Page 55 of No Save Point

I roll my eyes, stepping out of the room, back toward Carter, who’s still watching me like he’s not sure whether to be irritated or entertained. “Are you actually jealous,” I ask, lifting a brow.

Carter shakes his head immediately. Too fast. “Not jealous.”

I smirk. “You sure?”

His lips press together, his fingers twitching slightly like he wants to touch me, claim me, make sure I don’t forget whose bed I slept in last night. But instead he just sighs. “You really like poking the bear, don’t you?”

I grin, stepping past him, my fingers brushing his stomach just slightly as I pass. “Maybe.” And the way his breath catches, yeah. Maybe I do.

26

Carter

Haven knows exactly what she’s doing. The way she walked past me, her fingers just barely skimming my stomach? And the smirk she tried to hide? Yeah, she fucking knew. I exhale slowly, rolling my shoulders, shaking off the way my body is still tense, still wired, still irritated even though I have no fucking reason to be.

Tate’s a prick, that’s nothing new. But Haven? She’s a problem. A small, beautiful, brown-eyed problem who knows exactly how to press my buttons. I love it.

I follow after her, my jaw still tight, my hands twitching at my sides like I don’t know what to do with them.

The thing is though, I don’t get jealous. Not over Tate, not over anyone. I’ve never been in the position to and I don’t get territorial. I don’t get possessive. I don’t get this… whatever the fuck this feeling is curling through my chest right now. But watching her in his room, in his space, teasing him like they weren’t just fucking enemies online, laughing when his chat lost their shit over her being there? I didn’t like that. And the worst fucking part is that I know she did.

I step into the living room just as she flops onto the couch, stretching out like she owns the damn thing, her phone in her hand, a satisfied little smirk playing at her lips. I narrow my eyes. “You’re ridiculous.”

She doesn’t even look up. “Am I?”

I cross my arms, tilting my head. “You knew exactly what you were doing in there.”

“And?” She shifts her gaze to me, one brow raised, amused. “You gonna punish me for it, golden boy?”

Fuck. I swallow hard. Because the way she says it… soft, teasing, like she’s daring me to do something about it? My cock sends an chase straight to my chest.

I tilt my head, watching the way she stretches out on the couch, her smile soft, her eyes full of mischief, like she’s just waiting for me to react.

She wants a response. A reaction. She wants to push me. So I give her nothing.

I lean against the back of the couch, keeping my voice easy, casual, letting the tease drip into my tone just enough to keep her guessing. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Her brows lift, just slightly, like she wasn’t expecting that. I see the way she shifts, the way she processes, the way she tries to decide if I’m playing her game or if I just turned the tables on her. She huffs a laugh, shaking her head. “Fine. Whatever.” She waves a hand. “But what I do know is that I’m still helping you set up your PC.”

I grin and push off the couch, nodding toward the stairway. “Come on, then. Let’s get started.”

She sits up, stretching her arms above her head before standing, but right as she passes me, she shoots me a sideways glance, her lips curling. “Gonna wear a mask like Tate while we game?”

I groan, rubbing a hand down my face. “Jesus Christ, Haven.”

She just laughs, already walking ahead of me toward my room. I’m so fucking screwed.

We settle into my room, the trill of my new PC coming to life as Haven crouches beside me, her eyes locked onto the monitor, hands moving across my desk like she owns the space.

She’s focused, completely in her element, walking me through setup like she’s done this a hundred times before, which, let’s be real, she probably has.

I lean back against my chair, watching as she clicks through settings, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, brows furrowed in deep concentration.

Then she grins. That beautiful full, bright, fucking adorable grin as she glances up at me. “Oh, this is gonna be so good,” she says, practically vibrating with excitement as she pulls back from the desk. “You don’t even know, Carter. When I get back home? We’re about to be unstoppable.”

I blink, my chest tightening just slightly at the way she says it. I swallow, forcing a smile to cover up whatever the fuck is brewing in my chest. “Yeah?” I ask, my voice teasing. “You think I’ll be able to keep up with you?”

She snorts, pushing against my shoulder. “Not a chance.”

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