Page 28 of Falling for the Forward

“Wear it,” he orders.

I bristle at his no-nonsense tone over what I’ll be wearing. I never signed over this level of control to him.

“Look, just because your past girlfriends have all been vapid groupies who wept over wearing your jersey, that doesn’t mean I’m doing it.” I fold my arms to emphasize my point.

“My last girlfriend was a professor of archaeology at NYU. It’s been a long fucking day and I have another long fucking day tomorrow, so can you just give me a break on this one so we can go to bed?”

I hate his tone, but I’m tired, too. I’m also feeling properly chastised over calling his last girlfriend a vapid groupie. “Fine. Can you please undo the top two buttons on this dress for me?”

He approaches, and it’s impossible to keep my gaze on just his face. He’s just sobig. I can feel his warmth as I turn around, moving my hair over one shoulder so he can access the buttons I had Mara fasten for me earlier.

The brush of his fingers on my skin makes my heart race. No one said my vow of celibacy after Tyler screwed me over would be easy. Even when we were together, Tyler and I didn’t have much sex, so it’s been a long time since a man touched me.

“Did you invite your family for Thanksgiving?” Carter’s warm breath is a light caress on my neck as he makes quick work of the buttons.

“No, but I will.”

Thanksgiving is in less than two weeks. Carter wants us to host my family and his aunt Rosie, so I have a lot of planning to do. Fortunately, Harry is going to help me with the cooking and Mara and Dex will help with everything else.

“Three brothers, right?” Carter asks as he walks back over to the bed.

I clutch the fabric of my halter-cut dress tightly as I walk over to the closet so it doesn’t fall down.

“Right. Jack, Nate and Sean.”

Carter gets in bed. “I’m great with brothers.”

I’ll let him find out for himself how protective my older brothers are and how less than thrilled they and my parents are going to be about our supposed whirlwind courtship and the wedding they weren’t invited to. There just wasn’t enough time, and I knew my family would have been so alarmed at the idea of me marrying someone they’d never even met that they would have come flying here to stop us.

Someday I’ll be able to tell them the truth. Maybe. I’m too ashamed over what Tyler did to me to let my parents in on it. I also want to keep my brothers out of jail.

I have two suitcases full of clothes that I packed earlier, and I dig through one for a pair of light pajama pants and a gray cami to sleep in. I put on a lightweight sports bra beneath the cami, because nips.

It feels great to finally take off my makeup and let my hair down. I already chose one of the two sinks in Carter’s bathroom to make mine and lined up my toiletries on the counter. As I brush my teeth, I run my hands through the thick waves of my hair. After being wrapped into a knot for many hours, it’s looking pretty unruly.

Taming my hair is a tomorrow thing. Right now, I just want to sleep.

When I walk back into the bedroom, Carter is sitting up on his side of the bed, looking at me over the rim of his reading glasses, a paperback in his hands.

It’sThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I feel like an asshole for assuming Carter would only read books about white male athletes, like him. Clearly there’s more to him than I thought.

“Can you add me to your health insurance tomorrow?” I ask as I get into bed.

His sheets are silky soft and his bed is very firm but super comfortable. This must be what beds at luxury hotels are like. My bed at home sags in the middle.

“Yep. We’ve got a good dental plan, too.”

I get situated, then switch off the light on my side of the bed.

“Will the light bother you if I read a little longer?” he asks.

“No, not at all.”

After a pause, he says, “Hey, I’m not used to sharing a bed with anyone. If I accidentally kick you in the night or something, just kick me back.”

“It’s a huge bed. I think we’ll be okay.”

“Yeah.”

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