Her CEO Stalker and Her Second Chance Mate Chapter 63

Briar

Mazzie passed us all shots, and I felt everyone's eyes on me. It wasn’t just Carter looking hungry. Maybe I should have worn the damn sweater. I just hoped they didn’t expect anything tonight. Uncle Jake trusted Carter, and Carter trusted these women, so I’d give it my all to have a fun evening, without being devoured, of course. I felt like they were the wolves of Divide, and they had invited a naive bunny to come over to play cards. I was out of place, but for once, I didn’t feel like I had to watch everyone in the room. My mind wasn’t racing beneath a mask of calm on the outside, which I had become accustomed to since everything happened. I felt settled, content even, in their presence.

“To good times with my favorite people,” Carter toasted, and we all clinked glasses before downing the amber liquid. It burned my throat, and I smiled. Just the way I liked to get tipsy. Maybe Carter was right, I needed to let my hair down.

What followed next was pizza, more shots, and several rounds of poker, with random bouts of the radio being blared, our piss poor dancing, and Mazzie dragging a handsy Lana off of me. To my surprise, I didn’t give Lana’s gestures a second thought. Carter stepped in, his hands resting on my hips as I swayed, and he spun me around with a happy look on his face, I didn’t understand. When we were too drunk to dance, the very, very poor singing commenced. We laughed, and I sat amused as Mazzie told one embarrassing story after another about Carter’s youth. 

Like the time he and the quarterback in high school got paired up in labs, and Carter refused to do all the work. He had called him out in front of the entire school as a freeloader, or when he had run out of the creek buck naked through the woods because his sister told him his junk would shrivel up into nothing if he kept insisting on playing in the cold water as a kid. I chuckled at that one, and Carter’s eyes found me. He was amused and took the stories in stride.

“Will you stop busting my balls in front of my new friend?” was his only plea for Mazzie to end his torture. 

She just laughed and said, “I could tell way worse ones and you know it.”

He just glared at her and she laughed out loud.

I had been pacing myself, but the effects sure had set in. I wasn’t a lightweight, for sure, and growing up where people made their own moonshine had its perks. I had just lost count of the number of shots I’d taken and the number of beers I’d consumed. Someone was always clearing the table for the next round of cards. 

Carter laughed at something Mazzie said, and I noted the haze in his eyes. He was drunk, and I was just as unfit to drive. Rosie and Roxie were passed out, curled up under the table, and Tucker was sleeping in my lap. Lana wandered over with her beer and a slice of pizza and unceremoniously plopped down in Mazzie's lap. They exchanged a sweet, soft look of desire. 

Watching them together was something unexpected. Though Lana had no filter and was apparently attracted to me, Mazzie just took it in stride. However, that look she gave the buxom, strawberry blonde deputy spoke volumes. They were completely devoted to each other, and I loved that for them.

“It’s almost time for bed. Carter, you ain’t fit to drive, you know where the spare room is. Show Briar where the extra pillows are before you turn in.” She looked at me. “That man hogs pillows like you wouldn’t believe,” she said, eyeing Carter. “Beware, he’s a closet cuddler,”  she teased, and then it hit me, we were sharing the guest room. I glanced at Carter, who was talking to Lana. Just then, the conversation evaded me, but I must have been super shit faced, because their mouths weren’t moving. Carter seemed cool and unbothered by the notion of us sharing a room, so I’d do the same. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t slept all night on the couch together before. I actually found his presence comforting. 

I took a sip of my beer. I swear I could hear them murmuring, but still, their mouths didn’t move. I was perplexed as my fingers ran through Tucker's fur. It had to be the alcohol. Something stirred within me, everything around me blurring away, I found myself staring into Carter’s eyes, but they looked different, predatory even. I bit the inside of my lip, the pain didn’t register until I released it, and the metallic taste of blood filled my senses. Carter’s nostrils flared and he stood.

“Let's get to bed then,” he said, before he took my hand. I set Tucker down so I could stand on my unsteady legs. Mazzie and Lana passed us and retreated down the hall, consumed with their heated glances at one another.