couldn’t know, he couldn't— “You think in a neighborhood like mine that people don’t talk?” He stood from the chair and stepped toward me, causing me to lean my back against the cushions on my sofa. He had a darkness about him in the dead of the night, and I was afraid. Not because he was dangerous, but because I was drawn to it. I was drawn to his darkness and helpless in the hope to keep away from him.
“I...don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, but my gaze veered from him, a telltale sign I was lying.
He crouched down in front of me and placed his hands on either side of my thighs. He was so close all it would take was one move and we would be touching. I remembered what it felt like when his hand was on my skin only days ago, and the memory caused me to squirm.
“You’re a fuckin' shitty liar, Sky,” he gritted out. “I knew whose car it was. I knew what he’d do when he found out who had stolen it. You think I didn’t want him to find out? I’ve boosted hundreds of cars and not one of them have been caught.” He paused, his honey eyes swirling with something I couldn’t place. “I wanted him to find me. I wanted him to know I was there, watching him.”
“But...you shouldn’t have done that, Carter. He’ll hurt you—”
“Ain’t no one gonna hurt me.” He moved closer, his breath fanning across my face. “I can promise you that. Just like I can promise you this…” His hand connected with my arm, his palm whispering over the skin and up to the side of my neck. “Ain’t no one gonna stop me from doing this either.”
I opened my mouth, about to ask what he meant, but I didn’t get the chance because his lips were pressing against mine. There was half a second where I wasn’t sure what was happening, where I knew I had to stop, but...I couldn’t.
His hands grasped my waist and I was helpless but to drift closer to him and kiss him back. His tongue swiped over the seam of my lips, and I allowed him access. I let him touch me, I let him pull the strap to my tank down, and I let him press his tongue against mine.
It was wrong. More wrong than anything, but I couldn’t help remembering his words in my classroom. He’d been talking about the novel I’d assigned to read in class, but it made me wonder if he thought the same. Who was anyone to say what was right or wrong? Who decided what was acceptable or not? Because right then, with my lips pressed against his and his rough palm tracing the skin of my shoulder and the side of my neck, I didn’t think it was wrong.
I was his aunt. He was my nephew, and—
I pushed him away, my eyes widening. “No!” I wasn’t sure what he was going to do, so I darted up and over the back of the sofa, needing to put more space between us. “We shouldn’t have done that.” I wiped my arm over my lips and stared at him. “That won’t happen again.”
“Why?” Carter asked, standing up slowly. “You know you wanted it as much as I did.”
“I don’t care.” I shook my head and backed away, my back colliding with the wall. “I’m your aunt, it’s...it’s not right.”
He stared at me, his eyes narrowing, but he didn’t say a word, not that I gave him a chance because I twirled around and ran into my room, scared if I stayed any longer of what I’d do.
* * *
The kiss had branded my lips and still burned days later. I couldn’t get the feel of Carter’s lips off mine, no matter how much I scrubbed at them. Maybe it was my body’s way of making sure I didn’t forget how wrong it was, or maybe it was something else. Some higher power warning me against—
“Skylar?”
I squealed at the voice and spun around, nearly knocking myself off-kilter with how fast I’d turned. I’d been pacing the front of my classroom, knowing I’d have to teach Carter again today. I’d managed to avoid him for four days, only having to sit in the car with him to and from school. I’d not acknowledged him when he’d turned up to my Monday class and paid more attention than anyone else.
But today...there was something different about today. I wanted to see his face. I craved to know if he was looking at me. I wondered if he still thought about the illicit kiss, or whether he was unfazed by it, because I knew I wasn’t. It was all I could think about, which was the only excuse I had for agreeing to go to dinner with my mom tonight. At least it would get me out of the house and away from Carter for a few hours.
“Hey, Guy.” My lips twitched when I thought about Carter laughing at his name, but I managed to keep my features schooled. “Sorry, my mind was a million miles away.”
He chuckled easily, but there was something about the casual way he leaned against my open door that didn’t seem so casual. “I was just coming by to apologize for my behavior last week.” He cleared his throat and darted his eyes around the room. “It was wrong of me to judge Carter so harshly, and I’d...I’d like to make it up to you. How does Saturday night sound?”
I’d blown him off last weekend, but this was the perfect excuse to be out of the house and to also get my mind off Carter. Guy and I were dating, which meant it was him I should have been kissing, not my nephew. Damn, I couldn’t believe that thought was an actual thought.
“I’d like that,” I told him, smiling gently and skirting my eyes away from him as the bell rang out in the halls. “Pick me up at seven?”
Students started to trickle into the classroom and Guy moved farther into the room, his shoulders relaxed and his lips were pulled up into a smile, but it dropped the second Carter entered the room. Gone was his relaxed demeanor, and in its place one I’d never seen from him before.
I frowned, wondering whether I was seeing things, but it was gone after a couple of seconds as Guy said, “See you then.” He shot a wink my way, but it didn’t have the same effect Carter’s had. It didn’t make my stomach drop and my hands shake. It made me feel...nothing.
My gaze flicked to Carter as Guy walked out of the classroom, and his stare was directly on mine. I wasn’t sure what he was thinking from this far away, but the tilt of his head and the smirk he gave me told me I was doing the right thing. Butterflies took flight in my stomach, and I knew I couldn’t be alone with Carter, not unless I wanted to cross a line I’d never be able to come back from.
Chapter 5
One rule I always had was to never set an alarm for Saturday. It was the day I allowed myself to sleep in, to have a few more hours of the thing I loved most in this world: sleep. Every day of the week, I woke early, but this one day was my reward for all of those mornings.
I rolled over and groaned at the sunlight streaming into the room. It was harsh and brought the promise of a beautiful day, but it was not what I wanted to see when I first opened my eyes.
Instead of lying in bed for another hour and thinking and doing nothing, I pushed myself up and shuffled out of my bedroom door and into the kitchen. I needed coffee, a strong one at that. I blinked several times and rubbed at my eyes, needing to actually see to make the coffee, but I’d left my glasses on my bedside table and I couldn’t be bothered to take the twenty steps back to my bedroom.