“I’m feeling really anxious, Jo-Beth,” I admitted. Even knowing nothing was out there…
“Let’s just get into the trailer, and then I’ll like rub your belly or something. It’s all gonna be fine.”
Jo-Beth had a point. Better to be inside than outside, at the very least. We walked into the trailer, and I made sure to close the door behind me — locking it once, then unlocking it, then locking it again.
At the very least, I could get into something a little warmer. Maybe that would help the chill running through me. While Jo-Beth grabbed face wipes, I slid out of the sundress and into a pair of cozy PJs — long flannel pants, a thin ribbed cami, and fuzzy socks. I wished I’d brought a long sleeve shirt, but unfortunately, as discussed, my packing abilities left something to be desired.
Even as I got changed, Jo-Beth with her back to me, I had the unnerving sense that someone was watching me. Carter? I wondered, then immediately nixed the idea. He would never. It was so far out of character that it didn’t even bear contemplating.
Jo-Beth had moved on to teeth brushing when she turned and caught me staring out the window, searching in the night.
“You look, like, super shaken, dude,” she said through a frothy mouth of Crest White.
“It’s nothing.”
Even through the toothpaste, I could hear exasperation as she finally said, “Just go knock on Carter’s door. Tell him you think something’s outside.”
“He’ll freak out.”
“Why?”
Shit. Right. Damn it. I wanted to tell Jo-Beth why I was on such pins and needles, but I couldn’t, and I wanted to tell Carter that I was scared because of his story, but didn’t want to alarm him any further, not after everything he’d been through.
But, even if I couldn’t tell him that something spooky was lurking, I could at least ask him for a reassuring hug. Or, um, more than a hug.
“Okay,” I said, dropping my toiletries bag on the floor. “I’m gonna go inside, see if Carter knows anything about this. I’ll be back later.”
“Uh-huh,” Jo-Beth replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Sure you will.”
“Do you mind?”
“No, so long as we can hang a little tomorrow — do what you have to do. If I can’t make you any less anxious, hell, maybe he will.”
That was permission enough. I hugged my friend, silently thanking her for supporting me through all my weirdness. She hugged me back.
“Go, go, frolic with your lover.” She was already snuggling into bed. “I’ll just be here, reading a science textbook like a loser.”
I laughed and blew her a kiss goodbye before walking out the door. There were about ten, fifteen steps between the house and the trailer, and I ran every one of them, launching myself off stepping stones and onto the stairs up to Carter’s place. I rapped on the door with boundless nervous energy, and within moments, a light flicked on, its beams shining under the crack.
“Hello?”
“Carter, it’s me.”
The door opened immediately. Carter was still in his street clothes, still dirty from the day’s excursions. Yum. I glanced down at my own outfit, feeling far less sexy in my comfy jammies.
“What’s up?” he asked casually.
“I — um, I’m feeling… shit, this is so stupid.”
He took my hand, leading me over the threshold and shutting the door behind me. “You can tell me anything, Phoebe.”
“I’m just feeling a little spooked, is all. Walking home at night kind of gave me the willies.”
Carter nodded, understanding. “Yeah, Rough and Ready could use an extra streetlight. Or twenty. Do you wanna sleep in my bed?”
I’d been so prepared for him to think I was nuts, that I was just an anxious city girl who couldn’t handle the lonely country roads. Instead, he’d listened, affirmed, and offered an option. He’d done in a moment what it took psychologists years to study and learn. Dang.
Was it weird to accept this offer from someone who was supposed to be a one-night stand? Well, technically, you haven’t slept together for a full night, my brain supplied, ever helpful. This would just be sort of like an extension of the deal.
Okay, I’d talked myself into it. That hadn’t been hard.
“I’d love to.”
“I’ve gotta take a shower, but you can lay down in my bed, get comfortable,” Carter offered. “And of course, we don’t have to, er, do anything tonight. We can just… sleep.”
I nodded, not sure what to say to that, and Carter pointed out the door to his bedroom.
“It’s just in there. Make yourself at home.” He turned, heading to the bathroom, then paused. “Also, those PJs are fucking sexy.”
Jesus, he was a hunk, and sweet to boot. The little lines at the corner of his warm brown eyes had creased from smiling. I wanted to trace each one of those lines, follow it down to his high cheekbones, kiss those full lips.