“What if he says something? What if Liam finds out about—” I shifted, unable to find just the right words.
“He won’t.” Carter purred, and the timbre of his voice caressed my very bones. “But I’m glad to know you’re worried.”
I swallowed hard, realizing I’d outed myself. Thiswasadate-date, and Carter wanted to see if I knew it. How I felt about it.
Sneaky bastard.
My heart fluttered, and I suppressed a smile.I was on a date with my best friend. With the guy I’d been crushing on since forever. Was this real life?
I tried to keep my cool, and more importantly, not make it mean anything more than it was. Just a simple dinner between friends…that was romantic.
Shit. There was no way I was going to keep my cool. I was freaking the fuck out.
CHAPTER 29
Strawberry Taste Test
SARAFINA
Twenty minutes later, Carter and I were either the cutest or most annoying dinner guests they’d ever served.
Carter had his crisp white sleeves rolled up to his elbows.I know.I was in my plunging red silk gown, and we both wore matching plastic bibs to protect our evening wear.
We shared longing glances over our pile of seafood dumped on newspaper, and while the candlelight flickered between us, we giggled and hammered the shit out of our crab legs, fighting for every last bite. It might have been the most romantic thing I’d ever done.
“Everybody’s looking.” I laughed, dipping another piece of crab into the ramekin of herby melted butter.
“They’re just admiring how beautiful you look,” Carter said, eyes pouring over every facet of my face.
I quickly looked away and laughed again. I couldn’t help it. “They’re looking at the mess we’re making.”
“Let ‘em. Ethan wouldn’t serve this shit if he didn’t want us making a mess.”
Just then, a scrap of something flew into the air, emphasizing my point. We shared a guilty look, and our shoulders shooksilently as we stifled our laughs, trying not to disturb the live performers, whose music still tinkled softly in the background.
“Theydon’tserve this shit.” I reminded him with a chuckle while I worked on freeing another piece of meat from one of the smaller crab claws. If I was being honest, I was actually surprised at how few of the massive pieces there had been. Not that I minded the extra time it took to crack open the smaller pieces,it prolonged our date.
When I looked up, Carter was still watching me, a devious smirk on his face that made me blush.Again.
I wondered what exactly he was thinking, wondered if it was similar to what I had been thinking all night. “Are you going to eat, or just watch me eat?” I finally teased.
Carter leaned forward on his forearms, voice lowering. “Oh, don’t you worry, I’ll get my fill tonight.” His eyes dragged over me. “One way or another.”
I sucked in a quiet breath while Carter started back in on his meal so casually, I wondered if I just had an abnormally dirty mind. We’d been shamelessly flirting all night, but I wondered if Carter understood that it was so much more for me. It always had been. I’d never admit it, of course, because I’d nearly done that once, and we’d almost lost our friendship over it.
If I lost him again, I didn’t know if I could survive it. Not after the year I’d had. I realized as I stared down at my plate how badly I needed him. His friendship.
I’d rather settle for friendship than nothing at all, I decided. That’s probably what this was to him—a friend date.
Carter was thoughtful and kind, and this was my debut as an artist. The more I thought about it,of course, he’d take me out to celebrate. This wasn’t anything special, this was just Carter being who he was. Thoughtful and generous.
As if he could read my mind, Carter asked, “What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
“I’m just thinking.”
“About what?”
“About how Sloane sold me out.” I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore the empty pit that had formed in my stomach over the last thirty seconds.
