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Inevitable.
Meant to happen.
He and I. Suddenly, my feet were planted back on the ground. The whipping wind inside my mind had settled into a sea breeze.
I found his eyes with mine, conveying a look that spoke all the words I couldn’t. I nodded.
We both sat back down, Carter casually draped his arm over the back of my chair, I think in an attempt to relieve the heavy tension that came from the way our families were looking at us. My parents knew that when I boiled over, it took hours for me to simmer. But for Carter, it took two sentences andlaughing at me. It was clear that I was putty in his hands. I’d do anything he asked.
I cleared my throat and lifted my chin towards my sister. “If you ever talk about my sex life again, I’ll smother you in your sleep.”
Maddie frowned as she glanced between Carter and me.
Carter shrugged, brushing his fingers across my collar bone. “Oh, I’m now officially required to help her bury bodies. Don’t look to me to save you.”
My eyes were watching my brother and my dad as their eyes focused on his movements.
Tom chuckled, breaking the tension, “Great, so it’s settled. None of us talk about our children having sex, or we die.”
For the first time since dinner started, everyone laughed.
Despite it, my father kept looking between Carter and I uncomfortably. Carter seemed to catch his stare because his arm removed itself from the back of my chair as he straightened. “Okay, let’s talk about literally anything else.”
My mom cleared her throat. “So, Carter, you were telling me about that project you’re working on?”
He smiled at her with gratitude and nodded. “Yeah. It’s called digital painting, or mixed media, and it’s using software to edit digital photos into something that looks more like a painting and then putting it on canvas…” Their conversation trailed off as I studied my brother.
I leaned toward him, attempting to cut off the rest of the family. “How did you know?”
Carter continued talking with my mother and Lena as the girls began to clear the table. Easton leaned back in his chair and smiled at me, “Oh, Carter had a picture of you on his computer.” He held his hands up. “Wasn’t snooping, I swear. It was on when I walked in.” He leaned forward. “And the way you’re looking at the camera tells me you’ve definitely seen him naked.”
My father squeezed his forehead. “Good Lord,” he muttered.
I knew by the way Carter’s words stalled and stuttered that he’d been listening too. He didn’t turn towards us, though. “I hadn’t seen him naked at the time that photo was taken,” I murmured.
Easton arched his brow. “Well, you were in a pond or some shit, so he was at least half-naked.”
I shrugged because that was true.
My dad flexed his neck, and I noticed a vein popping out of it. “Penelope, in these pictures, were you–”
“She was clothed,” Carter chimed in without turning to face us.
Easton busted up with laughter, and my father’s mouth twitched into something that could’ve almost been a smile as he raised his beer to his lips. “Well, thank God for that.”
The space was feeling a little tight around me now. I knew that even though the girls had excused themselves to clean up, my mom was talking to Carter, and his parents were speaking among themselves, there was a tension in the air that wouldn’t dissolve for quite some time. It felt like that tension was choking me and I needed to step away from it.
I stood from the table and grabbed my plate. “You done?” I asked Carter.
He smiled at me and nodded. “Thanks, Pep.” I grabbed his plate too and carried them into the house. I noticed him get up from his chair and slide into mine. He had his arms resting on the table as he seemed to be speaking with my dad, my brother listening in too. I stepped back outside to grab the rest of the silverware off the table when I heard them laughing.
That's a good sign, at least.
“I don’t know about you, E, but I’d say Penelope could definitely do worse,” my dad said.
My heart swelled. I couldn’t be sure what Carter had been saying, but whatever it was seemed to be working. I’m sure he was trying, in his own way, to clear the tension. I picked up my pace as I walked toward them, searching my brain for an excuse to pull Carter away and rescue him. Give him his own kind of respite from the shit show that was this family dinner.
“Ha, yeah,” Easton chortled. “At least she’s not hooking up with her college professor anymore, right?” He started laughing, as if he expected everyone else to also.
