Series: Fever Falls Series by Riley Hart
Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92704 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 464(@200wpm)___ 371(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Boring. Insecure. Bad in bed. Julian’s old words created a painful throb in my chest. The world needed more of that? I wasn’t so sure.
But then, I knew Cam was right. Carter was different. Things with Carter were different, and if I didn’t at least talk to him, I’d regret it—and end up getting hurt. Honestly, I could get hurt regardless. That was life. He and I were both realistic and honest. We’d talk and figure it all out, but in the back of my mind, I reminded myself that no matter what, it likely wouldn’t last. There was no way it really could.
I was basically the cheesiest guy ever.
Carter had gotten home last night, and we’d made plans to hang out today. At the time, I wasn’t sure what we would do. It hadn’t taken me long to figure it out. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d made my way to the waterfall in Fever Falls, and Carter had never been there.
That wasn’t the cheesy part. No, that was the fact that I had the supplies for a picnic sitting in the back. I’d asked Carter James to hang out with me, and I was going to take him to the falls, have a picnic, and then tell him I wanted to be in an official relationship with him—the same Carter who traveled all over the world, went to fancy parties, schmoozed with celebrities, and could basically sleep with anyone he wanted.
I was a fucking joke.
Still, I pulled up in front of his apartment to pick him up. I’d told him not to eat, to dress casually, but didn’t tell him where we were going. Now I was hoping he didn’t expect it to be something a whole lot better than a picnic at the waterfall.
Carter approached my car, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a black T-shirt. He smiled at me, and damned if my stomach didn’t tumble like I was an innocent teenager or something.
“So…where are we going?” he asked when he was settled into the passenger seat and I pulled away.
“Well, I thought it would be cute not to tell you, but now I’m thinking when we get there it’ll be anticlimactic and you’ll be disappointed.” I maneuvered my way through traffic as I headed out of town.
“I’m with a sexy-as-hell man who fucks me until I can’t stand. I’m not going to be disappointed.” He reached over, fingered a lock of my hair. “It’s getting a bit longer.”
Somehow that touch felt like one of the most intimate moments we’d shared. As if sensing it, Carter jerked his hand away.
“Um…I need to get it cut.”
“I like it both ways,” he replied.
“Thanks.” This time it was me who touched my hair, before dropping my hand to the steering wheel again. “A picnic—at the falls—is where we’re going.”
“You’re taking me on a picnic at a waterfall?” Carter asked. Fuck, I knew it. What a dumbass thing to do.
“I know it’s stupid, but…” But what? I didn’t know what to say. Carter wasn’t speaking either. The seconds ticked by, and with each one, I felt more uncomfortable. I shifted in my seat, my muscles feeling a little twitchy. “Carter, I—”
“I think it’s sweet,” he finally said. “I’d love to go on a picnic with you, Sawyer Burke. You’re so fucking adorable.”
That made me smile. I pulled off the road and into a parking spot. We’d have to walk the rest of the way.
I reached over, cupped his cheek, then let my hand slide down until I held his throat. I felt his pulse against my hand, and he sucked in a sharp breath. Fuck, what was it about him that made me lose my damn head? That made me feel invincible—sexy and powerful and…confident. Made me feel worth something. Made something swell in my chest that I sure as shit didn’t want to sort through at the moment. “Am I adorable when I’m turning you into my fucktoy?”
“No…you’re hot then, just like you are now.” Carter leaned toward me, and I let him. Then we were kissing, his tongue sweeping my mouth, my balls getting tight and my cock swelling.
Fuck, I wanted him, wanted him so goddamned bad. Every fucking moment, I wanted him.
“You gonna take me on our picnic now, Saw?”
“Yeah…and then, if you’ll let me, I’ll take you home and fuck you until I forget how much I missed you while you were gone.”
“Let you? You damn well better,” he replied, and I could only hope he still felt that way after I told him how I felt.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Carter
Sawyer held the handles of the picnic basket as we made our way along a trail through the woods. Then we headed off-trail, following a well-trodden path through the foliage. It was narrower than the main trail, and I kept close behind Sawyer as we dodged branches and stepped around tree trunks and patches of briars. It reminded me of our little detour during our jog—that first jog when we really got a taste of that undeniable chemistry between us.