Page 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

carter

It takes two seconds with her on my arm for shit to hit the fan.

One moment, I’m walking to the bar with her, hand on the small of her back. I’m talking to Lowesy, who is by my side, cracking stupid jokes. The next second, some idiot in a gray dress shirt and too-tight pants saunters right into our space like he was personally invited.

Doesn’t look at me. Doesn’t look at Lowesy.

Eyes are on her. Only her.

Arden glances over her shoulder at the same moment Dec and I trade a look.

And she lights the fuck up.

“Noah!” She flings herself into his arms and out of my grasp. He winds his arms around her back like he’s done this a hundred times before—like he’s touched her before.

Fake or not, I am one jealous motherfucker.

I reach up to scratch my jaw, ignoring the itch in my fingertips.

I feel Declan watching me carefully, but I refuse to meet his eyes.

I’m going to see a warning in them, and I can’t be bothered to acknowledge it.

I won’t hit the guy. For all I know, that could be her cousin, but I’m immediately on edge.

“Dolly,” he says with a laugh. “How’s it going? Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Dolly?

Yeah. Hate that.

Arden pulls back and smacks his chest lightly. The move catches me off guard. It’s completely unlike her. At least, the ‘her’ that I know. That was flirty as shit.

She is aware that those rules we set are rules she also has to follow, right? That includes not flirting with the fifth Jonas Brother. Yes, Frankie counts. There are four of them. Five, if you include Noah Tight-Pants.

“Where the hell have you been?” she says.

I glance at Lowesy then, but he’s now looking anywhere but the two of them and is definitely avoiding looking at me.

He stares at the bottles behind the bar, eyes squinted like he’s memorizing the labels.

“How am I supposed to jab a needle in a six-foot-four, three-hundred-pound man without you there to hold them down?”

Alright, this is definitely not her cousin. You don’t use that tone with a relative. My fingers itch a bit more intensely. I shake them out by my side.

Not your actual girlfriend, Carter. Ease up.

Still, the disrespect from this idiot makes me want to double down instead. You see her here with two guys by her side, with my arm literally around her, and you put on a performance like this ? Without acknowledging me in the slightest? Without introducing yourself?

I know a rat when I see one.

“Ah, come on,” he teases, and that’s my breaking point. I don’t like the way he said that. No specific reason why. Just don’t.

I clear my throat, stepping forward to insert myself right between their little reunion. This ends now, or it ends bloody.

Declan goes rigid beside me, ready to jump in, his interest in the bottles gone in a blink.

“Seems like you didn’t see me standing here.” I smile, but it’s not a kind look. Menacing. Territorial. I thrust my hand between us. I never let my eyes leave his. “Carter. Arden’s boyfriend.”

I feel Arden tense beside me. We’re going to have a little talk about that later.

Noah’s eyes dip to my hand for a moment. His gaze snaps back up to mine, and I can tell within half a fucking second that I’m standing in front of a cop. He flashes me a tight smile, but places his hand in mine anyway.

Shit. He’s got a good, firm handshake. That’s fucking annoying.

“Yeah, I know who you are, big guy.” He breathes a laugh, and his eyes go right back to my girlfriend. “Thought you weren’t dating him?”

It’s like I’m still not fucking here.

My brow furrows, jaw ticks, and I glance over my shoulder at Arden. They’ve talked about this? They’ve talked about me, and she said we weren’t together?

I cock a brow in her direction. Your time to shine, Bub. Shut this shit down.

I expect a look of sympathy, or maybe even guilt, but she surprises me. She winds her arms around my bicep instead, gives way too tight of a squeeze that feels like a silent warning, and leans into me a bit.

I think that was half an apology and half a request for me to calm the fuck down.

“Things change,” she says with a shrug.

“I see that,” Noah says. His eyes slide to mine, more calculating now. The look of a cop sizing up a criminal. That should offend me, but I guess it’s technically exactly what I am. “I’m over there with West and some of the guys. Stop by and say hi.”

Didn’t she just fucking say hi? Wasn’t that what just happened, right in front of my face? All of that hugging and shit?

“I will,” she says, cheek still resting against my arm. She smiles in a way that’s a bit too sweet for that face. I don’t think I like it. Not when it’s aimed at someone besides me.

He nods, giving me another once-over, before he turns with his beer in hand and heads back to his table. I would have rather he swung on me. The blatant disrespect from him feels more insulting than a punch would have.

Declan clears his throat, points at nothing, and hurriedly rushes right to the bar to order, putting some distance between himself and whatever the hell is about to happen here.

Smart guy. Cowardly, but wise.

I stare at Arden, not letting a single emotion wash over my face. “Who was that?”

“Noah,” she tells me plainly.

I cock a brow. “Is Noah a police officer?”

Her face scrunches up a bit, like it’s not obvious in the way he stands as if he has a stick wedged right up his ass. “Yes.”

I let out a breath and run my hand over my face. “Is Noah going to be a problem?”

She crosses her arms in front of her chest, angling her head. “What do you mean? He was just saying hi.”

I swear under my breath and reach for her, taking her chin in my hand. Her eyes widen a bit at my touch, doe-eyes rounding when I step closer to her. “Are you sleeping with the cop, Red?”

Her brow furrows. Then her eyes go cold. “You are aware one can know people without having been penetrated by them, right?”

I resist the urge to smile. Cheeky little shit. “Is that a no?”

“May I remind you,” she says, stepping toward me. I don’t feel like dropping her cute face, so I don’t. “Three years, Carter. No penetration.”

Ah, fuck. How could I forget? Remember when I said that when the anger takes over, logic goes out the window? How I can’t think straight in those moments? Completely forgot about the horrifying fact that this woman hasn’t been touched in three years.

“I’m telling you now, if Noah isn’t a problem at this very moment, he’s going to become one.”

Her eyes narrow. “I’m telling you now that he won’t.”

I lean down and press my mouth to hers. Rough, hard, and swift.

This is a dire moment on my end, so she has to suck it up.

I turn us as I do, so Noah and all his buddies with badges have a front row seat.

I slide my hand to her jaw, enjoying the way she melts into my touch the second my mouth is on hers, like she forgets that she’s trying to hate me.

She’s glaring at me when I pull away. I’d be disappointed if she hadn’t been.

“Get me a glass of red wine?” she asks.

I nod. “Cabernet?”

“One hundred percent on the girlfriend test there, Forker.” She smiles, smacking my chest.

I catch her hand before she walks away. “Don’t call me that.”

She glances over her shoulder, unable to leave unless I let go. “Hm?”

“Forker,” I say. “Don’t call me that. Please.”

Her face softens with realization. It sounds wrong when she says it. Can’t explain why .

“Sorry.” She reaches over to pat my arm. “ Carter . Wouldn’t it be nice if everyone respected the boundaries we set regarding nicknames?”

I bite back a smile. “But ‘Red’ suits you.”

“The whole world calls you ‘Forker’.”

I let go of her hand and say the first thing that pops into my mind without taking a second to consider censoring myself. “You aren’t the whole world, Red.”

Her face breaks into a smile, but she shoots me a look of warning before I can read too much into that reaction. With another pat to the arm, she strolls through the crowd to our booth, where Sweets is waiting for us, and I watch her go. The whole way.

The whole fucking way.