I nodded. “I get it. What do you want me to do?”
“Be careful,” she said softly. “I know something happened between you and Emily at the charity thing last night. Don’t be stupid and reckless, Carter.”
I grinned at her. “I don’t know any other way to be.”
She shook her head, not amused. “I’d forbid you from seeing her, but that would probably only make things worse.”
“I can’t pretend like it would stop me much.”
Evelyn sighed and faced me, her arms crossed. “My daughter is a grown woman and one of the most responsible people I know. Probably too responsible. But she never asked for any of this, and I don’t want her dragged into the mud if we fuck this up.”
“You mean, if I fuck this up,” I said softly.
She stared at me, not saying a word.
“The last thing I want is for Emily to get hurt,” I said finally.
“Good.” Evelyn’s expression softened. “She likes you, you know.”
“Oh, I know.”
“She hasn’t had a serious boyfriend since high school. Honestly, I was starting to wonder if she took after her mother.” Evelyn laughed softly to herself.
I cocked my head at her, not sure what she meant, but she was already walking away. I watched her go, confused by that last comment, but I didn’t want to persist.
She was a worried mother and had every right to be. The things happening at the house were strange, even strange by my standards. Put my relationship with Emily, or whatever the fuck we were doing, on top of that and things just got downright insane. Evelyn was probably barely holding it all together, juggling everything and keeping it in place without me even realizing it. That was what she did best and why I valued her so highly. She made things just work without having to be directed.
After a few more minutes, I finished my drink and stood. It was time to get back inside and back to work, although I mainly wanted to stay up on the roof and have maybe three more drinks. Unfortunately, I had to pretend to be a responsible adult for another few hours, and so I headed downstairs toward the lab.
On a whim, I pulled up my phone and opened my Marauder’s Map. I couldn’t help but notice that Emily’s dot was nearby, in the gym. It was right around the corner, actually, and it wouldn’t be out of the way to go check her out. Or check on her, actually.
As I headed in that direction, watching my phone’s screen, I idly wondered what she was wearing. Probably a pair of tight running shorts and a sports bra, the sweat slowly rolling down her perfect skin, her cheeks flushed from the exercise.
I was totally lost in my fantasy, looking at my phone screen instead of right in front of me. I turned a corner and suddenly collided with someone, nearly knocking her over. I reacted fast, grabbing her back to steady her.
“Shit!” I said. “I’m sorry.”
Emily looked at me, surprised, and then laughed. “Carter. What are you doing/”
“Sorry,” I said again. “I was looking at my phone and not paying attention to where I was going.”
“You nearly knocked me over.”
“Can’t say I’m upset about it.” I grinned at her, staring at her body. I was nearly right about what she’d be wearing, except in reality she had on long tights and her sports bra was a colorful mix of neon making her already fair skin that much more gorgeous.
I could have let her go, since the danger was past, but I found my hands were lingering on her body. She didn’t make a move to step away.
“I would have been pretty upset if you gave me a black eye or something.”
“Don’t worry. I’m very gentle.”
She laughed. “I doubt that very much.”
“You’re right. It’s hard to be gentle when you look like this.”
She rolled her eyes but the smile didn’t leave her face. “Good one. I’m sweaty and gross right now and you know it.”
“Sweaty, maybe. But not gross.”
“Agree to disagree then.”
With her body in my hands, I suddenly had an idea. Maybe it was stupid and the sort of thing that her mother just warned me against, but I couldn’t help myself. My cock was already hard just looking at her, and being so close was driving me insane.
“I want to show you something,” I said.
“What is it?”
“A way for you to get clean.”
“I’m skeptical.”
“Good. You should be.” I stepped back and took her hand. “Come on.”
She bit her lip, hesitating for a second, then nodded. I led her away, down toward the indoor pool.
I couldn’t stop myself. I wanted to, wanted to be stronger and better, but I couldn’t. Not when she was so close, not when she looked so damn good.