Saving Bennett Reid (Book 3)

Gaining Intimacy

(Carter)

There had been a bounce in my step since last night as I haven't been able to stop smiling.

Work around the borders has been completed, and despite it being a weekend and my 'birthday', things proceeded as usual. For the rest of the pack. My parents had set off earlier to the beach house, taking Nathaniel with them, to stock the cabinets for the weekend and ensure everything was in place.

Whatever it was that my mother seemed to think was out of place. I don't know. She's far more excited for my birthday than I am, meanwhile, I only cared about one person showing up.

Asher had officially claimed me as his chauffeur to the beach house, so I had to wait for him to get ready.

"Hey!" I said, my voice tight with controlled impatience. "You almost done? We're gonna be late." I frowned when I saw him rolling up swimming trunks and dumping them into his gym bag.

"Are you kidding? You should've done that last night or something." I argued, marching further into his room and plopping down onto the edge of his bed. Asher passed me an irritated side glance as he moved about his room as if double checking.

"Calm your titties, Carter." he retorted nonchalantly, digging through his drawers and pulling out a few T-shirts. "The only reason you're in a rush is because you wanna be there when Bennett shows up." he drawled.

I raised an eyebrow to give him a dry stare. Gee, you don't say! What gave it away?

"You can chill. Jax messaged while you were downstairs. Bennett isn't even up yet."

Oh no! Did he change his mind at the last moment? Did he decide he'd rather spend his weekend doing better things than be bothered with me?

Gosh! I hope not! I'm really looking forward to spending some time with him, and this weekend couldn't have happened at a more convenient time.

"I said he's still sleeping. I didn't say he wasn't coming." Asher reiterated. Snapping out of my thoughts, I gave him an appreciative smile, glad that he was doing his best to keep me optimistic.

"Hey, I still have a few things to pack. Why don't you head out to the car? And maybe you'll run into a peeved pack member." he suggested, patting my shoulder.

Oh yes, that happened. I had completely forgotten about the party. It was tradition that on the birthday of a prominent leader, a party would be held so that all members of the pack can celebrate the occasion. Following the incident in the parking lot, I'd simply wanted to get as far away from school as possible. And then Bennett agreed to do something.

Time with him was far more valuable and I'd rather spend it with him than at some party that was a yearly bash. When I'd gotten home, I hadn't bothered with showing my face. No doubt, some wolves were ticked.

Nodding, I left the Stone residence and headed out to the Silverado. I shouldn't need to explain my absence. Sure, the bash was thrown in my honor, but it was really for the pack. And after seventeen years of the same bash, I found it intriguing to spend my time another way.

"Carter!"

My hand withdrew from the door handle as I glanced in the direction of the voice to find a pack member a year younger walking along the pavement, a gym back dangling from his shoulder.

"Vic." I greeted as the younger boy approached, all smiles. And as of late, I realized Vic to be less volatile toward me. "Heading to the gym?" I stated the obvious. Vic flushed, ruffling the side of his hair, his other hand wringing the strap of the gym bag.

"Yeah..." he drawled, "I gotta blow off some steam. Hey, where were you yesterday? I tell ya, some people were really ticked you didn't show up."

Figured.