Page 21 of Where Happiness Begins

“But he’ll be fine once he knows you better, I promise.” Unless Carter decides he doesn’t want to spend any time with my friends. Technically, now that Finn is in on the secret, we don’t need to pretend to be a loving couple in front of him and Lexie. If Carter decides he never wants to see him again, he doesn’t have to.

“Were you two ever…”

I lift my brows.

“A thing?” he finishes.

I snicker at the question but also at the thought that he decided to ask it. “No, no way.” I tell him, just like I told Lexie when wemet, that I’ve never seen Finn as anything more than a slightly annoying good friend.

Carter hums, and the rest of the drive to Boston is spent in our initial silence. I’d like to think that our micro conversation broke some of the ice, but that might just be me kidding myself.

Once the Mustang comes to a halt in front of an industrial building, Carter puts the car in park. “You do know his concerns were stupid, though, right?”

“Huh?”

“I’d never touch you or expect sex.” He’s still facing forward, not meeting my eye once. “That was never on my mind. Thought that was clear.”

Everything he’s saying is great—gentlemanly, even—but it still feels like a jab. It’s not like I wish he would’ve wanted sex in exchange for his insurance, but did he really have to talk about touching me like that’d be the last thing he’d ever consider doing?

“Uh, yeah, sure,” I babble. “I never thought that either.”

“Good.” Then he unclasps his seat belt and opens his door. “Let’s go meet the guys, then.”

“If it’s not the lovely couple.”

Three heads turn from the section holding two old-school brown couches at Bong’s exclamation. While Carter simply walks straight to them without acknowledging the statement or the fact that I’m here with him, I give them a little wave, feeling way moreembarrassed than I was when I first met them. I guess now’s different, though. They know a lot more about me and my problems than they did then. That is, if Carter’s told them the details of our deal.

This part of the studio isn’t big, made of two rooms separated by a glass panel. This part of the room includes the couch section as well as the console where the recording technician does…whatever it is recording technicians do, and facing it is the actual recording room, with multiple microphones and instruments leaning against the walls. The room is decorated in a boho vibe, with mandalas hanging on the walls and warm rugs adorning the floors.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” Ethan says as we reach them, his eyes only on me as he grabs my hand and brings it to his lips. “Mrs. Carter.”

“Fuck off, Briggs,” Carter says as he pushes his shoulder and takes a seat next to him. I’m not sure whether he’s teasing or not.

“Come on, man. The amount of times you’ve given us shit.”

Carter rolls his eyes but doesn’t deny the statement.

“Have a seat, Lilianne,” Emmett says when he sees I’m still standing awkwardly next to Carter.

“Lil, please. And thanks.” I grab the spot next to Joe, who gives me a silent hi. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak, but he doesn’t seem to mind the chaos the other men bring.

“How’d you know her name?” Carter grunts.

“It’s on her channel. Haven’t you looked at it?”

I’m not surprised one bit when Carter shakes his head. Not even a little curious about the woman he married.

“So, Lil,” Ethan says, clapping his hands between his knees. “First of all, thanks for doing this.”

“Of course,” I say. “I’m excited, actually. Never been on a tour before.” I assume it’ll be much different than the small shows I used to see at The Sparrow.

“Well, neither have we, so it’s sure to be one hell of an experience.”

Ethan then goes through the plans for the upcoming weeks. For the first three months, they’ll only be touring in smaller venues in New England, so we’ll be able to sleep at home most of the time. Then in August, we’ll be going to the West Coast and driving to the different venues across the states in a tour bus.

“We should be gone for a few weeks. Obviously, you’re free to hop on flights and attend shows here and there, but there’s space for you on the bus if you want.”

“I might take you up on that,” I say, and I don’t think I imagine the clench in Carter’s jaw at that.

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