Trick Me Twice

His eyes darkened. “You don’t want nice.”

“We’re just friends, Carter.” I huffed in exasperation. Why was I even bothering to explain myself?

He ignored my comment. “You should’ve waited for me. I would have taken you home.”

I gaped at him. “Would you, though?”

“Raine.” His voice softened. “I thought we were—hold up. How exactly did he get you reinstated in the drama club?”

Those were details that Carter didn’t need to know. “You’re not the only one with influence at Alstone High,” I said instead.

I could’ve sworn he growled as he stared menacingly at me through the screen. “You’d better be telling the truth about just being friends with him. He wants you, Raine.”

Argh! He was so frustrating. “We are just friends. He doesn’t want me. Some people are capable of being friends without wanting more, you know. And how do you know that he wants me, which he doesn’t, by the way! You don’t even know who he is!” My voice grew louder and higher in pitch, and I winced at the sound, but I made sure I glared at him through the screen. “And also, why do you even care?” I added in a quieter tone.

“I wish I fucking knew,” he muttered, before the screen went blank, and he was gone.

21

The sound of laughter and talking filtered through my open bathroom window as I stood at the sink washing my hands, not loud enough to be an issue, but the sound carried through the still night air. Although I couldn’t see his house from the window, I knew the sound was coming from Carter’s. My aunt was working, and Carter’s parents were probably out, given the noise. While Carter had been adamant about not being behind the money theft, there were still doubts in my mind—after all, who else would have a reason to do that to me, or even have the means to? I stood at the window, hesitating for a long moment, before I made my mind up. I had to know.

Slipping out of the back of the house, I made my way down to the bottom of the garden, to the corner where it joined to Carter’s. Unfortunately, there was no convenient broken fence panel or gap to slip through to get into his garden. Instead, I dragged the recycling bin from its position by the back gate that led out into an alleyway and placed it against Carter’s fence. Then, I climbed up onto it, feeling it wobble beneath me, and gripped the edges of the fence and peered over.

It looked like I was in luck. The large panel of doors was wide open. Before I could think through what I was doing, or even how I was going to get back into my own garden, I was swinging my legs over the fence and dropping to the ground. I made my way up the garden as quickly as I could, thankful that the outside lights were on, meaning the security lights wouldn’t be activated. As long as I kept to the side of the garden, no one should see me.

When I reached the house, I peered in through the open lounge windows, seeing several of Carter’s friends sprawled out on the sofas, Black Panther playing on the giant TV screen. There was another cluster of people standing around and talking at the far side of the room, and I was totally unprepared for the jolt of pure jealousy when I realised that Carter was there, leaning against the wall with his arm loosely around Tina’s waist. I gritted my teeth, tamping down the inexplicable urge to scratch out Tina’s eyeballs, or maybe Carter’s, or both, although Carter barely seemed to be paying her any attention. Instead, I turned my attention to the open doors that led into the huge kitchen.

The kitchen was empty, and I knew I had to take my chance before anyone came in. My heart pounding, I slipped through the doors and ran for the hallway that led to the stairs.

It seemed that luck was on my side for once. I made it to the stairs and raced upstairs as fast as I could. At the top, I took a moment to catch my breath before I crept along the landing towards Carter’s bedroom. Turning the handle softly, I inched inside and closed the door behind me. The room was dark, but the blinds were open, and from the glow of the streetlights I could easily make out the features of the room. I had the torch on my phone that I could use, too, because there was no way I was going to risk turning on a light.

First up, I went for Carter’s desk drawers, flipping on my phone torch after opening the top drawer. Reaching inside, I shuffled the items around—pens, an old camera—

“Carter!” My head snapped around at the giggling word coming from outside the room. Shit! Where could I hide? Slamming the drawer shut, I dived for the door next to me, shoving my way into piles of material. Oh, bloody hell, I was stuck inside his wardrobe. I left the door cracked open, because who knew if it could be opened from the inside? I wasn’t about to be stuck in here all night.

“Mmmm. So this is what Carter Blackthorne’s bedroom looks like.” Tina strutted across the room as Carter flicked on a lamp, and I was suddenly unreasonably jealous. He pulled her to him, and my eyes closed. I couldn’t watch. If only I could close my ears, too.

“What do you want, Tina?” His voice was bored, yet he was still holding her. “What was so important that you had to speak to me in private?”

“What do you think? I wanted to get you alone. Want me to give you a blowie?” Her voice grated on me, and I wanted to rake my nails down her face. Again. My eyes flew open, and I watched her caress the front of his jeans, unable to drag my gaze away even though I was only torturing myself. “Huh. Not feeling it today? Brewer’s droop, maybe?” Her voice was disappointed, and I found myself smiling.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Not today, Tee. Why don’t we go back down to the others? Shots?”

That seemed to appease he

r, and she nodded. “Yes! Got any of those apple ones?” They moved towards the door, and Carter opened it, letting Tina walk through first.

“I’ll see you down there. Just got to do something first.”

Then he closed the door.

Oh, no.

I pressed further back, and held my breath, trying not to make a sound. Then the next thing I knew, the wardrobe doors were being flung open, and he was yanking me out.

“Raine? What the actual fuck?”

Our bodies were aligned, and every part of me was pressed up against him, tingling with awareness. Panic overcame my reaction to his nearness, and I pushed away from him and ran for the door. I only made it two steps before he was behind me with his hand gripping my throat.