Chapter 18
Karter leaned against one end of the bar as she waited for Ilia to make the drinks she’d just put in.
It was still early in the night, so they weren’t overly busy.
However, she knew that would change soon, as it was a Friday night.
She wasn’t really looking forward to it, but at least she’d gotten the earlier shift.
She hadn’t slept well the night before, and she was exhausted.
Karter glanced to the other end of the bar and found Creed fixing drinks for patrons as he talked to a woman who was seated at the far end.
She didn’t know what they were talking about.
The older woman had been there for at least half an hour, and they’d been talking the entire time.
Which was unusual, because while Creed held conversations with his customers, she’d never seen him speak to one to this extent when he wasn’t expressly waiting on them.
Now that she thought about it, she’d never seen him speak to any woman who came in that long.
“You can always just walk down there and slip your tongue into his mouth.”
Karter pulled her attention away from the other end of the bar and turned to Ilia, who was placing drinks in front of her. “What?”
“You heard me,” Ilia replied. “It’s an alternative to glaring at them.”
Karter rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t glaring.” She picked up the drinks and placed them on the tray.
“Sure you weren’t,” Ilia responded as Karter walked away.
She went over to her table, placing the drinks down in front of them and asking if she could get them anything else.
They hadn’t wanted to order food at first, but in the time she’d been away from the table, they’d changed their minds.
Karter took their order and headed to the kitchen.
Bypassing Creed and the woman he was talking to.
“Finally,” Mike spoke as she handed him the order. “I was getting bored back here.”
“No one says you have to stay back here,” Karter reminded him, knowing that even though she’d said it, he would remain in the kitchen.
“You know I don’t like crowds.”
“Then don’t complain when you’re bored,” she chastised lightly.
“You could be a good friend and keep me company now and then.”
“Are you trying to get me fired?” she asked, glaring at him playfully.
“Like Ravage would ever,” Mike responded.
Karter remained in the kitchen with him for a few minutes before going back onto the floor to check on her other tables.
Creed was still talking to the same woman, who was now laughing at something Karter was sure her boyfriend had said.
She caught herself before she could roll her eyes and mentally shook her head at herself.
She had never been the jealous type, and she wasn’t about to start now.
Mainly because she had no reason to be. There wasn’t a single part of Karter that felt as if Creed would do anything like that to her, and while she knew, she still couldn’t stop herself from being irritated at the older woman’s laugh.
Karter walked around, checking on several of the tables before going towards the kitchen. She knew that her dish should have been ready at that point. She was passing by the end of the bar again. This time, Creed reached out to grab her, but Karter sidestepped him.
“I’m running food,” she threw over her shoulder as she went back into the kitchen. Mike was putting the finishing touches on the plated dish.
She took it out to her table, making sure they didn’t need anything else, and letting them know she would put in refills for their half-empty drinks. She went to Ilia and requested the two drinks.
She’d only been standing there a few seconds when she felt eyes on her. Looking up, she found Creed staring at her. He beckoned her over, and Karter held up her finger, pointing to Ilia, who was making her drinks.
Once they were done, Karter took them to the table. Checked on a few others who were seated and made sure they didn’t need anything else. When she was sure all her tables were good, she went to the bar.
“You are hilarious, Creed.” Karter heard the woman speak as she walked up to them, and she felt her eyebrow twitch.
“Did you need something?” she asked Creed as his attention turned to her.
“Karter, this is Denise. She won the amateur brewing contest last week,” Creed said.
Karter? She raised a brow at him but didn’t comment on it. She turned her attention to the woman seated at the bar. “Congrats.”
“Thank you,” Denise responded. “I was just talking to Creed about trying to get him to carry my little home project.”
“And what was the verdict...Creed?” Karter questioned, and his gray eyes locked with hers.
“We’re still coming to an agreement,” Denise answered. “I’m trying to get more money from him,” she concluded with a laugh.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Karter spoke, turning and heading down to the other end of the bar. She had a mind to ask Ilia to pour her a shot, but knew she shouldn’t have been drinking on the clock. So, instead, she leaned against the bar and watched the older woman prepare drinks.
“Are you alright?” Ilia asked, coming over to her a few minutes later.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“You could kill someone with the energy you’re giving off. What happened?”
Karter knew she was being sensitive, and a part of her was telling her to get over it. “She called him Creed.”
“What?” Ilia asked, furrowing her brow. “That’s...I’ve never heard him let anyone but you call him that.”
“He also called me Karter.”
“Who is that woman?”
“Apparently, she won that contest last week, and she says she’s trying to get Creed to carry her beer.”
“Oh. Well, maybe he’s just trying to be professional,” Ilia supplied.
“Mhm,” Karter responded, her eyes sliding back to Creed as he stood leaning against the bar while Denise laughed at something else that Karter was sure wasn’t that funny. “Maybe.”
Ravage was sitting behind his desk when Karter walked in a little before one in the morning.
She was supposed to have been gone thirty minutes ago, but he knew her well enough to know that she would stay until her last table had left.
She’d worked the earlier shift. Coming in at four to help with the setup. He watched as she grabbed her purse.
“Did you have a good night?” he asked.
She shrugged. “It was fine.”
“Do you want to stay with me tonight?”
“No. Thanks. I’m going to head home and get into bed.”
With that, Ravage watched as she walked out of the office. He stared at the open door for several long seconds before standing from his seat and heading out after her. Closing the door as he did.
He exited through the back door, where he and his employees parked, and he saw her walking to her car.
“Kaere!” he called, attempting to gain her attention. However, she continued walking. “Kaere!” he called again as he increased his steps to catch up with her. Ravage reached out and grabbed her arm, and she turned to look at him. “Did you not hear me calling you, Kaere?” Though he knew she did.
“Oh, you were talking to me,” she stated. “I must have been listening for ‘Karter’,” she informed him, pulling her arm from him. Ravage raised a brow at her, and she sighed. “Look, Ravage, I’m tired, and I just want to go home and go to bed.”
He studied her for a second. She was upset with him. There were only two times she called him Ravage. When she was mad and when she was turned on. The latter was far from the truth at the moment.
“What’s wrong?” he questioned.
“I’m tired.”
She was lying to him, and Ravage wasn’t about to have whatever conversation they needed to have out in the parking lot.
“Come back inside. I’ll pack my things up, and we can head out together.”
“No, it’s fine. You finish. I’m going home and getting into bed.”
Ravage didn’t protest; he took a step back, allowing her to slide into her car. He watched her pull out before he turned and went back inside and straight to the bar.
“You think you can handle closing up tonight?” he asked Ilia.
“Sure can. I’m sure you have some groveling to do.”
Ravage furrowed his brow. “Groveling? For what exactly?”
“You’re having a dense moment, I see. I’m sure you’ll figure it out, Creed.”
“Don’t call me...” he trailed off as she raised a brow at him. “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath, and he turned and headed towards his office. He typed in the code, letting himself inside.
He ensured everything was shut down before grabbing his keys and leaving. Sliding into his truck, he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward Karter’s apartment. She’d only left a few minutes before him, so he knew she would still be awake when he made it there.
Parking fifteen minutes later, Ravage took the stairs two at a time to her door. He knocked, waiting for her to pull the door open. It took several minutes of him knocking, and at one point, he thought she was simply avoiding him. However, she swung the door open in her robe.
“Ravage, it’s late. What are you doing here?”
Taking her in, he saw droplets of water streaming down her neck and figured she’d been in the shower. He stepped inside, causing her to step back, and closed the door behind him.
“We need to talk, Kaere,” he told her.
“Whatever you want to talk about, we can do it tomorrow. I just want to go to bed.”
“In what world do you think I’m going to let you go to bed mad at me?”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t lie to me again.”
Ravage watched her bite her bottom lip before turning and heading over to the couch. He followed, sitting beside her.
“Talk,” she told him.
“I asked her not to call me Creed, but she said calling me Ravage made her uncomfortable.”
“So, it’s okay for me to be uncomfortable instead, with her calling you Creed,” Karter mumbled.
“I didn’t say that, and I didn’t know her calling me Creed would make you uncomfortable.”
“I am the only person who ever calls you that.”
Ravage was going to point out that Sora called him Creed occasionally, but knew that wasn’t the best move and kept it to himself.
“And you called me Karter. You never call me Karter.”
“I called you Karter because when I call you Kaere, people think it’s your name, and just like you apparently don’t like other women calling me Creed, I don’t want anyone calling you that.”
It was quiet between them for several minutes, and Ravage wanted to give her time to process what he’d just said.
He had in no way wanted to downplay his relationship with her when he introduced her.
He also hadn’t been trying to make her uncomfortable.
Denise had been the first person he’d ever come across to tell him that calling him by his last name would make her uncomfortable, and he wasn’t an asshole.
He didn’t want to force her to, but he would, because he’d much rather anyone else be uncomfortable than Karter.
“I apologize for upsetting you, but talk to me next time.” Karter nodded slowly, and Ravage stood, preparing to head home. “I’ll let you get some rest, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Karter reached out, grabbing his hand. “Stay, please.”
He would not protest. He didn’t mind staying with her. Hell, he tried to make it happen one way or another. Whether that was her staying at his place or he stayed at hers. He just figured she’d want some space tonight.
Karter didn’t give him a chance to respond. She led him toward her bedroom. Once inside, she released his hand and went to her dresser. Ravage continued into the bathroom.
After showering, he stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He had a few clothing items he’d left, and he found she had pulled a pair of boxers out for him.
Ravage slipped them on before slipping into bed beside her.
He’d barely settled himself before she was straddling him, her head lying on his chest.
“I’m sorry. I should have just talked to you then. I don’t even know why I was upset.”
“Don’t apologize. This was my fault. I wasn’t trying to make you jealous.”
“I wasn’t jealous, I don’t think. Just...I don’t know.” Karter yawned.
Ravage kissed the top of her head. “Get some sleep. It doesn’t matter now.”
It was several long minutes later when he heard her soft, even breathing.
He made a mental note to be more careful with his words and his actions.
He knew Karter could be sensitive, and he also knew that he was her first proper relationship.
At least her first that was as serious as they were, and he didn’t want her having any reason to doubt the way he felt.
Ravage closed his eyes as well, allowing sleep to take over.