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CHAPTER SEVENTY

carter

I knew I shouldn’t have agreed to a dinner at a restaurant the day after Christmas.

It’s packed, my parents are drunk, and Arden looks like she’s going to fall asleep at the table.

She just came home from work before my parents sprung this idea on her, and she refused to decline, even when I tried to for her.

I brush my thumb against her thigh as she slumps a bit in her seat. I study the side of her face. Her blinks are slow with exhaustion, and she may have inhaled her food, but she has barely touched her wine.

I shouldn’t have let them talk me into this.

She could have stayed home, at the very least.

“So, Arden. You’re from Maine, right?”

Arden blinks, dark eyes slow to find my sister around the table. “Yes.”

“Have you ever been to California?”

Arden shakes her head, reaching for her wine. “I can’t say I have. I haven’t been to very many places.”

Ari glances at me, and I shoot her a look. Don’t pry . “Well, next time Carter visits, you’ll have to come with him. You’d enjoy some sun, I think. It’s good for the soul.”

“I’d love to.” Arden smiles. I think she means it, which lights up my heart and all that corny shit.

“I’ve finished my Master’s from Duke,” Ari continues. “So, I’ll be back home full-time. Anytime you want to come, let me know. We’ll have a blast.”

I drag my thumb along her thigh again. “We’ll make it there eventually, Ari.”

“Carter does need to come home more,” Mom interjects. “I miss my boy.”

I go home enough. They get me throughout the summer, most of the time. She needs to stop acting like I moved across the world. I’ve managed to stay constant in their lives, despite living in a different state. Other teammates have given less to their families.

“Dolly.”

The hair on my neck stands up on end at the use of that name. Arden goes rigid under my touch.

I slowly drag my gaze up to the man who just sauntered right up to our table. He’s in a blue dress shirt and casual pair of dress pants, but he still looks like a fucking cop. It’s in his aura.

The universe is really fucking testing me.

His cold eyes slide to mine. “Forkerro.”

My teeth grind together, my grip tightening around Arden’s leg. I got by without killing him by the skin of my teeth last time. I am not so sure I’ll have the same willpower this time.

“Noah.” Arden’s voice sounds soft and desperate. “Not now, okay?”

“Who’s this?” Ari asks sharply. My parents consider Peck cluelessly, but Ari has already picked up on the vibe and can instantly tell I hate him. So, she hates him, too. It’s the Forkerro way.

“Ah,” Noah smiles, flashing my little sister a look that makes her wince, “just an old friend of Dolly’s. We go way back. Nice to meet you.”

“Noah,” Arden tries again, moving to stand. I hear the nerves in her voice and my temper stirs at the sound.

“Isn’t that right?” Noah urges, ignoring her, a masochistic grin on his face as Arden meets him face to face.

Then he does the stupidest thing he could do.

He makes the worst choice in the world. He loads the gun and pulls the trigger.

Officer Prick reaches forward and tucks a piece of pretty red hair behind Arden’s ear like this is a fucking game.

I stand, my chair flying out behind me. My vision goes red, my hands are on fire. I’m about to hit him. I’m about to beat the living hell out of a cop and I will deal with whatever consequences the courts want to dish out to me as a result.

She doesn’t want him to touch her. She doesn’t want him meddling in her life, especially after he tried his damn best to come between us. He can’t seem to respect her wishes, so I’ll respect my own. My wish is that I get to fucking kill him.

“You seem like you have a little penis.”

I blink, surprised that my anger let me hear that completely unabashed comment coming from my little sister’s mouth. Noah and I both glance to the end of the table, where Ari stares up at him with a focused expression, nodding slowly with pursed lips.

I shake out my fingers, the impulse lessening.

She says something so fucking outrageous like it’s a normal conversation. A completely casual thing to say to a stranger. This is why I think she needs a muzzle, half of the time. Case and point.

“Like, puny,” she continues, her eyes dragging down to the front of Noah’s pants.

She twirls her thick blonde hair between her fingers as he subconsciously moves his hand to cover his crotch.

That delights her. I can see it in her eyes.

“Is that why you’re trying to make a scene in a packed restaurant, with a woman who is clearly taken?

Is that why you’re trying to antagonize my brother into ending your life?

Because you're sad about that little carrot in your pants?”

My dad lets out a long breath, reaching up to put his head in his hands.

Arden is gawking at my sister, eyes wide.

Somehow, I actually laugh. I was about to mop the floor with this guy, to do something that would have definitely gotten me fired and maybe put in prison, and now I’m laughing. Hysterically, might I add. Like the psychopath he paints me to be.

I reach forward, sliding my fingers through Arden’s. I pull her closer to me and further from the cop, but the laughter doesn’t stop. It’s like it’s consumed me.

Noah looks like he has no idea what just happened and how this turned on him so quickly, and that only makes me laugh harder. He doesn’t seem to remember why he approached us in the first place. Honestly, that might be for the best. I don’t want to hear it.

“Why are you still standing there?” Ari continues, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “Do you have a degradation kink? I wish you were a little bigger so I could physically see if you had a boner right now without a microscope.”

My mom downs the rest of her drink in one gulp.

Noah blinks, glancing around the table. There are so many eyes on us. Cameras are recording, for sure. He looks over at Arden, whose hand is entangled with mine, squeezing the life out of my fingers, fear and disdain written all over her face.

“Go,” she says calmly, “and please, Noah. Give it a rest. Leave us alone.”

He looks at me, but I think my sister broke him. I think she humiliated him to the point that his brain shut off.

“Merry Christmas, Officer Peck,” I say, forcing it to sound genuine. I wrap my arm around Arden’s collarbone, kissing her head. I want him to see this and know he lost. There is no claiming victory. No long game. I’ve got her. I’m not letting her go. He doesn’t have the shot that he thinks he does.

“Peck!” Ariana squeals, slapping her hand on the table. Her eyes meet mine, dancing with mischief. “Like, pecker? Officer Little Pecker!”

“Oh, dear god,” my dad grumbles, mortified.

“Make it stop,” my step-dad pleads.

“Go, Noah,” Arden urges again softly.

Noah’s eyes skirt to mine, his cheeks red. He says nothing, he just gives our table one last glance and vanishes back to his own with his little pecker tucked between his legs.

I look at Ari, who meets my eyes with a knowing smile. She flashes me a wink.

The best sidekick I could ever ask for.

Someone could stand here and press every single one of my buttons, but Ari has the codes to disengage to prevent detonation.

She’s the greatest teammate life could have given me.

I look down at Arden.

And now I’ve got two.