Untouchable (Untouchables, 1)

Erika clutches the ends of her tray, holding onto it the way she’s trying to hold onto her status. “This is all a mistake. I’m goin’ for a damn drug test after school to prove it. I’ll be back on the squad tomorrow, and if you seriously try to squeeze me out of my own seat at lunch, boy, are you gonna regret it tomorrow, bitch.”

Finally, Carter intervenes. “Erika. Go sit somewhere else.”

Her gaze snaps to him now, her eyes cold little chips of blue ice. Walking over here to redirect her anger, she says, “This is some way to treat a person you’ve fucked, Carter. You put that shit in my locker, didn’t you?” Not even waiting for him to answer, she shakes her head. “I know you did. Well, you probably had one of your grunts do the dirty work. I damn sure never touched those drugs myself.”

Drugs?

Erika’s gaze whips to me next and she must see the look of confusion plastered all over my face. “Don’t play innocent. This is all your fault, you little whore. I hope all y’all are payin’ close attention, too, ‘cause this is how Carter treats a person he no longer has any use for. Y’all think this can’t happen to you?” She gives a short, bitter little laugh. “Not hardly. You’re all as disposable to him as I am.”

There’s steel in Carter’s voice as he cuts her off. “That’s enough, Erika. Do you think you can afford to piss me off more than you already have?” he asks. “Because let me assure you, I haven’t done my worst yet. Keep fucking pushing and you’ll see what I can do.”

Brianna speaks up. “Erika, please just… stop fighting and go.”

Turning to Carter, my brow furrowed in confusion, I ask quietly, “What is she talking about?”

“Don’t worry about it,” he says to me, but he’s still looking at her. “Last fucking warning, Erika. Walk away while you still can.”

“Don’t threaten me, Carter.”

“Don’t mistake that warning for a threat,” he says simply.

“You can’t take things farther than this,” she says, shaking her head.

“Wanna bet?” he asks, the menace in his voice plain for all to hear.

Whether she does or not, I don’t. On instinct, I place a calming hand on Carter’s thigh, trying to rein him in without words. Just hearing the edge in his voice, imagining the same dark horrors that flitted across my mind in that classroom the first time he got me alone, I’m shaken. Erika isn’t taking him seriously enough, and she probably should be. I don’t know what she’s talking about, I don’t know what happened today, and I don’t know if Carter had anything to do with it, but I do know that provoking Carter is a bad idea for both of them.

I don’t know how to halt her, though. Carter I might be able to manage to a certain degree because he cares for me, but Erika… she hates me.

An idea pops into my head, perhaps a way to hit both birds with the same stone. In an attempt to calm Carter and piss Erika off enough that she does herself a favor and goes away, I grab Carter’s face, pull him close, and kiss the hell out of him. I can feel him jerk in surprise, but he’s not about to turn down a kiss in the current climate of our relationship. Being pissed off doesn’t make him want to kiss me less, it just makes him rougher. His arm curls around my waist and he yanks me against him. His other hand moves and he pushes his fingers through my hair, cradling my head while he kisses me.

I didn’t mean anything by the kiss, I certainly didn’t mean to fall into it myself, but when he cradles my head this way, rough in a sense, but at the same time like he’s holding something precious… well, I just melt. None of the reasons around us matter anymore, the only thing I can focus on is one single truth: I miss him. I miss his kisses, his touches. I miss being his.

Cards on the table, I wish I could put aside my fears and my pride, I wish I could stop resisting and just go back to him. I really don’t think he would mess up like that inside a relationship with me, but I’m too afraid I’m wrong. Maybe it’s wishful thinking. It’s not uncommon for people to disdain something in someone else that they recognize in themselves, so maybe his disdain for his father isn’t the good sign I took it as, but a bad sign. A bright red flag, waving in the wind. Maybe…

Carter breaks the kiss, and I realize I let it go on too long. I was supposed to be the one to pull back, but I got pulled in instead.