by Zara Rivas
I thought males were the one that had raging hormones.
The sound of the door opening and closing snapped me out of the spell Carter had me under, and my head whipped in that direction.
I was equally relieved and disappointed that it wasn't them.
"Hey," Carter said, his voice deep. He put his finger under my chin, gently pushing it up, so our eyes locked. "Did I tell you yet how pretty you look tonight?"
I couldn't help but smile. "You didn't actually. I was quite disappointed in you."
"We can't have that, can we?" He moved his finger from under my chin and slowly traced it up the side of my face, adding his other fingers. "How can I make it up to you?"
I shivered under his touch. "I don't know," I told him weakly.
"Well, a good thing, I have an idea." His hands reached the back of my neck, and suddenly he was pulling me against him, his lips on mine.
And just like that, nothing else mattered.
As our kiss grew deeper, I let go of his hand, gripping onto the front of his t-shirt instead. I could feel his heart racing through the thin material, and it made me smile into the kiss. It was nice to know that I had the same effort on him that he had on me.
With his other hand now free, it found its way to the small of my back, and I let out a happy sigh.
With his arms wrapped around me, there was seriously no other place in the world I would rather be.
The sound of a throat clearing caused me to pull away from him, and I had a strange sense of déjà vu. Only thing time, instead of looking over to find an angry librarian standing there, it was Charlotte and Noah.
Noah was standing there was a grin, an amused look in his brown eyes. He raised his eyebrow at Carter as if they were speaking in some guy code.
Charlotte, on the other hand, looked shocked. That is the only word I could think of to describe her. Not upset or happy, just shocked.
As I jumped away from Carter, a blush appeared on Charlotte's face, and her grey eyes looked a bit embarrassed.
For a long moment, no one spoke. I bite my lip, wondering how we were going to make it through dinner if we can barely get passed this.
Finally, Noah cleared his throat again. "Sorry we're late," he said in his southern drawl. "I didn't realize the shirt I was wearing had a mustard stain."
Charlotte shook her head, giving Noah a teasing smile. "I swear, I don't know how you guys manage to get dressed every day."
"It happens to me all the time," Carter said, giving me a grin. "Maybe you should dress me, Harper."
Oh my god.
I quickly slapped him on the arm before glancing at Charlotte, trying to read her facial expression.
Luckily, she was pretty much an open book as she started to smile. "Geeze Carter, that was pretty lame. You need to step up your game."
He shrugged, his gaze still on me. "She loves it."
That was true.
"Can we get a table? I'm starving," Carter said.
"When aren't you?" Charlotte and I said in unison, which caused us to crack up.
Noah wrapped his arm around Charlotte's shoulder, and she gave him a sweet smile as they made their way up to where the hostess was standing.
I started to follow, pausing for a second as I felt Carter's hand grab mine. He gave me a soft squeeze, and without words, I knew what he was trying to tell me.
It will be okay.
Noah made a face as he took a bite of his burrito. He placed it back down on his plate, wiping his mouth with his napkin before taking a long sip of his water.
Charlotte looked over at him, raising an eyebrow at him. "Something wrong with the burrito?" She asked in a teasing tone. "Perhaps, you don't like it? And maybe someone reminded you of that on the way over?"
He laughed, reaching over her plate with his fork, stealing a bite of her food. "I don't recall that."
She rolled her eyes at him. "You never listen to me."
"I always listen to you," he corrected her, kissing her nose.
She wrinkled up her nose in response, even though I could tell by the look in her eyes that she loved it. "Aside from this one time, I take it?"
"You guys are like an old married couple," Carter said, shoving some rice into his mouth.
He ate like a pig, but yet, he still managed to make it seem attractive.
"Pleeease," Charlotte said, exaggerating the sound of the word as she pointed her finger back and forth between Carter and me. "If anyone is an old married couple, it's the two of you. You two have been fighting long before you even loved each other."
I started coughing as I nearly choked on the bite of food in my mouth. Carter handed me my water, and I started to gulp it down.
Carter and I haven't even said those four letters to each other, and here Charlotte was, using them so causally is an association with the two of us. I kicked her leg gently under the table, hoping she would change the subject, even though I had a feeling she loved this too much.
I glanced over at Carter, hoping he wasn't freaking out by what she said, but he was eating his food.
"So," Noah said, leaning over to steal another bite of Charlotte's food. "Have you guys told your parents the news yet?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Carter shake his head. "No, we didn't yet."
"Well, you shouldn't wait too long. It kind of sucks to have it dropped on your lap suddenly," Charlotte pointed out, her tone a tad harsh. Her face softens as my eyes met hers. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so cold." She reached across the table and squeezed my arm.
"I guess we should do that. I know it will be a huge bombshell for them. If they thought anyone would start dating, it was probably you and him," I told Charlotte.
She laughed. "No way, I'm pretty sure they stopped thinking that after the age of five."
"My parents will be excited, they love you," Carter said, placing his hand on my thigh. "And your whole family just adores me."
"Oh, please, gag me," I told her, not able to stop the smile.
He took his hand off my thigh and placed it over his heart, exaggerating being hurt. "Oh, come on, you know it's true."
"If you say so."
He started to kiss the side of my neck, leading up to my ear. I felt my eyelids flutter shut against my will. "I think I know of one person, at least." He whispered into my ear, his breath tickling my skin.
"Okay, you might have been wrong about them being an old married couple Char," Noah said, causing Carter to sit back up. "I am going to say they are still in the newlywed stage."
I felt my face blush. I guess we forgot they were at the table with us. Oh well, this was only our second PDA session they had witnessed, it could be worse.
"Is that kind of like the honeymoon stage? Because I don't mind that at all," Carter grinned.
"Ew gross," Charlotte said, wadding up her napkin so she can throw it at him. "I do not want to think about that." Then she looked at me and raised her eyebrow, and I knew that whenever we had time alone, she wanted to hear all about it.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Carter muttered, breaking apart from my lips.
We had just got back to his room from dinner, and Carter wasted no time pulling me into his bed with him.
"It was nice, really fun," I told him, giving a soft smile.
"I'm glad it's over though, I couldn't wait much longer to put my hands all over you," he gave me a grin before he started kissing my neck.
I put a hand on his chest, pushing him away. "I don't seem to remember you keeping your hands off me."
He laughed, laying his head against the pillow. "Hey, I tried."
I laid down next to him, resting my head on his broad shoulder. Just then, he sat up slightly, resting his weight on his elbow as he looked down at me.
"So, about what Charlotte said…"
My heart stopped beating, and I was pretty much, my face was pale. This was it. "What about it?"
"We should tell them soon, you know? Get it out in the open. My
parents wanted me to come home for my birthday, and I thought maybe you and Charlotte could come home with me. We always celebrate together, and then you and I can tell everyone."
I let out the breath I was holding and felt my whole body relax. "Oh, that! We can do that; it sounds like a good plan."
He narrowed his eyebrows at me. "What did you think I was talking about?"
"Nothing," I told him with a convincing smile, as I twirled a strand of hair around my finger.
The look in his eyes told me he didn't believe me.
"You thought I was talking about when Charlotte said we loved each other, weren't you?"
"How did you know?"
"Because," he said, slowly running his finger up my bare arm. "I saw how freaked out you got when she said it, and I know you have been thinking about it since then."
"Oh."
"I don't know why you got so weird about it," he said in a soft voice.
"She just used it so casually, I guess, and we never even said it, and I thought that maybe it would freak you out and-"
Carter laughed, and I realized I had been rambling. "I keep thinking it's pretty obvious how I feel about you, but I guess I could express it a little more. It's just… I've never felt this way before, and I usually never talk about how I feel…"
I knew he was waiting for me to say something, but I just kept looking at him. His words were too sweet, too perfect, that I would ruin them by saying something.
"What I'm trying to say is, yes, I love you. I love you."
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. It didn't feel real what was happening. "I love you too."
He smiled at me, a hazy look appearing in his eyes. "Oh yeah?" He leaned down and kissed me softly, again and again. "Then you would do something for me?"
Suddenly I found myself hoping that he wasn't going to ruin this romantic moment by jokingly asking for something ridiculous. I wouldn't put it past it.
"What?"
"Be my girlfriend? I mean… I thought of you that way, but I should ask, officially…" He was blushing, and I realized he was nervous.
How cute.
"That is one favor I would gladly do for you-"
I didn't have time to finish my sentence before Carter was kissing me again.
I didn't mind one bit.
Carter
Okay, I'll admit it.
I'm a bit of a mama's boy. This is why I found myself at home the day of my birthday instead of doing what I wanted to; eating endless amounts of pizza, drinking beer, and spending the night with Harper.
I suppose that happens naturally when you are not only the only son but the only child as well. As close as I was to my dad, my mom was the one that I strived to be better for and hated to disappointed- although, let's be real, I sucked in that department.
It seemed like trouble always had a way of finding me, wither it was breaking someone's window when I was playing baseball in the backyard when I was younger, or getting caught taking their car out before I had my license, or when they found out I would hide those awful progress reports before they had a chance to read them.
Not to mention the numerous times I've been caught in compromising position with a girl. Which, let me tell you, is just as awkward the fifth time as it is the first time.
I remember when I was twelve, my parents were going to a movie with Charlotte's and decided that us kids could stay home alone, so we were all hanging out over at their house. We started playing tag, and things were going fine until Charlotte skidded on a rug, crashed into a table in the hallway, and knocked over a crystal vase.
I didn't personally think it was a big deal, but the look on her parent's faces told me it was. It turned out to be some anniversary gift, and they were really upset.
Charlotte's parents were one second away from grounding her, and she was opening her mouth to confess when I found myself taking the blame.
No one even looked surprised.
That's when I knew; I would always be that kid.
"Happy Birthday, sweetie," mom said, interrupting my thoughts as she placed down a light brown pizza box in front of me. I knew immediately it was from Little Tony's, home of my favorite pizza.
"Thanks, mom," I told her as I opened the box, pulling out the biggest slice. There is always one slice that is bigger than the rest.
She smacked the back of my head. "Use a plate, please."
"You know mom," I said with a mouth full of pizza, "I don't use any plates in my dorm room."
She groaned and shook her head at me. "I can only imagine how it looks," she cringed at the thought. "Then again, I don't think I want to."
I took a sip of the chocolate milk she placed down in front of me. Yeah, yeah, I know, drinking chocolate milk with pizza sounds disgusting, but it's pretty good.
"It's not as bad as my bedroom was. It's on the verge of being clean even."
She looked slightly surprised. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. Plus, you know that girls appreciate a cleanroom…" she paused, giving me a look in which I always referred to as the 'mom look.' "Wait a second… is there a girl appreciating your cleanroom?"
I practically shoved half of the pizza into my mouth. "I don't know what you are talking about."
She placed her hands on her hips and gave me a knowing smile. "So, what is her name? When do I get to meet her?"
If only she were aware that she already knew her. Well.
I looked up into her curious eyes and excited smile, and suddenly I wanted nothing more than to tell her. For some reason, the idea that I was serious with someone was making her so happy, and I knew once she knew the identity of the mystery girl, she would be even happier.
However, it wouldn't be fair to tell her yet. Harper and I wanted to do it together.
Seeming to give up on my response, she shrugged. "I'll get it out of you sooner or later."
She started to walk out of the room when suddenly, I thought of something.
"Hey, mom?"
She stopped and turned to face me. "Yes?"
"You probably don't remember, but back when I was twelve and that vase broke, well, it wasn't me. It was Charlotte."
She laughed, smiling warmly at me. "Yeah, I know."
I narrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "You do?"
"You never confessed to something so easily; I knew something was up when you didn't try to make up some elaborate story. Mothers always know," she raised her eyebrow at me.
My phone vibrated loudly against the glass tabletop, and when I saw a text from Harper, I couldn't but grin. Grabbing the phone to reply, I caught my mom smiling at me.
"Is that her?"
I looked up at her innocently. "I don't know what you are talking about."
I knew my grin was giving it away.
"Girls, we have to hurry, they will be here shortly," mom said, hanging blue streamers from the kitchen ceiling.
"Mom, I'm pretty sure Carter knows they are coming over here to celebrate his birthday. He's done it every year, it won't be a surprise," I reminded her, tying the end of the balloon I just blew up.
Mom shook her head at us. She was probably annoyed that we were constantly trying to deny her fun in her party planning.
Emily laughed, not bothering to look up from her phone. "Plus, Carter is twenty years old, and I doubt he cares about the streamers and balloons."
Mom blew a loose strand of her blond hair out of her face. "So this is how it is, I take care of you, and then you grow up and tag team against me," she laughed. "But Emily, that reminds me, I think I have a candle with a twenty on it in the basement!"
"She will never change," Emily said with a laugh.
"Do we want her to?"
Emily laughed again, smiling down at her phone as it chimed.
"Adam?" I asked, nodding at her phone.
Her blue eyes sparkled at the sound of his name. "Yep. Can you believe we have been going out for two years now?"
I grabbed an apple off the table and crunched into it. "
Well, isn't that annoying cute."
Emily rolled her eyes, but there was still a smile on her face. "Speaking of annoying cute, when is Carter coming?"
I cleared my throat at the sound of footsteps, trying to give a hint to Em to keep her mouth shut. Thankfully, it was just Charlotte walking into the kitchen, holding a large white box in her hands.
