Her shoulders deflate. “I don’t know. It was gone by the time I got myself untangled from the bush. I’m so sorry it took me so long. So, so sorry.”

  “Hey,” I call out, waiting for her to take a deep breath. “It’s fine. It gave me time to prepare myself,” I assure her, my tone teasing as I fire up the engine.

  She lets out a breath, relaxing back into her seat. “Prepare?”

  “To meet the parents,” I reply.

  “Ah,” she muses.

  “So, they want to meet me, huh?”

  “They know we aren’t really dating,” she rushes out. “They’re just worried.”

  I chuckle at her nervousness. “I’m okay with it. I guessed something like this might happen. After knowing Landon so long, I get your family are protective.”

  “They really are. And you’ve got nothing to worry about. My dad is, like, the calmest and—”

  I reach over, placing my hand on her thigh. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be okay.”

  Her intake of breath makes me realise where my hand is and I quickly pull it away and grip the steering wheel. “He really is the calmest. He was okay that I have stripper friends and everything.”

  I choke before taking a moment to gather my bearings.

  She needs to stop doing this to me. “Um, speaking of, you can set up a meeting to rent out the room. Landon is okay with it.”

  “He is?” She squeals. “I’m as happy as a pig in mud right now.”

  I chuckle at her enthusiasm. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed around a person this much since Hayden kicked Landon’s arse in front of the entire gym.

  “Just message me a time they are free. The only days I can’t do are Monday mornings and Thursday nights, unless they come late on Thursday.”

  “They are going to be so happy,” she tells me, already firing off a message. It pings with a reply and she looks up, biting her lip.

  “What?” I ask, when I find her staring at me.

  “Um, nothing. She said she’s going to speak to the rest of the girls.”

  My lips twitch. “What did they say?”

  She lets out the most adorable sigh ever. “Gabby offered sexual favours as a thank you.”

  I bang on my chest, my eyes widening as I try to gather myself. “W-what?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve already told her I think women are attractive, but I’m just not sexually attracted to them.”

  She offered sexual favours to her?

  “W-what?”

  Jesus Christ.

  “You really should get that cough seen to,” she tells me, as I pull up outside her parents.

  “Um, yeah, I’ll get on that.”

  She beams. “Good.”

  She unclips her belt as I switch the engine off. “Are you sure it’s just us?”

  Charlotte bites her lip as she sees Landon and Paisley on the doorstep speaking to another chick. “I thought it was,” she murmurs before pushing the door open.

  “Charlotte,” Landon greets, before turning to me. “Drew.”

  I lift my chin and lock up the car. “Hey, man.”

  “Holy crap!” the other chick whispers. “You really are giant.”

  “A friendly giant,” Charlotte rushes out, blushing when she glances at me.

  I chuckle and shake my head. “Hey.”

  She blinks and quickly reaches her hand out. “I’m Hope. Charlotte’s cousin.”

  “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Drew.”

  “Don’t you dare,” is yelled from inside the house, and instinctively, I move closer to Charlotte, ready to protect her. Landon notices and narrows his gaze.

  No one else seems to care about what’s going on inside the house, so I begin to relax.

  “I swear to God, if you don’t move away from the garlic bread I am going to wring your neck,” Kayla, Charlotte’s mum, yells.

  “Oh no,” Charlotte whispers.

  “Don’t you dare go out there,” another woman yells.

  “I want to know what is taking so long.”

  “Max, you weren’t even invited. You don’t get to butt into their conversation and try to intimidate him.”

  “Intimidate him? Have you seen him?”

  “Myles, we’re Carter’s, we can come up with something,” the guy snaps. “I should have kept that step ladder on order.”

  “Max,” Kayla yells. “Why are you moving my furniture?”

  “Because we will need something to climb on if it comes down to a fight.”

  “No one is fighting.”

  “Oh God,” Charlotte whimpers. “I’m so sorry.”

  Landon grins. “Still want to meet the family?”

  I shrug. “I’ve already met most of you, so why not.”

  Paisley’s jaw drops. “You are so going to fit into this family.”

  The door flies open and a bulkier version of Charlotte’s dad comes barrelling outside, his sole focus on me.

  My lips twitch. Yeah, he’s tall, but I’m taller.

  He comes to a stop in front of me, his eyes narrowed into slits. “You make one wrong move and I’ll slice that fucking man bun off your scalp.”

  “Max, that is highly inappropriate and really hard to do,” Charlotte announces. “I watched this documentary—”

  Landon clears his throat. “Maybe not right now, Charlie.”

  She ducks her head, her cheeks reddening. “Oh.”

  I turn back to her uncle. “No offence, but your daughter scares me more. I’ve seen her fight Landon.”

  “Who do you think taught her?”

  “Me,” Landon mutters.

  Max points to his chest. “No. I did. And if you don’t behave, I’ll call her.”

  “She’s not talking to you,” Charlotte reminds him.

  His jaw clenches. “I’ll get her to come.”

  “She said she was never listening to anything you said again and unless it was a dying emergency, she wasn’t coming to your beck and call.”

  “Are we going to eat or what?” he snaps.

  “We are. You aren’t invited,” Kayla tells him, before she aims her blinding smile at me. “Hello again.”

  “Hello, Mrs Carter.”

  She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Manners. I like it.”

  “I have manners,” Myles grits out before he turns to me. “Just so you know, I can change my opinion quicker than you can blink.”

  “So threatening,” Max mutters.

  Myles glowers at his brother. “Because threatening to give his hair a trim was frightening.”

  Max pales. “I was thinking with wax.”

  Myles shudders. “Wax,” he whispers.

  Um, okay…

  “You are so freaking big,” the woman standing next to Max murmurs, staring up at me with round eyes. “I’m Lake.”

  “My wife,” Max bites out.

  Lake pats his chest. “But there’s always divorce.”

  Max turns his narrowed gaze to his niece. “Are you trying to take my wife away from me? First the lesbian and now this guy? She’s happily married to me.”

  “Goodbye, Max,” Kayla mutters, pinching the bridge of her nose.

  “I’m here now and you’ve cooked enough to feed a small army. There’s no point letting it go to waste,” he tells her. “Plus, would you really let me starve?”

  “Yes, yes I would.”

  He turns to me, smirking. “She loves to tell tales.”

  “Max,” Kayla groans, heading up the path.

  “And none of Charlotte’s vegetarian crap. I need my fucking meat, woman.”

  The rest of the adults follow, and when none of the rest make a move, I don’t either.

  “I really am sorry about this,” Charlotte tells me.

  I wave her off. “It’s fine. I can handle it.”

  Landon grins. “Famous last words.”

  Paisley smacks his chest, her lips twitching. “Stop being mean.”

  The door is pulled open once more and the young guy that comes out jerks to a stop, his eyes widening for a moment before he begins to turn to red, his temples pulsing. “Fucking hell!”

  “Jacob,” Charlotte admonishes. “Don’t swear.”

  The anger is palpable, almost choking when he turns to his sister. “Why, Charlotte? Why go through this again?” he grits out, before he storms over, coming to a stop near me. Landon tries to intervene, but Paisley pulls him back. “I don’t give a fuck how big you are or that you can fight. You hurt my sister in any way, and I’ll kill you.”

  “Noted,” I tell him, giving him the respect he deserves, since this is his sister and I had been him at one point. I’ll probably act in the same capacity when Nora gets a boyfriend. “But I’m not going to hurt her.”

  “And if she wants to wear her fucking jumpers with cats on, have fucking glitter fairies or snow globes, she can. You can’t fucking tell her not to.”

  My brows pull together. “I’m not—”

  “Jacob,” Charlotte whispers, stepping forward, but Jacob moves his arm back out of reach.

  “No. I should have protected you the last time and I didn’t. I’m not making that mistake again. I know what Mum said, but that’s bullshit. You’re a Carter. We all fucking find love in ridiculous times.”

  Charlotte inhales sharply. “Jacob—”

  “Stop!” he yells. “I’m done hearing you tell people you’re okay. You’re not fucking okay.”

  “I’ve been you,” I blurt out, keeping my voice calm, even.

  He draws back, his expression tight with anger. “What?”

  “My sister, she was attacked on her way home from school a few years ago. It only went so far but it left a lasting impression on her soul. It hurt her in a way I’ll never understand, and for a while, I blamed myself.” His expression relaxes somewhat but now his anger is replaced with confusion. He reminds me of a scared kid in the middle of making a choice on whether to fight or run. “I realised later that my blame, my guilt, was projecting onto Nora and giving her more to stew and stress over.”

  He looks to his sister, the guilt clear for us all to read. “I, I…”

  “I get it; you want to protect her. You want to make sure she isn’t hurt again, and that’s not a bad thing, but you have nothing to worry about when it comes to me. Even if this was more than we have said, I still wouldn’t hurt her.”

  He glances at his sister, his eyes watering. “I’m sorry. I’m just angry I couldn’t be there for you.”

  She rushes to him, pulling him in for a hug. “It’s okay. I love you too.”

  He clears his throat. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  She chuckles and pulls back. “Let’s go eat.”

  “Yeah, maybe we can make one of Uncle Max’s blood vessels burst,” Hope suggests cheerfully.

  Landon claps Jacob on the shoulder. “Or we could get our dads to fight again.”

  Wiping his nose with the sleeve of his shirt, Jacob sniffles. “Nah, that’s too easy.”

  Charlotte turns to me when they head up the path. “Thank you for what you said.”

  “I meant it. I made her feel worse than she was already feeling and I had no right to do that. It wasn’t about me or what I was feeling. And for a moment, I forgot that.”

  Her green eyes sparkle as they fill with tears. “You really do want to help women defend themselves.”

  “Yeah, I really do.”

  Her shoulders straighten. “Then I’m going to do the very best I can to help you. I have books on this kind of stuff and I’ll learn as much as I can.”

  “And you’ll have a great teacher,” I tease.

  “Your sister is really lucky,” she declares. “Maybe one day I will get to meet her.”

  “Yeah,” I murmur, then follow her into the house.

  This was only meant to be about self-defence, but I have come to realise that you can’t just categorise a Carter. They worm their way into your life, and if you’re not careful, your heart. And I don’t need that kind of drama.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHARLOTTE

  The silence in the car is uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I should bring it up or keep acting like it never happened. With my family, it’s always best to pretend it never happened.

  “So, um, that was interesting,” he comments, and I collapse back into the seat, grateful he’s actually talking to me.

  “I really am sorry. They are just really protective,” I explain, glancing out of the window. “And maybe a little crazy.”

  “I got that when your dad put the wax strips on the table,” he rumbles, chuckling under his breath.

  “He, um, he likes having smooth skin?”

  “And when your uncle got the scissors out and then spent a majority of the time spinning them whilst glaring at me?”

  “He was jealous of your hair?” I reply. “I mean, even I’m kind of jealous of your hair.”

  He laughs and the sound sends a shiver down my spine. “And the incident, during which your mum tackled your dad to the floor so he couldn’t attack me?”

  “No, she was, um, trying to stop him from entering the room?”

  “What about when your dad picked up the knife because my arm grazed yours?”

  “He really likes that knife?”

  I tense, a part of me waiting for the scolding to come. For him to tell me I’m an embarrassment, that my family are.

  But it doesn’t come.

  Instead, he chuckles, and although a part of me isn’t surprised—he isn’t Scott—there is a part that is relieved. Relieved I can be myself around him without worrying if I’ll do or say something wrong. I relax back into my seat.

  “Charlotte,” he murmurs.

  I let out a breath. “Okay, they are a lot crazy; like, a lot, a lot.”

  The laughter that spills past his lips is contagious. “It’s fine. You have a great family and no one was hurt.”

  “Except Max,” I add.

  “How did he get that black eye?”

  I glance away once more, biting my lip. “Maybe we should change the subject.”

  “Is it always like that?”

  My nose twitches as I try to look back on family meals, wondering if I should answer honestly.

  “Kind of,” I admit. “What about yours?”

  His laugh gets louder, bouncing off the windows of the car. “My mum’s home is nothing like that. Even putting your elbow on the table is considered rude. And the topics you guys talked about? My mother would have a hernia.”

  “What about your dad?” I ask, having already guessed he’s closer to his dad. He spoke of him fondly and often, unlike his mother and her side of his family— not including Alison.

  He keeps silent for a moment before answering. “His dinners are different. We don’t really sit at the table. He likes listening to the tele, not to people chewing. But there’s always a steady flow of conversation.”

  “That sounds nice; relaxing,” I tell him. “I eat my dinners in front of the television when I’m at mine too, but my mum prefers us being sat around the table when we are all together.”

  “It was so much easier at my dad’s. I didn’t have to be on edge, wondering if I was doing something wrong.”

  “I can’t imagine having to go through that. My parents have always been nothing but supportive of who we are. They are our biggest cheerleaders.”

  “What do they think of you learning self-defence?”

  “They are relieved. Mum has been really worried about me.”

  “Did you get a chance to speak to her?”

  My shoulders slump. “No,” I whisper. “We were interrupted and then we didn’t get any alone time afterwards. But I will talk to her.”

  “It will be good for both of you.”

  “Are you always this intuitive and sympathetic toward people?” I ask.

  He quickly glances at me. “Um, no, I’m kind of an arsehole to most people and I like to keep to myself.”

  I chuckle at his honesty. “Thank you for coming tonight. I know this isn’t what you had planned when I agreed to go to the wedding things with you.”

  He takes the turning onto mine and Lily’s street before answering. “It beat eating a microwave meal. Your mum is a good cook.”

  I wince at the reminder. “I’m sorry my uncle made you eat a large portion of my spag bol.”

  Not everyone likes the vegetarian meals, but he didn’t leave a thing on his plate. Or maybe he did that to be polite?

  “You’re kidding, aren’t you? I never thought I’d eat a veggie meal, but it was really good.”

  The tension in my shoulders eases as he pulls up outside Lily’s.

  “I’m glad,” I tell him. “What time are we leaving for the engagement party at the weekend?”

  “I’ll pick you up at about half six. The party starts at half seven and it takes an hour or so to get there.”

  “Won’t that mean you’re late?”

  “The more guests that arrive before me, the better chance I have of avoiding my mum.”

  A giggle slips free. “Okay, just message me if there are any changes.”

  “You still on for Thursday?”

  I nod. “I am.”

  He pushes open his door and I reach over, stopping him from unclipping his belt. “You don’t need to walk me to the door. I’ll be fine. Plus, this is my cousin’s house. Her and her husband are in so no doubt he’ll be keeping an eye out. He’s had a camera installed in his garden.”

  “You sure, because it will literally take two minutes.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll see you Thursday.”

  “See you then.”

  I push the door open and step out of the car, but there’s something niggling at the back of my mind. Instead of closing the door, I lean down and pop my head back inside. “Can I ask you something?”

  He gives me his full attention. “Yeah.”

  “Why are you doing all of this? Is it because you’re friends with Landon?”

  He doesn’t speak for a moment, and I begin to fear I shouldn’t have asked. I mean, he could just feel like he has to do these things.

  When he doesn’t answer, I take a step back. “It’s okay, I shouldn’t have asked.”

  “Does there need to be a reason?” he blurts out, and I grip the top of the door as I stare into his warm set of honey-coloured eyes.