An Imperfect Circle (20 page)

“
You call me ginger again and I will make you suffer,” I warn him seriously as I let him scoop me up.

His arms slot under my
back and behind my knees and he lifts me fairly effortlessly in all credit to him. I can feel the bulge of his muscles as he holds my weight but they’re not trembling or shaking. He seems quite stable.

I hook my arms round his neck. You know, just in case.

He grins at me and winks as I do so and I resist the urge to throttle him because it would be so easy. I mean, my hands are already at his throat.

“
Now what?” He prompts.

“
Well,” I glance at Becky who is smiling a sort of secret smile as Rob shuffles in behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. “You’ve sort of proved my point but I quite like being carried. It cuts out all that pesky walking.”

“
You’re seriously expecting me to carry you around?”

“
You’re my friend aren’t you?” I goad him with false sweetness.

We both know I’m secretly challenging him to a game of chicken. He won’t put me down unless he really has to because it’ll put his strength into question.

“Carry me closer to Becky so I can talk to her,” I instruct him.

“
What’s in it for me?” He smirks, walking in the opposite direction.

I just smile sweetly and place my right hand over his nipple, raising one eyebrow to let him know what will happen to that nipple if he doesn’t take me over to Becky.

He groans and turns around, walking us back over to the others. I know we’re drawing quite a bit of attention but I’m enjoying torturing Karl too much to care.

“
Why are you carrying Elise?” Ian smirks.

“
Apparently she’s gotten tired of walking,” Karl answers dryly.

“
I was making a point,” I retort, putting my hand back around Karl’s neck because it feels mean to keep threatening his nipples even if he sometimes deserves it.

Whilst I’m here, I note that his cotton t-shirts are indeed extremely soft. That must be why I kind of want to stroke it. Who doesn’t appreciate some soft cotton?

Becky looks happy and I’m fairly sure my point has been made so I might let him put me down soon.

“
Well, you know we can all see your arse crack, right?” Ian smirks.

Some of the vapid leg spreaders laugh and I try to swivel round to check but Karl shifts my weight so that my front is pressed flat against his and I can’t access his nipples.

“Seriously?” I whine.

I feel Karl’s deep chuckle vibrate through me and I hate the way my stomach tightens in response but I’m too busy worrying about my builder’s bum being on display to worry about that.

“Karl, put me down,” I demand haughtily.

“
Nah, I’m good, thanks,” he laughs.

“
I wasn’t asking, I was telling. Now, put me down,” I squirm in his arms as best I can but I’m fairly sure I’m stuck.

I try pinching the skin on his back a little and I hear him grunt but I quickly stop that because I remember he’s bruised and
, even though he’s torturing me, I don’t really want to hurt him. I did tell him to pick me up after all.

“
I swear to god, Karl, if you don’t put me down I’ll-”

“
You’ll what?” He goads. He knows full well I won’t really hurt him and he’s got me sort of trapped.

“
What do you want?” I groan because I know him well enough to know he’s got an angle here.

“
Come to dinner on Friday again.”

“
Seriously?” I prompt. I quite enjoyed myself last Friday and the food was amazing. It hardly seems like a penance.

“Yeah, stay the night,” he continues.

“
What?” I half-screech. He did not just ask me to sleep with him. I may have to take back that thing about not wanting to hurt him.

“
A sleepover,” he elaborates. “Like old times.”

“
Old times?” I wriggle some more in the hope he can see my unimpressed facial expression. Firstly, he’s breaking a rule. Secondly, in ‘old times’ we played with play dough and made castles out of mud in the garden.

“
Sort of,” he shrugs fairly awkwardly considering he’s holding my weight. Still without trembling, might I add. “Rob and Becky could come over. The twins were going to have some friends over anyway.”

“
So it’d be like a party?” I ask suspiciously, stopping my wriggling for the time being.

“
Yup,” he affirms. “Jamie’s been asking about you all weekend, she wants to see you again.”

“
Really?” I grin because that girl kicks ass.

He nods and rolls me over once again so I can see him properly. It’s almost dis
turbing how easily he does that. He’s making a much better point than I predicted. Becky definitely doesn’t need to worry about sitting on Rob’s lap.

“
One condition,” I grin.

“
You’re not really in a position to be making demands,” he grins but he waits for me to continue anyway.

“
I want pizza.”

“
Pizza?” He smirks, his azure blue eyes laughing at me.

“
Pizza,” I repeat. “I was promised pizza. A whole one.”

“
Deal,” he nods victoriously, slowly lowering me to the floor. He keeps his hands wrapped round my waist until my feet are firmly planted and they hover there a second longer.

He’s just that bit taller than me and I tilt my head back to meet his eyes as I wait for him to release me. We’re stood very, very close. We’re practically one person and I can feel my heart-rate speeding up to match the steady beat of his vibrating through his rib cage.

“Friday night,” he reminds me on a whisper, that triumphant sparkle still in his eyes.

He thinks he’s
won something. But I’d do pretty much anything for pizza. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I enjoy spending time with him.

Nothing at all.

It was surprisingly easy to convince my mum to let me go to the party. In fact, she sort of tried to convince me it was a good idea. Let’s be fair, she knows the Carters and it’s not like she needs to worry about anything happening with Andrew there. The guy rules with an iron fist.

Becky had a bit more trouble. Her dad called Andrew and grilled him about alcohol, sleeping arrangements, and the presence of adults until he was satisfied we weren’t going to turn Becky into a drug-addled prostitute. I think Becky was embarrassed but at least it shows her parents care about her and they said yes in the end.

On the plus side, Becky and Bear met after school on Wednesday when she came over for dinner. Instant friendship. They got on like a house on fire.

Blossom quizzed him endlessly about his beliefs and why he lives the way he does but, because it was all born of genuine curious interest, there was nothing offensive about it and if there’s one thing Bear loves, it’s a person who is open to learning and understanding about the different ways in which people choose to live their lives.

It took a full second after Becky was gone for Bear to tell me she was an enlightened soul and a friend for life. He also told me that I should look out for her because she would only see the good in people but I already knew that. Nobody will be taking advantage of her if I get a say in it.

We make the same trip back to the Carter household as we did the week before only there are a lot more of us. The twins have invited a boy and a girl from their year and Matt has invited Shelly, much to my chagrin.

She’s been slightly less of a cockroach this week and I think it’s because she’s realised I’m not going anywhere and if she wants to pant all over the guys, she’ll have to do it in front of me.

Great.

We pick the younger Carters up and I get the second hug from Jamie. The first goes to Ian, which is fair enough, but I consider myself honoured to come before Karl. I also consider it a personal victory over him and I let him know it by winking at him as I squeeze his too-adorable little sister.

“What’s up, little man?” Karl ignores me, fist-bumping Jake.

“
I’m not little,” Jake grumbles but he returns the fist-bump.

“
You’re smaller than me but you’re bigger than Jamie so I guess we’re both right,” Karl chuckles.

“
I don’t get why you guys get friends over but we don’t,” Jake whines.

“
Jacob,” Ian frowns at his youngest brother. “Don’t whine.”

“
Sorry,” he grumbles a half-hearted apology.

“
The house is only so big, Jake,” Karl explains. “We get priority because we’re older. You three can have friends over next time.”

“
Jamie hasn’t got any friends,” Jake smirks at his little sister.

“
Jake,” Ian warns again, levelling Jake with a fairly scary glare.

Jake lowers his gaze but he’s still smirking viciously at Jamie.

“You’re my friend, aren’t you Jamie-Lea?” I ask her, taking her hand in mine so we can walk home together.

She nods enthusiastically and seems to cheer up a bit. I do
n’t know why her and Jake don’t get on but I’m guessing it has something to do with Jake needing to feel like a big man being the smallest and youngest of all the brothers.

Karl and Matt quiz
Jake about his football practice and Becky shuffles away from Rob and Ian to come talk to me and Jamie-Lea. I introduce them and, as I knew would happen, Jamie takes to Becky instantly. There’s nothing to dislike about my best friend.

Andrew smiles at me as we all file into the house. The younger Carters, the twins, and their friends disappear off to change out of their uniforms and the rest of us head down to the den.

When we’ve all reassembled, Andrew comes down to set the ground rules. I kind of expected he would.

“
If I find anybody has alcohol, their parents will be contacted and they will be sent home. You can have the music on but check that it can’t be heard from the bedrooms,” he looks to Ian and Karl and I figure that this is to let them know it’s their responsibility.

“
There will be no sharing of sleeping blankets and no canoodling.”

Yes. He really just used the word canoodling. I fight every single fibre in my body and somehow manage not to laugh.

“Any mess left in the morning will be cleaned up.” Again, he looks to his eldest two sons and follows up with a look to the twins.

“
That being said, the pizza is on me and have a good night.”

“
Thanks, Mr Carter,” I grin at him.

He grins back and squeezes my shoulder as he heads up the stairs.

“So, what’s the plan?” Shelly prompts, turning to look at Ian with big doe eyes.

Thankfully
, he’s immune to it because he just looks past her. I guess he’s been there before and wasn’t too impressed. I wrinkle my nose at the thought. I really don’t like the intimacy of that mental image.

“
First things first,” Danny starts up. “We need to order a shit tonne of pizza.” He grins and then seems to realise he’s just sworn.

“
Let it go, please?” He looks at Ian with a regretful pout.

Ian, of course, just raises an eyebrow and waits for Danny to do his ten sit-ups.

Rick goads him the whole time but everyone else ignores him, discussing how many pizzas we need.

“
What’s up, Jamie-Lea?” I prompt, squatting down to meet her at eye-level when I see how dejected she looks.

She seems to chew something over but she answers me after a few seconds.
“I’m really hungry.”

“
Me too,” I grin. “But we’re ordering pizza so we won’t be hungry for long.”

This doesn’t seem to reassure her so I drop to my knees and hold her hand.

“They all eat really fast. It will run out before I get some,” her bottom lip trembles slightly and I actually physically hear her stomach grumble. She really must be starving.

“
Tell you what,” I tell her, lowering my voice like I’m about to let her in on a secret. “Karl has promised me a whole pizza just for me. How about we share it?”

“
A
whole
pizza?” Her eyes go wide.

I nod.
“Yup. A whole one.”

“
Wow, he must really like you. Karl doesn’t share food,” she whispers in my ear.

I grin because I know that’s true. Jamie’s eyes are wide and she’s looking at me like I’ve magically made her brother promise me a pizza.

I grin up at Karl behind me and he just smiles back, watching me talk to Jamie.

“
How about it?” I smile. “Want to share my pizza with me.”

She nods gratefully, clutching her still grumbling tummy.

“Alright,” Ian announces. “I ordered sixteen. They’ll be here in about an hour.”

I watch Jamie’s face fall at the prospect of waiting an hour
and, to be fair to her, he stomach sounds like it’s eating itself.

I reach for my rucksack and pull out one of my emergency
Wagon Wheels. “Want to eat this to keep you going?”

“
I’m not allowed chocolate before I eat my dinner,” she shakes her head with a thoroughly forlorn expression as she eyes the Wagon Wheel hungrily.

“
But this is a party, right?” I prompt.

She nods
, glancing up at Karl who’s still watching us.

“
You’re allowed to make exceptions at a party.”

“
I’m not allowed,” she repeats.

I look up to meet Ian’s eyes and he comes over straight away. I know he’s probably been watching and he’s probably seen the
Wagon Wheel in my hand.

“
What’s up, sis?” He looks at his little sister with concern in his eyes, scooping her up to rest on his hip.

She just bites her lip nervously in response.

“Woah, was that your stomach?” Ian chuckles, obviously able to feel it growling.

Her face turns bright red and she nods and buries her face in his neck.

“Didn’t you eat your lunch?” He questions her, tipping her chin up with his thumb and forefinger.

She shakes her head
.

“
Jamie,” Ian frowns. “You barely ate any breakfast earlier. It’s important to eat.”

I see Jamie-Lea’s eyes flick over to Jake for a fraction of a second and I doubt Ian misses it. He seems to draw his own conclusions and he sighs and sets his sister down.

“Seems like Elise has a Wagon Wheel. It’s a special day today because we’re having a party. I think it would be okay if you had it to keep you going until the party starts, okay?”

Her face breaks out into a delighted smile and she looks up at Karl as well, just to make sure she’s definitely allowed.

“I’d eat it quick, Jamie,” Karl grins, hooking his arm around my shoulder. “She might change her mind. She loves these things.”

Jamie accepts the
Wagon Wheel, ripping the packet off and taking a huge mouthful.

“
Eat it slowly,” Karl warns with a grin.

She nods and smiles with her mouth full. It shouldn’t be cute but it is.

“If anybody tries to take it from you, come and tell me, okay Jamie?” Ian instructs with a furrowed brow.

She blushes but nods and I
look away from her because her irritating older brother has just started tickling my shoulder again.

“
What?” He looks at me innocently.

“
You know what,” I narrow my eyes at him.

His smirk broadens and he keeps his stupid arm on my stupid shoulder. My shoulder is definitely stupid because it’s enjoying it without my permission.

“So, where’s the vodka?” I hear Shelly ask and I feel Karl’s body stiffen slightly and watch his eyes narrow.

“
You heard my dad, Shelly,” Ian sighs, pulling the girl onto his lap. “No booze.”

“
But, but…” she pouts.

“
But nothing. No booze.”

“
But we could have a good time.”

“
I don’t need alcohol to show you a good time, doll. Or have you forgotten?”

I frown but S
helly’s reaction is much higher-pitched and full of irritating giggles.

Becky and I exchange
a disgusted nose-wrinkle across the room at each other and I know Karl sees us doing it.

“
There are kids here, Shelly,” I point out.

“
So?” She frowns. “I wasn’t saying we should give them vodka. Me and Ian will be eighteen next year anyway.”

“
It’s not that kind of party, Shell. I told you that yesterday.”

“
I know,” she pouts and the pout only grows as Ian slides her off his lap and onto the sofa between him and Matt.

She’s Matt’s guest after all and I guess Ian’s already been there and done that.

We end up just putting some music on and messing around until the pizza comes. The twins are pretty entertaining and I could listen to their back and forth all day. They seem even more alike than I remember them and I get the impression that even when they’re bickering, they’re still not really mad at one another. They seem really close.

Craig sits quietly and talks to Jake
, and Jamie-Lea sits on Ian’s lap and he lets her draw patterns on his arm in felt-tip pen as she sits there.

Becky and I are sat cross-legged on the floor with Rob and Karl behind us. I’m not sure if he knows he’s doing it but Karl keeps winding tendrils of my hair around his finger.

I figure he’s subconsciously mirroring rob who is actively playing with Becky’s hair.

I’d tell Karl off but, honestly, it’s kind of relaxing and I don’t see anything wrong with it.
It’s not until Andrew brings down the pizza that I realise that his fingers have been getting higher and higher up the strands of hair and are now gently massaging my scalp and neck.

I can’t believe I didn’t notice. I guess I was so relaxed I just didn’t think about it. Obviously it feels nice but now I know there’s no way he isn’t doing it on purpose, I can’t let him continue.

No matter how nice it feels.

“
What are you doing?” I turn round to confront him.

“
Being nice?” He answers with a grin.

I scowl at him because it feels like more than that but I can’t really argue after letting it go on for so long. Lucky for him, I’m hungry and my lovely round pizza is waiting for me. That’s more important than exacting revenge.