Page 68 of Released from the Sin Bin

“No offense, but that thing was in someone else today.” I eye the backseat. “I’m sorry, but I have to pass.”

“You never know where this thing is going or where it’s been.” He smirks, tipping his head back to look at me as he pulls to a stop in front of my house. “But thanks for lunch.”

“Oh, anytime!” My voice squeaks as I grab my bag and open the door. “I got this.”

“Uh, wait.” Carter stops me, cringing as he scratches his head. “I was moved to defense. I didn’t want you to find out and get mad I didn’t say anything.”

“What? That’s great!” I close the door again to see if he keeps talking. “I, of course, love playing defense.”

“Yeah, my dad isn’t as excited for me.” He grips the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white. “And they said it’s my second chance. Fuck this up and I get nothing.”

And here it is, the reason for his awful day.

“That’s ok,” I try to soothe his arm, but he pulls it away. He’d prefer if I beat the shit out of him. “You’re going to do great on defense. Coach Renan would’ve benched you without any other chance if he didn’t believe that too.”

I know Coach Renan in passing and from watching the guys practice. He doesn’t take any shit and would definitely not give second chances unless he thinks they’d be worth it.

“Yeah, thanks,” he mumbles under his breath.

Putting aside what he wants, I wrap my arms around his shoulders and squeeze him in for a hug.

I hold him tight, trying my best to give him any positive energy I can. If I can get through this injury, then he can get through this semester. I’ll do whatever I can to help. It’s the least I can do for how he saved me.

After a few moments, he taps my forearm that lies across his chest.

“I really need to go jerk off.”

“Pig.” With a laugh, I lift off and push him away.

“You really need to stop that.” He groans and shifts his hips.

“Thanks for eating me out! See ya tomorrow?” I hop out of his truck as best I can.

“I’ll see you,” he mutters before I close the door, speeding off around the block to get home.

It takes me a while to lug my bag around and I’ll never admit it, but my ankle hurts. It has to be from therapy. They said it would hurt more before it gets better.

“Was that Carter dropping you off?” Jocelyn asks before I can even close the door behind me.

“Oh yeah, he was free and drove me to physical therapy.” I drop my bag on the steps and raid the kitchen for something to eat. “Do you want to order something for an early dinner? I’m famished.”

“What’s going on between you two?” She ignores my question and sits down across from me at the kitchen counter.

“Huh?” I open a small bag of chips and start munching.

“Are you hooking up with Carter?”

A chip gets caught in my throat and I choke, hacking and coughing to get it out. Jocelyn walks around and passes me a water bottle from the fridge, waiting for my answer.

“No,” I cough up after clearing my throat. “Not at all. We’re just friends.”

I hate lying. But technically we’re not hooking up. We’re just friends and it was only a onetime thing. What happened in the last twenty-four hours will never happen again. At least, I don’t think so. We didn’t really discuss terms.

“Really?” She looks sad as she asks, but I have no idea what she could be upset about.

“Yeah. I bug him and he drives me around. Nothing more.”

Her entire body deflates as she once again takes a seat on the stool in front of the small window that separates the kitchen from the living room.

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