She's Broken

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

                Carter trudged along behind me, making a big fuss over his knee.

                “I could sue you for this,” he warned and I chuckled, looking over my shoulder at him as I sat down on the porch swing.

                “You don’t, you love me too much,” I said, leaning back. Carter collapsed on the swing next me, making it sway. Putting my foot down, I stopped it and he shot me a look.

                “Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he teased. I grinned, resting my head on the pillows with a small sigh. Carter grunted again, causing me to sigh and raise an eyebrow.

                “Kat, it kicked me, allow me some healing time,” he replied as sincerely as he could. I shook my head, smiling.

                “Carter, he tapped you.” Carter shook his head, rolling up the bottom of his check board khakis. On his tanned leg, there was a small bruise, a palette of green and purple.

                “See!” I decided to ignore him and he lay back on the swing dramatically, waving his arms around. He huffed a few more times before chuckling and giving up, watching the horses from the corner of his eye.

                When I’d let him go out to take a picture of Harley and Scrabble, he got a bit too close and Harley tapped him with his foot. There was so little impact that Carter barely swayed on his feet, but Carter being Carter, couldn’t resist making a fuss.

                I turned to study Carter for a moment when he wasn’t looking. The silver of his lip studs were glistening and matching his eyebrow piercing, which contrasted with his deep blue hair. To most people, he looked a bit strange, but he had a quirky way about him that just made him absolutely adorable.

                “I’m thinking of going and seeing my dad,” I said at last. Carter’s head spun around so fast that I was surprised he didn’t get whiplash. That was the difference with him and Eli. Eli would barely move and his expression would remain blank until you finished.

                “What does your mum think about it?” he asked. I shrugged, closing my eyes and breathing out through my nose.

                “She doesn’t know. I don’t think I’ll tell her until I’ve gone to see him. I need to ask you a favour, though,” I finished and he nodded, chewing on his lip piercing with a concerned expression.

                Carter and my dad had never gotten on, mainly because Carter was a guy and once upon a time, my dad used to see him as his vulnerable little girl. That was before he seemed to think that I was a liar, hell bent on ruining Finn’s life. When Carter and I were really young, before we paired up with Jenna, we used to walk around holding hands, telling each other that we’d get married one day. But that was what children did and my dad didn’t like it. For a while, before my mum put her foot down, he wouldn’t allow Carter in the house. The news was the same with Finn, but he hated Carter for a whole new reason.