“Well, now you do.” Carson stared back at him with the same unrelenting gaze, and I felt like I was going insane.
Carson hadn’t given a shit about me since that night he needed me and I wasn’t there. If he wasn’t ignoring me altogether, he was making me wish he was, and now all of the sudden, he wanted to share wings and spew facts about me like he was my best friend.
“Stop,” I hissed. “You’re being an ass. Aren’t you supposed to be on your own date?” I looked over at Kimberly, and she looked uncomfortable. I couldn’t blame her. I felt uncomfortable too.
The waitress arrived back at our table with food in hand, and we were spared from whatever Carson was going to say next. He looked down at the food, and his bright eyes looked so hollow. He scrunched his brow, something he always did when he was upset, and his jaw stiffened. I didn’t know if he was angry with me or with himself.
But I didn’t want to find out. I quickly grabbed a wing from our plate and took a huge bite. Sauce dripped down my chin, but I didn’t stop. The food was a distraction. If we were eating, then we weren’t talking, and I couldn’t stand to hear anything more from Carson right now.
Not after everything he just said. Not with the way he had brought up memories of me like it wouldn’t mess with my head.
“This is good.” I wiped at my mouth with the back of my hand. “Do you want a bite?” I looked over to Eli, and he shook his head as he looked at my half-bitten wing.
“Nah. I’m good.”
“Suit yourself.” I shrugged as I looked down at his measly-looking burger.
“I’ll take one.” Carson reached forward, his fingers wrapping around my wrist, and he stood in his seat enough to bring my hand to his lips. I stared at him, shocked by what he was doing, but there wasn’t an ounce of shame in his gaze.
He didn’t look away from me for a second as he bit down into the wing I was still holding, and I couldn’t stop myself from holding my breath as his lips met my fingers. Carson Hale wasn’t just taking a bite of my chicken. He was causing a scene, and part of me wondered how he had gotten so damn good at it.
He ran his tongue over the edge of my thumb, licking up the sauce that had dripped there, and I felt like he had just used his tongue on parts of my body that no one else ever had. I pressed my thighs together as I watched his mouth, and I couldn’t bring myself to care that Eli was watching me as Carson finally let go of my hand and settled back into his seat.
“You’re right, Allie. That’s absolutely delicious.” He licked his lip before picking up a wing of his own, then began eating like that display hadn’t just happened.
I picked up my napkin, quickly dropping my gaze to my lap as I wiped my hands, but I couldn’t get the feel of him off. And I didn’t know if I wanted to.
We ate the rest of our food in awkward silence. Eli barely spoke two words after that, and I honestly just wanted to leave. As far as first dates went, I would rate this one zero out of ten, but I knew that wasn’t Eli’s fault. He didn’t have a fair chance. Carson refused to allow him to have one, but I still found myself not very interested in going out with him again.
Maybe that was Carson’s plan all along.
I quickly text Frankie and Josie as Eli and Carson paid. They argued over that too. Carson insisted on paying for my food since we had shared, and Eli insisted on at least paying for my drink.
I just wanted to pay for my own meal, climb in my car, and pretend this entire night had never happened.
“Thank you for tonight,” I told Eli as we walked next to my car. Carson was just a couple of cars over talking to Kimberly, and I wanted to get out of here before he got a chance to do or say anything else.
“You’re welcome.” He tucked his hands into his front pockets and rocked onto his heels as he looked over his shoulder. “I’m sorry it was such an odd date. I really hadn’t planned on having a couple of date crashers.”
“It’s fine.” I tried to laugh it off.
He took a small step toward me, and his body blocked my view of Carson. “The next date is just you and me, deal?”
“Deal,” I agreed quickly, too quickly, and found myself questioning my decision.
“I’ll text you tonight then.” He leaned forward, and I tensed as his mouth moved toward mine. I was into Eli. He was handsome and popular, and he was everything a girl should want. But it felt wrong.
This wasn’t the right moment for a first kiss, and I found myself dreading it the closer and closer he got to me.
He got so close to me that his body crowded mine, and if I leaned up on my tiptoes, our lips would have easily met. But I didn’t do that. Instead, I turned my head to the side just as he closed the gap between us, and his lips met my cheek.
He stood there for a moment, clearly shocked that I turned away from him, before he pulled back with a cocky grin on his face. “‘Night, beautiful.”
“Good night.”
He stepped back before he ran his hand through his hair, and I quickly climbed into my car. I took a deep breath as I started the engine. I quickly checked my phone and saw about a hundred laughing emojis from Frankie and an eye roll from Josie.
I had text them to let them know that their friend was ruining my date. A date that they both agreed he shouldn’t have even been on. Frankie thought the whole situation was kind of funny, but Josie had wanted to pummel Carson when I told her.
In hindsight, I should have let her. If I had, my fingers wouldn’t still be tingling from where his mouth had touched them, and I wouldn’t be looking in my rearview mirror for a glimpse of him instead of my date.
There was a loud knock at my window, and I jumped. My phone flew from my hand and onto the floorboard, and I scrambled to find it just as Carson pulled open my door.
“What are you doing?”
“That date was a bore.” He leaned into my car, and I could see him scanning over every surface. It made me feel inadequate. My car was an old hand-me-down that my mother used to drive, and his was some sports car I didn’t know the name of but probably cost as much as my house. “Let’s do something fun.”
“I’m not doing anything with you.” I looked at him like he was insane. “I’m going home and finishing a paper that’s due next week.”
He shook his head and leaned further into my car. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss me, but he simply turned off my car and jerked my keys out of the ignition before I could stop him.
“What are you doing?” I tried to snatch my keys out of his hand, but it was no use.
“I told you.” He tucked my keys into his pocket and backed away from my car. “Having fun.”
I told myself that I had no choice but to follow him. He had my keys. Unless I wanted to call one of my friends and explain that I had just let Carson reach into the car I was sitting in and take my keys from me.
So against my better judgment, I climbed out of my car, and I followed my ex-best friend.
Chapter Seven
Carson
I was shocked as hell when Allie didn’t immediately yell at me and started following me to my car. I was even more shocked when I opened the passenger door with a cocky smile on my face and she climbed in without an argument.