Page 134 of Steeling Her
“I may not like her for the things she’s done, and I still don’t like her for them, but if she helped you during that time, that’s your loyalty. I understand that it still ties you two together, but it won’t make me forgive her, it never will. I will never let her hold that over you, Nick. She did that stuff to me, not you—”
“What she did to you, Carter, hurt me more than you could ever think. It wasn’t right, and I’m over the drama she brings. I only give her credit for that time she helped me, but I’m not tied to her. I have never been and never will be. I am my own person, I have moved away from her. Because, truth be told, if I had known you before losing him in high school, I wouldn’t have gone down that road at all. I know it’s a big statement, but I know in the back of my mind, if I had you there, none of the shit would have happened to me back then.” I stop her from thinking the worst. I know she would have if I hadn’t have stopped her. She’s this light to me. I have no other way to explain it, but she’s a guiding light that I’m so drawn to.
A few moments pass in the car with the two of us just staring at each other. When I see the corners of her lips lift on either side, I know it’s time to make a move towards the restaurant. I push open my door and make my way around to her. But before she steps out, I move my body closer to hers, making her head lift back up to meet my eyes. I cup my hands around her precious face and lean closer to her.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done if I hadn’t met you, Carter.” I kiss her. This one is different from other times. Very different. It feels like a portion of myself just left my body and moved straight into hers. As cliché as this sounds, my pulse is like a raging bull seeing red. I can feel my hands shake as I caress my lips against hers with everything I’ve got. This girl is so special to me, and I will never let her go. Not in a million years. You will have to fight me to pull me away from her. This is one of those moments that I will never overlook either. This is our moment, even if it’s in a grungy, dark car park. This is an unexpected moment that I’m very much living through.
When we break and pull slowly away from each other, the twinkle in her eyes rise once again and that dour expression that I didn’t like is gone.She looks so beautiful right now.
Taking the breath out of my body, I actually have to remind myself to inhale. I nibble down on my lip and bring her own to mine once again for a quick peck. I bow back and help her out of the car, allowing her to find her own footing. We hold hands and walk inside the restaurant, getting smacked by the air conditioning. We both sigh at the feeling.
“Hey there! Welcome to the Golden King, my name is Tracey. How can I help y’all tonight?” the hostess asks both of us.
“I booked a table for two for tonight? Under the name ‘Jackson,’ ” I reply and watch her scan the clipboard set on the small podium table you see when people make announcements on TV.
“Ah yes! I found you here. Mr. Jackson?” I confirm that it’s me once again. “Alrighty then, if you two wouldn’t mind followin’ me, please, I will show you to your table.” I allow Carter to walk in front of me; mainly because it’s polite, and also to check her out.Damn, she looks good tonight.“Here y’all are, best seat in the house!” She winks at Carter, who smiles and thanks her. “I will send over your waitress now so you can order drinks while choosin’ what you want to eat.” She has a thick southern accent that reminds me of my mom when she’s animated or angry.
Once we sit down, a young brunette comes over with an apron tied around her waist with a pen and notepad in hand. “Hi there! Welcome to the Golden King. My name is Erin and I’ll be your waitress for the night. Can I get y’all some drinks to start?” she begins, and I can almost hear my mom’s voice in my head warning me “ladies first,” so I look over at Carter so she can take the hint to order first.
“Um, could I have a glass of water and some lemonade too?” she asks timidly.
“Of course you can! And for you?” She turns her attention to me and I sit back in my seat.
“I’ll have a Budweiser,” I ask.
“Do you have an ID—”
“No need for ID, Erin honey, their bill is on me.” The jolly old man that has come to my house more often than not comes over to greet me. “I knew it was you, son. You sound like your pops!” He chuckles, and I stand up to meet him halfway his open arms. Beau Halston is the owner and was my grandfather’s best friend. He crushes me in a big hug me like always because he’s not a small man by any means. “You and Haley been good this week?” he teases me, and I can hear Carter laugh beside us along with me, now getting the background of the joke.
“You could say that, yeah!” I chuckle but he pulls me back, grasping onto my shoulders to take a good look at me. I haven’t seen him in years.
“Well, son, you’re looking mighty well, aren’t ya? Just like your pops.” A flicker of movement catches both of our attention as Carter knocks all the cutlery onto the floor with a loud clang. “And who do we have here, huh?” He allows his eyes to wander to my date with amusement in his eyes.
“This is Carter, my date for tonight. Carter, this is Beau, my grandfather’s best friend,” I introduce them both while Carter apologizes for her clumsiness to the waitress, who has no problem getting her another set. She stands up to greet him and puts her hand out in front of her. He’s not a hand shaker. He only does it when it’s for business; he’s more of a hugger. He stares at her hand like it’s foreign to him and paces over to her, ignoring it, engulfing her in a hug instead. “Don’t crush her too badly, Beau, I want her for the rest of the date too.” I make him laugh as he hugs her.
“Nice to meet you,” she speaks softly and he turns and to face me with a beaming smile from ear to ear. I know what he’s about to say too.
“Oh, Aidan would’ve loved her,” he compliments the shy beauty standing in front of him. She blushes while he smiles down at her. “It’s very nice to meet you, Carter. I hope he’s treating you very well, how a lady should be treated,” he teases me, making her light up and nod. She agrees that I am treating her very well, and that thought makes me happy. I’m doing perfectly fine then.
“Definitely, he’s very sweet to me,” she replies to him but is staring at me.
“Good to hear! I would’ve given a swift talking to him if he hadn’t been treating a lovely girl like you well.” He winks, making her blush even further.
“Alright, you have Ellen to be flirting with. Leave it to me when it comes to Carter, old man.” I tap him on the shoulder and pull him away as Carter giggles beside us. Beau sends me one of his famous cheeky grins with a small wink on his face, allowing the crow’s feet to deepen with the movement. Ellen is the woman he has been successfully married to for over fifty years. They had three kids that all grew up with my dad and his brothers. Our families have been close for as long I can remember.
“Alright, I suppose I’ll leave you two kids to it,” he light-heartedly chides me and turns back around to face Carter, who is still standing next to her chair with both hands crossed over in front of her and smiling at him. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Carter.” He takes her hand like the southern charmer he has always been and kisses the back of her knuckles like a gentleman.
“It was really nice meeting you too,” she happily replies back with a delicate blush on her cheeks. Yeah, Beau has always had a way with the women in town. Before he leaves, he turns on his heel back to face me and points with a spirited glint in his eye.
“And you, son, next time, don’t take too long to come and visit me. I’m not getting any younger, as much as I’d like to tell myself that.” He leaves with a roaring laugh. He’s always in high spirits when I see him. The only time I’ve seen him sad was at my grandfather’s funeral. That’s the only time in all my life where I haven’t seen him with his usual smile on his face.
We both sit back into the old seats and Carter is the first to speak up, “He reminds me of my granddad.” She watches him talk with the other regulars with so much ease.
“Really? Your grandfather must be a really good guy, then?” I ask her and she brings her attention back to me, lifting up the menu to ready herself to select the food she would like.
“Yeah, he always chased me in the backyard when I’d travel down here for the summers. He would like you too.” She lifts the left side of her lips, producing a small but noticeable smirk. “Even though he’s my dad’s dad, he’s not as strict as my dad or as scary as he is.” She laughs, knowing she’s reading my thoughts exactly.
That was the first thing that came to my mind when she brought up her dad. Rodger Steel still, and always will, scare the living shit out of me. Although, I try not to show it. Especially around him.
