Chapter 4
Karter stood at her floor-length mirror, putting her mascara on. She was going out with Creed to look for new stools for the bar. She also planned on finding some pillows or something to repurpose for her living room sofa. It was almost noon, and she knew how punctual he was.
She grabbed her crossbody and headed out of her bedroom. She thought about grabbing a snack an hour ago, but had waited since they were going to lunch before they made their way to the stores.
Sitting down, she pulled out her phone and scrolled through social media. She saw Ilia had posted some new photos and liked them. She was still scrolling down her feed when there was a knock at her door.
Getting up, she placed her phone in her crossbody and opened the door, finding Creed standing there. He wore one of his signature V-neck t-shirts. This one was white, and he paired it with dark jeans and Timberlands.
Karter couldn’t help but look him over. This man was too fine for words in something so simple. It made no sense to her, but she wouldn’t complain about it. She would enjoy the view.
“Hey, Kaere. Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
Karter exited her apartment, locking the door behind her before following Creed to his truck. He opened the door for her, and she slid into the cab. Once he was inside, they pulled out of the parking lot.
“Anywhere you want to go for lunch, Kaere?”
“Can we go to Pia’s?”
“Sure thing.”
As they drove towards the restaurant, they listened to music, and Karter danced in her seat to the mellow sounds.
Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling into the parking lot. Once they found a parking spot, Creed approached the passenger side and opened the door for her. He held his hand out to her, and she took it as he helped her out of the truck.
He placed his hand on the small of her back, and he steered her towards the entrance. When they made it inside, the hostess showed them to a booth.
Once seated, Karter picked up her menu to look it over before the server came.
“So, what kind of stools are we looking for?” she questioned.
“I don’t know.”
Karter looked up from her menu and smiled at him. “You never know what you want when shopping for something new for Purgatory.”
Creed smirked at her. “I can’t argue with you there.”
“I guess that’s part of the genius. You never know, but it always turns out well.”
At that moment, their server arrived, and they both placed their drink and food orders, continuing their small talk once they were alone again.
They were in their third second-hand store, and neither had found anything they liked. She was looking at two barstools, but knew they wouldn’t work. They needed at least nine stools.
She turned, looking around the store to find Creed. When she spotted him, she made her way over.
“Did you find anything?” she questioned.
He turned to look at her. “No. There are a few pieces here that I’m thinking about getting, but they won’t work for the bar. What about you, Kaere?”
“I found two stools, but I know we’ll need more than that.”
“What about the pillows you were looking for?”
Karter sighed. “I still didn’t find any I thought I could redo.”
“You want them for your couch?”
“I thought so, but now I’m not sure,” she told him with a shrug.
He smirked at her. “You know you do this every time. You set out looking for one thing, and then it changes. You’re as bad as I am,” he told her.
She glared at him playfully. “No, I’m not.”
He reached down and took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “If you say so.”
When he released her, she turned away, pretending to look at something. Her face was warm, and she was sure her cheeks were probably red. She always had this reaction when he touched her. Over the years, she had learned to control it mostly, but sometimes she couldn’t help it.
They browsed for a few more minutes until they found some items Creed had decided to buy. They loaded up the back of his truck before getting in. Karter settled in, knowing they were heading to another shop.
They had only been driving for about five minutes when his phone rang. He answered it on Bluetooth, causing the music to stop.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Ravage. It’s Tim. I’m here with your order.”
“Fuck,” he mumbled. “My bad, Tim. I’m running late, but I’m on my way.”
The two of them hung up, and she saw him glance at her. “Kaere, I forgot I was getting a delivery today. You don’t mind if we swing by the bar, do you?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s all good.” He made a U-turn as soon as possible, and they headed toward the bar.
When they pulled up, Tim was standing outside his truck, smoking, but he put it out when they got out of the truck and approached him.
“Hey, Ravage, Karter,” he greeted, winking at her.
Creed held his keys out to her. “Kaere, will you unlock the back door? I’ll help Tim bring everything in.”
Karter took the keys from him, nodding. She went to the back door, unlocked it, propped it open, and then went to the storeroom to open that door.
She went back outside to help. Creed and Tim were unloading the cases from the back of the truck. She walked over to them.
“What can I do to help?” she questioned.
“Just look pretty,” Tim responded, licking his lips as he looked at her. She raised a brow at him.
“Isn’t your job to deliver supplies? Not flirt with my waitress?” Creed asked him. He then turned to her. “The inventory case list is right there,” he told her, pointing to it. “Will you go through it as we bring the cases in?”
“Sure,” she agreed, returning to the building.
Ravage watched as Karter returned to the building before turning to Tim. “You flirt with her every time you see her. If you haven’t noticed, it isn’t happening.”
Tim shrugged. “I’ll believe it when she tells me.”
Ravage side-eyed him. “She’s too nice to tell you. I’m doing it for her.”
Tim smirked at him. “Doing it for her, or doing it for you?”
Ravage glared at him. “Mind your own business.”
“Look, man. I’ve known you for years, and it isn’t like you not to say something.”
“Again, mind your own business.”
“Fine. Just keep it to yourself and wait for someone to take her from you.”
Tim didn’t allow him to say anything as he carried a case toward the back door. Ravage bit the inside of his jaw and waited a minute before following with the one he held.
“So, what are you doing this weekend?” Tim asked Karter. “I was thinking I could finally take you out Friday night.”
“She’s working Friday night,” Ravage told him between clenched teeth.
“That’s cool. Maybe we could do lunch instead.”
“Um...maybe, but I’m not sure Friday will work,” Karter responded.
Ravage placed down the case he was holding and headed back out of the building. He had to leave before he punched Tim in the face.
When Tim came out, he smirked at him, and Ravage wanted to knock it off his face.
“See, I told you,” Tim stated.
“I will beat the shit out of you,” Ravage told him.
Tim held his hand up in surrender. “It’s not my fault you can’t man up and go after what you want.” With that, Tim grabbed another case and headed back into the building.
Ravage hated to admit that he was right. His staying away wasn’t because he wanted to. It was simply because he knew Demetri would not be happy about it.
In his mind, though, his friend and mentor should be happy that she was with someone he knew would treat her right and be there for her, even if some things he used to get up to weren’t exactly kosher.
For the next fifteen minutes, he and Tim carried the cases in. Neither of them said anything to each other, but Tim was sure to flirt with Karter in front of him.
Once finished, Ravage signed for the delivery and was more than happy to have Tim leave.
He went back inside to find Karter already putting some things away. He hadn’t been lying to her when he told her he didn’t need her help with inventory last week because he planned on doing it himself tomorrow.
“You don’t have to worry about doing that,” he told her. “I’ll do it tomorrow. We can go back to barstool shopping.”
“It isn’t a problem. Besides, we can finish shopping once this is done or tomorrow if we don’t have time.”
“You’re sure, Kaere?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
They were silent momentarily as they stocked the shelves with the liquor he’d ordered.
“Kaere, you’re not going to go out with Tim, are you?”
She shrugged as she checked off a few bottles from the list. “He’s been asking a lot, and I keep sort of just brushing him off.”
“You know, he asks out anything with legs.”
Karter chuckled. “I’m aware. I don’t want to sleep with him or anything, but I haven’t been out on a date in a while, and it may be nice.” She paused. “Wait, that sounded wrong. Like I would be using him.”
“I literally just took you to lunch,” he told her.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t count. You’re like...a big brother,” she responded, the end trailing off softly. “Besides, I want to go out with someone who finds me attractive. Not somebody who thinks of me as a little sister,” she stated, almost even quieter than before.
Ravage was offended on so many fucking levels. One, because she didn’t think spending time with him was a date. Two, because she saw him as a big brother; and three, because she thought he saw her as a little sister.
Granted, he hadn’t outright stated his attraction for her, but damn, he didn’t think he was being overly subtle about it. At that moment, his mind became a place of fuck it. He wasn’t about to allow her to think that.
“That’s funny,” he started. “Because the fact that I want to fuck you into any near-surface when I’m around you would be strange if you were my little sister,” he told her.
Ravage watched as she turned to look at him. With the speed at which it happened, he was surprised that she didn’t give herself whiplash.
“That isn’t funny,” she told him.
“Am I laughing?” he questioned, stepping towards her, watching her counter with her own step backward.
“Ravage,” Karter whispered as he watched her back into the wall housing excess liquor. His name from her lips sounded like a prayer, and he wanted to hear it again.
He continued towards her, caging her in. Leaving her nowhere to go and no hope of escaping him. He had been holding himself back for far too long, and he refused to do it any longer.
Ravage trailed his hands up her sides before bringing them up to cup her face.
He leaned in, overly aware of the hitching of her breath.
Her small, delicate hands came up and settled on his chest, and she barely pushed.
A feeble attempt at getting him to stop, but he had no intention of doing so.
She would have to say the word if she wanted him to stop.
He knew she wouldn’t, though. Her little body was betraying her as she trembled against him, and he was sure it was out of pure arousal. She wanted him the same way he wanted her, and he wanted to kick himself for not attempting this sooner.
“You shouldn’t...we shouldn’t. My dad will kill you,” she told him. Her voice was just as soft as it had been a moment ago when she had breathed his name into the air.
“Then I’m going to die one happy fucking man,” Ravage responded. Bringing his lips down to capture hers.
She kissed him back, their lips moving in a frenzy. He picked her up, and she wrapped her legs around him. Her hands came up to grip his hair. He brought one of his hands up to her breast, taking it in his hand.
He brushed his thumb over her bra-clad nipple, and she broke the kiss. Ravage attached his lips to her neck and sucked on it. He had every intention of marking her.
“W-wait. Creed, we need to stop.”
“Kaere,” he spoke against her neck. The last thing he wanted to do was stop, but he’d told himself he would if she said it.
He pulled his face from her neck and put her down slowly. Her breath hitched, and he knew she felt how hard he was, something that happened because he’d finally kissed her.
She pushed him back, putting space between them. “That was cruel, Creed. All you had to say was that going out with Tim wasn’t a good idea.”
“Kaere, I wasn’t jok—”
“Can you take me home?” she questioned, her voice trembling.
“Kaere, just let me expl—”
“Please.”
Ravage was lost as to what to say. He hadn’t been joking with her, but he knew Karter well enough to know that she wouldn’t listen to anything he had to say while she was like this.
“Okay,” he stated, and she hurried past him. He sighed to himself. This was not how he thought it would go. He had to figure out how to fix things and get her to see he was beyond serious.