If anything had happened to him, I would have been completely devastated. I was beingsopetty for acting like this. Letting him put his life on the line with old grievances at home. I was being the worst, and I decided right then and there I would do better. Carter deserved way better than I was treating him, and even if my feelings were hurt—it wasn’t his fault, it was mine. Me wanting something that was never going to happen. The sooner I got over it, the sooner we could get back to normal. Get back to being friends. Easier said than done.
Carter twisted the hair tie around either finger, again and again, and I found myself laser-focused on his hands. God, why did he have to have such nice hands? Big, wide, covered in rough calluses,long fingers. I swallowed hard.
“I missed you a lot, you know.” He confessed it so quietly I wondered if I’d misheard him, but I hadn’t.
I chewed on my lip, trying to suppress the smile that was threatening to consume my entire face. “You did?” I said nonchalantly as I could manage, but years of deciding I didn’t care, that convincing myself what was between us was actually nothing—it all went straight out the window. Perfect.
“Of course.” He said, his golden brown eyes lighting ever so softly. “I thought about you ev—” He cleared his throat and shrugged. “Of course I missed you. You’re yellow and I’m blue.”
My smile broke free, I just couldn’t help it. “I’m really glad you’re home. I thought you might have forgotten about me.” I admitted and then internally rolled my eyes at myself.Why? Just why in the hell would I admit that out loud?
“You? Never.” He grinned, focusing back on the hair tie he was playing with.
How could someone I knew so well feel so damn unfamiliar? Even back then, when I’d had a huge crush, there had always been a comfort between us, an easiness—because out of all my brother’s friends, Carter had always been the kindest to me.Now, I felt uncertain, like I didn’t want to say or do the wrong thing.
“Are things going well for you?” I asked slowly, knowing that was the stupidest question in the world.
“Yeah,” he said with a soft smile. “Really well. I’m up for a promotion soon.”
“Yeah?” I waited for him to continue, but he didn’t. “That’s good.” I nodded, unsure where to go from here. Truth was, there were a million and one things I wanted to ask him, a million and one things I wanted totellhim—I just didn’t know how.
We looked at each other dead in the eye, and for a mere moment, everything was right—just for a millisecond, it was like no time had passed at all.
He looked at me expectantly, and I wondered if I should stand and hug him. Realized a part of me was aching to touch him, to remember what it felt like to be wrapped in those rare, strong-armed hugs that seemed to make the world disappear.
I could almost read the same thought in his eyes, but just then my bedroom door burst open, and a tall blonde blur of otherworldly beauty exploded into the room.
“Carter!?” Sloane squealed, with her silky blonde hair and effortlessly perfect makeup—she was always picture perfect, because she was quite literally a runway model. Meanwhile, I sat like a wet rat on my vanity stool, suddenly so unsure of what to do with my hands.
“Hey!” Carter said, his voice immediately full of his usual pep, dissolving all the tension in the room. “Good to see you, Sloane.”
“Carters home.” Sloane grinned at me before turning back to Carter. “Damn, you got ripped, Kensington.” She didn’t apologize as she checked him out unabashedly, and while his attention was focused on her, I used the opportunity to greedily do the same.
He chuckled. “That tends to happen when you work out for a living.”
Sloane, not one for subtly, yanked him up offthe vanity and spun him in a circle like a debutante. She was tall, but he still had to duck under her arm to oblige her, and I chuckled because he was always such a good sport—putting up with our antics over the years.
“Not bad.” Sloane critiqued and gave him a slow, dramatic clap of approval. I couldn’t help but smile. She was right. His transformation wasreal good.
Carter shook his head, a blush spreading across his tanned cheeks, and I wondered where he’d gotten so much sun. “Alright, I guess I’ll leave you girls to it.” He cast a long look at me before closing the door behind him, but not before—I caught a flash of pink around his wrist.
My heart tripped realizing what it was.
My freaking hair tie.
Sloane hooked a thumb over her shoulder as the door clicked shut. “Carters home.” She whisper-screamed, her eyes wide with knowing.
I rolled my lips over my teeth and quickly spun back to the mirror, as Jules reappeared, shaking her head with a grin.
“What’d he say? No, what’d you say?” Sloane begged, eyes gleaming as she hugged the bedpost, comically sashed by the drapes hanging over my bed. “You two were awfully cozy up here.”
“He just wanted to make sure we were okay.” I started casually applying my mascara even while my heart continued racing.
“And are you?”
“Of course.” I shrugged. “It’s Carter we’re talking about here, you know he doesn’t have beef with anyone.”
“I’m pretty sure he’d give his beef toyou.” Sloane grinned, coming closer while Jules groaned.
