Page 36 of Governor

Susa wants to go to IKEA in Ybor City this afternoon after our classes. She asked Carter last night if he’d drive her in the Snot Box, since it can carry more than her car. The plan was for him to pick her up this morning, bring her to campus, and they’d leave after his last class to take her. I was going to stay behind, since they’d need all the room possible in the Snot Box to carry her purchases.

To be honest, I was planning on lying in bed, watching porn, and jerking off, instead of having to do it in the shower like I usually do.

The jerking-off part.ObviouslyI can’t watch porn in the shower. I haven’t been able to do very much ofthatunless I come back to the dorm between classes or something when Carter’s not around.

Although I am considering getting one of those waterproof phone cases so Icantake my phone into the shower with me.

Except I will give up wanking to porn in a heartbeat to have alone time with Susa.

“I’m hurting too bad,” Carter says. “I barely made it through our walk. I probably should have had us hit the workout room instead of a walk. You don’t have classes this afternoon, right?”

“Right.” I nervously stare at the keys in my hand.

He pats me on the shoulder, then gives me a quick squeeze before releasing me. “You’ve got this, buddy.” I glance at him and spot his playful smile.

“What about you?” I ask.

“What about me?”

“How will you get to Susa’s tonight?” We’re supposed to have dinner there, of course. It’s what we do now. Even if all we do is grab take-out from a dining hall and take it there instead of cooking. Susa loves to shop for and cook for us. When I offer to pay my fair share for groceries, Susa waves me off, and so does Carter.

He shrugs. “I could skip it. It’s no big deal.” Some nights we drive over separately, depending on when our classes end, and some nights we go over together. It’s not uncommon for one of us to leave there earlier than the other, either, depending on what we’ve got going on, how tired we are, our schoolwork—all of that. Sometimes I’m there later with Susa, sometimes Carter is.

But this… The thought of him skipping tonight altogether feels…wrongto me. This magic that we’ve created in this short amount of time, whatever it is, it’s thethreeof us, and I don’t want to lose it. I feel like we’re actually some weird little family. So what if Susa has the hots for Carter? I don’t even care anymore. I’m able to spend time with her, and with him, and it’s perfect.

Thus I hand him my keys.

And this feels…

Big.Huge.

He cocks his head as he looks at me. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah. I’m more worried about you.” His nightmares have been bad the last couple of days. I suspect that’s contributing to his increased pain levels. I’ve had to go over and sit on his bed the past three nights in a row.

Well, I didn’thaveto, but because I’m not a soulless asshole, I do it. I can’t help that I worry about him. He doesn’t seem to mind me doing it, either. Last night he awakened, but then fell right back to sleep with me sitting next to him.

He trusts me.

I’ve never had anyone hold that level of trust in me before. I’m not about to ruin it. The three of us are dancing around each other, and it should feel awkward and stumbling and weird, but it doesn’t.

It feels finely-tuned, choreographed, and looking effortless for it.

I love it.

“You don’t think she’ll be weirded out if I show up instead of you?”

“No, I’ll text her. I already told her last night that I might need to send you if I was hurting too much to go today. I can’t handle wandering through the damn place. I’ll be doing good to make it to classes today. You can get the big stuff for her, push the cart, load the car, and more importantly unload it for her at her place. Today, I’d just be standing there and useless. I’ll meet you guys later.”

Those are all very logical and convenient reasons for me to go along with this. Only I was with them last night, except for when I briefly hit the bathroom right before we left, and I don’t remember him saying that to her.

Except…Carter is Carter. I’ve learned I take Carter at face value, because that’s who he is.

My fingers close around his keys in my palm. “Okay. Thanks.”

He smiled. “Have fun. Just fill the tank before you bring it back, huh? It’s on the driver’s side.”

“Sure.”