Chapter 69
Cassidy
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AFTER I PUT Maverick to bed. I sat for quite a while on the sofa just staring off into space. I was still blindsided by the events of the day and wasn’t entirely sure if I hadn’t dreamed it all. I heard my phone peal from my purse and frowned. It was almost eleven, I couldn’t imagine who would be calling me as this hour.
I didn’t reach it in time, but it started ringing again, so I answered it without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Fuck, Cass, I’ve been worried sick. Are you home?”
“Oh, Carter. Sorry. I totally forgot to text you.”
“Yeah, I know.” He sighed. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” I smiled. “I have managed to get myself home all by myself for the last seven years or so.”
“Well, open your door. I want to see for myself.”
“Shut up.”
“Babe, open the door, yeah?”
“You’re not really here, are you?”
“I’m really here, staring at apartment number seven–eighty–two
“I’m seven–eighty–four.”
“You are not,” he countered.
“No, you’re right, I’m not.” I sighed and checked the peephole, before pulling open the door. “Hi,” I said, and hung up.
Carter grinned, leaning down to kiss me as he pushed me back into my apartment and closed the door. “Hey,” he said, between kisses, cupping my cheeks as he held me captive. “God damn, you can kiss.”
I smiled against his lips and broke our connection. “So can you. But what are you doing here?”
“I was worried about you. I’ve called you sixty–two times.”
“What? You did not.”
“Okay, no. Three,” he admitted, and turned to lock the door. “But when you didn’t call me after the last one, I headed up.”
“Carter, you can’t stay. I’m sorry I worried you, but you can’t just show up when you want to pound your chest and get all alpha male on me.” I was really glad I got the words out, and I think they sounded legit. Of course, I didn’t mean any of them. I was beyond flattered that he’d checked on me and I didn’t want him to leave… ever.
“Yeah, I can,” he said, and cocked his head. “Babe, you’re gonna have to get used to this. I will do my best not to get possessive, but making sure you and Maverick are okay isn’t negotiable.”
I slid my arms around his waist and settled my cheek against his chest. “Okay.”
He chuckled and gave me a gentle squeeze. “I thought that was gonna go a different way.”
“I have missed you so much. Even if this doesn’t work out, I prayed for just one more day of us time, so I’ll take whatever I can get.”
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Chapter 69
“Baby, it’s gonna work out. I’m not going anywhere.”
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I nodded against his chest, drawing in his scent. There was something about the combination of the cologne he’d worn forever mixed with leather. “Are you still wearing Stetson?”
“Hmm–im. You still love it?”
“Hmm–mm,” I mimicked. “It smells even better on you now.”
He’d worn the fragrance for as long as I could remember, it had been a gift from an old girlfriend, but we’d both agreed it suited him perfectly.
He kissed the top of my head. “That’s good to know.”
“I have a confession,” I breathed.
“Not sure I can handle another one of those in my life, honey,” he joked.
I slapped his arm and leaned back. “Jerk.”
He grinned. “What’s your confession?”
“Huh–uh.” I retorted, walking into the kitchen. “You lost your chance.”
Carter chuckled as he followed me. “I have ways of making you talk. Have you forgotten?”
“Um, hello, we’re not in the pond now, and I’m fully clothed. That was the last time I wore a string bikini in your presence.”
“But you sang like a canary in order to get the bra back.” He frowned. “I was kind of bummed you did. I only took it because I wanted a gander at the girls.”
I gasped. “Ohmigod, you did not.”
“I absolutely did.” He grinned, leaning down to kiss me again.
I pushed his face away. “I don’t even remember what the secret was.”
“Me neither,” he admitted. “But I didn’t care, to be honest.”
“This is weird. You get that right?”
“Weird, no. Different, yes.” He gave me space and leaned against the
half the foundation we’ve built, Cass.”
“That is true,” I mused.
“Mom?” Maverick called. “Mommy!”
counter. “Most people would kill to start a romance with
I pushed away from Carter and rushed to Maverick’s room. “Hey baby, you okay?”
“I’m wet,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“Aw, honey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for. Remember? Sometimes this happens, it’s no big deal.”
He threw his arms around my neck and squeezed. “I love you, Mommy.”
“Mmm, I love you too. Okay, kiddo, let’s get you cleaned up and we’ll change your bed. Uncle Carter is here, so don’t worry if you hear voices.”
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“K. he said, and grabbed clean clothes before heading to the bathroom.
“Where are the sheets, babe?” Carter asked from the doorway.
“In the hall. Closet’s on the right.” I stripped the bed and threw the sheets in the corner. He’d need a new mattress cover, so I leaned in the hall to tell Carter, stopping myself as I watched him hunkered down eye–to–eye with Maverick.
“Mommy never gets mad,” Maverick said.
“Do you think she should get mad?”
He shrugged.
Carter laid a hand on his shoulder. “You know, bud, there’s nothing to be ashamed about. It happens”
“Does it happen to you?” Maverick asked.
I bit back a smile as I watched the exchange.
“Not anymore, but it did when I was your age.”
“Really?”
Carter nodded. “Yeah, and my mom never got mad either. Because it’s no big deal.”
“Ethan says only babies wet their pants.”
“Who’s Ethan?”
Ugh, Ethan. He was a nasty little kid in Maverick’s daycare and he’s the first six–year–old I’d ever wanted to cold cock into
next year.
“He sits next to me sometimes during snack. He was teasing Xavier because he didn’t make it to the potty on time.” Maverick rubbed his eyes. “He made Xavier cry.”
“Well, that wasn’t very nice of Ethan, huh? But you don’t need to worry about him, because he sounds like a bully,” Carter said. “And you want to know a secret about bullies?”
Maverick nodded, his eyes wide in anticipation.
“Bullies are just cowards.”
“What’s a coward?”
“A coward is someone who is scared, which I have no problem with, but a bully is someone who won’t admit he’s scared and, instead of asking for help, he’s mean so he can look strong.”
Maverick’s head bobbed up and down. “Oh, yeah, he’s really mean sometimes.”
“He is?” Carter’s voice dropped low and I felt his anger pour off of him.
“Hmm–mmm, he pulls girls‘ hair and sometimes hits them.”
“And do you pull girls‘ hair or hit them?”
Maverick gasped. “No! I wouldn’t do that. Girls are pretty.”
I grinned. Score one for Cassidy’s parental powers.
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Chapter 69
“They are pretty,” Carter agreed,
Maverick lowered his voice. “And sometimes, Katie lets me kiss her by the bathroom.”
There just went my point. Damn it.
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Carter chuckled. “Well, I think it would be a good rule to just plan on never hitting a girl even if she isn’t pretty, and maybe it would also be a good rule to wait until you’re older to kiss a girl.”
“How come?”
“Because when you grow up to be a man, you have a responsibility to protect a woman, but more importantly, you need to respect a woman instead of just trying to kiss her.”
“Are you going to protect my mom?”
“Absolutely,” Carter said.
Maverick’s grin grew, and he threw his arms around Carter’s neck. “I’ll help.”
Carter chuckled and hugged him back. “I’d appreciate that, buddy.”
I had to back into Mav’s room again and force back tears. Ohmigod, was there anything more precious? The answer was no, and I’d spent six years missing out on it.
“Cass?” Carter walked into Maverick’s room with fresh sheets. “Hey? You okay?”
“Hmm–mm,” I said, brightly, refusing to look at him.
I felt his front hit my back and his arm slid around my waist. “Hey,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I rasped. “I need to get these sheets in the washer.”
He let me go and I pulled myself together as I did busy work. By the time the bed was changed, and Maverick was tucked back in, I felt a little closer to myself again.
Carter followed me into the living room and pulled me down onto the sofa next to him. “Spill.”
“What?” I played dumb.
He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his chest. “Babe, why were you crying?”
“Because it’s apparently my day.”
“Cassidy.” He chuckled, kissing my temple. “Tell me the real reason.”
“I was just hit by how much we’ve missed.” I snuggled closer. “He doesn’t spend as much time with strong men for obvious
many times I reasons, well, other than my dad, of course, so having you say those things held weight. It doesn’t matter how tell him I will never get mad, he worries.”
“Does he do that a lot?”
“No, but he does a couple times a year. Doctor says it’s normal.”
“Yeah, baby, it is. Were you worried it wasn’t?”
I looked up at him and grimaced. “A little bit.”
Carter smiled. “I’m
gonna
tell you something and you have to promise never to repeat it.”
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“I promise.”
“Aldan wet the bed until he was ten.”
I sat up. “Seriously?”
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Carter nodded. “He just had a small bladder, so it was harder for him to make it to the head, but then it seemed to fix itself. I shared a room with him, so Mom told me if I ever teased him or told the other boys, she’d scalp me.”
“Ohmigod, she totally would,”
He grinned. “Which is why I never said a word.”
I snuggled back against him. “You’re also a nice guy, Carter, so that could be part of the reason.”
“That’s not for public knowledge.”
“I’ll take it to my grave,” I promised.
“Preciate it, baby.” He kissed my temple. “You really don’t date?”
“I really don’t. The club get–together was my first… um… what would you call it? Attempt to see if I could find someone, maybe?”
“Yeah, well, you found someone.”
I smiled.
རཏྟཔར,
es, I guess I did, huh?”
“You gonna let me stay?”
I sighed, dropping my head back to look at him. “I don’t know.”
“I’m stayin.”
I rolled my eyes. “What was the point of asking me if you’ve made up your mind?”
“Gotta give you some semblance of control, babe.”
“You’re an idiot.”
He pushed me onto my back and stretched out on top of me. “An idiot who’s going to make you want to scream.” His mouth went to my neck and I couldn’t help but crane it to give him better access.
“No screaming,” I whispered. “I don’t scream, but even if I did, I think we should wait a bit for this.”
“You’ll scream with me.”
“Highly doubtful.”
Carter dropped his head to my shoulder with a sigh.
“Carter, Maverick is only a few feet away. I want to try and at least pretend I’m not a total whore.”
His eyes met mine and he scowled. “You ever say anything like that again, Cassidy Dennis, you and I are gonna have a problem.”
“Well, it’s true.”
“It’s not fuckin‘ true,” he snapped. “Even if you fucked me in your kitchen right now, you’d still not be a whore. We love each
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other, we’ve known each other for over eighteen years, and we’ve been best friends for most of that time. I think we’ve waited for an appropriate amount of time, don’t you?”
I shivered. “T’d kind of like the kitchen option at some point.”
He groaned. “You seriously sayin‘ shit like that while tellin‘ me I gotta wait?”
“Sorry,” I grumbled. “You’re right.”
“We can wait, baby, but I’m not leavin“.”
“What do we tell May?”
“We tell him I’m home from the Air Force now, I’ve served my time and I’m gonna be a permanent feature in your lives. You’ve already established me in your home with all the photos.
I bit my lip. “That’s actually really good.”
“I know it’s good. Shit, Cass, give me some credit.”
“No.” I wrinkled my nose. “You already have the upper hand.”
“Good to know.” Carter grinned. “You gonna confess now?”
“Confess?” I asked. “Oh, that.”
“Yes, that.”
“Um…well, I have your cologne.”
“Come again?”
I felt the heat crawl up my neck. “I was having a particularly bad day a few years ago, so I bought your cologne…. it doesn’t quite smell like you, but I have that old Harley T–shirt of yours, so every now and then I spray it and sleep with it.” I covered my face with my hands. “Ohmigod, I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
“You spray my shirt?”
I nodded, my hands still over my face.
He tugged my hands down and stroked my cheek. “I love you.”
“You don’t think I’m weird?”
“No,” he said, but his head bobbed and down.
“Dork.”
up
He laughed. “You are weird, but not because of that.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” I droned, sarcastically.
“I wondered where that damn shirt went.”
I giggled. “I kind of stole it.”
“I’m pickin‘ up on that.” He cocked his head. “When?”
“The day before I left for Paris. I took it with me.”
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“Year” He dinuched. “I take you and Maverick or tMOTION
Handung him the pillow and Wanker, I nodded. My emotion were all over the map, but I was too tired to analyze and figure fhem out Carter dropped the bedding onto the soda and reached out to pull me close. “Hey
1 thnked up at him
“There is no presune, yeah Vie’ve done the hard part”
I wish I believed you?
“What don’t you believer
“That this is the hard part. We have so much baggage and I’m afraid it’ll weigh us down moving forward.”
“We have a couple of carry–om, Cassidy? He uroked my pulse, his eyes boring into me. “I know there have been a few shitty circumstances that have kept us apart, but deep down, we’re the same people, right?”
Thope so”
I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. We’re gonna figure this out together and it’s gonna be better than we ever expected.”
I dropped my head to his chest. “You’re still the eternal optimist I see.”
And you’re will a worrywart”
Promier me we’re going to be okay”
He lifted ing chin and nodded. “I’ll make sure it is. Trust me.
okay?”
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“I’ll try
Carter chuckled. “There’s my girl.”
“Okay, I’m leaving you now or it will never happen.”
“You get lonely, wake ine.”
“No.”
“No?”
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I bit my lip. “I’m used to being lonely, Carter. But if I wake you and take you to bed, I will never let you out of it, and I need to make sure we do this right.”
“Okay, baby.” He leaned down and kissed me. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I headed off to bed, leaving my door open, which I rarely did. I liked knowing Carter was close and I don’t remember ever sleeping so soundly.
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AD
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