I sniff and tap my fingers against the table. “I’m not the one who sidetracked us with the creepy praying mantis info, now am I?”
“Fair point,” she concedes. “Please, continue.”
My lips bow into a smile. “Carterispretty sexy, isn’t he?” An image of his muscular body pops into my head.
“Ummm, yeah.” A rosy blush heats her cheeks. “He’s definitely sexy.” She goes a little dreamy eyed. “And those gorgeous gray eyes…” her voice trails off on a sigh.
“Just an FYI, we fooled around but didn’t sleep together.” If fooling around means doing everythingbutthe actual P to the V, then that’s exactly what we did.
She nods. “You came to your senses and put the kibosh on coitus?”
“Coitus,” I snicker like a fifth grader who’s just heard her teacher use the wordballs. “Nope, he did.”
“Huh.” Her eyes flare wide and her brow creases. “Well, that’s an unexpected turn of events. How come?”
She’s right. It was totally unexpected.
I’m still peeved. Not to mention turned on.
“I don’t know.” Instead of admitting the truth, I shrug. “He gave me some song and dance about taking advantage of my inebriated state and when I called bullshit, he said that Noah would be pissed.”
“True statement.” Olivia nods. “So, what happens now? Was it just a casual encounter?”
“I don’t know.” Needing something to focus my attention on, I pick up a pencil from the table and twirl it like a baton with my fingers. “I’m not sure what it means.”
I don’t mention that beneath all my ire for Carter lurks something more. Olivia brought it up a few weeks ago and I immediately shot down her theory, but there was some truth to it. Only now am I coming to terms with it.
How stupid would it be to fall for a guy like Carter?
That was more of a rhetorical question.
As if reading my thoughts, she says, “You’re better off letting it go and pretending it never happened. You two have to live together.”
She gives me a look rife with meaning, one that has the breakfast I wolfed down curdling in my belly.
“And Carter doesn’t date. He,” she glances around and lowers her voice, “hooks up.A lot.”
She’s right. That’s Carter in a nutshell.
One-and-done.
Mr. hit-it-and-quit-it.
The thought of Carter bringing chicks back to the apartment makes me nauseous. Everything I did last night and this morning hits me like a ton of bricks. I fooled around with my cousin’s best friend. And I have no idea what it meant. According to Carter, it didn’t mean anything.
Frustrated with myself for not thinking about the repercussions, Ilay my forehead on the table. Once again, I’ve looked without leaping and Olivia wasn’t around to save me from myself.
My bestie reaches over and rubs my shoulder. “Being a virgin doesn’t look so bad now, does it?”
I snort.
She’s got me there.
25
CARTER
I’m on the couch, flipping through sports channels, when Daisy saunters through the apartment door. Every nerve ending in my body goes on high alert. Daisy can be something of a wild card. She always has been.
