Carter (Bourbon & Blood Book 3) by Seraphina Donavan

And you need to get yourself cleaned up and go over to your parents,” he added.
    “Why would I go there?”
    He walked over to her and pulled her against him. In a surprisingly tender gesture, he kissed the top of her head. “Because if you don’t, you’re going to worry about it all night. Apologize to them. Let them apologize to you.”
    “What about you? I owe you an apology too,” she said, and tried to choke back a sob.
    “You don’t owe me anything… I can swallow my pride for a while longer, Josie. My ego’s pretty healthy. It can take it.”
    She was still crying but that did pull a soft laugh from her. “You’re better than people believe you are, Carter. And you’re better than I deserve.”
    He wasn’t. But until she figured out just what she was worth it wouldn’t do a damn bit of good to tell her that. “Take a few days and let things calm down. Let people find something else to gossip about… and then we’ll embark on illicit affair part two.”
    Carter left, heading out to his truck. Climbing behind the wheel, he sat there for a moment. It wasn’t what he wanted, but he’d take what he could get. The only other option was to walk away altogether and he wasn’t ready for that yet.
    His knuckles were white on the steering wheel, his whole body was tense with the combination of hurt, anger and unslaked lust. There was only one option. Liquor.

8
    C arter settled back onto the couch at Bennett’s house and dug his hand into a bag of chips. Nothing but dust. He lifted the bag and dumped the remainder directly into his mouth. Bennett had been slacking on groceries ever since Mia Darcy had come back into the picture. But that was apparently done now, or it was if Bennett’s mood was any indication. He’d been a dick all day long.
    Taking a long pull from his beer, he emptied the dregs from the bottle. It was disgusting. Bennett’s was still sitting on the coffee table, so Carter grabbed it and drained what was left in the bottle, washing down the last of the crumbs. Much better, he thought.
    He knew it was gross. He knew he’d been moping around just as much Bennett, but he’d be damned if he’d let anyone else see it.
    Bennett came back into the living room and flopped down on the couch. The game was on. It was going to shit, but it was on. Basketball season would turn everything around, Carter thought. Unable to watch the disgrace, Carter rose to his feet and walked out onto the porch. The rain had just started. Tilting his head back, he inhaled the scent of it.
    He fucking missed her. He missed the way she giggled when he tickled her belly, the way she smelled, the way she snuggled against him in bed. God, he was a sad ass bastard, he thought. It had been just over a week, but all he did was think about her. He didn’t know if that was enough time for the Fontaine gossip mill to shut down or change gears, but it was all the damn time he was giving them.
    Taking his phone from his pocket, he glanced at the last text from Josie. It had come two days earlier and he hadn’t replied. He’d told her he could swallow his pride, but he just wasn’t sure if that was true. It stung like a bitch. It would be different if she was just another fling, but she wasn’t. Of course, it wouldn’t matter what he said to her. She wouldn’t believe it. The only thing that would make her believe it was time. And he was back to square one because giving her time would mean swallowing his pride.
    Fuck it, he decided, and started tapping out a message on the keypad.
    I want to see you.
    He didn’t expect an immediate response. In fact, he expected her to be so pissed she might not respond at all. While he’d been pouting, and he was man enough to admit that’s what it was, she’d been left hanging in the wind.
    On the one hand, he understood her completely. Every word she’d said to her parents that day in the kitchen had carried up the stairs to him. Feeling the weight of judgement from everyone in