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Gesturing to the blanket, he said, “Take a seat. If you like, that is.”
What was happening? Was he about to make a move on me? I feared it, but I wanted it. Should I say yes or no? My mind was in tumult, whirling faster and faster, playing out options for scenarios that hadn’t even occurred. Despite all my efforts, I was, at my core, a worrier.
And then I thought, fuck it. Whatever happened, let it happen. Carter wasn’t going to hurt me. I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
So I slid to my knees, scraped knobs against washed linen. Then I rolled onto my back, and found that I was staring at a sky full of stars.
“Wow,” I gasped, at a loss for anything more profound.
The night teemed with pinpricks of light, like a womb heavy with hope.
“Ain’t she a beaut?” he affirmed, laying down next to me on the blanket.
Carter was careful to leave several inches of space between us, a feat seemingly impossible on so small a blanket. I wondered if perhaps he was partially laying on the ground instead of on the blanket. Such a gentleman.
I wanted to roll over once more, this time onto his hips, and straddle him, ride the cowboy until the crows came home to roost.
“I don’t talk about much,” he began slowly, every word chosen with care. “But this is something I like to share. The stars.”
The space between my legs throbbed, a dull ache.
“So, Carter, tell me about the stars.”
CHAPTER 10
Carter
LORD, IT’D been a long time since I’d lain next to a beautiful woman, and I could feel the effects on my body.
Muscles I’d forgotten I had were clenched. Everywhere between my knees and my neck felt like a minefield, just waiting for a stray touch so that they could explode.
I could feel that the attraction was mutual. Phoebe’s body kept slithering, stretching, inching to mine. She might not have even known she was doing it. Both our bodies were working separate from our minds.
What was I supposed to do with this fire in my belly? It’d been a long dang time since a woman had taken a shine to me.
You’re supposed to do nothing, my brain replied. We’ve been over this. Don’t make me repeat myself.
Too young. Too… dangerous.
Young.
Dangerous.
I repeated the words in my head, trying to keep them at the forefront of my mind, try to not let thoughts of Phoebe, soft beneath me, consume my every waking breath.
To buy time I said, “You wanna know about the stars?”
She nodded, her long brown hair creating static on the blanket.
“Well, that one is the Big Dipper,” I said, pointing upwards, my finger hovering above her face so that she could follow its line.
Phoebe giggled, and replied, “I know the Big Dipper, silly. Everyone knows the Big Dipper.”
Tough little filly, huh?
“Okay, well, do you know Cygnus?”
My finger moved to indicate a small grouping of stars that formed a stretched-out cross, burning in the heavens.
“No,” she murmured. “Show me again.”
I redirected her lovely brown eyes to Cygnus, and I heard her gasp.
“I see it!” she exclaimed. “That’s amazing.”
“It’s one of the things I’m teaching Henry — to be able to locate and name the stars. So that he can always find his way home.”
Her head turned, her cheek grazing the blanket, so that she could look directly at me. Hair spread out behind her like a halo, and a sweet smile played across her lips. If only I could kiss those lips…
“You’re a great father, Carter.”
I waved off the compliment. “I’m mediocre.”
“Don’t say that,” she said, upset, propping herself up onto her elbows. “I’ve spent time with kids and parents. I know what average looks like, and you, Carter, are not average.”
I swallowed. “Neither are you,” I whispered.
Her face hung inches from mine, and I watched it transform from vehement to pliant, watched as her lips spread apart.
This time, I couldn’t help my muscles. I felt my cock twitch, hungry between my legs. It was growing harder by the second, and at this distance, Phoebe was sure to notice. God, why did my body always have to out my mind?
I raised my body so that I could slide my elbow onto the blanket. We were staring into one another’s eyes. The words from earlier — young, dangerous — seemed to slip away. There was just the two of us, the rest of the world be damned.
“What if,” she breathed, so softly I almost missed it, “what if Henry doesn’t learn his stars? What happens then? What are you afraid of?”
I lurched back, nearly falling off my elbow’s perch.
Just when I thought I could set it all aside, could dive into the deep end and worry about emerging for air later, Phoebe reminded me that she was dangerous. She wanted to know too much, like Eve, always reaching for something forbidden.
