Rose petals

Chapter 13

"Marry me?" A soft voice spoke as I buttoned up my shirt and turned to face Everly half asleep.

I already asked you that, my love.

She was curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed with her gorgeous brown curls thrown over one of the pillows. She squinted her beautiful green eyes at me as she stretched her arms before pulling the blanket up to her chin.

"Anytime." I winked as she attempted to hide her red face from me.

"I can't believe I slept over. It was supposed to be a nap but I swear it's been like sixteen hours." She yawned as she searched the room for a clock till she spotted one hanging above the TV.

"Seventeen actually." I corrected as her eyes widened in surprise. "It's fine, you were tired." I shrugged as I walked over to her and kissed the top of her head before walking into the bathroom.

Once I got to the sink, I instantly froze in place. Did I just do that? Shit. Fuck. What was I thinking? That's the problem, I wasn't! It was purely out of instinct.

I quickly shook it off and sprayed my perfume, or cologne, or whatever the fuck it's supposed to be called, before walking out of the bathroom to see a dazed Everly laying exactly where I left her.

"You're going to work?" She squeaked out as I bit back a smile and picked up my tie.

"I need to check in on them since I didn't yesterday, breakfast should be up any minute so make sure you eat." I said sternly. It's a big thing I've noticed and I hate it. She barely eats and I'm not having that.

"Okay, thank you. Your phone was ringing earlier, someone called Hayley." She said as she bit her lip and handed me my phone. I love it when she gets jealous.

I tapped on Hayley's contact name and put it on speaker before opening up the wardrobe and pulled out my suit jacket.

"Finally! Good morning kid." Hayley snorted as I rolled my eyes in amusement.

"Hayley, why are you not asleep?" I asked, it's almost 2:00 AM in New York and I expected everyone there to be dead asleep by now. The only night owls in the Carter family are Everly, Aiden, Ben and Athena.

"I thought I'd check in since you didn't call yesterday. You're coming home tomorrow aren't you?" She asked. The guilty pit in my stomach only grew deeper. I need to tell them, but not till after I've figured this out.

"No actually, they screwed up a lot more than we thought so I'll have to stay longer. Will you check in with the twins for me? Take them out for the day if you can? They're going to be mad at me." I sighed as I heard Aiden laugh in the back.

"Of course we can, Aiden shut the fudge up before I ship you off to London too." She hissed as the laughter instantly stopped. I glanced over at Everly and watched as she slapped a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"How's the baby? And Kai?" I asked as I slipped on my shoes.

"They're good, Kai slept over at Ben's and the baby is a real pain in the ass." She groaned as I unconsciously smiled thinking back to when Everly was pregnant. "We'll let you go now, but make sure you get us an update the second you get there. Love you, take care of yourself, toodles." She yawned as I rolled my eyes.

"Love you too, Hayls I'll call when you guys wake up." I chuckled before hanging up.

"She seems hilarious." Everly grinned as she handed me my watch from the nightstand besides the bed.

"She is, she's a bully though but then I guess all sisters are." I chuckled as her cheeks turned just the slightest bit pink. "Will you be okay alone? I won't be gone long." I asked hoping she doesn't ask me to drop her off to the place she thinks is home.