Page 129 of Mark

“Max Carter, what are you doing?” Lake yells as she stops behind Max.

Max freezes for a split moment, before spinning to face his wife. “It’s not what you think,” Max declares, holding his hands up. His bronze face turns pale at the sight of his wife.

“So you didn’t lose a dare last night and the consequences were to dress up in a bikini?”

He scratches the back of his neck, standing up straighter. “Okay, so it is what you think.”

She lets out a weary sigh. “Max, you promised to keep the shenanigans to a minimum.”

“You knew I wasn’t the sort of person to go back on my word when you married me,” he states. “A bet is a bet.”

She pinches the bridge of her nose. “Just go and get your dance out of the way, so you can at least try and act like a normal human being for the rest of the day.”

He nods like she’s just told him to go fetch a bottle of milk. As he gets near us, he glares at his daughter, pointing at her. “I raised you better than this. Snitching on your own father.”

“And you knew better than to steal my food. Yet you continue to walk a dangerous line,” Hayden warns with a sniff.

“You weren’t even eating it,” he accuses.

“I turned my back for a second to talk to Sunday,” she snaps.

“And I raised you better than to turn your back to your food,” he argues. “You’re welcome. You won’t be doing that again in a hurry.”

“Dad, I would seriously go and do your dance before I send you swimming with the sharks,” she bites out.

As he gets up on one of the podiums used for a dance floor, the DJ plays the clean version of Anaconda by Nicki Minaj. Theothers get up to taunt him, leaving Freya and I alone on the sun loungers.

I glance over to where her mum and dad are sitting, noticing they are looking our way again. “Did you speak to your mum?” I question, running my fingers down her arm.

“What’s the point? She’ll only deny it or confirm it and it won’t change the way I feel about it.”

“They could be bullshitting you, babe,” I suggest, even though I doubt it. I know her mum is trying, but it still seems like something she would say. Freya doesn’t need to hear that from me though.

“They didn’t know I was in the bathroom. Diana would still speak freely knowing I was there, but Sophie… Sophie is one of those girls who prefers to do it behind a person’s back. She’s too scared to say it to their face. Esther is the same. She’s so sweet and kind to everyone, but I’ve heard her on the phone to her friends talking about people.”

“I get that, but there are some people who just love to stir the pot. Maybe putting all the cards on the table and getting it out there will help mend this rift between you.”

“It really doesn’t matter to me. I think the only thing that is bothering me is not knowing when it was said. If it was before the talk we had, I’ll drop it. But if it’s recent and after our conversation, then I don’t know what it will do to me.”

Getting the feeling she doesn’t want me to push, I don’t. I understand what she is saying. She’s good with them now and is enjoying her time with them. If all of that is a lie, it’s going to hurt her more than everything that has transpired before. I also understand why she wants to keep her head in the clouds. If my parents had acted like that to me even once, it would kill a part of me. But I also hate the thought of them hurting her and getting away with it. It’s the Carter blood that runs through my veins. We eliminate our threats.

“I would definitely run it by your sister then. You’re on good terms. Even if it’s not to tell her about what happened, you could try and see if she knows when your parents said it.”

“I don’t know. She’s been acting weird with me all day and I have no clue as to why,” she declares before letting out a sigh. “Can we talk about something else?”

“All right,” I reply. “You can tell me about the conversation you were having with my mum this morning. I saw you both in deep conversation.”

“She was inviting me to Faith and Beau’s wedding.”

My eyebrows crease together because they were talking a lot longer than that. “And?”

She glances up at me, her lips twisting into a smirk. “You are very nosey today.”

I roll my eyes as I flick her nose. “What were you talking about, because if she was telling you embarrassing childhood memories of me, it’s all lies.”

“So you are calling your mum a liar?”

I sigh. “No. But I know my mum. She can’t help herself. She told my prom date, who I barely even knew, about the time I slipped in chocolate on the dance floor and split my head open.”

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