“You look just out of place as I feel,” she says.
I smile at her and nod. “I’m not used to parties.” I reach a hand out to her. “I’m Della Truman.”
She meets my smile as she takes my hand. “Mia Daniels. Do you know Rhett?”
I laugh, saying, “Who doesn’t know Rhett?”
She nods in understanding. “Yeah, my older brother can be quite a handful.”
My eyebrows pop up with surprise. “You’re Rhett’s sister?”
“Yeah. I deserve a gold medal for that.”
I notice Logan by the pool where he’s drying off. I wave and when I look back to Mia her eyes are glued to Logan.
I keep looking between the two as they stare at each other.
Taking Mia’s hand I pull her outside with me. When we reach Logan I pull her a little forward so that she’s closest to Logan.
“I’ve just met Mia,” I say to break the silence before it becomes awkward.
“Yeah, she’s spending the night here before we all head to New York.”
The smile drops from my face. I knew this was goodbye, but New York? Deep down I was hoping I’d run into them somewhere down the line. That will never happen with them in New York.
Tonight is really the last time I’ll see Carter.
“Have you seen Carter?” I ask as my heart starts to race. I’m going to make the most of tonight. I can’t leave here with regrets.
“Yeah, I last saw him in the kitchen. Just head back in and take a right at the front door.”
“Thanks.” I rush through the people. Students keep coming in and the house is quickly filling up. It’s going to be crazy soon. I have to find Carter before then.
When I find the kitchen, my eyes land on Carter. He takes a sip from his beer and laughs at something Marcus is saying.
A girl moves closer to him and she trails her finger down his bicep as she leans in. She’s trying hard to get his attention. He glances at her but then his eyes meet mine and I see surprise registering on his face.
I gather every ounce of guts I have and I walk towards him.
He straightens to his full-length from where he was leaning against the counter.
When I reach him, the girl plasters herself against his side, clearly trying to show me that he belongs to her.
***
CARTER
As I watch her walk towards me all I can think is that this has got to be a dream. One I don’t want to wake from.
Della stops in front of me and scowls at the girl before she looks at me.
“Me or her?” Della says as if that’s even an option.
I shove the girl away, never taking my eyes of Della.
“You,” I growl as I slip my arm around her waist, pulling her body into mine.
Her hands crawl up my chest and when she reaches my jaw, she pulls me down to her. Our mouths crash into each other, sparking a scorching heat.