Chapter One
Serena
“Well? What do you think?” My dad asks triumphantly, thrusting his phone in front of me, an image of what looks like a living throwaway Malibu Barbie doll staring back at me over my morning coffee.
“Dad, please. I’m trying to eat.”
He sighs patiently, creasing the corners of his mouth.
“If you’re that lonely, go for it. But I’m sure even you could do better than that,” I mumble, gently pushing his hand with the phone in it away.
“Not me, silly. For Carter,” he exclaims louder, making my ears ring once I feel my stomach drop. Threatening to heave up the coffee I almost just enjoyed.
“What?” I ask him icily, my mug making a loud bang as it hits the table. The thought of Carter and that thing in the same sentence, let alone the same room makes me feel ill.
“Now, don’t be such a negative Nelly, sweetie. Carter’s not getting any younger either. I think he just needs a little nudge in the romance department,” he says, raising his brows a few times, puckering his mouth.
I can almost hear myself scowling, my eyes narrowing in on my dad, as though he’s the enemy.
But he’s not.
It’s her, whoever she is. And if it isn’t her, then it would be anyone else who wasn’t me.
I know Carter wouldn’t look twice at me, never has.
But then again, the last time I saw him I was way too young for anything like that. I hadn’t even started high school let alone finished college. Which was late last year.
How time flies. Carter’s not the only one whose clock is ticking.
And if he isn’t the single biggest crush I’ve had on anyone ever since I can remember.
“…I just did some friendly snooping. Like a good best friend should,” My dad smiles, pleased with his efforts.
“Then I kinda set up a dating profile for Carter… and Voila! I’ve invited her to join us in Vermont,” he adds, ignoring my demonic and hate-filled face.
I’ve never been a morning person.
But I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Apart from being so not like my dad to do that, I know it’s the last thing Carter would approve of.
At least, I think he wouldn’t.
Hope he wouldn’t.
“Then I’m not going,” I hear myself huff briskly. I can even feel my lower lip trembling as I scrape my chair back across the wooden floor.
“You can both have her,” I shout at my dad, his jaw dropping in disbelief.
“I hate her. I hate Vermont and I hate you!” I scream, hearing my feet thud up the stairs to my room, slamming the door and hurling myself onto my bed.
How could dad do something like this?
How could Carter let him?
I want to blame them both, but it’s really my own delusion that’s slapped me in the face.
As if Carter Everett, the man of my dreams and old enough to be my own father would even think of me as anything more than the chubby little kid his best friend’s stuck with.
I lay on my stomach, face buried in my pillows as I make a weird dry, croaking noise I tell myself isn’t crying.
But after a few minutes, I realize it’s pointless.
Carter never would love me, never could love me.
It’s just a dumb crush I’ve had forever, and maybe one I need to let go of.
I’m supposed to be an adult after all.
It hurts like hell though, stings my eyes and burns in my belly as I roll onto my back, swiping my phone awake.
Groaning when I see his face.
I guess I should change it. Even only so dad doesn’t see it.
Ugh, he’s just so perfect though! A living God.
It’s an older photo of dad’s I copied. I’m somewhere in the background, just a kid playing. Dad and Carter have been water skiing, Carter’s just coming out onto the lake’s edge.
His huge shoulders stooped, rippling with muscle as he fights to keep his trunks up. I feel myself biting my lip as my eyes trace down his shining abs to that V shape of his body I’ve etched into my mind for so long.
I shiver, noticing my hands starting to shake once I take in the obvious and thick outline of his cock through skimpy trunks that cling to every part of it.
I’ve often wondered what it would look like unwrapped.
I can hear my dad coming up the stairs, but I can’t bring myself to delete my prized possession.
My Carter.
I frown, already missing his tousle of dark hair that frames his strong brow. His eyes are so intense I can feel them boring into me.
And that smile, half-laughing.
His chiseled jaw, dark from a day without shaving.
That cock though.
My legs press together and I make an involuntary sound, suddenly wanting him more than ever. Needing Carter to do much more than just notice me.
I want him to-
“Honey? Honey let me in.”