The Carter Family Screw Up [Carter Brothers - Book 2]

Two - "It wasn't my fault he was standing there, completely on show."

"GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!"

Second day here and I'm already about to be arrested for murder.

"I swear to lucifer himself, I will stab you in the heart and bury you in an unmarked grave if you don't get out of my room right now!" I yelled from underneath the covers.

"I see someone isn't a morning person." Jack teased and pulled the covers from me and tossed them on my floor.

"What the hell?! I could've been naked under there!"

"Sweetie, it's nothing I havnt seen before." He said.

"Excuse me?!"

"My mom has pictures of us sharing a bath as kids. Calm your ti-"

"If you finish that sentence I will castrate you, so help me god." I threatened. It's not that I'm not a morning person, it's just I'm more of a 'not being yelled at to get up at 6am by my annoying cousin' person.

Thankfully, Jack heeded my threat and left my room. I swung my legs off the bed and stretched my body skywards, before pushing myself up. I walked over to the window to open the blackout drapes to let the sunlight in. As the drapes parted, I saw what was before me..

Holy mother of God!

When I got here last night, it was already starting to get dark so the drapes were closed. I had no idea the house next door was so close. I had no idea there was a bedroom window not 5 feet from my own.

Standing in front of me, topless, was the hottest human I have ever had the pleasure of baring witness too.

He stood tall - at least 6 feet and had a beautiful head of short, messy brown hair. He was built like a rugby player - beefy, toned but not overly muscular. He had a chilsled jawline, covered in a light dusting of stubble, and slightly pale skin. As he lifted his arms up and stretched the sleep from his body, he turned slightly, giving me full view of the incredible artwork on his back.

It looked like the four horsemen of the apocalypse, riding out of the ocean. It was stunning. There were many other tattoos along his shoulders, that swept down one arm to half way down his forearm.

I wanted to look at them all but he, very angrily, noticed me.

"What the fuck are you looking at?!" He yelled. I replied with the first thing that came to my head. Unfortunately.

"Well, I'm no proctologist, but I know an asshole when I see one." I slammed tbe window shut then grabbed the drapes and pulled them shut before he had a chance to reply.

I went straight to the bathroom to shower, before heading back to the boxes that I was now mentally chastising myself for not unpacking last night. I rifled through a few of them before I finally had a full outfit.

Light grey skinny jeans, a black see through blouse, with a black wife beater underneath, a light grey cardigan, and completed with one of my most prized possessions - white chuck Taylors, with a hand drawn image of the four horsemen on them, courtesy of me. Drawing and sketching were my passions. But that is how I recognised that guys tattoo - I had my own version drawn on my shoes.

After dressing, I put on some light make up - concealer, mascara, eyebrow pencil & lip balm - then tie my mid-length brown hair into a messy bun. I walk downstairs with my backpack that Tessie had bought me, which had all my necessary school supplies inside, before dumping it on the sofa and walking into the kitchen to practically orgasm over the smell.

"Pancakes?" She asked me.

"If they taste half as good as they smell, hell yeah!" I said, drooling. And i was right to - they tasted heavenly.

"You ready for your big day?" Jack asked.

"I havnt made up my mind yet." I replied, honestly. Half of me was apprehensive that it was going to turn out like before and the jocks and cheerleaders would be all over me like flies on dog crap. But the other half is hoping that it will be a fresh start and maybe my cousin being popular will work in my favour. I have no desire to be popular, but anything above not being treated like crap would be a bonus.

"Hey, who's the dude who lives next door?" I asked.

"Thats Daniel. He's bad news, Cousin. You're best to stay clear of him."

Too late.

"Oh." I said, clearly not innocent enough because my reply invited a response.

"Why did you say 'oh' like that?"

"Nothing. No reason. Just... Oh." I tried to make the 'oh' sound more nonchalant but failed miserably.

"Maggie, tell me. Right now." I love my cousin, but he's definitely a litte scary when he's mad.

"It wasn't my fault he was standing there, completely on show." I probably should have worded that better.

"He was what?!" Jack yelled.

"Not like that." i assured him. "When i opened my drapes earlier, he was standing in his room and I may have, kind of, a tiny bit, stared at his tattoos, and he caught me and yelled at me." I said, a little embarrsed that I'd been caught perving on a stranger.

"What did he say to you?"

"He asked me who I was." I left out the colourful way he had done it.

"What did you do after that?" He asked.

"Uh..."

"Marie." He said firmly.

"Alright alright! I called him an asshole and shut the drapes."

"Oh my God Maggie, are you insane?!" He said, obviously not taking it too well. "He is dangerous. There are all kinds of rumors going around in school about how violent he is. You know he competes in street fighting competitions?"

"You know me better than that, Jake - I pay no mind to rumours - I make my own mind up about a person." I said proudly. Having yourself be on the receiving end of rumors really makes you understand how destructive they can be and i don't want to play any part in spreading that kind of negativity.

"Yeah, well, I'd rather you kept out of his way, alright?" He asked.

"I'll try." I told him.

"Good. Now, I think it's best that we leave for school before you get detention for being late on your very first day."

"Oh boy do i love school!" I said with sarcasm.

My cousin laughed as we left the house and walled up to his car. He drove a shiny black Audi and it was beautiful. Eddie had been trying to convince me to get a car and it's not like I couldn't afford one. I just saw no point of getting one at the time because the only places I went was school and the mall and Eddie was usually driving anyway.

As we pulled up to the school, the nerves really started to kick in.

"You'll be fine, Maggie, don't worry." Jake said with a soft pat on the shoulder. I tried to force a smile but it didn't really work. We got out of the car, grabbed our bags from the back seat and walked towards the gates of hell.

As we got to the door, something caught my attention to my left. I looked over and my breath caught in my throat.

It was him.

He looked different than when I'd see him this morning - and not just because he wasn't half naked. He was wearing dark jeans, tattered converse, and a dark grey hoodie. His hair was still a little messy, but deliberately so, rather than the bed hair he previously had.

He looked up at me and my attention was immediately drawn to his piercing green eyes. I hadn't noticed them this morning but, let's be honest, I was more focused on his tattoos at the time.

Before he got a chance to say anything, I rushed inside the building with Jake