Authors: Nyrae Dawn

Freeing Carter (40 page)

BOOK: Freeing Carter

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"
Carter
,
it
'
s beautiful.
"
Kira
'
s standing next to me.

"
Mom told me she used to sneak out of the house and meet my dad down here. Are there blankets in the bag?
"
The night doesn
'
t need to start out on a sad note.

"
A girl always comes prepared.
"
Laughing I lower the door on my truck bed
,
climb up and lay out the three blankets.
"
Will you do me a favor and grab the flashlights out of my
glove box
?
"
I ask her. The moon is really bright tonight
,
giving us light
,
but I want to see her as best I can.

The basket clunks into the truck bed
,
followed by the flashlights and then Kira is climbing up too. We sit in the middle of the blankets as she pulls out some sandwiches
,
fruit
,
and sodas.

"
Hey
,
I thought you said you were cooking me dinner!
"

"
I did. This is my way of cooking.
"

"
You
'
re crazy.
"

She winks.
"
I know.
"

We eat dinner and then I pull out my phone and we challenge each other to a couple games of Angry Birds. The time flies
,
a few hours passing too quickly.

"
It
'
s getting cold
."
Kira scoots up and pulls one of the blankets over her
,
before leaning against the window.

"
That
'
s my cue.
"
Suddenly
,
I
'
m kind of nervous
,
which might make me insane. I
'
ve never been nervous with a girl in my life. I definitely shouldn
'
t be nervous with this girl.

Balling the backpack up
,
I lay it down
,
and put my head on it.
"
Come here. Let me keep you warm.
"

I hold my arm out and Kira cuddles inside
,
laying her head in the crook of my arm. I
'
m pretty sure she belongs there. We
'
re
lying
under the blanket
,
her heat against my side. It
'
s perfect.

"
Can we talk? I mean
,
I know we can talk
,
but I didn
'
t know if you wanted to talk about—
"

"
You can ask me anything you want
,"
I interrupt her.

"
What you said about your grandpa earlier?
"

I groan
,
not wanting to talk about him
,
but willing to tell her anything regardless.
"
He
'
s a prick. He was an alcoholic the whole time Mom grew up. Verbally and emotionally abusive to her and my grandma. Mom was
...
well
,
I guess you can say she was probably a nerd in high school. She told me she didn
'
t have many friends or anything. She was really shy and kept to herself
,
but then
..."

"
She met your dad
,"
she finishes for me.

"
I
'
m sure they always knew each other. They went to the same school
,
but he played ball. They hung out in different crowds and stuff.
"
The urge to touch her more takes me over and I slide my other hand over her stomach
,
then hoping and praying it
'
s okay
,
I let it slip under her shirt a little. Not too far
,
but enough so I can brush my thumb against her bare stomach.

"
Is this okay?
"

"
You wouldn
'
t have your hand if it wasn
'
t.
"

Somehow
,
I believe her.

"
Anyway.
"
Brush
,
brush
,
brush.
Her skin is so soft
,
so perfect
,
I can
'
t stop feeling it.
"
Mom and her family went out to dinner one night and her dad started in on her. They left
,
but he blew up at her in the parking lot. Dad was there
,
saw them
,
yelled at grandpa and then started talking to her at school. They were friends at first
,
but she said after like six months
,
he kissed her. They had to sneak around because my grandpa obviously hated him. Graduation night
,
she didn
'
t go home and never went back.

"
His parents let her stay with them
,
since they were both eighteen and all. My dad
'
s parents are awesome. He probably could have gone to any school he wanted because he was good at ball
,
but he stayed local. Went to school
,
they got a tiny apartment. His parents helped them a lot. They loved Mom
.
They
helped her open her store
,
too. He was still in college when they had me. I think it was the first time she knew what it was like to have a real family. His parents moved to Washington when he died
,
but we still talk to them all the time.
"

"
It
'
s like a fairytale
,"
Kira whispers.

"
Yeah?
"

"
Definitely. They loved each other a lot
,
didn
'
t they?
"
Her voice is soft. She rolls toward me
,
so my hand drifts to her side.

"
Yeah
...
it was hard on her and Bill. She never loved him the way she did Dad.
"

"
I wonder if my mom has or had that kind of love. It sucks not knowing. I mean
,
I guess she couldn
'
t have. Why would she have left me if she did
,
but I still wonder.
"

Tell her. Tell her. Tell her.
That I love her that way. That I would do the same things for her. That I love her the way Dad loved Mom.
"
You could always go ask her. Have you decided yet?
"

"
No
.
I still don
'
t know.
"

My hand is big
,
splayed in the dip of her waist. She feels so small
,
so good.

"
You
'
ll figure it out. You
'
ll do the right thing
,
no matter which way you decide.
"

She leans closer.

I lean closer.

My hand runs up her back
,
over her bra strap and back down
,
just needing skin to skin contact.

"
Are you going to kiss me or what
,
Coach?
"

I
'
m smiling against her lips
,
but then I can
'
t concentrate enough to smile. Only enough to kiss her. She moans a little in my mouth and it
'
s awesome. Knowing I affect her the same way she affects me. Rolling onto my back
,
I pull her with me so she
'
s
lying
on top of me rather than the hardness of the truck. She kisses my neck. I kiss hers. Nips my earlobe. I do the same.

Energy zips through my body. Maybe through my body
,
into her and back to me again.

"
Kira
,
"
I whisper against her mouth.

"
Carter
,"
she throws back at me.

"
I—
"
My phone beeps
,
contrasting the quiet.

"
Crap.
"
I fumble for it. A sudden sickness wiping out all Kira
'
s electricity.

The name BILL lights up my screen.

Pushing to sit up
,
I hit talk. Kira kind of rolls off me at the same time.
"
What
'
s wrong?
"
I ask.

"
Nothing. Sara was having a bad day and wanted her mom so I brought her home a few hours ago. I just wanted to call and check in
,
but your mom must have let her phone die because it
'
s going straight to voicemail.
"

I feel like I died too. Sara is home. Sara is home with Mom on the anniversary of my dad
'
s death. And I know she
'
s been sober and she promised me she would be okay
,
but somehow
,
I know she
'
s not. I probably knew when I left
,
but I went anyway. And my little sister is with her because I went out.

I see that bottle sitting in the box. The very full bottle that she could drink. How drunk would that make her? For all I know
,
she could even have more. Would she wait until Sara is asleep? Why didn
'
t I take it earlier? At least stay until she finished folding the clothes so I could take her bottle.

"
Carter? Are you there?
"
Bill
'
s voice says. I
'
m climbing out of the truck. When did I move?

"
Yeah
,
I
'
m here. I
'
m sure everything is good. I
'
m actually on my way home right now.
"

"
Okay
,
well it
'
s no biggie. I just wanted to check in.
"

"
All right
. See you later
."
I try
to
sound calm
,
but as soon as the words leave my mouth
,
I hit end on the call.
"
Come on. We gotta go.
"

Kira doesn
'
t ask questions
,
just starts grabbing the blankets and helping me stuff them in the truck. A few seconds later
,
we
'
re both in the cab
,
the truck is started and I
'
m peeling away. My hands are shaking as I grip the wheel.