Frayed (Torn #2)(59)

“For the love of all that’s holy, SHUT YOUR f*ukING MOUTH!” Lindsey spat at him. Carter looked taken aback from the ferocity of her words, and gladly remained silent until we got to our destination.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. Carter tried to get us out to some bar, but the three of us just wanted to go back to the hotel and sulk, though none of us were brave enough to admit the fact.

Here we were in the great city of London, but our thoughts were somewhere in Paris. Funny wasn’t it?





***

At a quarter past three in the morning, I grudgingly got out of bed due to being severely parched. I hadn’t slept a wink and I was bound to be awake for the rest of the day.

Ever since we got back to the hotel, all I did was stare at the engagement ring Harry had given me. The expensive bauble seemed to mock me.

I was putting the cap back on the bottled water when I jumped out of my skin as a figure appeared out of nowhere. “Shit! Carter!” I yelled at the boxer-clad man. He gave me a light chuckle then a small yawn. I couldn’t help checking out those impressive thighs of his. Emma kept yapping about them back in the day and I never understood her fascination until now. They were thick and honed to muscular magnificence.

I stopped drooling over those epic thighs—and nice body—after it dawned on me that he was wearing boxers coming out of Emma’s room. “You stupid little shit! You didn’t have sex with her, did you?” I hissed, careful not to wake the girls up.

That definitely made him frown. “I was close to making a move, but I stepped back. I knew if I did that, my chances would get slimmer. She needs to trust me and I need to be patient to earn that from her.”

Well, the man did grow a heart after all.

What the hell was Emma doing? She was playing with fire having Carter so close. Even if she wasn’t doing anything with him, it still was dangerous. “Bass is going to flip about this, Carter. Why show up here? You could’ve waited until she got home.”

“That was the plan, but f*uk, Tris. I f*uking miss her. I just wanted to see her for a couple days, that’s all. I just wanted to be around her smiling and laughing at some stupid jokes. It’s bad. I’ve got it bad. You don’t know how hard it is to fight for something you lost. The f*uked up part was that it was too late when I realized just how much I f*uking love her.” Carter ran his hand over his hair and sighed, closing his eyes. Without opening them, he asked me a question. “Is he good to her? Does he love her?” Each word came out with such pain that I didn’t have to guess how much it cost him to say them.

“I think he does. He definitely looked like he did to me. Bass treats her with kindness and loving affection like a woman should be treated. If Bass makes her happy, you have to set her free. Confusing her will not make her go back to you, Carter.”

“That’s like asking me to stop playing soccer, Trista. It’ll never happen, even if she was married to another man. She still loves me, I know it, though she won’t admit to it. She might be an actress, but lying about her love for me was something she was never good at.”

I stared at him, speechless, as he went back inside Emma’s room. f*uk, Emma. Please, be careful.





Chapter 26


Trista


The next day, we found ourselves in The British Museum. The four of us were admiring The Elgin Marbles that were originally from the Acropolis of Athens, when we heard an American girl speak behind us.

“I don’t want to be weird, but are you that new actress that was on E! News filming that movie in Greece with Bass Cole? Emma Anderson, right?” The tall, strawberry blonde, valley girl asked, hopeful and a tad star-struck.

“That would be me.” Emma smiled at her first official fan. “I wasn’t aware that they ran it already.”

The fan was all bright-eyed and smiling from ear to ear. “Oh gosh, they totally did, like a week ago. My friends and I are doing the whole Euro-trip thing. Do you think I could get a picture with you?”

“Sure, just give me your camera and I can have my friends take the picture.”

Carter stepped in and offered his hand towards the fan. “Here, let me take the pic. I promise I’ll only take it from the best angle.” He then immediately took care of the shot before handing it back to the girl. “Here you go.”

“Shit, you’re her soccer boyfriend, aren’t you? Do you think I can get a picture of the two of you, please? You guys look so perfect together!”

Before we knew it, Carter stood behind Emma and wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her cheek. The fan, of course, took a few instead of just one. “Thank you, Emma. I promise I’ll watch your debut movie. I’m sure you’re going to be amazing. See you on the big screen very soon!” The fan waved before retreating towards her friends.

Emma glared at him after Carter unwrapped his arms from her neck. “Did you really have to kiss me, Carter? And for the record, you and I are done. So, do the rest of us a favor and take those pictures down from your page please.”

Lindsey excused herself to pick up a phone call. She moved up ahead of the rest of us before she took it, though.

“Why? Bass Cole can’t take a little competition?” Carter cockily said.

“God, Carter! You cheated on me! As far as I’m concerned, you and I are through.” Emma grated on him, her eyes spat fire.