Carter Ortese is Trouble - completed (The Boys #1)

Chapter 25: Carter

I slide into the passenger's seat of Desmond's car, feeling more than a little distraught with how the day went. The venom that Kelly had for me is tangible, even now. The dark look in her eyes, the down tilt of her lips in disgust, the anger and aggression, it stays with me.

I left Patrick to walk home by himself and wandered for a few hours, waiting for Des to get off work. When he was free, I asked him to come and get me for twenty bucks.

Not like I can afford it, but I also can't tell my mom why, exactly, I am on this side of town. It figures that the first thing I have to lie to her about is in regards to our estranged family.

Des pulls up thirty minutes later, and his car idles loudly by the curb. I climb inside and slam the door shut behind me. "You're kind of weird, you know that?" Des asks.

"Yeah, I know."

"I mean, they have taxis."

I shrug. "Wouldn't you rather get the money than some random taxi driver?" I try to hand him the twenty, but he waves it off. I shove it into his glove compartment, because I don't want to feel like I owe him anything later. He arches an eyebrow at me, but nods once.

He puts the car in drive and eases us away from the sidewalk. His eyes narrow, and he shakes his head, opening the compartment in the dash above the steering wheel. He takes out a slender pair of glasses. "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

He slips them on, and instantly, his facial expression relaxes. He glances at me sideways, and he looks so comically funny, like a kid who has just learned they need to wear glasses, that I laugh. "I hate you."

I shrug. "Most people do." I tap my finger on the door. "Why don't you wear them?"

Des frowns, brow creasing. His expression is full of wistful longing, and it takes me only a second to realize who he's thinking about.

"Celia? Man, what's going on with you two?"

"It's the never ending love story, isn't it? Some Romeo and Juliet shit?"

"Except they die in the end."

"Yeah, there's that." Des cracks his window open, takes a joint out from inside his pocket, and slips the end of it in between his lips. The flame of his lighter whips around with the rush of air gusting in from outside, but he gets the end lit and tosses the lighter into the backseat.

"Maybe don't be like Romeo and Juliet."

"I'll try. Not making any promises." He pulls onto the main drag that cuts across our town. A total of three stoplights between here and home, but plenty of miles. "So what brought you to this side?"

"Would you believe me if I said nothing?"

"Yeah, sure. You wandered all the way over here for no reason. Decided today would be a good day to drag me away from finishing Devil's Hell VI and called me up. Again, without reason." He takes a long inhale of smoke and holds it in his lungs. He slides me a sidelong glance through half-lidded eyes. He smiles, and smoke comes out of his teeth.

"Emma confronted one of her best friends today."

"Okay. So you decided to drag me away from—"

I punch him in the shoulder. "So I decided to confront my grandparents."

"The rich ones?"

"No, the other ones." I watch as Des smokes the joint, and I almost want to join him. A part of me itches to do something to ease this craziness I'm feeling. There's a flame inside my stomach, and I'm sick of it burning as sharply as it does. Maybe something like that would put it at ease.