carter
Ardenand I have officially made it through one month of pretending to be in a relationship. It was technically not a full month, but I’m counting it as one. She’s stuck it out for me like a champ, and this arrangement is working wonderfully, apart from the no sex thing. I hadn’t realized how much I used sex to blow off steam, but now that I’m not having any of it, I’m more than aware that it was a crutch I leaned on.
My hand is cutting it for the time being, but I’m not quite sure how long that will last.
On the plus side, the guys love Arden. Every time I show up somewhere with her on my arm, I get warmer greetings than they ever give me when I show up solo. Tom’s a bit standoffish toward her, but I imagine that’s because Morgan is in there, poisoning his mind. He just avoids speaking to her altogether. He’s an odd duck on a good day, anyway. Not my favourite teammate.
Plus, I’d rather him say nothing at all than say something that will make me have to hit him.
Boston watches us way too carefully for my liking. I don’ttypically lie to him, but Declan and Penny knowing the truth are already way too many people with the inside scoop. I trust Boss, I just feel like the more people who know, the easier it’ll be to slip up. He hasn’t said anything to me about her, but I don’t think he’s buying it. I haul her around and pretend we’re together, and he bites his tongue and says nothing.
That’s Boss.
The public is eating this up. They’re on my side, posting pictures of me getting arrested and then photos of me walking with her to these banging songs. Like it’s understandable that I hit someone in her honour.
Collin has been quiet, which is a small blessing that might not last forever, and because of all that, the public tide is quickly turning away from what I did to who I’m with.
I couldn’t have planned it better.
Now, it’s the beginning of November, which means she’s spent the better part of October showing up for me.
My turn.
I lock the G-Wagon and head to her front door. I’m using this as one of my three days, even though we won’t be doing much besides cleaning up the loose ends of our deal for the month. I take up enough of her time as is, and the last time we went out with everyone, she looked so exhausted that I left the bar early and took her home to Stinky.
I knock on her door, and it flies open like she had been waiting on the other side.
I arch a brow. Her red hair is on the top of her head and she’s in this fucking sinful little outfit. Shorts and a matching short-sleeved top, both white with cherries all over them. As if her in white isn’t already an image I picture every time I close my eyes.
Worst of all? She has those thick-rimmed black glasses perched on the very tip of her freckled nose.
This looks like the start of a dirty movie.
“Is this you cashing in on rule four point five?”
She blinks up at me, and fuck—if that expression doesn’t seem incredibly more seductive when she looks likethis.
Realization dawns on her face. “What?No. Why?”
I gesture to her outfit.
“These are pajamas,” she says sternly.
I cock a brow. “The hottest pajamas on earth, or what?”
She stares at me, pushes her glasses up her nose, and gives me a look. “It’s a shirt and shorts.”
She’s right. Technically. The shirt covers her chest and ends at the top of her bicep. It stops around her midriff, and those shorts sit high on her hips, but I can still see a sliver of her stomach and the entirety of those freckled legs. The messy bedhead is just fuel to the fire.
“Feel free to wear those more often,” I say, cracking a smile.
She rolls her eyes and pushes open the door, letting me through. I glance at the coffee table, littered with papers. She has another well-organized list resting on a pillow, with calculations and numbers scribbled in different colours. The house smells like lemon and bleach.
When she shuts the door behind us, she lets out a huff of breath that has me looking back at her. It’s a heavy sound, like she’s about to pull the rug out from under my feet.
I tense up. I’m not ready for her to terminate this deal. It’s going far too well to call it quits right now.
She swallows. “Carter, it’s a lot more than I thought.”
