Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

brENDON

When Carter comes out of his room, he looks beyond exhausted. His feet shuffle across the floor and he looks like he barely got a wink of sleep. My heart hurts for my best friend and I internally vow to make his day better in any way I can.

"Extra strawberries and a dollop of whipped cream," I say as I set his plate on the table. "Just the way you like it."

Carter stares at the table, pausing in his tracks for a moment before giving his head a little shake and taking his seat. "Thanks. It looks great."

I study him for a moment, hating how he's acting so strange. Is he regretting what we did last night? Or is he just extremely tired? He does get like this from time to time. He's struggled with insomnia for almost as long as I've known him, and nothing has ever helped, at least not without major side effects. So, he's just learned to deal with the bad days to the best of his ability. And I try to help as much as I can, too.

"I've also made coffee. Let me get you some," I say, moving to doctor up his cup the way he likes.

I pour a large amount of honey into the bottom of a mug before filling it up halfway with coffee and the other half with milk. I have no idea how he drinks it so sweet, but he's been drinking his coffee this way since he started drinking the stuff. He used to use sugar at one point in time, but ever since he discovered honey in his coffee, he refuses to go back. Apparently, it makes all the difference. I remember one time we ran out of honey, so I used sugar instead, and I thought he was going to kill me for the change. I made sure to always have a surplus of honey from that day forward. A pissed off, uncaffeinated Carter is not someone you want to mess with.

"Here you go, stupidly sweet just the way you like it," I say, setting his coffee down and taking my seat beside him where my food is already waiting.

"Says the man who drowns his pancakes in ungodly amounts of syrup," he responds with a little smirk.

I smile in return, thankful that he seems to be getting back to himself.

"I still don't understand how you don't like maple syrup," I say before taking a bite of my pancake that's a tiny bit cold now but still fucking delicious.

"I'll admit real maple syrup is much better than cheap table syrup, but for some reason, I still don't like it on my pancakes. Strawberries are much better," he states before taking a big bite.

My eyes lower to his lips wrapped around his fork and my cock starts to stir in my sweats. When his tongue darts out to lick his lips, cleaning up the whipped cream that was there, I have to stop myself from groaning. I'm positive he's not purposefully trying to be sexual, he's just eating like he normally does, but today it's turning me on.

Apparently, I'm staring for too long because Carter squirms a little and reaches for a napkin. "Do I have something on my face?" he asks, patting his lips, and I have to swallow down the ball that is lodged in my throat as I shake my head.

"No, you got it. Sorry, I just zoned out," I lie, feeling like a douche.

I need to admit that things changed for me last night, but I have no idea how to bring it up without the potential of destroying our friendship. I've developed an attraction to a friend before. All the girls I've dated or hooked up with were either acquaintances or random chicks I met at a party. Never someone I was close with. That could mainly be because I don't have any close friends who are girls, but it doesn't change the fact that this is a first for me.

And it's not just any friend, it's my best friend. The guy who is always there for me. The one who I turn to for everything. The person who I never want to live without.

"Are you sure?" Carter checks. "You had this weird look in your eyes that I've never seen before."

Now would be the perfect time to come clean and lay my cards out there for him, praying that he feels the same way.

I take a shaky breath ready to take the plunge when the front door opens and Artie hobbles in.

"You're home early," Carter says as our friend makes his way over to us.

"I could smell the pancakes all the way at Izzy's house and just had to come get me some," Artie says while pulling out a chair and taking a seat. "But also, it's noon, my guy. Did you guys have such a crazy night that you forgot how to tell time?"

"He couldn't sleep," I supply.

"Shit," Artie says with a grimace, knowing all about Carter's insomnia. "I'm sorry about that. Did you have lots of episodes over summer break, or has it been a while?"

Carter thinks about it for a moment, and I get up to dish Artie up a plate, not bothering to make it special like I did for C.

"Actually, I don't think I had an episode all summer," Carter says, sounding shocked at the realization.

"That has to be a record for you," Artie notes. "Did you start a new medication or something?"

Carter presses his lips together and shakes his head as I'm setting Artie's plate down, and I notice his ears turning a dark shade of red.

"No, but I was kind of sort of hooking up with someone all summer. Maybe orgasms are the trick to no insomnia episodes," Carter states.

I want to argue that statement can't be true because he orgasmed last night, but I don't want to out Carter to Artie. And also, because last night was special to me and I don't want to share those details with anyone.

"Orgasms are miracles, I swear. Like I wouldn't be surprised to find out my leg is miraculously healed already," Artie says, and I can't help but snicker.

"Is that your way of telling us that you and Izzy got it on last night?" I check and he flips me the bird.

"A gentleman never tells."

"What's stopping you then, because you're definitely not a gentleman," Carter teases.

Artie rolls his eyes and throws his head back with a sigh. "How did you two become my best friends when you're both such assholes?"

"You love us, don't lie," I respond, tossing him a wink.

"I thought I did, but I think I'm changing my mind," he grumbles.

"Tough shit, you're stuck with us," Carter tells him. "A, B, C for life."

The corners of Artie's lips twitch upward before a full-blown grin breaks free. "Fine, I guess I can continue to put up with the two of you."

We all laugh and eat more of our pancakes.

"So, what did you guys get up to last night?" Artie asks as I'm taking a bite, and I start to choke as memories flood to the surface.

Carter quickly moves to smack my back and I reach for my coffee to wash down the food that's lodged in my throat. I cough like a man who's been smoking cigarettes for his entire life, gasping for air when I can. Thankfully my airway doesn't fully get blocked off and the food eventually makes its way down, finally allowing me to catch a full breath.

"Look who's having trouble eating today," Carter notes with a mischievous smirk.

I narrow my eyes at him because he knows exactly why I choked at Artie's question, and he's acting like the same dirty thoughts didn't pop into his head.

"Dude, are you okay?" Artie asks and I wave him off.

"I'm fine. I think it's just karma's way of getting back at me for laughing when Carter choked on his food last night," I murmur before taking another sip of my coffee.

"To answer your earlier question, we got high and watched some movies. It was pretty uneventful," Carter tells Artie.

Fuck. How can he play it off so cool when my insides are literally in knots right now?

"Sounds like my night was waaay more entertaining," Artie responds looking smug.

If only he knew the truth.

"You keep bragging about that, but now I'm wondering if it was only good for you. Should we call Izzy and ask for her opinion on the evening?" I ask with my head cocked to one side and a shit eating grin on my lips.

Artie's face quickly turns into a glare and if I didn't know him as well as I do, it might have actually scared me. "If you embarrass her like that, I'll rip your fucking head off." He damn near growls the words out, throwing me off guard.

I was expecting to rile him up, but I didn't see him becoming this pissed off at my goodhearted teasing.

"Shittt," Carter says, drawing the word out. "You really like her, don't you?"

I nod along since Carter just said exactly what I was thinking.

The anger leaves our friend being replaced with a flustered insecurity. He rolls his eyes and lets out a self-deprecating laugh as his cheeks turn from their naturally pale color to a bright pink.

"What makes you think that?" he questions, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"By the way you're acting," Carter replies with a gentle tone. "I've never seen you get so fired up over a dumb joke."

"Your blush when Carter mentioned it is also a dead giveaway," I add.

Artie blows out a breath, throwing his head back in the process. "It's fucking stupid," he murmurs. "We haven't even had an official date and I'm already crazy about her. Only crazy people act like that, right?"

I shrug. "Falling for someone isn't something we can control. Neither is how they make us feel." My eyes track their way to Carter who's biting his lip and staring at the floor, like he's purposefully trying to avoid my gaze. Does he know my words are about him? Not wanting Artie to clue into my feelings, I quickly tear my eyes away from Carter and look back at my other friend. "Izzy seems like a nice girl so I can see why you are crazy about her already."

"But we haven't even been on a real date yet," Artie argues.

"You don't have to date someone to fall in love with them," Carter says softly and my heart races.

Is it possible he's talking about me right now? Or is he thinking about his summer fling? Fuck, I really wish I had the ability to read minds right now.

"I guess that's true, but I'm still not used to crushing on a girl this hard," Artie replies, having no idea about my internal crisis at the moment. "And after hanging out with her one on one, I'm even more into her."

"Did you ask her out on a date?" Carter asks and I try to push away my thoughts so I can stay in the moment.

Artie's smile grows and he nods. "Yeah. We're going out next weekend."

"That's awesome man," I tell him with my own grin. "Fingers crossed she likes you just as much. Although, if she's really a smart girl, she'll run now."

Artie laughs at my joke this time and flips me the bird, letting me know he's not offended.

"As much as I'd love to continue to make fun of you, I've got homework I need to get done so I'll see you losers later," I state as I stand and clear the empty plates from the table, placing them in the sink for one of us to deal with later.

"Mind if I join you?" Carter asks, and I nod because it would be weird of me to tell him no, but at the same time, an alarm goes off in the back of my head, telling me that this is a bad idea.

I guess only time will tell because I can't take back my acceptance now.