Untouchable: A Bully Romance

Chapter 20

Orange flamesjump in front of me, the only light in the isolated clearing. We had to trek through woods for so long that I had the passing thought I might be heading to my own murder scene, but then we came upon this clearing, and the guys commenced putting their Boy Scout skills to good use. There’s forest all around us, but not close enough to the fire to pose a danger.

The fire roars taller as Cartwright throws more shit on it. Heat blasts my face, like the singeing heat from an open portal to Hell.

The real portal to Hell is behind me, though. Carter’s strong arms wrapped snugly around my body, me sitting between his legs like I belong here.

He and Brianna are bullshitting. I’m quiet. I’m drunk. That was stupid. I know that was stupid, and I know my chances of escaping with my virginity intact dropped drastically with alcohol consumption, because on a clear stroke of genius, I at some point decided it would be an okay idea to start dating the guy privately voted most likely to date rape. Fabulous. I make fabulous choices.

I giggle into my red Solo cup. My friend Solo doesn’t judge me. She understands. Carter has dark eyes and a damaged soul. I probably won’t be the last smart girl to go dumb for him, especially since he’s getting blow jobs from exes already and we’re barely dating.

I lift my cup and give it a stern look. “Whoa, Solo, way to take it to a depressing place. Let’s take it down a notch.”

Carter leans forward, murmuring in my ear, “Did you just talk to your cup?”

“No?”

Chuckling, he pulls me back against his chest. “You’re drunk.”

“I would never,” I offer with mock outrage.

I should be at home. Or with Grace, assembling baskets for the raffle this weekend. Or doing literally anything other than sitting here with Carter Mahoney in front of a roaring bonfire, consuming alcohol with his jock friends.

I didn’t like the taste of beer, but Carter poured something from a flask into my cup, and it tastes delicious. I thought maybe it was roofie soup and I shouldn’t drink it, but then I remembered Carter has no use for roofie soup because he likes when I fight him.

Kinky bastard.

Why is his brain the way it is?

Why is my cup empty?

I scowl at Solo for letting me down and lean back against Carter’s hard chest. “I’m out.”

“You want more?” he asks.

“Might as well.”

Unexpectedly, Brianna interrupts before he can pour more of whatever he keeps in that flask into my cup. “Why don’t you drink some water? Carter’s flask is deceptive; sometimes you consume a lot more than you realize.”

“Of course she’s also had her lips around your flask,” I mutter. A little louder, I say, “No offense, Brianna. I like you. You’re cool.”

She cracks a smile and pushes up out of her canvas chair. Approaching me, she offers me her hand. “Come on. I have to pee, why don’t you come back to the house with me and we’ll get you some water while we’re there?”

“I will take Zoey back to the house when she’s ready,” Carter states.

“I know,” she says easily. “I’m not tryin’ to steal her from you. I’ll bring her back, I promise.”

I get the feeling she’s trying to save me, and since that means she knows there’s something to save me from, I pull myself through the slog of drunkenness and stumble to my feet. “I’m gonna go with her. I’ll be back.”

Carter’s gaze drops to my hand now in Brianna’s and he cocks an eyebrow at her. “No funny business. That’s mine.”

I snort-laugh, assuming he’s joking. Brianna is a girl, and a girl he has had sexual intimacies with. Real funny, Carter.

“I’ll try to behave myself,” Brianna tells him with a wink, tugging on my hand. “Come on, sweetie.”

It takes forever to get back to the house. When we do, Brianna starts taking care of me like I’m someone who needs taking care of. She gets me some water and opens the fridge to find me a snack. She settles on some strawberries and a hastily made peanut butter sandwich.

“I’m not hungry,” I tell her.

“You need the bread to soak up the alcohol. Are you planning to stay the night, or are you going home?”

“I dunno,” I murmur, grabbing a strawberry and sinking my teeth into it. “Oh, God, so good,” I murmur, taking another bite. Maybe I am hungry. “That’s not how the bread thing works, though,” I add. “If you eat before you go drinking it takes longer to get drunk than you would on an empty stomach, but that’s because the food and alcohol are both competing to be processed, and also the…” I trail off, completely losing my train of thought. “What was I saying?”

Brianna giggles, patting me on the arm as she walks past. “Eat your food, sweetie. I’m gonna go pee.”

While she uses the bathroom, I stand at the counter and devour the food she gave me. I didn’t think I was hungry, but every bite is more magical than the next. I’m just about finished when the sliding door in the kitchen opens and Carter steps inside.

His predatory gaze lands on me immediately. He walks over and stops behind me, securing his arms around my waist and hugging me from behind. “How are you feeling?”

“Super drunk,” I announce. “Brianna made me a sandwich.”

“How wifely of her,” he remarks.

“She’s tryin’ to sober me up.”

“Yes, she is,” he agrees.

“Why do you have an accent?”

Carter pauses. “Excuse me?”

“You live here, but you definitely sound like a Yankee.”

Catching up to my drunk girl stream of thought, he answers, “Ah. I am a Yankee, I suppose. I live here now, but I’m not from Texas originally. This is the state my father does the most business in besides New York, where we lived before, so it made sense to move here when we relocated.”

“When did you relocate?” I ask him.

“When I was 13. My mom needed a change in scenery.” He misses a beat, then adds, “Dad had an affair.”

“Oh. But you look down on men who have affairs,” I remind him.

“Sure do,” he agrees. “Never said I liked my father.”

Sighing, I settle my hands on his arms around my waist and lean back into him. “I really want to like you.”

Nuzzling his face into my neck, he murmurs, “You should. I recommend it.”

“I really don’t want you making me feel stupid and letting other girls blow you.”

“I didn’t. I swear.” He presses his lips against the sensitive skin of my neck, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine. “The only lips I want around my dick are yours.”

Desire pours through me, my normal inhibitions melted away by the alcohol he’s supplied me with all night long. I turn in his arms so I can wind mine around his neck, leaning up on my tiptoes and kissing him. He presses a hand against the small of my back, pulling my body closer to his. His mouth easily overpowers mine, turning my tender kiss into something more ravenous. Lust squeezes my insides and a faint moan escapes me when Carter’s hand brushes my ass.

Growling low in his throat, Carter breaks the kiss and pulls back, leaning his forehead against mine and closing his eyes. I sigh happily and lean in to kiss him again, not sober enough to notice he’s trying to slow down, and I’m haplessly inviting him to speed back up. His lips are just so kissable.

“All right, come on,” Carter says, grabbing my hand and pulling me across the kitchen.

“Where are we going?” I ask, following after him.

He opens a door off the kitchen and flips a switch. Then he starts down the stairs. “Hold onto my hand so you don’t fall.”

I am holding onto his hand. I roll my eyes but don’t comment, following him down the stairs and into the basement. We take a right as soon as we get down there. The basement is finished and seems to serve as a second family room. Facing a big screen television, there’s a gray, custom sectional that probably seats a dozen people.

The sight of the television reminds me that we were supposed to be watching a movie. That was the whole reason I agreed to come over, the reason we bought movie snacks.

“We forgot the Twizzlers and Jolly Ranchers upstairs,” I tell him.

“We’re not going to need them,” he assures me.

“Are we going to watch a movie now?”

Carter shakes his head, leading me around the sectional, over to the farthest side. He tugs me close, gives me a kiss, then pushes me back onto the soft surface. I giggle to myself when I land on my back with a thud, then open my eyes when I feel Carter climbing on top of me.

Still feeling languid and operating without running actions through the proper channels of my mind, I smile up at him. “Hi.”

His lips curve up in faint amusement as he looks down at me. “Hi.”

His fingers find the button of my jeans, and a second later they loosen around my hips as he unzips them.

“Wait, aren’t we going to kiss some more?” I ask him.

“Would you like to kiss some more?” he asks.

I nod my head. “Yes, please.”

Carter smirks, coming down on top of me, moving his arms on either side of me head so I’m completely boxed inside a Carter prison. “Well, since you said please.”

“You like when I say please,” I murmur. His lips touch mine and I close my eyes, looping my arms around his neck. It’s so much easier to kiss him when we’re lying down and I can reach him.

“I do,” he murmurs, breaking away from my lips to kiss his way across my jawline before coming back to my lips. He kisses me hard, then nips my bottom lip. I gasp at the bite of pain, but he makes it all better, leaving tender kisses afterward.

His body suddenly tenses mid-kiss and I don’t immediately understand why. Once he stops kissing me, my senses stop working, but they turn back on when I hear the sound of Brianna’s voice.

“Not a good time, Brianna,” Carter tells her.

Ignoring him, she drops onto the opposite side of the sectional with some candy and a remote control. “Weren’t we supposed to watch a movie?”

“Where is Cartwright?” I ask, realizing I haven’t seen him lately. “Did we leave him in the woods?”

“He had to put out the fire,” Carter mutters, easing back on my hips and looking down at me.

“For sure,” Brianna volunteers, flashing us both an innocent smile. “Gotta put out those dangerous fires.”

Carter shakes his head at her, climbing off me. “Fucking cockblock.”

“You’ll thank me tomorrow when she’s sober,” she advises him.

“Don’t count on it,” he replies, sinking into the corner of the couch behind me. Once he’s situated, he drags me between his legs like we were by the fire, only this time, I can feel how hard he is. That reminds me that my pants are unzipped, so I zip them back up and pop the button back through the hole before leaning back against his warm body.

“What movie should we watch?” Brianna asks, scrolling through a collection of available movies on the screen.

My eyes feel so heavy all of a sudden. I can’t even be bothered to look at the screen to see which movies we have to choose from. Leaning my head back against Carter, I tell myself I’ll just rest my eyes for a few seconds, then I’ll be able to pay attention to the movie.