Man of the House: A Dark Bad Boy Romance(30)

“Emily,” he started, but I didn’t let him talk. As soon as the door shut, I turned to him and pulled off the coat, letting it drop to the floor.

I stood there wearing nothing but that lingerie and smile, hands on my hips. “Is this how you pictured it?”

His jaw dropped. He stared at my body exactly the way I wanted him to, but suddenly he turned away. “Shit,” he said.

“What?” I asked, suddenly sensing something was off.

“Emily, I’m so sorry.”

“Carter. What?”

“Can you, uh, shit. Can you put that coat back on?”

I was mortified. I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I quickly grabbed the coat and wrapped it back around me.

The bastard didn’t want me anymore. He had a taste and now he was done, just like with every other girl out there. I didn’t know why I thought I might be special or thought that he was changing. Clearly, I was wrong, and I just made a huge fool of myself.

“Listen,” he said, turning back to me. “It’s not you.”

“Oh my god,” I said, pushing past him.

“Emily, wait.”

I couldn’t stand there and listen to his bullshit cliché excuses. I had to get out of there before I humiliated myself further. I pushed open the door and stormed out into the hall, Carter following behind me.

“Emily,” he said again. “Hold on. Let me explain.”

“No,” I said, whirling around at him. “You listen to me. You’re an ass and a manipulative jerk. You don’t care about people if they don’t benefit you somehow. You’re a user and I’m done with you, Carter Green.”

He stood there, shocked, as I turned and stormed off. I heard my mother’s door open, but I just ignored it as I quickly left their hallway.

As soon as I got into the stairwell, I started running. I could feel the tears coming and I didn’t want him to see them. I ran as fast as I could across the house until I finally got into my apartment, slamming and locking the door behind me.

I collapsed onto the floor, crying harder than I had cried in a long time.

I was so embarrassed. Carter didn’t want me, and I really had no clue why. He seemed like he wanted me that night, and he said he was only going to keep wanting more. I didn’t know what happened between then and now but something had. Maybe it was my fault, and I just wasn’t sexy enough for him. Maybe this lingerie thing was too late.

But no, I couldn’t start blaming myself. Carter was an * and that was all there was to it. He thought he could toss me aside just because he had me already.

I got up, trying to compose myself. I went into the bathroom, tore off the lingerie, and shoved it into the trash. I got changed into sweats and a sweatshirt, poured myself a nice big glass of wine, and collapsed onto the couch.

Carter Green was an *. He was exactly who I thought he was at first. Carter charmed me and managed to convince me that his reputation wasn’t deserved, but clearly I was an idiot for believing him.

I was going to keep playing along with this bullshit for my mother’s sake, but I was done with him. I put myself out there for the first time ever, and maybe I’d never do it again.

It was safer on my couch with a glass of wine, hiding from the world.





18





Carter





I took the long way to work the next morning, my head still spinning over what had happened the night before.

I hoped that I could just back off Emily and things would be okay. In my mind, she’d understand why I was putting distance between us. I turned my phone off, or at least disabled its Marauder’s Map, so that I wouldn’t show up. I thought maybe that was enough, but clearly I was totally mistaken.

She knew as well as I did how messed up what we were doing was. I didn’t want to end it, not at all, which is probably why I was taking the cowardly way out and avoiding her. That was pretty f*cked up in itself, and definitely a mistake. She deserved better than that, but I realized that truth way too late.

She looked f*cking gorgeous standing in my room wearing nothing but that lingerie. Emily is perfect, her body absolutely stunning, and she probably didn’t even realize it. I could tell how nervous she was as soon as she came into my room and said that line. My cock was instantly hard, and I knew that if I didn’t turn away, I’d do something we’d both really regret.

I wanted to explain. If she knew about the note and what that meant, she would totally understand. But clearly she was too hurt, because she ran out of there. Evelyn came outside after her little speech and convinced me to let her go, otherwise I would have followed and explained. Evelyn said Emily would need time, and so I had to give that to her.

I should have just taken her right then and there, even if it was a bad idea. She wanted it as much as I did, and that was all that mattered to me. Fuck anyone that didn’t understand what we had or thought it was wrong. Things were too f*cking complicated for some outsiders to really judge us.

Instead, I tried to be responsible. For the first time in my life, I really was thinking about what was best for her and doing that over my own desires. If I followed my heart, I would have torn that lingerie off her and f*cked her rough on my bed without a second thought. Instead, I thought that turning away and trying to explain was the best thing.