Page 87 of Boss and Brat

Ethan swallowed. “Carter… you don’t have to—”

“Yes,” Carter said, voice firm. “I do.”

Silence settled between them, heavy but not uncomfortable.

Carter forced himself to lighten the mood, just a little. “Besides, you think I’m gonna let someone trash my kitchen and ruin your clothes? Hell no. That’s personal.”

A faint, genuine laugh escaped Ethan. “Yeah. I guess it is.”

Carter leaned back on his hands, watching him. “We’ll get you new clothes tomorrow. Good ones. Ones you pick.”

Ethan nodded, eyes softening. “Okay.”

Carter studied him for a moment—the way he stood there in the dim motel light, hair messy, shoulders slumped, trying so damn hard to be brave. He wanted to pull him close. Wanted to promise nothing bad would ever touch him again.

Instead, Carter kept his voice steady. “No one’s getting near you.”

Ethan’s breath eased out slowly. “I know.”

Carter patted the bed beside him. “Come sit. We’ll watch something dumb on TV. Keep your mind off things.”

Ethan crossed the room and sat down, close enough that their shoulders brushed. Carter didn’t move away. He flipped through channels until he found something harmless—some old sitcom rerun with canned laughter and bright colors. He wasn’t watching it. He was watching Ethan.

The kid sat beside him on the bed, knees pulled up, hands fidgeting with the hem of his shirt. The break-in seemed to have shaken him, making him look devalued in a way Carter despised.

After a long stretch of silence, Ethan spoke. “I was really scared,” he said. “When you went inside the cabin… I thought maybe they were still there. Or that you’d get hurt. Or that—” Hisvoice cracked. “I didn’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

Carter’s chest tightened. He shifted closer, resting a steady hand on Ethan’s back. “Hey. I’m right here. Nothing happened to me.”

Ethan nodded, but his eyes were shiny. “I know. But it felt like everything was falling apart again. Like… like I can’t outrun any of it.”

Carter exhaled slowly. “You don’t have to outrun anything. That’s not your job.”

Ethan looked up at him, confused. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Let me handle the danger,” Carter said, voice low but sure. “Let me keep you safe. That’s my job.”

Ethan swallowed hard. “But what if they come back? What if they try something worse?”

Carter didn’t sugarcoat it. “Then they’ll deal with me.”

Ethan blinked, startled by the certainty in his tone.

Carter softened it a little. “I’m not letting anything happen to you. Not now. Not ever.”

Ethan’s breath hitched, and he leaned into Carter’s side—slowly at first, like he wasn’t sure he was allowed. Carter wrapped an arm around him, pulling him in gently. Ethan melted into the touch, head resting against Carter’s chest.

Carter could feel the tremors still running through him.

He rubbed slow circles on Ethan’s shoulder. “You’re safe tonight. We’re far from the cabin. No one knows we’re here. And I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

“I don’t want to be alone.”

“You’re not,” Carter murmured. “You won’t be.”

They stayed like that for a while, the TV flickering in the background. Carter kept talking—soft, steady, grounding words. Nothing heavy. Just enough to keep Ethan anchored.

“Tomorrow we’ll get you new clothes,” he said. “We’ll get breakfast somewhere good. Maybe stop by the coast again. We’ll make a day of it.”