Page 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

carter

I finally get my boy within reach and a smile explodes across my face.

He can’t help it. This little shit is grinning from ear to ear. Why wouldn’t he be? He finally locked down his dream girl. Really locked her down. That ring on her finger is so heavy, she won’t be able to move very far in either direction for the rest of her life.

Declan smacks his hand into mine and I pull him in, slapping him on the back. I’m so proud of him. For all of it. The ring, the girl, the life he’s managed to build. It wasn’t long ago that I was picking him up from the airport and letting his broken heart bleed all over my G-Wagon.

“Finally.” I thump him between his shoulders again.

“Yeah, yeah. Shut your mouth.” When he pulls back, his smile falters a bit. He angles his head, eyes scanning my face. “You okay?”

“Perfect,” I say. Just realizing I want every single thing you have, buddy. “Proud of you. ”

“Well, you’ll be happy to know that I had it filmed. I knew you’d be frothing at the mouth to see it.”

My eyes widen. Um, hell yeah ?

I’m going to get to watch the moment? The moment he asks? The look on her face? The way she says ‘yes’ when he asks the question? I get to see all of that?

Sign me the fuck up.

“Shut up.” I stare at him, ensuring that he isn’t pulling my leg. If he is, I’m tossing him to the ground. This is not something he’s allowed to joke about.

“I’m serious.” He chuckles. “It’s technically for Avery, because she said she’d skin me alive if I didn’t, but it’s also because I knew you’d be dying to see it.”

Oh, so this is what it feels like to have that friendship that people want to bask in the glory of, isn’t it? He has that with his crew, but I have that with him, too. I feel it. Right now. Burning a hole in my chest.

“I fucking love you.”

His hazel eyes warm, his smile pulling back until his dimples appear.

“Congrats, brother.” Boston pushes himself into our space and pulls Declan in for a hug. When he steps back, he glances between us, green eyes all perceptive and shit. “So, now that you’re engaged for real, can we talk about how Forker is pretending to have a whole girlfriend?”

Jesus, Boston!

I look over my shoulder quickly, ensuring that nobody important is within hearing distance. “Shut the hell up. That’s a secret, you idiot!”

Boss smirks, but looks back at Lowesy. “Seriously, though.”

“He’s gotta do what he’s gotta do,” Declan says, thankfully keeping his voice low. He shakes his head and lets out a long breath. “Survival, Boss. He’s finally thrown one punch too many.”

“No such thing,” I correct.

Boss shoots me a look. He points a finger in my direction. “That, right there, is not the attitude that proves you’re even remotely trying to change.”

I blink. “Who said anything about changing? Arden is a front to keep my job. That’s all this is. I never intended on undergoing a brain transplant.”

“You should also probably stop punching people,” Declan says.

“Off the ice,” Boss clarifies quickly.

“You can’t have it both ways,” I tell them. “I swing everywhere, or nowhere at all.”

“Poetic,” Declan says, dipping his chin.

“Beautiful.” Boss nods, sarcasm dripping from him.

“This isn’t about me!” I scold them. I gesture back at Declan. “Lowesy just proposed to Sweets. Let’s focus on that. There are wedding bells ringing and you’re focusing on where my fist has been.”

Declan physically recoils, disgust washing over his face. “ What?”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. Are we twelve?

“You know what I meant.”

“I can assure you that I have no interest in where your fist has been.”

I’m not going to make it out of this conversation alive.

“Focus on the proposal!” I hiss.

“Good point. When are you proposing to Arden?” Boss asks, blowing a pink bubble.

I glare at them both, rolling my eyes at the amused grin on Dec’s face. I’m clearly not getting anywhere here, and I’d rather talk to someone who will want to focus on what this night is about.

Arden’s already holding her fingers, staring at her ring in awe, immersed right in Penny’s group of girls like she belongs there.

It’s a nice view.

“Wait,” Dec says, pulling me back by my shoulder before I can scurry off. He glances at both of us. “I’m going to have a poker night in two weeks. On Friday. Attendance is mandatory from both of you.”

Boston nods. “Can you text us to remind us? I’ve had one whiskey too many.”

I echo that sentiment, but with beer.

Declan chuckles, nodding. He’d expect nothing less from us on a night like tonight. “Alright, alright. Just be there, okay? If you have plans, reschedule.”

“I’m plan-less,” I tell him, because all my plans now revolve around my job, or a certain redhead. “Now, can I go and congratulate your wife?”

Lowesy’s face warms at the title. “I’ll sucker punch you if you don’t.”

She’s still being fawned over. She looks utterly overwhelmed, and still hasn’t managed to take a single step inside the house. Everyone will back off once they’ve managed to hug her for half a second.

“Sweets!” I sing as I approach. Her eyes are way bluer than normal when she looks at me. “I’m so happy for you, buddy.”

She wipes the corner of her eyes with the pads of her fingers and gently pulls her hand away from Arden. She reaches for me instead. My heart aches a bit. Out of love, obviously. I’m ecstatic for her. She winds her arms around my neck, and I hug her back, rocking her gently back and forth.

Lucky Lowes .

Oh my god, that’s going to be her legal name soon.

“Thanks for being here,” she says. “It wouldn’t be the same without your pretty face in this room, Forker.”

I pat her back gently. “Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

“When you think about it, you’re the reason we made it this far,” she tells me, unwinding her arms from my neck.

She plants her hands on my shoulders and peers up at me, eyes still glassy.

“If you hadn’t helped me with my big apology, I would have never found the nerve to show up in Pittsburgh that day. ”

I shoot her a knowing look. One that I mean. “The universe couldn’t keep you two apart, Sweets.”

I just gave them both a little push.

“Give yourself some credit.”

It wasn’t a big deal. She texted me and pleaded with me to help her.

I didn’t know her personally, but I knew her through Declan’s eyes, and I’d watched my boy fall apart over her for a solid year already.

There was no way I was turning her down.

At first, it was entirely for him. But then I met her, and I realized anything that’s about him is a little about her, too.

“Fine. I’m cupid. I expect you to mention me in your wedding speech.”

“You are.” She smiles, holding out her hand to examine her ring with a soft, teary smile. “And we will.”

“Auntie!”

Her niece barrels toward her again, hugging her legs. Sweets flashes me an apologetic smile, reaching down to show her the diamond for the third time.

Arden steps toward me, hand outstretched, and nods toward the inside of the house. She fans her face with her other hand. “Want to get some air?”

We refill on drinks and walk out onto the balcony. My eyes immediately skirt to the corner. Caulfield glances over his shoulder. Saltzy leans forward against the railing, meets my eyes over Wyatt’s frame, and dips his chin.

That shit with Morgan re-enters my brain.

I give them a quick wave, but turn away.

Give them privacy or whatever. I slide my hand to Arden’s back instead and guide her toward the patio furniture.

When we sit, I resist the urge to pull her closer to me, even though the steady flow of drinks running through my veins and the love pouring through the house is making me want to do just that.

“It was so hot in there.”

“Mm.” I nod, staring out at the darkening sky, at the fairy lights lining the railing.

“You don’t have to sit out here with me if you don’t want to,” she says, leaning back against the couch as the chilly air hits her skin. “It’s just a bit overwhelming to be in a crowded room where I don’t know anyone.”

I look at her and my heart sinks. “Shit, Red.”

She rolls her head to look at me. “What?”

“I didn’t realize I was leaving you to the sharks in there. My bad.”

I’m a good social butterfly. I make friends everywhere I go.

I refuse to feel uncomfortable in any room, so sometimes, I forget that not everyone has that ability.

Arden, especially. She’s not the most social on a good day.

I’m here with my friends and my teammates, and she only has me. I left her to fend for herself.

My score as a faux boyfriend has diminished by a few points.

“It’s okay.” She smiles gently, sipping her red wine. “Everyone is nice.”

I nod, but scan her face. Her social battery is definitely running on empty. “We can leave whenever you need to, alright?”

She shoots me a look of disbelief. “I’m not making you leave this party, Carter. You’ve been waiting for this moment longer than Penny has.”

I crack a smile, which her eyes immediately avert to, and she softens. I love it when she softens. Just for me. Like she’s comfortable around me now. Like she trusts me.

“Just tell me when you’re ready to go, okay?” I reach forward and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. My heart almost stops when she leans into my touch. Maybe both of us are feeling the impacts of this atmosphere tonight.

For a moment, we just look at each other, and my head kind of goes quiet.

There is no party beyond the patio doors.

Wyatt and Saltzy aren’t in the corner of this balcony.

It’s just me and her and the way she’s looking at me.

It’s me and her and the way I count down the days until it’s me and her again.

Fuck.

Maybe I want this a bit. Want her. Not just because she doesn’t want me, but because I have come to the realization I don’t want to pick an end date for this arrangement. I want rule number four-point-five. I want four hundred faux kisses if that means I'll get a real one at some point.