for once.”
“I am being serious.”
She leans against the counter, watching me. “Okay. Fine, then let’s say I left early.”
I pause mid-motion, frowning. “What?”
Cassie shrugs. “I was thinking, I mean, now that you’ve met Carter, now that you know he’s not some psycho catfish, you probably don’t need me here anymore.”
I cross my arms. “You rode all this way just to abandon me?”
She smiles. “I’m offering to let you have some actual time alone with the guy you’ve been obsessed with.”
I glare. “It’s not like that.”
Cassie laughs, throwing her hands up. “Girl. It is exactly like that.”
I open my mouth, close it. Because… is it? No. No, it’s not. I shake my head, shoving my bag aside and dropping onto the couch. “Cass, this is just… a visit. That’s it.”
She raises an eyebrow. “A visit where you’re staring at him like he hung the damn moon?”
I groan, flopping onto my back, staring at the ceiling. “I hate you.”
She grins. “No, you don’t. You just hate that I’m right.”
I don’t answer. If I do, I might have to admit she has a point. And I am not ready for that.
Cassie and I settle into the small living room of the Airbnb, the couch surprisingly comfortable, the lighting dim and warm. The place feels quiet, the kind of silence that leaves too much space for my thoughts to start circling, catching on every little thing I’m trying not to focus on. Like the fact that Carter is picking us up soon. That I just spent the past hour trying not to stare at him in the car, not to read into his every glance, every smirk. The fact that this feels different now.
“Stop thinking so hard,” Cassie mutters, stretching out across the couch, her phone in her hand. “I can hear the gears turning from over here.”
“I’m not thinking,” I lie.
She laughs. “Right. And I’m a nun.” I sigh, dropping back against the couch, staring at the ceiling. “It’s just weird, okay? Meeting him. Being here. The whole thing.”
Cassie hums like she already knew that, she probably did. She doesn’t push, though, just flips through something on her phone, scrolling lazily before typing out a quick message.
I glance over, narrowing my eyes. “Who are you texting?”
She doesn’t look up. “A friend.”
I wait. She keeps typing. She eventually locks her phone and stretches. “Told them to pick me up later.”
The words hit me like a slow-moving train. I blink, “You… what?”
Cassie glances at me, unbothered. “Yeah. Figured I’d head out later tonight. You don’t need me here anymore.”
My stomach tightens. “What if I do?” I blurt.
Cassie arches an eyebrow. “Do you?”
I open my mouth, close it. I don’t know, I don’t have an answer that makes sense. I’m not nervous about being alone with Carter. I’m not nervous about spending more time with him.
But the thought of Cassie leaving, of it just being the two of us, of every buffer between us suddenly disappearing?
Cassie sees it all over my face. “Haven,” she sighs, soft but firm. “It’s not like I’m dropping you into enemy territory. You like him. Just… let yourself enjoy this.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t trust myself not to make it worse. Instead, I just stare at the ceiling, my heartbeat a little too loud, my thoughts a little too tangled, waiting for Carter to show up and break the silence before it swallows me whole.