Carter's Savior

Twenty

Sloan's POV

As soon as Carter walked upstairs I felt heavy. I felt empty and alone and I hated it. Even though it hasn't been that long, it still hurts. Carter needed to be beside me I needed to feel him all around me. I needed to smell him and touch him. This space was unnatural. Especially after the kiss we had just shared. It was unexpected, especially having Carter initiate it. But my goddess was it beautiful. It was better than anything I could have imagined. It was primal. I was starved and he was food. And even in those little moments of sound that came from his lips, it was music to my ears.

It was beauty, it was everything.

Now I was left begging for more. Rena and Danielle came at the worst time. I was nowhere near finished. I wanted to keep exploring, seeing how much Carter could take. I wanted to make his knees weak.

I wanted to make him scream.

I forced myself to go back to the kitchen instead of standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for his return. I'll cook and distract myself instead and I should probably call my pops too. I pulled my phone out and quickly dialed his number. It only took two rings before he answered.

"Sloan, you there?" He asked quickly, desperation in his voice. It broke my heart to hear that from him. He and I were always close, so going this long without us speaking was hard.

"Yeah, pops. I'm here." I said as I began to pull out ingredients. I put the phone on speaker and set it on the counter. However I couldn't help but look to the stairs and hope that Carter walked down them.

Fuck I missed him already.

"How are you? How is Carter? How are you guys together? I miss you. Tell me everything." He rambled off and I chuckled lightly. He was like this during my graze if I went too long without calling him.

"We're g--" The word good danced on my tongue but we were more than that. It was better than that. We were more than that. "We're great. Amazing. Perfect." I rattled off words and I could feel my cheeks heat up. And my lips were still buzzing from the kiss we shared.

"Uh oh, you sound lovesick." He teased. But little did he know, he was right. I was lovesick for Carter.

"All I'm saying is this time away from everyone has helped us." I shrugged and continued moving about the kitchen.

"So do you think you're ready to come back from wherever you are?"

"No," I said quickly. We were nowhere near ready to go back and face the music. I wasn't either. But I knew Carter needed more time. To process everything, to process his life. I wasn't going to put him in a situation where he'd be subjected to old behaviors. Plus, I don't know if I trusted myself enough to not want to kill someone while I was there.

"Carter just got a new phone," I said softly, knowing that was the answer enough. He needed time. And I don't care how much time he needed. I'd be here every step of the way.

"Sloan, you have to remember he has a pack to lead." I know my father wasn't saying anything bad by saying that. Maybe he truly didn't know everything that happened with Carter and his parents. I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. But this...making Carter go back or even suggesting it. Was an automatic no, for me.

"It doesn't matter," I told him. The urge to hang up the phone was too great.

"Sloa--"

"How's everything at home?" I asked quickly, needing to change the subject before I said something incredibly rude to my father. I didn't care who he was to me, if he kept pestering me about Carter he'd face my wraith.