Chapter 12
Billie
“It smells great in here.” He comes up behind me, pulls my hair over to one shoulder, then kisses my neck. “You smell great.”
I swipe my finger through the bowl I mixed the pudding in and raise it up for him to lick off. “Delicious.” I had a craving, so I made banana pudding. We went back to his place since he has cable and a brand-new TV and have been vegging out. It’s awesome.
“Mmm. I’m glad you think so. Now move so I can get this in the fridge.”
“I like you here.”
“Where, in front of the stove?”
He chuckles. “If I say yes, does that make me an asshole?”
“Yes.”
“Then no. I meant I like you in my space, my kitchen, my arms.”
I lean my head back. “I do, too.”
His lips almost touch mine when there’s a knock on my door. I jolt in surprise, and Carter walks over to look out the peephole. “Shit.”
“What? Who is it?”
“My parents.”
“What?”
He opens the door before I can even run away to fix my hair.
“Carter.”
“Pop. Hi, Mom.”
An older version of Carter steps in first and then his mom. As they get closer, I realize Carter got the green in his eyes from his mom because his father’s are blue.
“Hi.” I wave awkwardly, and Carter rescues me by coming over and putting an arm around my waist.
“This is Billie. Billie, these are my parents, Clark and Sally.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” Sally pulls me in for a hug, and I smile as I step back and shake Clark’s hand.
“Nice to meet you, too.”
There’s a weird tension flowing through Carter’s space, but I can’t put my finger on what it is.
“Is there a reason for this impromptu visit?”
“Nope. Just being nosy since Geoff told us you brought a girl in today.”
His shoulders shake when he laughs. “Of course.”
“It’s a big deal, Carter,” his mom says sympathetically.
“I know.”
I feel like there’s some sort of inside joke except it’s not funny.
“Why don’t you guys go to the living room? We’ll bring some beers in a minute.”
“Sure, son.” His dad pats him on the shoulder as he passes, and I’m pretty sure his mom wipes away a tear.
Once they’re out of earshot, he turns me around and pulls me back a step. “Are you okay with them here?”
“Of course, I am. I just feel like there’s something going on that I don’t know about.”
“There’s not. It’s just that I haven’t been in a relationship for a long time, and they’re nosy. They’re really cool once this weird introduction period is over.”
“Okay.” I’m actually kind of excited. I want to know everything about Carter and that means his parents too. I’ve never been with anyone who would think to introduce me to their parents. It’s pretty cool, to be honest. No matter how weird it might sound.
He kisses the top of my head before he gestures for me to go ahead of him to the living room. We sit on the couch while his parents have taken up residence on the chairs on either side of the room. “I heard you kicked Carter’s ass today.” His dad states.
That breaks the tension, and I agree with a nod. “Yes, I did.”
“I might have to add that to my menu if it was that good.”
“Your menu?” I ask with confusion.
“You were at one of my restaurants. He didn’t tell you that?”
I narrow my eyes at Carter who conveniently has a beer bottle covering his lips. “I guess I forgot.”
“Why wouldn’t you say something?” I ask.
“There was just so much other stuff going on that I didn’t mention it yet. I would have eventually.”
I’m not quite sure I believe that answer, but I’m not gonna sit here and get into it with his parents present.
And apparently, his mom feels the same way. “So tell me about yourself, Billie. Where are you from?”
“A little town in northern Wisconsin, almost in the UP.”
“Oh, it’s beautiful there. We went on a vacation once in the Upper Peninsula. Lots of snow but it was great skiing.”
We continue talking, and every once in a while, I notice a look exchanged between them, but I choose to ignore it.
Carter
I knew my parents would love her. I hear them laughing in the living room now as I grab the bowls for the pudding Billie made. I feel like the other shoe is about to drop or something because it shouldn’t be this fuckin’ easy. It has me on guard and almost paranoid.
“She’s great,” Dad says as he walks in to grab another beer.
“I know.”
“Does she know?”
Grabbing a plate, I stay leaned down a second longer than necessary to take an extra breath. “No.” I slam the door shut. “And she’s not going to find out.”
“Son, that’s ludicrous.”
“Why the hell would I tell her, Pops?”
He opens the cap on his beer and takes a small swallow. “For one, she’ll eventually see it online somewhere, I’m sure… Don’t know how she doesn’t know already. But also because it fucks with you. It’s something that your girl should know so she can handle you—”
“Don’t finish that sentence. It is not her job to handle me in any way. I don’t want her treating me any differently or thinking I won’t be able to protect her if—”
“That’s not what this is about, and you know it. Everyone knows it was an accident, Car. It wasn’t your fault. There isn’t anything anybody could have done differently in that situation, and it has zilch to do with you being able to protect someone.”
“Dammit,” I whisper harshly. It’s going to happen again.
Her screaming.
Begging me to help her.
Blood. So much blood.
Not being able to reach her.
My dreams shattered right along with the bone sticking out of my leg.
“Hey.” Billie’s voice registers, but it doesn’t break through the suffocating memory.
Help me, help me, help me. Over and over until she whispered the words as blood dripped out of her mouth and then it just stopped. Everything stood still, and there was not a damn thing I could have done.
“Are you okay?” Billie’s hand rests on my chest, and I shake my head to rid it of the memory. “Carter, everything okay?”
I link my pinky with hers and give her a tug. Her pretty blue eyes, the color of the ocean I love to hate for stupid fucking reasons, blink up at me, and just like that, the pain of that living nightmare vanishes. “Yeah, honey. Everything’s fine now.” She makes everything okay.
“Good.” She pushes up on her toes and kisses my jaw. “I was coming to grab the pudding.”
“Let me,” Dad says, opening the fridge. “I’ll meet you in the living room.” He walks out, and I wrap my arms around my girl.
I could hold her forever. Just stand here with her and thank God or Buddha or baby Jesus that I got so lucky to have another chance with an angel. Even though I don’t deserve her.
* * *
“Carter!” She screams my name and tries to pull my head away, but I grab her hands and hold them at her sides. “It’s too much, oh my God.”
I lap up her sweet cream as her orgasm rips through her and swear I must be dead because I’m in heaven. Her hips relax, and she falls back onto the bed. “Roll over, baby.”
She sits up on her elbows. “What?”
“Roll over. I told you every inch. Just did the front of your beautiful body, and now I need to give the back just as much attention.”
“I don’t know how much more I can take.”
“You can take it.”
I need to be inside her so fuckin’ bad, so I flip her over and tilt her hips up, then slide into her. “Goddamn, you’re so fuckin’ beautiful.” I hold her still and pound into her until she’s writhing beneath me, then stop. My dick hates me right now, but I told her what I was gonna do to her, so I intend to do exactly that. “Just needed a little of that pussy to hold me over, honey.”
I swipe her hair and hold it off her neck, then start kissing my way down. Once I reach the end of her spine, I grab her ass in my hands and spread her open. “Carter.”
“Told you every inch, baby.” My mouth hovers over her puckered hole, but I drop my hands and ignore it, then move back up her body. When the tip of my cock nudges between her legs on the way back up, I know there’s no way I can make my way back down without getting in there again.
“Tilt your hips, baby, and take me.”
She does that, the arch in her back a work of art, and I slowly tease her opening before I slide in. She’s so wet I can feel it dripping down my balls. I feel like I’m going to explode but gather enough strength to pull out of her again. “What? No. Don’t stop.”
“I missed a spot.” Working back down, I nip at the underside of her ass cheeks and go all the way to her ankle, paying attention to the back of her knee on my way up. When I reach my destination, I pull her back up, supporting her worn-out body as I’ve been working her over.
I spread her open again, and her thighs shake as I fuck her with my tongue. “Oh, my Lord.” She chants those three words over and over. But when I bring my mouth up and slide it over her backside, she bucks against me.
I bring a hand down and gather some moisture from between her slick folds and tease her. She convulses under my touch, and I fuckin’ love it. “You ever been taken back here, honey?”
“No.”
Sliding my finger inside until the first knuckle, I grit my teeth together. “We’ll have to work up to that another day. I need to be inside you too bad right now.” Then I flip her onto her back and throw her legs over my shoulders, crossing her ankles. Nudging between her folds, I slide all the way in and hold still.
“Hold on, honey.”
She reaches above her head, grabbing the headboard and arching her back. I hold her ankles together with one hand and bring the other down to grab onto one of her breasts. Then I fuck her. It’s not long before she’s screaming, and I shout her name as I fall into ecstasy right along with her.