Sincerely, Carter (Sincerely Carter #1)(47)

Why the hell would anyone do that?

When I pulled up to the theater, Ari was sitting on a bench with a bucket of popcorn in her lap—looking at her phone. I pulled up to the curb and got out of the car.

“Hey…” I said.

“Hey…” She didn’t look up as I sat next to her. “I hope you didn’t cut your date short because of this.”

“There were a few other reasons…”

“Oh?” She looked at me and I noticed that her eyes were red and puffy, that there were tears falling down her face.

“Yeah…” I untied the silk headband she was wearing and pressed it against her cheeks. “Turns out she wanted a whirlwind date, too. She also thought I was a complete gentleman, so she wore a sweater.”

“Bahahaha!” She burst into laughter and I caught the popcorn bucket before it could fall to the concrete. “Oh god! I am…I am…Bahahahaha! That’s what you get for trying to sleep with every girl possible.”

“Glad my night of epic failure could make you laugh...” I waited for her to stop. “What happened to yours?”

“Turns out, you were right…”

“About?”

“Guys our age are really only interested in sex…” She paused, looking at me.

“Okay…” I said. “Are you going to tell me the rest of the story, or are you waiting for something?”

“I’m waiting for you to say what you’re supposed to say. You know, that’s not true, Ari. All guys our age aren’t only interested in sex.”

I blinked.

“Ugh...” She shook her head. “He tried to put a move on me in the theater and I mean…I went along with it at first because he’s a really good kisser. I mean a really, really good kisser. He does this thing with his tongue where he kind of—”

“Can we bypass all the flattery parts for the * who left you in the middle of nowhere, please?”

“Right…” She snapped out of it. “As we were kissing, he started slipping his hands under my dress and you know…”

“Fingering you?”

“Yes…Fingering me, and um…”

I raised my eyebrow, waiting for her to finish.

“It felt good, but awkward, you know? So, I asked him to stop and he did. We watched the rest of the movie and he just kissed me here or there. After the movie, we got into his car and I started to ask him if he wanted to get dinner since we had a few hours before the fireworks, but he started kissing and fingering me again and um…”

I pressed the scarf against her cheeks again.

“When I told him to stop this time, he got mad. He said he was tired of spending so much money on me without getting anything in return. He said he would only continue our date if I promised he would finally get to f*ck me by the end of the night...”

I sighed.

“So…I told him I couldn’t promise him that, and he said he couldn’t promise to finish our date either. Then he made me get out of his car and sped off, but not before saying, ‘Thanks for wasting six months of my life…” Tears fell down her face again. “I should’ve believed you…I should’ve known.”

“No, that’s not it,” I said. “He’s just an *.” I sent a quick text to my friend, Josh, regarding Elliot and tried to calm Ari down again. “I actually think it’s kind of cool that you want to hold on to your virginity until you’re ready.”

“Really? You think so?”

“No.” I couldn’t keep a straight face with that lie. “But it’s honorable. Lame as hell, but honorable.”

“Have I mentioned that you’re a dickhead this week already?”

“You just did.” I smiled and pulled her up—walking her to my car.

“On the plus side, at least I’ll get some sleep tonight and have energy to last through tomorrow’s bake sale.”

“Like hell you will.” I cranked the engine. “I’m not letting a Saturday night go to waste, especially since I have blue balls already. We’re both going to do something so this night won’t be a complete bust.” I veered onto the highway. “Where was lover-boy supposed to take you after the movie?”

“Sandcastle for fireworks.”

“Ugh. And after that?”

“Gourmet ice cream.”

“Jesus…And after that?”

“Tattoos.”

“Okay, we can do all of that, but only if we get tattoos first. I’ll need some pain to focus on to get through the rest of that shit.”

“Deal,” she said. “Now, tell me more about Monica’s sweater. That was a joke, right?”

“I wish, my friend. I f*cking wish…” I gave her the play by play of my night—every moment in detail, and by the time I was done we’d arrived at Hot Needle.

“Were you planning on getting ‘Ari and Elliott forever’?” I looked over at her. “I hope you now know that would’ve been a terrible idea.”

“I was going to get a key and a pen.”

“Yes to the key. No to the pen.”

“Okay, Dad.” She rolled her eyes. “What are you getting?”