Page 13 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“So? What’s wrong with waiting for the right guy?”

“Nothing. Just that the ‘right guy’ doesn’t exist. No matter who you date or whom you choose or end up with, no one will ever be right because you’re two different people. You’ll have issues with each other no matter what.”

“That’s called compromise. And acceptance of each other is part of the deal.”

His brows scrunched, and I knew that he knew that I was right.

“If you want to have a chance with Molly, then you’ll wait for her and give her as much time as she needs.” I crouched down and began collecting the spilled twigs back into the basket. Carter joined my effort.

“And you’ll respect her the way any girl should be because no one kisses a girl without her permission!” I felt my face heat with anger again. How dare he steal that kiss from me! It wasn’t his to take.

“You mean, I should have asked you first?”

“Yes, of course.”

“But you would have said no.”

“Exactly my point.”

Theduhlook on his face was beginning to shine some light on what it meant to fully respect a woman.

“Okay, I get it.”

We stood up, but neither one of us moved.

“I’m sorry, Jo. I didn’t meant to disrespect you.”

“Apology accepted. Now let’s get the wood back to the site before they wonder where we are.”

“Wait.” Carter bent down to the ground again and picked up a piece of broken glass. “Whoever was here before us is a pig. If the sun strikes it at the right angle, the grass could catch fire,” he explained. Being the Captain’s son came with the territory of knowing everything about fires. Carter’s father had been a firefighter our entire lives.

The basket was almost full, and the clearing where our tents had been set up was visible. As we approached, I stopped for a moment and said, “And if you truly have any respect for me whatsoever, you will not mention what happened back there to anyone. Got it?”

“You mean, our kiss?”

“Shh! I said, no mentioning it.”

“You just don’t want Nick to find out.”

“If you value having any future children, you will not say anything. If you do, I promise that Nick won’t be the one kicking you in your balls.”

He gave me a crooked grin as if I’d said something that intrigued him. We finally reached the campground and set the basket of wood near the fire pit in the center.

“Where have you been? I was worried.” Nick almost knocked me over when he ran to me from the boys’ side of the clearing where the tents had been set up.

“We were getting wood.”

“You went out far enough not to hear us, didn’t you?”

His fiery gaze flew from me to Carter and back. His hands rested on his hips, making his shoulders appear wider. What was wrong with him? Why was he fuming?

“Why are you being so weird, Nick? We didn’t get lost. I’m very capable of getting wood and not getting lost.”

“She got lost.” Carter coughed into his hand and I threw him a dirty look — the kind that could kill. Why wasn’t he falling down the way I imagined?

“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” Carter chuckled and walked away.

“Why did he call us lovebirds?” I asked. “Did you say something to him? He was asking weird questions.”

---