Page 14 of Summer Ride

When he ran through the main doors, Kara was sitting on a sofa in the lobby area, sipping a glass of water.

Seeing how pale she was, he knew instantly something was wrong.

He rushed to her side and knelt in front of her. She was even paler than normal. Still, he was thankful that he didn’t see any injuries. She wasn’t bleeding. Nothing appeared to be broken or damaged.

“What happened?” he asked, holding onto her cold hands. They were like ice, so he began rubbing them to warm them up.

“I…” She glanced at Mr. Bo.

“Someone left a note on her car,” Mr. Bo said. “You got this?”

Carter nodded quickly. “Yeah, thanks.”

Mr. Bo nodded to them and left just as Zoey rushed into the lobby.

“What happened?” Zoey asked as Elle and Liam rushed in from the back doors.

“I’m fine,” Kara said with a sigh. “Really, it’s just… I got spooked.” She waved them off. “Really.”

Their friends gathered around them for a moment, and Kara explained how Mr. Bo had walked her to her car and that she must have been tired.

He noticed that she didn’t mention finding a note to any of them. Yet another secret.

When they were finally alone, he lowered his voice and asked, “Want to tell me what really happened?”

She shifted her eyes and took a deep breath. Then she lied to him. “I skipped dinner.”

Still, since she was still so very pale, he pulled her up into his arms. “How about we head into the dining room and rectify that?”

She nodded and then seemed to see him for the first time. She laughed. “What are you wearing?”

He glanced down at himself and almost burst out laughing. Then he remembered his date.

“Shit.” He pulled out his phone and quickly typed a message to Ally, his would-be date. Kara watched.

“I was in a hurry,” he answered as he typed.

When he was done hitting send, he tucked his phone back into his pocket and helped Kara into the dining hall.

He sat her down in a booth, then rushed over to the line and grabbed a couple of pre-made employee meals and some sodas.

“Did you have a date?” she asked when he set the food in front of her and slid into the booth next to her.

He shrugged instead of answering her.

“Carter?” She took his hand.

“Yeah, well, it’s cancelled now.” He felt his stomach roll.

Hadn’t he been looking for any excuse to cancel his evening? He hated awkward first dates. But he had never imagined letting Kara know.

“I’m fine.” She nudged his shoulder. “Go. Maybe you can—”

“Kara.” Her name was a soft whisper, but she knew she was pushing it. There was no way he was going to leave her now. Giving up, she sighed and nibbled on some chips.

“Tell me what really happened,” he said after they had each heated a little of their food. “Mr. Bo mentioned a note?”

He watched Kara’s hand go to her jacket pocket. Then her eyes moved off to the windows, and he noticed that she shivered.