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"Wha...
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Carter patiently watched me react to what he had just said, letting his words float in the air as they visibly rattled my demeanor. He was still level with me, leaning down and blocking me from standing up. The saliva on my tongue had disappeared in an instant, making it feel as if a dry, scratchy sponge had been stuffed into my mouth and hindered me from speaking. My gaze flitted to the field behind him, catching a glimpse of Matt doing warmup drills with the rest of the team. He was oblivious to what was happening on the sidelines.
When Carter realized that I was verbally frozen, he continued.
"I mean, what would little, innocent Lia be doing cozied up in a storage room with a guy like Nate Miller?" A feigned thoughtfulness coated his tone, and his eyes settled on mine with a sharp sense of complacency. "Doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure it out. And then I thought to myself, well, if you're going to be messing around with anyone on the side – then it's going to be me."
I glared back at him in disbelief, he really was trying to blackmail me into sleeping with him. Using this against me and knowing I would fear him destroying my short-lived relationship with Matt.
"Is that a threat?" I abruptly stood up, causing him to stumble back as his foot left the bleacher.
He regained his balance and stared down at me. "Look at it more like an invitation."
My jaw muscles tightened before answering his ridiculous logic. "Do you even hear yourself right now? I didn't do anything with Nate in that room, okay? And I will never do anything with you. Matt's the only guy for me, so accept that or get lost!"
Carter sighed, clearly unfazed by my response. "Look, I'm not gonna tell Matt what I saw, so you can chill." He reached past me to pick up his football helmet he had set down on the bleachers, taking the opportunity to get closer. "But I just want you to know that I see through that bullshit persona you're putting out there, and I know beneath the surface there's a sexually repressed girl dying to come out. And when she comes, because it's gonna be soon...I'll be there."
He put on his helmet and winked at me before running back onto the field...running back to his best friend whose girlfriend he just crossed multiple lines with, yet again.
I wondered if Matt knew how persistent Carter was with me. If he ever noticed him staring, if he ever noticed him talking to me alone, if he ever noticed the likes and comments he would leave on photos I appeared in on social media (mostly posted by Rachel). I remembered the first day of school after summer and how Matt had told him to back off when he was bothering me, and it seemed like they had spoken about boundaries, but it had obviously made no impact on Carter whatsoever. He was just the type of guy who had no issue being a terrible friend.
