I want to kiss him again, but he’s too far away. Suddenly impatient to get his lips on mine again, I reach down and grab his wrist to tug it away. “I want you inside me.”
“You’re not ready yet,” he tells me.
“That’s okay,” I assure him, reaching for his sides to urge him closer.
Carter shakes his head, but withdraws his finger anyway. “Of course the night I’m in the mood to make love to you, you’re like, ‘just force it inside me.’”
I bite down on my bottom lip to slightly suppress my smile. “Hey, you can make love to me all you want, just get to it. Chop chop, I’m waiting.”
Just for my sass, he pushes inside me hard. I wrap my arms around him and draw him closer, closing my eyes as his lips brush mine.
“A little demanding tonight, huh?” he murmurs, between kisses to the corner of my mouth. “You must’ve missed me.”
I move my hips and try to accommodate him better, but he’s not fully inside me yet. “My body has other ideas, apparently.”
“Doesn’t want to let me in,” he agrees, pulling back and pushing in a little slower. “What have you been telling it about me?” he asks lightly.
“The truth,” I tell him, cocking an eyebrow.
Now he nods. “It all makes sense now. I needed you to lie and cover my ass. God, Zoey. Way to drop the ball.”
I crack a smile, which is mildly annoying. It’s impossible to hold the grudges he deserves to have held against him when he’s making me smile. My stupid body even gives in; I feel him push all the way inside me and I gasp a little at the sudden fullness.
“There we go,” he murmurs, satisfied. “Your body says it’s willing to give me another chance.”
“Oh, does it?”
He nods, then bends to kiss the corner of my mouth again. “Insists it’s the mature thing to do.”
“My body just likes your dick,” I inform him. “It’s hypnotized and its judgment can’t be trusted. I assure you, my mind is not so easily swayed.”
“Well, yeah, because I can’t fuck your mind.”
“You probably could, but it sure wouldn’t help your case,” I toss back.
Carter grins before kissing me square on the mouth. “Have I mentioned lately that I miss you? Because I do. Very much.”
“That won’t work,” I advise him, closing my eyes as he trails kisses across my jawline to my neck.
“What won’t work? Honesty?”
“Sweet talkin’ me. You said yourself I know you better than anyone else. That works against you as well as it worked for you. I know when you’re tryin’ to play me. I know what you want, so I know you’ll say anything to get there. Nothing you do will work. I won’t even believe you if you’re sincere. Let’s just do what we came for and not make it complicated, all right?”
Carter comes up to meet my gaze and watches for a moment, his movements paused. When he finishes studying my features, his jaw furrows. He must not like what he sees. Determination. I took the gamble once, but I won’t make the same bad bet twice, and he knows it.
“Fine,” he finally says, pulling back and then pushing inside me slowly. “If I can’t tell you, I’ll show you. I will make this up to you, Zoey. One way or another. I won’t stop trying until you forgive me, so if at any point you want me to? That’s the only way. We are at a stalemate until someone swerves, and I think you know it won’t be me.”
“It won’t be me either,” I assure him honestly, holding his gaze. “I appreciate the effort, Carter, I really do, but I’m not gonna change my mind. Even if I want to, I won’t. I can forgive myself for betting on you the first time, even after all the red flags. But how do you expect me to sell myself on doing that a second time? I can’t be convinced that’s a good idea. It can’t be done.”
His eyes narrow, momentarily calculating. “Sure it can. I’m just using the wrong method.”
I don’t like the sound of that, or the look on his face. “What does that mean?”
His expression clears and he offers me a smile, his eyes glimmering with mischief. “Don’t you worry about it, princess.”
I want to worry about it. I feel like I need to worry about it. But then he stops talking and starts using his body against me. Before I know it, I’m too busy being driven out of my mind with pleasure to worry about anything.
When most boys screw up, they send flowers.
Carter sends chaos.
I try to ignore the reality at first. Sunday morning at church when everyone is talking about the terrible vandalizing of Luke’s car last night, I pray with every ounce of faith inside me that Carter wasn’t involved. I’m sure he wasn’t out there using a bat to bust out the windows and slashing all four tires himself, but he very well could have sent someone to do his dirty work for him.