Total pages in book: 185
Estimated words: 175455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 877(@200wpm)___ 702(@250wpm)___ 585(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 175455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 877(@200wpm)___ 702(@250wpm)___ 585(@300wpm)
Carter shrugs and drapes an arm across my shoulder, tugging me into his side and kissing the crown of my head. “If the cameras caught it and anyone actually watches the tapes, my dad will just buy them. Your manager gets a nice, big bonus, the tape accidentally gets lost. Whoops.”
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” I ask, leaning into his side and wrapping my arm around him nonetheless.
“Sure do. You like that about me.”
He’s right, I do. Still, I say, “Not when the things you say piss me off.”
“It’s bound to happen sometimes,” he replies, unconcerned. “At least until you accept that you don’t have to oppose me. You can be my partner. All my perks are your perks. It’s not me vs. you, Zoey. We aren’t opponents. When I win, you win.”
“Until we are opponents. Then what?”
“I crush my opponents,” he informs me casually, meeting my gaze. “Don’t be one of them and you have nothing to worry about.”
Chapter 35
After sleeping in my own bed again, Monday morning I grab myself a cup of cold milk and a pack of Pop-Tarts for breakfast. It’s quite a change from the feast-like breakfasts at Carter’s house. I find myself thinking about the future, the one Carter likes to talk about like we really have one. Will Carter expect his live-in girlfriend to feed him like a king, too? I bet he will. He probably thinks that’s normal. Meanwhile, I think cold Pop-Tarts for breakfast are normal. Chloe is used to the big breakfast spread, too. If she did move in with Carter and I stayed with them for any length of time, I would probably have to step up my breakfast game.
I almost hate thinking about it—not because I have a grudge against breakfast, but because I feel crazy to even consider it a possibility. It’s tempting, not only because I like Carter, but because I like the life I could see us having together. I really do enjoy him as a person. He’s spoiled, devious, and the mirror opposite of me in many ways, but we connect on a lot of levels, too. I would have never envisioned myself feeling genuine friendship with Carter Mahoney, but I genuinely like him, even when I think he’s a pain in the ass. I don’t want to get carried away daydreaming about a future that will never exist, though. A future he’s not at all serious about, despite the things he says that lead me to believe maybe he is.
I don’t know why it feels like things have to move so fast with Carter. Maybe it’s because he is a lot to handle, he is a big gamble, and he moves fast. He blows past normal relationship checkpoints like they’re made for other people, not for him. It’s so easy to get swept up in his lightning speed, to fly as high as he does while he shares his powers, but I’m all too aware of how hard I’ll fall if he suddenly lets go and I go plummeting back to earth.
“Hey, stranger,” my mom says, smiling as she comes into the kitchen.
My cheeks flush faintly at the reminder of my sleepovers. “Good morning.”
Crossing to the counter, not looking back at me, she says, “So, Dr. Lucker’s office left an appointment reminder for you today. Something I should know about?”
Now she turns around to gauge my reaction. I’m frozen in awkwardness, horrified at the idea of the conversation that would undoubtedly follow the truth. I guess I should just tell her, though. She already knows I have spent the night at Carter’s house, and Carter isn’t a girl. She probably knows that wasn’t innocent.
“I made an appointment to get on birth control,” I tell her, looking at my Pop-Tart as I break it in half.
“I see,” she returns evenly. “I guess this means your overnights with Carter…?”
“Yeah,” I offer, but nothing else.
Mom nods again. “Do we need to talk about it?”
“Nope. I’ve got it under control,” I assure her quickly, grabbing my glass of milk and taking a sip.
Rather than accepting it and letting it go that easily, she asks, “Is this—I mean, have you already… taken that step?” she asks, haltingly. “Or are you just getting ready in case it comes up?”
I would rather crawl right out of my skin than have this conversation with my mom. “I’m doing everything I can to be responsible,” I tell her.
“How long have you two been dating?” she asks me. “You never tell me about anything, I have to hear about my own daughter’s love life through gossip. How is it other people know more about you than I know myself?”
Rolling my eyes as I take a sip, I point out, “People generally don’t know, they just talk and talk and talk. Carter and I are dating, he is more accustomed to… a faster type of girl, it’s hard to slow down when you’re with him, and I would rather be safe than pregnant. That’s a pretty detailed summary of my situation right now.”