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“Carter.” She says my name softly as I roll off her and exit the bed.
I make the mistake of glancing back at her, hair fanned out on the bed, looking beautiful and content. I want nothing more than to crawl back in there with her, but I can’t. Tonight was a mistake. Or it wasn’t. I’m not even fucking sure at this point. How can something so right be so damn wrong?
“Carter?”
“I’m sorry, princess. I just need some time to think.”
As much as I hate it, I exit her room and head back to my own.
Chapter19
Carter
Last night was a fucking mess.
First, seeing Cody with Lexie.
Then taking Lexie to bed.
As much as I wanted to stay with her, hold her all night, I needed to clear my head. There is no doing that with her near. She consumes me. Takes every rational thought and turns it upside down.
I went back to my room to think. About Cody. About Lexie. About what to do with this fucking impossible-to-forget feelings I have for her. About how she makes me feel.
Whole.
The only time I feel like a whole person, like myself again, is when I’m with her. So, what do I do? How do I manage to be with the woman I want when being with her puts everything I’ve ever wanted on the line?
When I walk into the kitchen, a piece of me hopes that Lexie will already be there. That way, I can feel out how she’s handling my abrupt departure last night.
Just my luck, no Lexie. Only Cody.
“Good morning, Mr. Wonderful.”
“Fuck you, Cody,” I say as I grab a mug for some coffee.
“Where’s Lexie? Off somewhere dreaming of me?”
“You can try to get under my skin all you want, man, but it isn’t going to work. I told you, I’m done. Done covering for you, done protecting you. You’re on your own.”
“I’ve always been on my own.”
“Here we go again. Cody and his ‘woe is me’ bullshit.”
“Maybe if you had been there, maybe if you had tried to talk to Coach, to get me on the team.”
“I did try,” I shout at him. “I fucking begged. You did this Cody. You gave yourself a name and a reputation. Not me. And trying to help you repair it, I fucking covered for you. I took the heat for something I didn’t even do. My whole life fucking turned upside down. And what do I get in return? A sex tape.”
He raises his hands feigning innocence. “I’m not the one fucking the coach’s daughter in public.”
“I already told you, it wasn’t Lexie.”
“I know you, little brother. I can tell by the way you look at her.”
“Keep spewing your bullshit. This is my life, and I’ll be damned if I let you keep making bank off me. Clean up your act and do your own damn thing.”
Storming out of the kitchen into the back yard, I bump into Lexie.
“Hey, you okay?” she asks, eyes filled with concern.
