Total pages in book: 213
Estimated words: 201920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1010(@200wpm)___ 808(@250wpm)___ 673(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 201920 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1010(@200wpm)___ 808(@250wpm)___ 673(@300wpm)
It’s not really a loan, as I never want to be paid back, but Carter insists I call it that. For only being sixteen with not much to be proud of, he’s a proud kid.
“How is she doing with everything?” Carter asks to change the subject. I know that’s why he did it. “Is she still freaking out?”
My gaze is brought back to her as he asks. Nice timing on his part, as she’s just walking up the parking lot.
“She slept at my place last night,” I tell him. She slept easily and deep like she hadn’t slept in years, waking up with a yawn and a stretch that was so relaxed and at ease. Although the second she saw me, she blushed violently and tried to hide under the covers. “Good morning,” were the first words she greeted me with as she covered her mouth and hid under the sheets.
Carter’s chuckle cuts off any thoughts of sharing particulars. “So that’s how you deal with it,” he says and nods his head in approval with a wide grin.
If I had that ball in my hands, I’d throw it at him. But damn if the pride in my chest won’t go away at him thinking I fucked her worries away.
“Hey.” Chloe gives a hello while she’s still a good ten feet away, walking through the parking lot and to the back behind the shop where we’re standing.
Thump, Carter tosses the ball at the wall, but I don’t break my gaze from her. She’s already blushing. Her skin is so beautiful like that, with that rosy tinge creeping up her cheeks and growing hotter every second I keep my eyes on her.
“I don’t get a hello?” Carter asks jokingly, and for the first time since she’s walked up here, her attention goes to him.
“What makes you think I wasn’t waiting for you to say hello first?” she asks him, quipping back without missing a beat and with the trace of a friendly smile on her lips. I can see she’s a little tense; it’s the way she is around people. Tense at first, quiet too, but if she wants, Chloe opens up easily and what’s inside is raw and beautiful.
Carter grins back at her as he says, “Hello.” He pronounces the word carefully, enunciating each syllable and it makes her laugh although that shyness is still there.
“Are you working here too?” she asks him and the hair raise on the back of my neck. Everyone here works for Romano, but Carter needs something better than this. I keep my thoughts to myself and wait for him to reply.
“Still in school,” he answers and she’s quick to add, “I always forget you’re younger than us.”
It’s odd how she says it. Like she knows him or maybe she’s just paired us together like other people have.
“Were your ears burning?” Carter asks her with his brow raised. “We were just talking about you.”
Chloe hums a small laugh with her lips closed tight although she can’t hide her smile. “I hope good things,” she adds after a moment of the two of us staring at her and waiting for her reply.
“Mostly,” Carter jokes with her, but I can tell he makes her nervous by the way her smile slips.
“Yeah,” she says honestly. “I kind of figured you might be…” her voice trails off and she offers me a small smile although I can see how nervous she is. She picks at the hem of her shirt while she talks. “I might have been talking about you too,” she tells me, biting down on her lip after and looking me up and down.
“Is that right?” I ask her and she’s quick to shake her head. “No, I’m just playing.”
Carter barks out a laugh while I stand there looking like an asshole.
“I didn’t give you anything good to talk about?” I joke with her, but she just clears her throat, slowly letting those walls come back up.
She didn’t talk about me because she has no one to talk to. I feel like a prick when the realization hits me.
“I’ll make that up to you tonight then,” I add before she has to say anything. Her cheeks must be on fire to be that red.
I let my hand travel to the small of her back to lead her away and I nod a goodbye to Carter. He’s waiting for the bus to go to the hospital, but it’ll be here in minutes. It’s almost 5:15.
“See you later, Carter,” Chloe says sweetly, giving him a small wave as I walk her to my car.
I open the door for her, but before she can slip in, I wrap my hand around her hip and bring her closer to me. I have one hand on the door, with the other on her hip and her stance mirrors mine. It’s as if she’s waiting for what my next move will be, so she can determine hers.