“I’m going to forever be branded the asshole that hurt you, Leah. So, yeah, I’m definitely the bad guy.”

I sighed and turned to him. “Carter, it doesn’t matter what people think.”

“It matters what people think when they’re close to you,” he replied sternly. “And I’ve been in the dark the last three years because nobody wants to let me know how you’ve been. It wasn’t easy being shut out like that. It especially wasn’t easy knowing you were avoiding me, too.”

“Hey,” I suddenly said, grabbing at his arm. “I’m here now, and that’s what matters. We just had an amazing day together. Let’s not ruin that, alright? Let’s keep this positive.”

He stared at me for a moment, sighing in defeat. “You’re right.”

“Forget Melanie. How about we just call Rome?”

He idly scratched his jaw, staring from one side of the road to the other. “How about we call neither?”

“Neither?”

“Yeah, let’s just walk and see where it takes us.” Turning to me, he added sheepishly, “I just don’t want this to end. The second we bring people we know into the mix, it’ll be like we’re back to the present, and I’m loving reliving the whole past thing and pretending it’s just us again. Right here and now, I’m just Carter and you’re my Leah.”

You’re my Leah.

Fuck. I was fucked.

My body warmed. “I’d like that,” I quietly agreed.

“Good. Let’s go on our little adventure.”

*

The adventure sucked. I’m not even going to lie.

It was a miserable walk. The humid air was stifling, and it felt like any moment the skies were going to finally burst with rain. Lord knew I needed that rain! I felt my thighs rub together uncomfortably as I got covered head to toe in sweat. All those nights on the couch had resulted in a body that couldn’t hack a bit of walking. I needed to hit the gym. Regardless, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world. There wasn’t one moment of silence between Carter and me. We fell into a never ending conversation. It really was as though we’d been plucked from the present and thrown into the past.

We didn’t pay attention to where we were going. We didn’t care, either. At one point, Carter took his hat off and put it over my head, wanting to shade me from the sun’s bite.

“You look adorable like that,” he complimented me. “All flushed cheeks and a trucker hat. It’s giving me a new fantasy.”

I blushed and looked away, trying to downplay that. “Yeah? What does that fantasy involve?”

“You might not like hearing it.”

“Why?”

“It’s pretty graphic, and after last night, it might overstep our boundaries.”

I laughed and glanced at him briefly, taking in his heated look as I replied, “I thought we were going down memory lane. Last night’s events doesn’t apply. It’s just you and me without all that bullshit between us. So, involve me in your fantasy.”

He scanned me up and down slowly, and I felt like every inch of me was a goddamn bulls-eye.

“You’d be riding me naked with nothing but that trucker hat on you,” he told me quietly, without one drip of humour. “I’d be holding your hips, squeezing them as you moved, sucking on your beautiful tits as you went. I’d let you take complete control until every sexy bit of you was satiated. Then I’d pound the hell out of you, and fuck you ‘til you came again.”

Despite the godawful heat, goosebumps broke out of me. I felt a shiver run through my being, tickling me in places I secretly wanted him to explore again.

“You’re blunt,” I muttered. “I miss that.”

He smiled widely. “You can have my bluntness anytime you want.”

I looked down at the asphalt as we walked for a few moments in silence. I kicked a small rock, replaying his words in my mind. Jesus, the images were branded in me.

“I like your fantasy,” I admitted.

“There’s plenty more there for you.”

I fought against a goofy smile just as a car came bounding down the road, disrupting the tension between us.

“You guys alright?” asked a male driver, slowing down beside us. He was only young, in his twenties, driving a truck with two round stacks of hay bale in the back. A farmer. Or maybe an axe murderer disguised as a farmer, although unlikely.

Carter looked down at his feet to keep the man from seeing his face. “Yeah,” he answered. “Perfectly okay.”

“You just look stranded, that’s all,” the driver continued, looking over at me. “You okay too, Miss? There’s a motel some kilometres away, if you wanted a lift.”

I looked over at Carter. “Should we get a lift?”

He shook his head, whispering to me, “Nah, we don’t know who he is. You never know around here.”

“No, but thanks anyway,” I told the driver.

He stared at Carter for a beat longer before nodding. “Take care,” he told us, before taking off down the road.

Despite him being right, I was a little bummed. I could have used a lift. My legs were a little sore and I was seriously thirsty. It was nearing the evening, and daylight was beginning to dim. Regardless, I sucked it up, and we treaded a couple more kilometres before the motel came into view. By this point, the sky had finally opened up. Drops of rain lightly scattered all around us, instantly cooling down my flushed skin.

I smiled up at the Vacancy sign of the motel before giving Carter a nudge. “This is the motel we ran off to.”

He chuckled, following my line of sight. “Yes, it is.”

“You broke into a car in that parking spot exactly.” I pointed to the parking lot and at a particular space a small little hatchback was sitting on. “This is like the ultimate trip down memory lane.”

“No, busting into a car would be.”

I laughed. “Let’s omit that part.”

Studying the motel for a moment, he turned to me and said, “Let’s do it then.”

“What?”

“Let’s spend the night here. It’ll be like coming full circle again.”

“But what about Rome and…?” my voice trailed off as we came to a stop right in front of the sign.

“What about ‘em?” Carter asked on a shrug. “It’s just you and me. Forget the rest of the world for a moment. What do you want to do? Go back to your apartment, stalk me online and go to sleep, regretting not being with me? Or buy a night at this shit-house motel, eat nasty vending machine snacks, and spend the night talking? It’s up to you.”