Page 41 of Right in Front of You

CARTER, AGE 25, PRESENT

A scent is released when two souls connect. I know it to be true, because I’m a firefighter, and I know my smells. When I see you, Molly, that special spark is lit and I feel my soul burst into flames.

“Fuck this. This isn’t me. I’m not a poet!” I crunched the piece of paper in my fists and threw it into the fire pit.

“You’re trying too hard, Carter.” My best friend Jo laughed and set the glass of wine on the table, lifting her legs up onto a chair. She had beautiful legs.

“Maybe I was only meant to be an uncle.”

“And you’re a wonderful uncle to Mackenzie. I don’t know what I would have done without you. But to be honest with you, you need a life.”

Was that a tremble in Jo’s voice? Her eyes were glossed over and her lids looked heavy. Jo had that half-pasted-on smile on her face that would be permanent until the wine in her veins dried up. And now I had a feeling that the wine was beginning to control her — meaning that Jo was about to lose control — and I couldn’t let her do that.

She lifted her feet to her chair, pulling her knees up to her chest, revealing one of the more enticing parts of her body.

Shit!

She must have really had too much to drink. Joelle’s skirt slid down her thighs and exposed her white panties. I eyed the quarter-full bottle on the table, for a second wondering whether I should pour the rest into her glass.

You need a life,I repeated in my mind. How pathetic was that? What I really needed was a woman to sink into, because my balls were ready to pop like an overblown balloon.

“Have you noticed the gas stove acting up?” I asked.

“No, but I can ask Nick to have a look at it. He said he did a lot of appliance maintenance when in the Navy.”

Appliance maintenance. I puffed a breath of bewilderment.

I was a firefighter. If there was anyone who knew anything about stoves, it was me.

“I know what you’re doing. Now that Nick’s back, you want him in your life instead of me.” It felt like it was only yesterday that we had been at Nick’s funeral, and now he was back – wrongfully mourned, but alive, because of some clerical mistake the Navy had made with his name. I hoped someone got fired over that one.

“You and I both know that we’ll always be just friends.”

Just friends.I’d heard that one before.

“Are you going to remind me about one of my many embarrassing moments until the day I die?”

If I could turn back the clock, I wouldn’t have tried to kiss Jo at our school camping trip. That, and keeping a close eye on Daisy when the tornado hit our town seven years ago. Oh, and maybe not being a dick to Molly five years ago. The list was long.

Oh, yeah, let’s not forget that about a week ago, before Jo’s long lost love came back from the dead, we’d kissed to test the waters of our friendship. What happened after the kiss? Nothing: nada, zip, zilch, zero. Not even a fucking twitch in my pants.

My courting options were pretty damn limited these days. Besides, the one that got away had sent me a fucking cryptic letter that forced me to fall silent about her very existence. She didn’t want anything to do with me, but it had been five long years. I’d seen her from time to time, but I’d kept my distance and didn’t ask any questions. I gave her the years on her own she’d asked for, though I kept wondering whether she’d changed. Was that Molly I knew from our childhood the same one she’d promised in the letter? I had so many questions for her but couldn’t ask them.

“Carter, my heart is still with Nick, and your… ”

“What?” I asked.

“Are you even listening to me?”

“I am. Sorry.”

“You seem so broken, Carter. I’m worried. Do you think you’ll ever get over Daisy? I really think it’s time to take that next step.”

I wanted to. I thought I was over her. I really fucking wanted to be, but the woman I was interested in and had my eyes set on since childhood asked for time. And I had to honor her wish. As far as Daisy was concerned, I’d come to realize that she would always have a piece of my heart.

“Part of me thinks I’ll never love again. Not the way I loved Daisy. It was so innocent and pure. But then I see Molly, and everything changes. She’s different, and she gets me. I know she cares for me, but I’m not sure that I deserve it.” I sighed. “I’ve been a dick to her, and I can’t change the past. And she needs time.”

“What do you mean, she needs time? How do you know?”

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