I let my eyes fall closed while Aiden stroked my hair, promising myself I’d get up in a minute but reluctant to leave the new, exciting comfort of being with him.
I had no idea what the hell I was doing, but it didn’t feel wrong. Not even a little bit.
16
Aiden
I wokewith a start while Carter was in the shower, the sound of the spray just barely trickling through the closed bathroom door if I listened carefully.
My phone screen was lit up with a text notification.
What time was it?
I’d cleaned up with a wash cloth and practically collapsed on the bed, today’s emotional rollercoaster wearing me out so badly that I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t fall asleep again if I didn’t sit up.
Hell, even then, I wouldn’t have made any guarantees.
Dragging myself away from the comfort of the mattress, I grabbed my phone from the nightstand on my side of the bed and squinted at it, eyes not quite ready to focus yet.
Unknown:hey Aiden, it’s Hallie, I had to beg Carter for your number and I just wanted you to know that whatever my mom says, you’re welcome at my wedding if you still want to be there. Carter too, obviously, but I’ve already told him that. You drew me the most beautiful rose when Mark broke up with me in eleventh grade and left me crying in the hallway, remember? I know we were never really friends, but I regret that so much now and it’d mean a lot to me if you ignored my mom and showed up anyway. Peace?
I read the message over a few times to make sure I was getting it right, smiling at the memory of the one nice thing I ever remembered doing for Hallie. That she remembered it was a surprise—I’d forgotten until she mentioned it—but I suppose it might’ve meant a little more to her than it did to me.
I just hadn’t wanted to see her sad, and some part of me always thought it’d be nice to be friends, too.
Maybe we still had a chance to do that. As different as our worlds were.
No more different than mine and Carter’s.
A twinge of anxiety hit me in the gut as I thought it. I knew better than to think I could keep Carter, I was smarter than that. At the end of this wedding—or maybe sooner, depending on what he decided about attending now—he’d go back to New York, and I’d stay in Slow Falls, and if we saw each other again it’d only be by accident.
I bit my lip.
Was I okay with being Carter’s bisexual training wheels?
Yeah. It took me a second or two to decide, but yeah, I was okay with a short fling that taught him something new about himself, scratched an itch I’d had for a long time, and gave us both something to look back fondly on.
I’d have to talk to him about it, but I got the feeling it was just what he needed, and that heknewit now.
I saved Hallie’s number in my phone and opened a new response.
Peace. I don’t know what Carter wants, he’s in the shower and I think he needs some time to cool off, but if he’s still planning on going and he wants me with him, I’ll be there. Always thought you were cool :)
The water in the bathroom shut off, and I sat up to attention, waiting for Carter to emerge in nothing but a fluffy white towel.
My jaw dropped as he came through the door without one—or at least, drying his hair with it instead of wrapping it around his waist.
Throat dry, all I could do was stare at him while he wandered over to his bag, lifting it onto his end of the bed to go through it, towel draped casually over his shoulder, all like I wasn’t even there.
“Hi,” I said, voice rasping, in case he hadn’t realized Iwas.
Carter glanced up at me, gray eyes warm in the low light of the cabin. It was dark in here, darker than I’d thought, the sun already setting outside.
“Hi,” he said back, biting his lip.
How was hereal?
He was beautiful, all long stretches of perfect skin, lean and just muscular enough to fill out his frame, nothing too much, nothing too little.
