Sincerely, Carter (Sincerely Carter #1)(54)

“I meant to give this to you weeks ago.” I pulled out the blue box my room-mates wanted me to pass along. “It’s a farewell present since they consider you a roommate, too.”

“Is it a bill for all the groceries I’ve eaten?” He untied the ribbon on top, and held up the small silver necklace that read, Arizona’s Best Friend Forever. “This is very cute, but I’m pretty sure I’ll never wear this…”

“They gave me one, too.” I laughed. “It says Carter’s Best Friend Forever…She said they were drunk when they picked these out.”

“Clearly…” He set the necklace on his dresser and pulled me close, running his fingers through my hair.

Looking into his eyes, I wanted to use our last full night together to tell him how I felt about him, to hear him say the same, but I couldn’t get the words out.

Instead, I took the safe approach. “Do you know that I’ve gotten used to you always being a few blocks, or a few miles away? You being accessible no matter what?”

“What makes you think I don’t feel the same way?”

“Do you?”

“Yes,” he said, kissing my lips. He slowly pulled my shirt over my head and unfastened my jeans.

I returned the favor, pulling his shirt over his head, unbuckling his belt.

Smiling, he picked me up and set me on the bed—slowly pulling the pants from my legs. I kept my eyes on his as he took his off, as he joined me in bed and immediately kissed my lips—not letting me control the tempo.

He kissed me and I shut my eyes—letting him caress every inch of my skin, listening to him whisper my name in between breaths. Within seconds, he pulled me on top of him and positioned me over his cock, slowly pushing me onto it. Grabbing my hips, he slowly rocked me back and forth—all while keeping his eyes on mine.

I pressed my hands against his chest, feeling the words “I love you” on the tip of my tongue, but soft moans came out instead.

I collapsed, falling forward and he slowly slipped out of me.

Catching my breath, I felt him getting out of bed. I wanted to ask where he was going, but he came right back, pulling me against his chest and kissing my forehead.

Neither of us spoke for a long time. We just looked into each other’s eyes.

“I’m going to miss you,” he said. “So f*cking much.”

“If we hadn’t ever had sex would you feel the same?”

“Very much so…You’re the only person I talk to almost every day.”

“Unless you have a girlfriend.”

“No.” He blew a strand of hair away from my face. “I still talk to you the same amount even then.”

“That’s probably why they all hate me.”

He grinned, kissing me again. “Probably.” He rolled me off of him and trailed his finger down my side, stopping when he reached my tattoo—a small silver key.

“When did you get this?”

“The same night we got tattoos in eleventh grade.”

”I’ve never noticed it before.”

“I’ve never had a reason to get naked around you before.”

“Hmmm. What does it mean?”

“It means I was drunk and asked for a key, so the technician asked me to describe the type I wanted, and when I couldn’t, he just did his own thing.”

“How deep and insightful…Tell me something you’ve never told me before…” His hand continued to trail down lower, to my thigh.

“I don’t think there’s anything I’ve never told you before.”

“There has to be something.” He kissed my lips. “It doesn’t have to be anything major…”

“You might’ve been partially right about the bush thing with Scott, although I was, in fact. getting bad vibes that had absolutely nothing to do with that…”

“Sure it didn’t.” He smiled. “And once again, for the record, no guy really cares about that…” He glanced down at my legs. “Although, I do enjoy the bare look.”

I rolled my eyes, blushing. “Your turn. Tell me something you haven’t told me before.”

“I hated you in third grade, too.”

“You didn’t even know me in third grade!” I laughed. “Be serious.”

“I wanted to finish what we started at the EPIC party. I wanted to have you against the wall.”

“How romantic.”

“You didn’t say it had to be romantic,” he said. “I am being serious, though…”

“Okay, wait. I just thought of something you’ve never told me about.”

“Doubt it, but what do you think that is?”

“Elliot in eleventh grade. He didn’t come to school for two weeks after my disaster date with him, after you picked me up that night. Any idea why?”

“Nope.” He smirked. “No idea at all.”

“You do know why!” I looked into his eyes. “Tell me!”

“What do I get in return?”

“Not sure, but I’ll leave if you don’t comply…”

“So, this is a threat?”

I nodded. “A very serious one. Tell me…”