4
Aiden
“If you wanna pull over sometime soon,I’ll take over the driving the rest of the way,” I said, watching as snowcapped trees whizzed by outside the window.
We’d already crossed the border—not the ordeal Carter had expected it to be—and there were only a couple of hours of solid driving left.
“You drive?” Carter asked.
“No.” I smiled to myself. “But it can’t be that hard if you’re doing it.”
“Can’t tell if you’re serious or if you’re still paying me back for walking in on you in the shower earlier.”
“I’m serious about the driving and you’re not the first person to see me naked. You’re not even close. Trust me, I’m not mad about that.”
“You’re being nicer to me than you ought to,” Carter said. “Why?”
I snorted. “I’m starving and if you pull over I can get something to eat,” I said. “Also, I don’t wantyoudriving fatigued, and the dark circles under your eyes are making me nervous. It’s not selfless.”
Carter didn’t need to know that I was trying to give him a break because I wanted him to be as relaxed as possible for dealing with his family. I’d only grown up next to them, but I knew they were… an experience.
Carter was different. Sweet, and kind, and smart.Sosmart. He’d been an honor student while I’d been scraping by and begging to pass so I wouldn’t be left behind.
Maybe someone else in my position would have hated him, but I just wanted to curl up next to him and let him explain everything to me, because maybe then I could get it through my thick skull.
I’d listened in on him and Kieran doing homework a million times, and I always understood better when he was explaining something.
Aside from wanting to jump him, I felt like I owed him. Even if he didn’t know he’d done anything for me.
“You know,” Carter said. “You’re definitely Kieran’s brother.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I know. All my life, even. I have a younger brother, too…”
Carter snorted. “Yeah. Same sense of humor,” he said. “Not funny.”
“Listen, you made a joke about getting cold feet in the snow, you don’t have a leg to stand on here.”
“Aleg to stand on?” Carter glanced at me, eyebrow raised. “I hope that was deliberate, it was too good not to be.”
“I pride myself on being funny enough that my clients forget about the pain and the nerves,” I said.
“Well,” Carter said, flicking his turn signal on as we approached an exit that promised there was food nearby. “If I ever lose my mind and decide to get a tattoo, I’ll come to you for it.”
* * *
“You think the waitress is cute,”I teased once I was sure she was out of earshot, watching Carter’s cheeks flush in response. Making him blush could’ve easily become my new favorite hobby.
“How do you know?” he mumbled, playing with a sugar packet he’d picked up. He’d always had nervous fingers, and I was thrilled to see that hadn’t changed.
Because I’ve wanted you to look at me like that for ten years, I thought.
Well, not ten continuous years. After Carter moved away, I’d only thought about him after someone had hurt me.
Carterneverwould have hurt me. At least, the fantasy Carter who existed in my mind wouldn’t have.
“You’ve got all the body language happening,” I said, gesturing vaguely at him. “I’m not judging, sheiscute.”
Carter looked down at the table. “If you say so.”
