The Husband Checklist ✔ [SAMPLE CHAPTERS]

Chapter Two

Carter

I lasted less than an hour with Jody. After making up a lame-ass excuse halfway through dinner, I hurried back to the house.

As soon as I open the door and step inside, I realize even an hour was probably too long.

Stupid.

"Carter, you're back," Julia yells across the room, a happy smile on her face.

At least this one's real, not like the fake one she gave me before I left. I knew she was putting on a show for me, and I let her. I thought she might need some alone time, but I should have listened to my gut and stayed with her.

Shit.

"Why are you standing there? Come join me. Now the party can really start." She still hollers, most of her words a slurry mess.

A quick scan of the coffee table in front of her confirms my suspicions that Julia was busy while I was gone. Not only has she found every imaginable sugar source that could possibly be in this house, but she also found the wine stash. Looks like she almost made it through a whole bottle.

Despite the situation, I have to laugh, making her smile even wider.

"What are you doing, Jules?" I walk over to the couch and sit next to her.

I try to take away the sizeable wine glass in her hand, but it doesn't go unnoticed, and she snags it right back, giving my hand a soft slap.

"Get your own glass, Carter." She sticks out her tongue, and I roll my eyes. She's so damn cute like this.

Most of our time growing up, the three of us—Ollie, Jules, and I—were a tight-knit group, which made it easy to keep watch over her alcohol consumption at parties in her teenage years.

I guess I have a drunken Julia for tonight, which is okay since she's usually a happy drunk. A bit silly sometimes and too impulsive but in a good mood.

"Have you talked to your brother?" I hope the change of subject might sober her up some, or at least make her put down the glass.

She nods and her whole body moves with the simple gesture. Wine sloshes dangerously close to the edge of the glass, but of course, Miss Tipsy doesn't notice. She might make an even bigger mess by dumping the whole glass on herself.

"Yup. He told me all about his awesome girlfriend and their last-minute trip. Apparently, he was going to call me tomorrow to update me on everything. I explained my sudden homeless situation to him and that I'd be staying here for a while. I think he said something about calling you soon about it too. Not sure what you have to do with any of it, but yeah." She finally takes a breath, but her mouth opens again a second later. "So how was your date?"

I'm still stuck on the part where Ollie is about to call me to talk about his sister staying here. It will undoubtedly be all about taking good care of his sister and making sure her stupid ex doesn't come anywhere near her while also keeping my hands off her. It's been a while since we've had that conversation.

Ollie used to give the keep-your-hands-off-my-sister speech all the time to our friends. I never told him, but so did I, imitating his big-brother persona. In hindsight, I wonder if there was more to it than I thought back then.

Not that I really know why he feels the need to remind me of that every so often.

"Carter, you keep zoning out." Julia punches me in the arm, successfully spilling half her wine on both of us in the process. "Oops. Sorry," she mutters to herself while putting the glass on the table.