Page 102 of Love to Hate You

Chapter Thirty-One

Carter

As I pull out of the state park, my phone dings with an incoming message. I don’t bother checking who it is. I’m not ready for reality to rear its ugly head. Instead, I glance at Daisy. She’s still slumped on her seat with one hand shielding her face from view.

I laugh, and she lowers her hand enough to glare.

“There’s nothing funny about what just happened. I’ve never been more humiliated in my life,” she grumbles.

“Well, had he stumbled upon us five minutes later,” I interject. “I think this moment wouldn’t have felt so bad.”

Daisy groans and buries her face in both hands. “I’ll never be able to show my face there again.”

“I doubt it’s your face that he’ll remember.”

That comment earns me a whack on the chest.

“Ow,” I laugh and rub the spot with my fingers. It doesn’t hurt all that much. I take a worse beating out on the field every day, but I have the feeling that she’ll hit me again if she doesn’t think I’ve been properly chastised.

“I blame you for this,” she declares.

A shit-eating grin lights up my face. “I’m curious as to how you arrived at that conclusion since it wasn’t my idea to start stripping off our clothing.”

Her scowl intensifies. If it were possible to smite me on the spot with a single look, that one would do the trick. I’ll tell you what, she’s adorable when she’s all heated up like this. I’m tempted to pull the car over and take her in my arms. I’d like to do a hell of a lot more than that, but obviously, considering what just happened, I’m not about to take any chances on getting busted for making out. Plus, I’m pretty sure that overzealous park ranger killed the mood.

“You’re too damn sexy for your own good,” she mutters.

Ummm, excuse me?

I perk up. “You think I’m sexy?” A silly grin tugs at the corners of my mouth.

“Duh.” She rolls her eyes. “The entire female population at BU thinks you’re sexy.”

The smile fades from my face. “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. Just you.” I hold her gaze for a moment. “You realize that, right?”

She shrugs, looking uncertain.

“There’s just you.” I reach over and nab her fingers, squeezing them tight with my own.

Her gaze drops to our clasped hands. “I’m sure you’re aware of all the options you have.”

“I don’t need options,” I reiterate. “Just you.”

For years I yearned for this kind of physical and emotional closeness with Daisy. And now I have it. With the passing of each day, she becomes more and more important to me. The last thing I want is for her to doubt my feelings.

For the first time since we’ve left the park, her lips lift into a smile. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For the picnic,” she says softly. “It’s one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me.”

“I’m glad you liked it. A rush of pleasure zips through me and explodes like a firework. Maybe I’m not to the point of telling her exactly how I feel, but that doesn’t mean the emotions aren’t there growing uncomfortably in my chest.

A blush warms her cheeks. “Well, up to a certain point, I did.”

I shrug and release an exaggerated breath. “I can’t help it if you find me so irresistible that you tried jumping my bones in public.”

Her face crumples. “We are never discussing this again,” she groans and points a finger in my direction. “I’m serious, Carter. Don’t ever bring it up! As far as I’m concerned, it never happened.”

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