The Biker's Fate Chapter 107

Cassidy

Maverick's grin grew, and he threw his arms around Carter's neck. "I'll help."

Carter chuckled and hugged him back. "I'd appreciate that, buddy."

I had to back into Mav's room again and force back tears. Ohmigod, was there anything more precious? The answer was no, and I'd spent six years missing out on it.

"Cass?" Carter walked into Maverick's room with fresh sheets. "Hey? You okay?"

"Hmm-mm," I said, brightly, refusing to look at him.

I felt his front hit my back and his arm slid around my waist. "Hey," he whispered. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I rasped. "I need to get these sheets in the washer."

He let me go and I pulled myself together as I did busy work. By the time the bed was changed, and Maverick was tucked back in, I felt a little closer to myself again.

Carter followed me into the living room and pulled me down onto the sofa next to him. "Spill."

"What?" I played dumb.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his chest. "Babe, why were you crying?"

"Because it's apparently my day."

"Cassidy." He chuckled, kissing my temple. "Tell me the real reason."

"I was just hit by how much we've missed." I snuggled closer. "He doesn't spend as much time with strong men for obvious reasons, well, other than my dad, of course, so having you say those things held weight. It doesn't matter how many times I tell him I will never get mad, he worries."

"Does he do that a lot?"

"No, but he does a couple times a year. Doctor says it's normal."

"Yeah, baby, it is. Were you worried it wasn't?"

I looked up at him and grimaced. "A little bit."

Carter smiled. "I'm gonna tell you something and you have to promise never to repeat it."

"I promise."

"Aidan wet the bed until he was ten."

I sat up. "Seriously?"

Carter nodded. "He just had a small bladder, so it was harder for him to make it to the head, but then it seemed to fix itself. I shared a room with him, so Mom told me if I ever teased him or told the other boys, she'd scalp me."

"Ohmigod, she totally would."

He grinned. "Which is why I never said a word."

I snuggled back against him. "You're also a nice guy, Carter, so that could be part of the reason."

"That's not for public knowledge."

"I'll take it to my grave," I promised.

"'Preciate it, baby." He kissed my temple. "You really don't date?"

"I really don't. The club get-together was my first... um... what would you call it? Attempt to see if I could find someone, maybe?"

"Yeah, well, you found someone."

I smiled. "Yes, I guess I did, huh?"

"You gonna let me stay?"

I sighed, dropping my head back to look at him. "I don't know."

"I'm stayin'."

I rolled my eyes. "What was the point of asking me if you've made up your mind?"

"Gotta give you some semblance of control, babe."

"You're an idiot."

He pushed me onto my back and stretched out on top of me. "An idiot who's going to make you want to scream." His mouth went to my neck and I couldn't help but crane it to give him better access.

"No screaming," I whispered. "I don't scream, but even if I did, I think we should wait a bit for this."

"You'll scream with me."

"Highly doubtful."

Carter dropped his head to my shoulder with a sigh.

"Carter, Maverick is only a few feet away. I want to try and at least pretend I'm not a total whore."

His eyes met mine and he scowled. "You ever say anything like that again, Cassidy Dennis, you and I are gonna have a problem."

"Well, it's true."

"It's not fuckin' true," he snapped. "Even if you fucked me in your kitchen right now, you'd still not be a whore. We love each other, we've known each other for over eighteen years, and we've been best friends for most of that time. I think we've waited for an appropriate amount of time, don't you?"

I shivered. "I'd kind of like the kitchen option at some point."

He groaned. "You seriously sayin' shit like that while tellin' me I gotta wait?"

"Sorry," I grumbled. "You're right."

"We can wait, baby, but I'm not leavin'."

"What do we tell Mav?"

"We tell him I'm home from the Air Force now, I've served my time and I'm gonna be a permanent feature in your lives. You've already established me in your home with all the photos."

I bit my lip. "That's actually really good."

"I know it's good. Shit, Cass, give me some credit."

"No." I wrinkled my nose. "You already have the upper hand."

"Good to know." Carter grinned. "You gonna confess now?"

"Confess?" I asked. "Oh, that."

"Yes, that."

"Um...well, I have your cologne."

"Come again?"

I felt the heat crawl up my neck. "I was having a particularly bad day a few years ago, so I bought your cologne... it doesn't quite smell like you, but I have that old Harley T-shirt of yours, so every now and then I spray it and sleep with it." I covered my face with my hands. "Ohmigod, I can't believe I'm telling you this."

"You spray my shirt?"

I nodded, my hands still over my face.

He tugged my hands down and stroked my cheek. "I love you."

"You don't think I'm weird?"

"No," he said, but his head bobbed up and down.

"Dork."

He laughed. "You are weird, but not because of that."

"Well, that's a relief," I droned, sarcastically.

"I wondered where that damn shirt went."

I giggled. "I kind of stole it."

"I'm pickin' up on that." He cocked his head. "When?"

"The day before I left for Paris. I took it with me."

"You did?"

I nodded. "I'm sorry, Carter. I wish... I wish..."

"Huh-uh. Not going there, baby."

"Okay." I swallowed.

He smiled. "Go to bed, Cassidy. I'll sleep out here."

"I'll get you a blanket and pillow."

Carter kissed me again and then slid off me. "Thanks."

I rose to my feet and grabbed the bedding from the hall closet, forcing myself not to let down my guard. I wanted nothing more than to spend the night with Carter, but we needed to ease Maverick into things and I was grateful Carter understood that.

When I walked back into the living room, Carter had removed his boots and vest, and set his wallet and keys on the coffee table. I saw the old Ford key chain, now worn a little, but still as I remembered. "Do you still have the truck?"

"Yeah," he said. "You're surprised?"

I shrugged. "A little, I guess."

"We restored it together, Cass. Won't ever let it go."

I felt my stomach flip and I smiled. "Did you ever fix the door lock?"

"Yeah." He chuckled. "I'll take you and Maverick out tomorrow."

Handing him the pillow and blanket, I nodded. My emotions were all over the map, but I was too tired to analyze and figure them out. Carter dropped the bedding onto the sofa and reached out to pull me close. "Hey."

I blinked up at him.

"There is no pressure, yeah? We've done the hard part."

"I wish I believed you."

"What don't you believe?"

"That this is the hard part. We have so much baggage and I'm afraid it'll weigh us down moving forward."

"We have a couple of carry-ons, Cassidy." He stroked my pulse, his eyes boring into me. "I know there have been a few shitty circumstances that have kept us apart, but deep down, we're the same people, right?"

"I hope so."

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. We're gonna figure this out together and it's gonna be better than we ever expected."

I dropped my head to his chest. "You're still the eternal optimist I see."

"And you're still a worrywart."

"Promise me we're going to be okay."

He lifted my chin and nodded. "I'll make sure it is. Trust me, okay?"

"I'll try."

Carter chuckled. "There's my girl."

"Okay, I'm leaving you now or it will never happen."

"You get lonely, wake me."

"No."

"No?"

I bit my lip. "I'm used to being lonely, Carter. But if I wake you and take you to bed, I will never let you out of it, and I need to make sure we do this right."

"Okay, baby." He leaned down and kissed me. "Love you."

"Love you too."

I headed off to bed, leaving my door open, which I rarely did. I liked knowing Carter was close and I don't remember ever sleeping so soundly.