Page 29 of Mark

“Wait until I’m on drink seven,” I warn.

“This is going to be fun.”

She isn’t wrong. I have no filter when I’m drunk, and I love to dance.

Twelve days.

I’ll do anything to get through it, including staying drunk the entire time.

Maybe.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Mark

I drop down in the seat next to Mum and Dad. The sun is warm on my back, the breeze soft against my flesh. The smell of sea fills the air and it’s almost intoxicating.

Most of our holiday getaways remain in the UK. It’s because not all of us have a flexible schedule or going abroad is not in our budget. All of us live comfortably, some more than most. Madison, Maddox and Trent being the top three. Charlotte and Jacob come in next. Each had an inheritance with enough money for them to not work for the rest of their lives. But we’re Carters. Nothing is ever handed to us. Each of us worked hard to get what we have.

The rest of us were given money to get us started, but owning my own business never appealed to me. I’m much more happier working for Maddox and with my family. I make enough to live beyond my means but it doesn’t mean I do. I’ve been waiting to buy my home, unlike other members of my family who couldn’t wait. I’m much like my dad in that way. He didn’t buy his first home until all my uncles had theirs, and he had someone to build a home with. I want that. I want to wait to take that step with a woman I want to spend the rest of my life with.

“Are you still sulking?” Mum asks, holding Sunday in her lap.

“Big baby,” Sunday declares, laughing.

My eyes narrow on my brother. “What have you been teaching my niece?”

“I can’t help that she’s picking up everything we say,” he deflects, holding his hands up.

“I’m not sulking. I’m just feeling five-hundred pound lighter,” I tell Mum, giving her a pointed look. I thought withher taking Freya, I wouldn’t need to worry about how much was being spent.

Until I got the receipt that proved my own mother betrayed me.

“Your father warned you someone was going to get hurt. I warned you. Even Sunday said stop. You were lucky it was a suitcase and not a person you barrelled into.”

“Next time do as you’re told,” Dad warns.

And just like that… I feel thirteen again.

“Okay.”

I scan the patio area and spot the money stealing woman up at the bar with an old lady. I snort. She could have come away with her friend, but instead she meets up with someone old enough to be her nan.

When a young couple join them, I watch as her entire posture stiffens and she downs her drink. I can’t peel my eyes away at their interaction. The young woman who has joined them looks a lot like Freya. She gives off an uptight vibe, like she thinks she’s better than the woman in front of her. And the way her hand goes to the man’s chest, it’s almost like she’s claiming him.

The seat next to me fills, and I turn to Hayden, who looks smug as hell. “Checking out your hot neighbour?”

“She’s not hot,” I grumble.

She might be crazy, but there’s no denying she’s a fucking knockout. However, the look in Hayden’s eye tells me she doesn’t need to know that. She’ll try to play matchmaker.

Hayden glances over to see the young couple walking away. “That must be the bitch of a sister.”

“Hayden,” Mum scolds.

“What? She is. You’re telling me you’d be okay if Faith started dating Jaxon?”

I whip my head to Hayden so fast, blood rushes up my neck. “What?”

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