More Than Enough (Enough #2) (3 page)

He started talking and even his voice was low and sex
y, “Thanks for letting me grab this one. My girlfriend is up there with all my football buddies, and I don’t ever like to leave her alone with them for long. I just left the good liquor in my car, and we couldn’t start doing shots without it. So I rushed as fast as I could down and back.” Wow, a really hot guy that absolutely screams sex in an elevator with us, but the first words out of his mouth are about his girlfriend.

Rachel deflates before my eyes. I could tell she was warming up to make a serious move on this guy, and before she could even figure
out the best form of attack he’s saying he’s taken. The hot guy starts talking again, “Are you guys coming up for the party?” We nod, and he continues, “Oh, that’s great! You must be from Carter’s dance team since I know all of her volleyball friends.” Rachel and I give each other a confused look and I ask, “How did you figure that out so fast? We could be anybody from college.”

He shakes his head and smiles
which makes him even hotter, “Nah, Carter’s my girlfriend, and she already told me that she invited some girls from her dance team. We kept tonight pretty exclusive because we don’t want everybody on campus dropping in whenever they want. All the guys from football that have a girlfriend are bringing them, and I know Keller didn’t invite any girls so it just left the dance team.”

Whoa, that was a lot of information to take in all at once. This was Keller’s brother, that is why they look similar, and this exceptionally hot guy is
also Carter’s boyfriend. They look like they would fit together. They’re both almost too beautiful for words, and I bet its easier being with someone so perfect when you look like a model yourself.

Just then the elevator beeps and the door opens into this huge
entryway. Holy shit, this place must be the penthouse. It is the biggest condo I have ever seen. Music is pulsing loudly and there are already some couples dancing with each other in the middle of the large room beside the entryway.

Brayden turns to us, “If you want to say, “Hey,” to Carter follow me.” And he walks around all the couple
s on the dance floor. I spot a lot of Florida State’s football players and some of the basketball players too. We finally get into what looks like a bar area, and there is Carter talking and laughing with Keller. If possible, she looks even better than she looked earlier today. She’s in a light pink short strapless dress, and her blond hair is flowing all around her with her tan skin almost glowing. I look at Brayden to see if he’s bothered like I am by the fact that they are together, but he seems unaffected by it. He moves beside Carter quickly and just wraps her possessively in his arms; maybe not as unaffected as I thought.

He whispers something in her ear
and turns her towards us. She spots us and struggles out from his hold, “Athena, Rachel, thanks for coming! Please make yourselves at home. This is my, Brayden, and Keller’s weekend place. We’ll probably be having a lot of parties here this year, and I am so sorry that I forgot to tell you to bring your swimsuit since we have a pool outside. I did buy some spares in a few sizes though. If you do want to swim, let me know and I’ll bring you a few to see if any work.”

She smiles sweetly at both of us, and I know I still can’t help but like someone this nice. Even if she is accidentally torturing Keller who is starting to b
ecome an obsession with me. He’s just standing there beside Brayden and watching her while she talks. Both guys can’t seem to look away from her, and I don’t really blame them. She is so bright and beautiful that even I have a hard time tearing my gaze away.

Brayden holds up the liquor that he brought up with him to her, and she laughs at him. “Bray, you
’re really going to hold me to that, huh?” He looks at her with a wicked gleam in his eyes and says, “A bet is a bet, Carter. You lost and now you have to pay up. Body shots, baby. Come on! I’ve been waiting all day for this.” She grimaces at him and marches off. He yells at her, “Where do you think you’re going, young lady? You lost a bet.” She grins at him, “Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t think you wanted me to be doing body shots with a dress on and show everybody my thong. If that’s what you want I can stay, but I thought you might want me to change into my bikini first.” She stares innocently at him and bats her eyelashes. “Go change, baby,” he says exasperatedly.

He turns back to the rest of us and says, “That girl is always pushing my buttons. She drives me so fucking insane.” Keller just looks down and frowns at that, but one of the other guys on the football team, Ryan, I think says, “
Brayden, Carter is the hottest girl I’ve ever seen. She could drive me crazy every day of my life and I would be happy.” Brayden seems to agree, “I know, I just always want to drag her off to be alone, but she made me promise we would enjoy this party. So here I am trying to listen and not follow her, and she’s still driving me out of my mind.”

Just then Carter waltzes back in with her tiny purple bikini on, and every eye in the room, including mine, go
es straight to her boobs. They are like a work of art in her bathing suit. I’m a girl, and I still had to admire how high and perfect they are in her bikini top. Brayden notices all the attention she’s getting but appears to shrug it off. He’s got to be used to it. As she gets back to him, he shouts, “Body shots, people!” Somebody turns up the music, and in no time he has Carter sprawled across the bar counter. He pours rum in her belly button and then starts licking it up as people cheer him on.

I look around and see Keller looking like he is being stabbed in the heart as all the cheering and laughing are going on around us. I edge my way closer to him and finally just stand there beside him. “Hey
, Keller, how’s it going?” He looks down at me since he’s so much taller and says rudely, “Why is it any of your business?” I can tell he is hurting from watching the show that is in front of us, and my heart hurts for him. I look back to the bar counter and see Carter and Brayden have switched places. Brayden is obviously enjoying Carter taking a shot off his body a little too much cause the evidence is showing.

“Ok, baby, I think that’s enough.” I hear Brayden tell her, but Carter will have none of that. “Oh, no baby, this was your idea. I have to get it all up. I don’t want anything lef
t to make you all sticky later.” She is just teasing him, and I can tell he loves it but hates it at the same time. The proof of how much he likes her licking him is growing at an embarrassing rate and finally he just stands and picks her up. He runs them outside to the pool and jumps in with her in his arms. They are both laughing hysterically and play wrestling with each other in the water.

This is painful for
even me to watch, and I’m not in love with either of them. But just watching a couple that fixated on each other makes me feel like I’m missing out on something. I can’t imagine how Keller feels when he does want that with Carter. I look back up at him and see a yearning and desire in his eyes that I’ve never seen from anybody before. I envy Carter so much at this moment. Brayden obviously adores her, and Keller’s gaze hardly ever leaves her. What would it be like to have these beautiful men focus completely on just me? I can’t even imagine it. Plus, to have enough money to just have a condo for the weekends, Carter, Keller, and Brayden are obviously used to a different way of life than me.

I decide to try to talk to Keller again since he is just standing there beside me still watching Carter and Brayden in the pool. “So, how long have you and Brayden known Carter? Have you three always been close?” He sighs
and looks like he gets that I’m not going to leave him alone, “Carter came to live with us when she was fourteen. As soon as she moved in, Brayden and I knew we wanted to help take care of her. She has always been as sweet as she is now. So we’ve always wanted her to be happy and safe. We both are very protective of her.”

He looks right at me then
and must have sensed my envy and concluded that I might give Carter a hard time. He warns me harshly, “Don’t try to mess with her or give her a hard time because Brayden and I don’t put up with that shit when it comes to Carter.” Damn, this guy does not trust other girls at all. I bet Carter did have to deal with more than her fair share of jealousy, but I’m still jealous of her having these guys in her corner through everything. From seeing the love on Keller’s face for Carter, I start to feel truly alone. All I’ve ever had is myself to look after me. I was feeling bad for Keller, but at least he’s not really alone. He might not have Carter like he wants her, but he has Brayden and Carter as his family. Other than my selfish parents that live in Panama City in a trailer, I’m completely alone and don’t have anyone to really count on or care about me. Maybe Keller doesn’t have it so bad after all. Even if Carter isn’t with him, I can see she does care for him deeply. She would still walk through fire for him. Maybe Keller isn’t the one to feel bad for here; maybe that person who is really lacking something is me.

                                                 
Chapter 3

Keller

            
 
When will this fucking party be over? I’ve never been one to really let loose. Sure, I can drink a few beers with the guys, but I just don’t get into the crazy party scene where a random chick is grinding on me for no reason. So even though this party is at my condo, I hang back and just watch all the drunken party craziness that is going on around me. Carter and Brayden disappeared a while ago.

             
She and I did dance once when Brayden was talking to some of the offensive line of the football team. I think that my brother does try to make time for me to be with her too. It might not be the way I want it, but I will take anything I can get at this point just to hold her in my arms. Now they are somewhere fucking, and I’m stuck babysitting the rest of these drunken idiots so they don’t wreck our condo. Brayden promised to be back later, but I don’t even know how long that could be. After hearing him and Carter more than once, I know that they don’t just have tame quick sex in a bed. I prepare myself to settle down for a while and wait.

             
Carter’s dance team friend ambles back up to me again. She tried to talk to me twice earlier, and all I’d wanted to do was watch Carter have fun and laugh. I know she can see how I feel about Carter because I don’t try to hide it, and she felt bad for me. The problem is it does hurt to watch, but I know how it was last year when I couldn’t see her at all. I would take this kind of pain any day. I don’t know what this girl is after, but I can’t seem to care either. I just want to be left alone to get what time I can with Carter and enjoy hanging with her and Brayden. I know that my outlook might be pathetic, but I’m happier than I have been in forever.

             
“Hey, Keller, I’ve had a little bit to drink and feel braver about talking to you now.” Just great this girl feels like she needs to talk to me again. Should I feel bad that I can’t remember her name? “Do you think you’ll ever be over her? Cause you just seem so sad and you are a sophomore. This should be the best time of your life. You should be enjoying it!” Oh, hell, I’m going to get the speech about not just accepting where I am from a hot, drunk redhead. She has no idea how I really feel about Carter, or how deep it goes. I can’t just let this go like it was a middle school crush.

             
She starts in again, “Are you even hearing me? There are girls that are interested in you right now. You should maybe give them a chance. Not just fixate on something that is never going to happen. I watched Carter and Brayden earlier tonight. They seem like the forever type of love. I would be surprised if he didn’t propose soon. He doesn’t seem like a commitment phobic when it comes to her at all; actually it seems like the opposite.” I know all she says is true, but I can’t help but fixate and obsess over Carter. She is the only bit of happiness I’ve ever known. The only woman other than my mom that has had no ulterior motives with me, and I am not ready to give up any of that, especially for a hot redhead in a short green dress.

             
“Carter has shown me the only love and family that I’ve known since my mom died when I was twelve. Please excuse me for not being into what you are offering right at this moment, but yes, I would rather just watch and enjoy the girl that I love laugh than randomly hook up with a girl that gives it away all the time. Any good memory or happy moment in my life has Carter in it. I’m not an idiot, I know that she is with my brother and happy. I want to be whatever I can be to her, and I don’t have any interest in being distracted by girls that just want to take from me. Please go find another target to focus on and leave me alone to babysit what has turned into a drunken orgy.”