Mark (Next Generation Carter Brother #9)

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Freya

Laughter spills out of me as I let Imogen—another cousin of Mark’s—spin me around. Hope joins in, taking my free hand. A song I don’t know blares from the speakers, but it doesn’t stop me from dancing.

We ditched the wedding party over an hour ago. Once the food was gone, none of the Carters wanted to stick around, so we all gathered up on deck, where the barman was happy to turn up the music.

My sister and her fiancé did everything to get rid of the Carters from the room. Esther even threw a hissy fit and demanded the room manager remove them. None of it worked. She didn’t realise all she had to do was feed them.

Hope, who is as drunk as I am, wobbles into me. “This party is awesome.”

I twist my hips, smiling wide. “Why is Hayden trying to drown her dad?” I yell over the music.

She glances over to where Hayden is forcing her dad’s head under water. “We stopped trying to figure them out as infants.”

Lake, Hayden’s mum, storms over to the pool. “Hayden, get off your dad now.”

“He ate my cake, Mum,” Hayden hisses. “He knew what would happen.”

“Your family is amazing,” I laugh, gripping Imogen as we continue to dance.

Imogen leans forward, her mascara running down her cheeks from when she got thrown in the pool earlier. “I don’t know why she’s so shocked. Everyone knows you don’t put Taylor Swift on after seven when it comes to Max. Or feed him.”

“Or get him wet,” Hope adds.

I grin. “He’s not a gremlin,” I tease.

“I think he was sent here to test people’s patience,” Imogen whispers, hiccupping.

Her gorgeous significant other steps up behind her, his expression serious. I don’t think I’ve seen him smile once. He reminds me of Hayden’s brother, Landon. The guy only smiles at his girlfriend. The rest of the family get grunts and glares.

“Babe, I think you’ve had one too many,” he tells her, slipping the drink out of her hand.

She swings around, throwing her arms around his neck. “Tell me you aren’t excited for drunk sex.”

He leans down, his lips twitching. “Babe, I like drunk sex, but the rate you are going, you’ll be incapacitated, and I’m not into that.”

“Then I’ll drink water,” she sings.

He kisses the tip of her nose. “I’ll go get you a bottle of water.”

Hope grins as Imogen turns back around. “You have it bad.”

“Can you blame her?” I ask. “He’s well fit.”

“And he knows how to make a woman feel good,” Imogen blurts out. “I just said that out loud, didn’t I?”

I nod, laughing. “Yes.”

“Uh oh, Mark is coming,” Hope sings under her breath.

I spin around to see those tantalising hazel eyes drawn on me. He is now wearing clean shorts and a fresh T-shirt since I accidentally pushed him into the pool earlier. He was undressing me with those eyes and I needed to step back. But I’m stubborn so I made sure he did the stepping back. Which ended up being in the pool.

I stumble a little, grinning. “You got changed.”

He stops, his eyebrows pinching together. “You are drunk.”

I pat his hard chest, letting out a breath. “And you are observant,” I tease. “Dance with me.”

I tug him closer by his T-shirt, and his lips twitch. “I think I prefer you drunk.”

“Everyone prefers me drunk,” I reply.

Just then, my nanna walks past with Mark’s dad, Maverick, at her side. “So this is a bungalow?” she asks.

“Yes. It’s a two bedroom. My son Mark can decorate it for you, and have your stuff moved in before the end of the month.”

My lips part as I pull away from Mark. “You are moving, Nanna?”

She smiles wide. “Yes. It’s a ten-minute drive from you, but don’t worry, he owns the house next door too, so you could move in there if you wanted,” she announces, before a smug smile spreads across her face. “I hear that Liam is single and ready to mingle. Maybe you could buy it with him when the time comes.”

“No!” Mark growls, taking me off guard.

My lashes flutter as I look up at him. I thought we were getting along and all the unpleasantries were in the past. “Oh, is he too good for me?”

“I never said that,” he replies, glancing down at my lips.

“Then what are you saying?”

“You might want to hold that thought. The wedding party has followed,” Nanna announces.

Mark keeps his arm around me as they approach, for which I am grateful for. I’m not a person who can act sober when I’ve had a drink.

“You might want to stop smiling then,” Mark whispers. “You wouldn’t smile sober.”

“I said that out loud?”

His lips twitch, his eyes lit with mirth. “I really do think I prefer you drunk.”

“Then you should know this won’t be the last time I’m driven to drink.” I pat his cheek, beaming up at him. “Why aren’t you drunk?”

“Babe, I was drunk three pints ago, but you pushed me into a pool, which sobered me up.”

“We need to get you another pint,” I muse.

“Why? Planning to get me drunk to seduce me?”

“Freya, really?” Mum scolds.

I jerk back, placing a hand over my chest. “Holy crap you scared me.”

“You were just smiling at us,” Mum points out.

I rear back. “I was?”

Esther snorts. “You could never handle your drink.” She gazes up at her husband. “Could she, my love?”

“Pretty sure she can. My uncle Myles is passed out on a sun lounger because he couldn’t keep up,” Mark remarks.

He is just the sweetest.

Because it wasn’t me his uncle Myles couldn’t keep up with. It was my nan.

“Remember the time you hijacked a group of teens’ prom limo?” Danny asks. “That was a funny night.”

I tilt my head because no, I don’t remember him being there. I remember Summer being with me. We didn’t hijack it either. We just kicked a few girls out of it. They had made another girl think they were friends, all because her dad owned a limo company. They used her, and then tried saying she couldn’t get in the limo with them. Summer and I cannot stand bullies, so we intervened. We would have done it sober. The girl didn’t go to prom but we made sure she had a blast for the rest of the night.

“Didn’t realise you were there,” I remark.

“Was that the night we had to call the fire brigade to get that traffic cone off your head?” Esther asks.

“No,” I reply, chuckling at the reminder.

“You got a traffic cone stuck on your head?” Mark asks.

“Like you can talk,” Maverick snorts. “Remember when you got banned from the park because they had to cut the baby swing off you?”

“You got stuck in a swing?” I ask, laughing. “That’s way worse than a cone.”

“I don’t think you are in a place to laugh, Noodle. You got banned from the golf course because you threw a golf club at the manager when you got drunk there.”

“You play golf?” Mark asks.

“She’s always been into sports. Never did anything girly,” Esther remarks, thinking that it’s an insult.

I glance up at Mark. “I do, but I don’t play as good as I do tennis or volleyball.”

“We’ll have to play volleyball at the next stop,” he muses.

“No. You know the rules,” Maverick warns.

“Rules?” I question, intrigued.

“Our family are competitive. Which results in fights breaking out,” he explains.

“Bunch of animals,” Esther grumbles.

“No one gets hurt. Well, us guys do. The girls take shit way too seriously and none of us would hurt them back,” Mark adds, rubbing the back of his neck.

My phone begins to ring, and I squeal when I see Summer’s name across the screen. “It’s Summer. The wifi works. I’ll be back,” I promise Mark, and without thinking, I lean up to kiss him on the cheek. I rush inside to where the music isn’t so loud and answer the phone, seeing my friend’s face pop up.

“Woah, you look two sheets to the wind,” she greets, lying down on the sofa.

“Summer, I miss you!” I cry. “Where’s my baby?”

“Here is the arsehole.” She switches the screen around, aiming the camera at the bookshelves. Mellow is asleep on the top shelf, and I grimace.

“He knocked your crystals down, didn’t he?” I ask as she switches the screen back around.

“Yes, little fucker,” she grouches. “How are you doing? You seem happy. You seemed pissed when I messaged you earlier.”

“The dress was horrendous,” I explain. “It had fucking sleeves, Summer. Sleeves . Ugly, puffy sleeves.”

Her eyebrows pinch together. “Babe, I can only see a bit of what you’re wearing but you look hot. That dress makes your boobs look good.”

“Oh, Mark bought me this. And he ripped the bridesmaid dress so I wouldn’t have to wear it,” I explain.

“Wait; back up. Mark bought you clothes?”

I narrow my eyes at the screen. “I told you he ruined my suitcase and that I lost all of my clothes, so he replaced them.”

“You didn’t tell me he replaced them. That’s pretty sweet. And he has good taste.”

I roll my eyes. “He didn’t offer; his mum forced him. And he didn’t pick them. His cousin Hayden did. You’ll love her. We’re going to plan a night out when we are back so she can meet you. She’s nuts as hell. She blackmailed me and Mark and forced him to come with me to the wedding. You should have seen him snap at Esther. It was awesome . And Hayden… She stole the wedding cake.” I take a breath. “Enough about me. How was your night with your cousins?”

“Dude, we aren’t moving from the Mark conversation. I hate that I’m missing all the fun.” She pouts. “He went to the wedding with you?”

“You aren’t mad, are you?” I ask, worried she might feel left out.

“Fuck no,” she states, grinning. “Please tell me there is going to be dirty wedding sex.”

I sigh. “He said I intrigue him. Can you believe that? He couldn’t even look at me before. Now he’s all up in my space. He said that I don’t demand his attention, yet I have it.”

Her eyes widen as she sits up. “What did you say?”

“I told him he was mistaken if he thought a few sweet gestures would get me into bed. I told him he’d lose interest once I stopped being intriguing. All men do.”

“Please tell me he didn’t give up.”

I glance around, making sure I’m still alone before taking a seat on the window ledge. “He said, and I quote, ‘I’m not just any man. I’m a Carter.’ What does that even mean?”

“It means you are going to have hot sex. You’ll rock that boat, my girl.”

I splutter out a laugh. “Rock the boat. Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”

“Why?” she cries, outraged.

“Because I’m happy as I am. Men only bring hassle.”

She tilts her head, her eyes narrowing. “You like him!”

It wasn’t a question but an observation. My shoulders drop. “I think I might. He’s still annoying, and I still want to push him overboard, but he’s not as bad as I thought he would be.”

“Not all men are going to cheat on you or fuck you over, babe. You need to get over that fear. Danny was a prick and he never deserved you. A part of me thinks he knew that so he went after the next best thing. Esther.”

I snort. “There’s only so much a person can take, Summer.”

She shrugs. “Then have a holiday fling with him. It’s not like you haven’t had one before. No one is offering a relationship anyway. Feelings don’t need to be involved. Just friendship. Your issue is that you overthink everything. Have some fun. Do something for yourself for once.”

Whether it’s the drink or the wedding, I find myself being honest. “I don’t know how to without catching feelings. He’s not someone I can avoid. He lives across the fucking hall. I’m not saying I want more, but I do know I wouldn’t be comfortable with him only wanting me for sex. I want someone who wants me for me.”

“I’m not there to read the situation to give better advice, but it seems to me he does like you for you. He couldn’t stand you before. That’s because he never knew you. Now you’ve been confined with each other an entire flight and at the wedding, and he’s only just turned on the charm? Babe, I’m not buying that he only wants sex. He could get that anywhere.”

“Maybe. I am drunk so it could be the alcohol talking. I mean, it was only earlier I wanted to push him overboard.” Now the thought is in my mind, the more I’m convinced this is the alcohol talking. That and the fact I haven’t had sex in a while.

She snorts. “If you say so. Just promise me you’ll be open to the possibility.”

“I promise.”

“Now go. And you’d better call me with the deets,” she warns. “Love you, bitch.”

“Love you, wench.”

She ends the call and I get to my feet, laughing at myself when I stagger to the side.

I straighten my shoulders and take a deep breath. I can have fun. I can .

Maybe feelings don’t need to be involved, and I can think of it as a friendship with benefits as sorts.

Summer is right, I need to do something for myself for once. Maybe whatever happens in the Bahamas can stay in the Bahamas.

I make my way back over to the pool area, coming to a stop when I see Mark and Liam standing near the bar. They aren’t alone. Two slim girls in shorts and bralettes are with them. All four are laughing and joking, and my heart clenches when I see the brunette place her hand on Mark’s arm. He doesn’t shove her away, but instead, winks, laughing at whatever she says.

Movement from my peripheral vision catches my attention. Esther stands next to me, watching the scene play out.

“You really didn’t think he would be interested in you, did you?”

“What is your problem, Esther?” I grit out.

She places a hand over her chest. “I’m just looking out for you.”

“Well don’t!” I snap.

She laughs bitterly. “I’m going back to my husband. You should go back to… oh wait, you have no one to go back to.”

She walks off, and my gaze moves back to the bar. I was stupid to think he liked me. I’m just a vagina that’s available.

I take a step back before I’m noticed. Then another one. My throat tightening with each step.

I spin around and keep going. Before I know it, I’m back inside, making my way inside the lift.

I’m so stupid.

So fucking stupid.