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“Let me make something crystal clear, Zoey,” he says, shifting his hold on me. He releases my arm and takes my books, setting them on a nearby desk. Then he drags me fully against him, locks his arms around me, and gazes down at me patiently, like a teacher with an unruly pupil. “If you fuck someone else just to spite me, you will regret it. Not as much as he will though,” he adds, silkily. “I might not have the heart to destroy you, but I damn sure won’t feel so merciful toward him. Any asshole who is seen alone with you from now on will wind up between my crosshairs. Understand?”
“No,” I say quickly. Too quickly. Carter’s eyes light up with momentary victory, then dull a little, then shift to amusement. “Really? That fucking guy? He’s gotta be a virgin.” I’m tempted to say “He was,” just to piss him off, but I don’t want to put a target on Luke’s back, so I hold my tongue.
There’s an aura of darkness around his past, but it’s a locked door and he wouldn’t give me the key even when we were together, so there’s no chance he’ll give it to me now.
“You’re a good girl, aren’t you, Zoey?” he asks, almost soothingly as he works my panties down with one hand. “So why don’t you act like one. Close that pretty little mouth, spread your legs, and take your punishment.”
“You better not really talk to him, Carter. I will be so pissed at you if you embarrass me like that.” Carter shrugs, then crosses his arms. “Then you better handle it yourself. If you really went out with him, end it. Feed him the same bullshit you gave me about needing to focus on your schoolwork, I don’t care. Just end it. I’m not going to have some other asshole putting his hands on you. If he does, I shit you not, Zoey, I’ll fucking decimate him.” I don’t even have any interest in a relationship with Luke, but Carter’s insistence that I remain on the shelf while he does whatever he wants
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I won’t be wearing them anytime soon, anyway. Thank the Lord, I finally started my period over the weekend, so there is no Carter clone hiding out in my womb, waiting to do Daddy’s bidding and ruin my whole life. The birth control I started was supposed to start working immediately, so it seems now I’m out of the woods.
I look up to see Luke sitting there. I don’t mean to gape at him in horror as he flashes me a smile, but I do. My gaze jumps across the cafeteria to Carter, and he is looking right at me, a fry frozen mid-air on its way to his mouth.
“Hey, you’re among friends here,” Carter returns. “I’m sure they won’t tell anybody.” “There’s nothing to tell. I’m not pregnant,” I say again, glaring up at him. “Least of all with the spawn of Satan, which is what I would be carrying if you impregnated me.” Carter smiles. “Now, that’s no way to talk about our baby, Zoey. Those hormones are acting up something fierce, aren’t they?” “Murder,” I say again, my eyes widening. “I’m literally going to kill you. I thought it would be you who murdered me, but no.” “Oh, shit. Before I forget…” He takes his hands off me, reaches into his pocket, and a
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“I’m so sorry,” Kasey says, apparently ashamed of herself. “I know he just dropped you in a pot full of boiling water. I know it’s not funny, but… damn. That was merciless.”
Don’t tell anybody I said so, but that boy is obnoxiously smart. I know he doesn’t try as hard as you do,
I give him a minute to taste it, then I ask, “Good?” “Delicious.” Cocking an eyebrow, I ask, “Better than your rally girl’s cookies?” Grinning, he puts the cookie down on the plate and then looks back at me. “Much better. A million times better. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say these are the best cookies I’ve ever tasted.”
Clearly understanding what I have just done, he does not look remotely amused. He looks pretty pissed,
Ignoring the heat, I walk around the table and stop behind him. Wrapping an arm around him from behind, I lean down and whisper in his ear, “Turns out I don’t have money for that dress, after all. Guess you’re gonna have to find another date to homecoming.”
“Maybe I should stop talking to you and see what happens if I ignore you completely,” I suggest. Carter grimaces. “I wouldn’t recommend it. If I get much more destructive,
Cartwright is staring at me across the table, his fajita dripping toppings onto his plate. “Damn, will you come up with all my alibis, too? That’s fuckin’ thorough.” I point at him with the corner of my fajita and lift a severe eyebrow. “You’ll say nothing.” “I always say nothing,” he assures me, before taking a bite. “I can see why Carter likes you so much now, though. You got a brain in that pretty little head too, don’t ya?” “The Zoey Ellis package is a pretty good one, I won’t lie,”
“You can’t sit with us,” Brianna snaps, then shakes her head in frustration. “I can’t believe you actually just made me say that.”
“I’m not flustered,” I mutter. “Aw, are you blushing?” Cartwright asks, smirking at me. “She’s blushing.” I look up at him across the table. “Et tu, Brute?” Cartwright frowns. “Huh?”
I love being the place he puts his darkness. I love being the keeper of the secret of who Carter really is. I love him, dammit. I didn’t entirely mean it when the words slipped out that night in a post-orgasmic bliss bubble, but God help me, I do. I love Carter Mahoney, and that means I am well and truly fucked.
“She should have known better than to fuck with me. I warned her more than once. At a certain point, you have to act or no one believes you anymore.”
“Money is not your issue,” Carter states, dismissing my smoke screen. “Sex is your issue. You immediately dumped me when you thought I might’ve been with someone else, and now you’ve decided your feelings for me dissolve if I sleep with anyone else, even though we’re not together. You don’t want me if my dick gets hard for anyone but you. This is your possessive side coming out, doesn’t have a damn thing to do with money.”
“Take it anyway.”
“Do you know what you’ve done, princess? You just gave me the keys to the kingdom. There’s no stopping me now.”
I don’t sit at the popular girls’ table where Carter’s girlfriend should sit, either; I sit right next to him at the guys’ table—the sole girl among them. Perhaps because of that, the message is clear that I’m with Carter, whether I say I am or not.
From the time I was eight until I was thirteen. Didn’t really need a babysitter by that age, but I liked hanging out with her. She was only six years older than me, so it was more like having a friend over than a babysitter, just a smart friend who could help with my homework when my parents didn’t want to.”
“She made me do shit I didn’t want to do, and she got paid for it twice. It was a nice fucking pay-off, let me tell you.”
“Nice guy, that Carter,” he deadpans. “The nicest.” “Not controlling at all,” he adds. “Doesn’t even know the meaning of the word,” I volley back. “Well, my whole congregation prayed for your soul last weekend,” he tells me. “Their efforts are much appreciated,” I offer back, wishing he would stop talking. It’s hard to study with him being so noisy.
“I didn’t intend to piss you off, you just….” He trails off, shaking his head. “I don’t think Carter’s good for you. I don’t understand why he did worse to you than I did, but you like him. You say it’s not the money, but what else could it be? What does he have that I don’t?”
“He’s gonna banish you even further if you keep botherin’ his girlfriend,” Brianna states. “What is wrong with you people? Just leave Zoey alone and Carter will leave you alone. It’s not that hard!”
My eyes widen and I look up as Carter’s father makes his way down the aisle, his stern gaze locked on us. “Nah, Mr. Mahoney, no problem over here,” Jake tells him. “Good,” Carter’s father clips, giving Jake a stern look. “Why don’t you go find a seat before you miss the game,” he suggests. Ignoring Brianna entirely, Mr. Mahoney puts a hand at the top of my back and nudges me toward the row he just exited. “Come on over here, honey. You can sit with us.”
“Because he has a crush on an imaginary girl who looks like me,” I inform him, winding my arms around his neck. “Damned doppelgänger,” he says lightly, shaking his head. “Always causing trouble,” I murmur, before stealing another kiss. “Need me to take care of it?” “I do not,” I tell him, firmly. “Your dad was nice to me today.” I expect at least a hint of pleased surprise, but he merely nods confidently. “I know. I told you I’d take care of that. I got him on team Zoey.”
I also can’t look at him when I’m thinking such awful things, so I sigh and look up at the ceiling instead. “What’s wrong?” Carter asks. “Nothing. Just thinking about the future.” “You have your defensive, daddy issue face on,” he informs me. “Are you thinking about me on a beach with a super model again?”
Carter takes my wrists and pins them over my head, then leans down so that his handsome face is much closer to mine. “As usual, Ellis, you’re thinking too small. Haven’t you learned by now you’ve gotta go big or go home? Sometimes compromise is not the answer. Sometimes taking what you want is the answer.”
You keep trying to sell yourself on this narrative that I’m not serious about you, Zoey, but it’s wrong. I am serious about you, more serious than I’ve ever been about anything else in my life.”
“I think you’re slapping a label on fear and calling it realism,” he tells me. “You weren’t afraid to take a gamble on me,
Don’t you get that? I can take you higher. You let me use you all the damn time. Use me.”
but I’ve been talking to my Columbia contact about you, stressing that in order to perform as well as I want to for them, it would really help me if I could bring my brilliant girlfriend with me.”
“You told him about that? Shameless as he is, Carter smirks. “Even embellished a little to really drive home the point of how much damage you’re capable of inflicting, if we didn’t make some gesture to keep you on our good side.” I’m glad he finds this so amusing because I’m starting to sweat. “Are you crazy, Carter? He really will send a hitman after me!”
“Nah. He knows there are a lot of behaviors women will tolerate if it comes with a comfortable living.”
You’re above and beyond anything I’ve ever hoped for. I never even knew to look for you, but I sure am glad I stumbled across you.”
“He sends you unmitigated longing completely unprovoked, then?” he questions, arching a golden eyebrow. “That is not what that message was. You’re twisting it up to cause trouble.” “I’m not trying to cause any trouble. Just pointing out that this guy wants to fuck you on the off-chance Carter didn’t already know.” “See,” Carter says, nodding smugly and leaning across the table. “Give me that fucking thing. I have some words for Lucis.”
