Consider Me (Playing For Keeps Book 1)

CARTER

I PLAN on soaking up every single one of these hours I have left with Olivia before my road series. That’s precisely why I woke her up at the crack of dawn with my head between her legs and haven’t let her go back to sleep since. That’s also probably why she’s passed the fuck out on my lap right now, not even stirring at the way I keep shouting at my TV.

“Did you get shot again?” Garrett screams into my headset. “How the fuck are you so bad today?”

“There’s a hot chick sleeping between my legs!” I shout back.

“She’s always between your legs!” He goes quiet for a moment, and Adam and Emmett chuckle. “Okay, that sounded bad. What I meant was you’ve had her all weekend. Focus on staying alive. You’re bringing the whole team down.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter, navigating my player up a set of stairs.

“That place was loaded with guys two minutes ago, Carter,” Emmett says as Olivia stirs in my lap. “Make sure you—” his words die a heavy sigh as my screen splatters with blood, my character collapsing to the ground after being shot point-blank in the head, “—check. Dude, what the fuck?”

Olivia smiles up at me, blinking her bleary eyes, fluttering those dark lashes.

“Beckett? You there?

“Olivia must’ve woken up.” Adam knows what’s up.

“I gotta go.” I’m already tearing off my headset, ignoring the way Garrett shrieks in my ear about being in the middle of a mission. “Ollie’s up.”

She starts crawling up my body, but I lay my hand on her collarbone, pushing her down to her back.

I slip my hands around her waist. “Snack time.”

“Again?”

“I’m always hungry, Ollie, and there’s nothing I’d love more than to eat your pussy one more time, then bend you over the couch and fuck you so hard you feel it in your throat. I’d also settle for cuddling.”

It’s highly inconvenient that at this moment my front door beeps twice and swings open, the voices of two occasionally incredibly annoying females filtering into my house. Olivia stiffens below me, and I growl out something like a sigh-groan, collapsing on top of her.

Jumping off the couch, I round the corner of my living room, spreading my arms wide when my eyes land on the three people taking off their things in my front hall, the dog who’s shifting excitedly on his paws, ready to pounce.

“What the hell are you three doing here?” I look at Hank. “I thought Ollie and I were picking you up later for dinner.”

His shoulders pop up, palms raised in an innocent shrug. “Wasn’t me.”

Jennie rolls her eyes, releasing Dublin from his lead. He comes bounding over, jumping up with two paws on my belly, and I bury my fingers in his soft fur. “That’s BS and you know it, old man.” She leads him down the hallway. “Mom and you were on the phone plotting this for nearly an hour this morning.”

Mom throws her hands in the air. “It’s not fair that he got to meet Olivia and we didn’t!”

“You can’t just walk in here unannounced!” I shout back, gesturing at the way Olivia approaches like a terrified animal, tugging at her sweater. “We could’ve been naked!”

“Carter!” Olivia calls in horror at the exact moment my mom plants two fists on her hips, hits me with an unimpressed look, and growls out, “Carter Beckett!”

Jennie gags. “Ugh. Gross. Not an image I want burned into my retinas.”

“Then you should’ve knocked, because I was almost balls d—”

“Carter!” Olivia half shrieks again, slapping a hand over my mouth. “For the love of God, please stop. Please.”

I smile against her palm before twisting and slinging an arm around her waist. “Sorry, pumpkin.”

Hank’s snickering in a way that makes me less mad at him. “That’s my boy,” he boasts before reaching toward us. I take his hands, but he frowns, slapping them away. “I don’t want you. I want Olivia.”

“Oh for fuck’s—”

I’m cut off by Olivia’s giggling, the way she shoves me out of the way with one hip and embraces Hank. “This is so much better than what we had planned,” she tells my family.

Mom approaches Olivia with her arms wide, wearing the most wondrous smile, like she never thought this would happen. “I never thought this day would come,” she cries. Told you. “My little boy, all grown up with a girlfriend!”

“Only took him twenty-seven years,” Jennie mutters, then happily claps Hank’s hand.

“Hi, pumpkin pie,” Mom croons, folding Olivia into her embrace.

“Mom!”

“What? That’s what you call her, isn’t it?” Her smirk is unnecessary, and yet oddly familiar.

Jennie snorts. Once. Twice. She keels over, slapping her knee. “Pumpkin pie? You-you-you—” another snort, “—you call your girlfriend pumpkin pie?” Is she crying? “So much for that big, bad fuckboy rep you’ve been rocking all these years.” She’s fucking crying. “I mean, we get it. You love your girlfriend.”

I would talk if I could. All I seem to be able to do is scratch at my nape, and I hate the way my face burns. When my mom releases her from her talons, Olivia gives me a soft, warm smile that makes me feel like she’s lit me from the inside out.

Mom swats Jennie’s shoulder. “Don’t tease your brother.”

“He teases me all the time!”

“He teases you because he loves you; you know that.”

“Yeah, Jen.” Out come the grabby hands. “Just let me hug you. I love you.”

“Get away from me!” Her gaze slides over Olivia, mouth tilting. “You’re too small to make a decent human shield.” She considers it for all of a split second before she says, “Ah, fuck it,” and sidesteps behind Olivia, gripping her biceps and ducking behind her shoulders.

That might work, except my arms are long as hell, so I wrap them around both of them and crush them into my chest. “Group hug,” I sing out as Jennie groans and Olivia snickers.

I may hate them for showing up unannounced, but right now, I’ve got my all-time favorite people in one room, and nothing makes me happier, especially as I watch the way Olivia so effortlessly fits in with them, like she was always meant to be here, a part of our family. I don’t even mind when she tells everyone about the time she shaved her brother’s brows off in his sleep because he broke her hockey stick and carved it into a walking stick, eliciting an evil gleam in Jennie’s eyes as they touch mine, like she’s plotting.

Two hours later when she’s standing next to me grating cheese for homemade pizza, I’m still guarding my eyebrows.

“You fell hard and fast, little brother. Did you hit every branch on the way down too?”

“Huh?” My head lifts, smiling at the way Olivia throws her head back with a laugh at whatever Hank’s saying. Something dirty, judging by the way my mom smacks his arm. I turn to Jennie. “I’m almost five years older than you.”

“But your mind is so, so small, fuckboy.”

I flick her between the eyes. “Do your job.”

She does, with as much flourish as I do most things, one foot popped behind her as she sprinkles the cheese over the sauce. She’s nothing if not dramatic. “Does she know you wanna marry her?”

“What?” My gaze ricochets between my annoying sister and Olivia.

“I said does she know you’re in love with her.”

I slap a hand over her mouth, wrapping her in a headlock. “Shut up or she’ll hear you.”

She bites the flesh of my palm until I release her, cradling my hand against my chest, and when Olivia steps behind me, wrapping her arms around my middle, I can barely breathe.

“What are you two fighting about?”

“Nothing!” I kinda-sorta shriek. The look I pin Jennie with says she’ll be the one with no eyebrows if she says anything.

“Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but Carter was telling me he’s finalized the details on horse-riding lessons for us this spring. He thought you’d like to come with me.”

Olivia peers at me. “Horseback riding lessons?”

I can’t believe she’s buying this shit. I give it exactly one month until Jennie tells her the entire thing was a ploy to: A) get what she wanted, which at this moment, are the lessons she’s been dropping hints about since her birthday passed; and B) distract from the fact that I’m in love with Olivia and don’t want her to know yet. Only one month, because I’m impulsive and bad at keeping secrets, so I can’t imagine holding out much longer than that.

Case in point, forty-five minutes later when we’re at the dinner table, I’ve got her foot tucked between my legs, because apparently I can’t not be touching her.

“We went skating on Capilano Lake last weekend and I beat Carter in a race,” she’s proudly telling my family.

“You cheated in a race.”

She hums thoughtfully, chewing her pizza. “That doesn’t seem like something I’d do.”

“It’s something I’d do just to knock him down a few pegs,” Jennie says. “Carter said you coach your niece’s hockey team and teach high school fitness. That’s so cool! Did you ever dance?”

“Only when I’ve been drinking. I’m not overly rhythmic. I did figure skate for a few years though.”

“She coaches the girls’ volleyball team at school,” I add.

“Did you play too?” Jennie asks, amused.

Olivia nods. “From sixth grade to my final year in university.”

Jennie folds her lips into her mouth. Her shoulders start quivering, and a tiny snort leaves her nose. I hide my smile behind my palm, staring down at my plate as I try not to laugh.

Olivia’s gaze bounces between us. “What?”

“It’s just…” Jennie jerks forward as a small laugh escapes. “I mean—” snicker, “—can you even—” covers her mouth, “—reach the net?” She bursts out laughing at the exact moment I do, both of us folding over the table, and Mom smacks me upside the head, even though I’m not the one who said it.

Olivia’s eyes narrow as she pins her arms across her chest. “Oh, I see. You two Beckett children are one and the same.”

“Assholes?” Mom guesses. “Yeah, blame their father, not me.”

“Be nice to your girlfriend, Carter,” Hank calls from across the table as he slips a piece of pepperoni to Dublin. “Or she won’t let you try any of the fun stuff from the book we’re reading.”

It takes me a solid five seconds to fully register the weight of his words, and by then, Olivia’s already choking on her food.

“Hank!” I scream, rubbing Olivia’s back.

“Uh-oh,” he murmurs. “Dublin, I’ve fucked up again.”

The only logical explanation for why I’m currently listening to Olivia’s school principal go on about how much he loves when Cara visits—for some fucking reason—is because I’m batshit crazy for this woman.

I saw her three hours ago when she kissed me good-bye from her bed, where we slept last night so she could get up early for work. I promptly passed out for another hour and a half, woke up, devoured most of her kitchen, then ordered grocery delivery service for her because I felt bad. It’s been three hours, and yet I’m still not ready to say good-bye to her for the next five nights.

“I was young once,” Ray’s busy telling me. He told me to call him Ray. “You two seem quite close based on the pictures over the last two weekends.” He wags his brows, which is kinda weird; he’s Olivia’s boss. Also, I’m slightly concerned about that last comment.

“Is that a problem? The pictures of us? Kissing?” Fuck, I never thought of that.

He waves me off as we stop outside the gym doors. I can see Olivia in there, surrounded by a bunch of boys that tower over her, even on a day she’s chosen to wear heels.

“Olivia’s personal life is her own. She’s perfectly entitled to have intimate relationships; it just so happens that hers is photographed. She won’t be punished for that, so long as everything stays legal and respectful.”

My head bobs as my throat tightens. “Legal and respectful; got it.” It sounds easy enough, but I’d say I’m maybe a wee bit feral when it comes to loving on Olivia. I’ll have to make a conscious effort to keep it PG when we’re out and about.

“The kids around here love her, and it’s no secret she hasn’t exactly had it easy, being relatively close in age to them. Many of them see her as a friend, someone they can confide in. I’d say she’s gotten a bit more flack since you two took your relationship public, but Miss Parker knows how to handle those kids.”

I stifle a laugh. Handle them she does; see the kid she threatened to put in the ground for calling her a puck bunny. I won’t bring that up, though.

Instead, I say, “Thank you for walking me down here. Olivia always talks about how much she loves working for you.” Those words have never once left her mouth but the way Ray’s face lights up tells me I’ve done my due diligence as a boyfriend today.

I slip through the door, leaning against it before it can close as I watch her work. Sometimes I learn the most interesting things about her when she doesn’t know I’m watching.

The volleyball net is up, and Olivia’s got a ball glued to her hip, clipboard in her free hand, while a few of the boys fuck around with balls.

“All I’m saying is if you’re embarrassed, say so. Don’t worry about it, Miss Parker.” A blond kid bounces a volleyball three times before tossing it toward the basketball net. It bounces off the rim, much to my smug amusement. “If you’ve been talking yourself up all this time—”

“I have not been talking myself up,” Olivia replies with disinterest, setting her ball down and making some notes on her clipboard. “I don’t want to embarrass you. Wouldn’t want to fracture that male ego of yours. I know how sensitive they can be in the teenage years.”

“I’m eighteen. I’m a man.”

“Right. How could I forget?”

“You always say you can play, but you never show us,” another boy starts. “It kinda sounds like you’re making it up.”

“You are not goading me into playing with you.” Damn right they’re not. But also, Olivia is 1000 percent easily provoked, so…

“Look, if it’s because you’re short—”

Olivia smacks her pen down on the clipboard and fixes the boy who’s still talking with a look so dark I’m scared from all the way back here. “Seriously? The short comments? Again?”

Uh-oh.

She tears the ball from his grasp and starts stalking toward me, head down while she mutters to herself. “Stupid freaking short jokes. So freaking tired of them. I get it, my legs are tiny. Ha-ha.”

I bite back my laugh, slinking farther into the shadow of the doorway, watching my girl kick off her heels and sink three inches closer to the ground.

Olivia spins toward the net and bounces the ball while she speaks. “I’m only doing this once, so make sure you’re watching.”

I don’t think that’ll be a problem. These boys are riveted, as am I.

Olivia spins the ball in her hands before bouncing it. On the third bounce, she catches it, tosses it ridiculously high, takes three massive steps forward, leaps into the air, and…

Smashes that damn ball straight across the gym, sending it slamming off the opposite wall and rolling right back to her. She bends, catching it at her feet, and while the boys lose their fucking minds, says, “Hope you got that on camera to remind you why you don’t mess with me.”

I have to remind myself that I’m in a high school, so blatantly adjusting my junk is maybe not the best idea.

“Holy shit. That was unreal. Did you guys see that?” I walk toward them, gesturing at Olivia, registering the look of shock on her face. “That’s my freaking girlfriend, gentlemen!”

“Carter!” Olivia drops the ball, running over on her bare feet. “What are you doing here? You saw that?” She wraps her arms around me, stuffing her face into my chest. “Now you can tell everyone to stop with the short jokes.”

I feel bad telling her that’s unlikely, given the high she’s riding right now, so instead I tell her, “I’m so proud of my little pip-squeak.” I drop my lips to hers. “I had to see you one more time. I hope that’s okay.”

A slow, devious grin ignites across her face as she inclines her head in the direction of her students, every single one of them frozen in place, jaws dropped. “You just earned yourself a teaching spot in third period senior boys’ fitness.”

“That’s cool. I’m good at telling people what to do, and I get to spend a little more time with you before we’re separated for a hundred and twenty-seven hours. Not that I’m counting or anything.”

Olivia grips my bicep as she slips her feet back into her heels.

I press my lips to her ear. “You’re so sexy in this teacher outfit.”

“You saw me this morning in this exact outfit.”

“Yeah, but I was half-asleep, and you just rocked this entire gym. Now I wanna peel it off you but make you keep on the shoes.”

Before I can make good on that threat, I clap my hands together. “All right, gentlemen, welcome to gym time with Mr. Beckett.”

Nabbing Olivia’s clipboard up off the ground, I pretend to flip through the notes, clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth.

“Ah, here we are. First order of business…which one of you called Miss Parker a puck bunny last Monday?”

“I’m bored. Wanna go back to the room and play Xbox?” I’ve eaten two pounds of wings and a plate of nachos and crushed a pitcher with Adam. I’ve been propositioned exactly zero times, because as soon as a woman takes a single step in my direction, I hit her with a scowl so fierce she dashes away. I’m ready to go. The text message that rolls across my screen only solidifies that desire.

Ollie Girl: Just getting in the shower, call you in 15, Mr. Incredible.

“Come on.” Standing, I take out my wallet and throw down a couple bills. Adam and Emmett start to do the same, but Garrett, who’s got a petite blonde at his side wearing his jersey and whispering in his ear, looks absolutely horrified. “You can stay, of course, Gare-Bear.”

“But I…you…ugh.” His head falls backward with a groan, and he whispers what I assume is an apology in the girl’s ear before disentangling himself from her limbs.

The bar is a two-minute walk from the hotel, and by the time we reach the elevator, Garrett’s adjusting himself for the third time. “You being in a relationship is killing my sex life, you fucking turkey.”

“You have bigger problems if your sex life relies on me.”

“It doesn’t rely on you, I just…it…Fuck you.” He checks me into the wall when we step into the hallway. “You’re obsessed with your girlfriend.”

“Yes.” The look on his face tells me it wasn’t a question.

“All you wanna do is go back to the room and talk to her on the phone and tell her how much you miss her and how you can’t wait to kiss her and fuck her and cuddle her.”

“Also yes.” In that order. And then on repeat.

Emmett’s chuckling to himself as he kicks his shoes off inside the room. He tears open a bag of Ruffles All Dressed chips and flings himself across the couch, shaking his head.

“What are you laughing at, dickhole?” I shove my hand in the bag and steal a handful of chips. We had to bring these from Vancouver. They’re hard to find in the States and trust me when I tell you if you find them, you’ll be sorely disappointed. They’re not the same; it’s a fucking travesty.

“Do you remember the night before you met Liv?”

“No.” I’ve blocked out my life before her.

“You kicked some girl out of our room in near tears because she wanted to stay the night, and said you’d never settle down.”

“That’s not true. She didn’t just want to stay the night. She wanted to move to Vancouver and make my home her home.” Fucking Lauren. Or was it Lisa? I don’t know, but the night’s coming back to me, that’s for sure. “And I didn’t say I’d never settle down.”

“Right. You said the day somebody walked into your life and flipped your world upside down would be the day you’d settle down.”

“Mmm.” These chips are delicious.

“Look at you now.” It’s Adam this time, gesturing at the phone I’m checking for the third time. “Can’t tear your eyes off your phone when you’re forced to spend some time away from your girl.”

“It’s almost six full days,” I mumble.

He chuckles. “It’s fine.”

“It’s lame,” Garrett corrects.

“We’re just saying…the day has obviously arrived.”

Yeah, no shit. The day arrived in mid-December when I first laid eyes on her, when she rolled her eyes and did that cute snicker-snort thing, then basically told me to go fuck myself.

Regardless, I’m saved from any more stupid observations when my phone starts vibrating on my lap, Olivia’s face taking over my screen. Before I can answer it, Garrett swipes it and throws himself on the bed.

“Hey, Livvie.” He kicks his legs, chin in his palm like he’s a teenage girl chatting with his bestie. “What’s up, girl?”

I scream, throwing myself on top of him, because what if she’s naked? She was last night, but then again, she knew I was alone. Still, I don’t want anyone to see her. Ever. Never ever. Mine.

Emmett plucks the phone from the middle of our fight and settles back on the couch. “Hey, Ollie.”

“Oooh,” she marvels. “Are those All Dressed? I haven’t had those in years!”

Shoving Garrett off me, I crouch behind Emmett and smile at Olivia. She’s not naked, thank fuck. She is, however, wearing my T-shirt, wet hair leaving drips and drops down her neck and on the gray material, and that does things to me, things that make me grab between my legs.

“I used to lick all the seasoning off before I ate them,” she goes on.

My gaze hoods. “I’ll buy some for Saturday night.”

“Ah, for fuck’s fake!” Garrett throws his hands in the air. “How do you manage to ruin chips for me?”

I yank my phone away and flop down on the bed, one arm behind my head. “I miss you, Ollie girl.”

She’s sitting up in bed, blankets pooled around her waist, and I think she’s on her laptop, based on how much of her I can see. Those cheeks tint pink and I wonder if she’ll always blush. I hope so. “I miss you, too, Carter.”

“Ah-ah,” I tsk.

Rolling her eyes, she huffs a sigh. “I miss you, too, sexiest man alive.”

“That’s better,” I say proudly while everyone else groans. “What’d you and Care get for dinner tonight?”

“Indian takeout.” She pats her stomach happily. “So good. And your mom and sister came too.”

“What? Really?”

“Mhmm. And Hank, obviously. He was bragging about being the only male invited to girls’ night. And Dublin wouldn’t get off my lap all night. I accidentally let him lick out my ice cream bowl during the third period, so now I’m his favorite.”

My chest feels lighter. Is that weird? “Thank you for inviting them.”

“Of course. It was fun, and your mom brought baby pictures, which doesn’t surprise me at all. She was dying to embarrass you. My favorite picture was the one of you wearing her wedding dress. You looked so pretty.” She snickers, nose wrinkling, and before I can respond, she continues. “You guys played awesome tonight. Can you congratulate Adam for me on his shutout? He was incredible.”

Adam sticks his head over my shoulder and grins. “Thanks, Ollie! You got a copy of Carter in the dress? I wanna see it.”

“Like fuck.” I growl, twisting away from him.

I could listen to Olivia talk about her day forever. She makes the best faces while she does, the entire spectrum of emotions flitting through her changing expression, hands flying around her face as she tells her stories, like how the boys in her class are scared of me now and her principal wants me to speak at some assembly, how Alannah wants me to come to a game so I can see that she’ll be “better” than me one day.

“Carter,” Olivia laughs, holding up her phone. “What’s this?”

“What’s—” I squint at the pictures on her phone and smile. “Oh. That. That’s just me making sure nobody can spin a web of lies.”

She snickers. “A web of lies?”

“Yeah. If my hands are in the air, there’s no fake gossip about who I might be touching.”

The title of the article she’s scrolling through basically says as much:

“Carter Beckett wants the world to know: he is OFF-LIMITS, ladies!”

I maybe, potentially, have been making a conscious effort to throw my hands above my head and smile at whatever camera flashes my way whenever girls have tried to talk to me this week.

Olivia shakes her head. “You are so ridiculous. Could your grin be any prouder in this picture?”

“What can I say? Letting the world know I’m yours makes me happy.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Garrett chucks a pillow at my head. “Get a fucking room! Nobody cares about how balls deep in love you two are.”

Adam pulls a beer from the bar fridge, cracking the top, taking a long pull. “Seriously, how long are you two gonna dance around the words we all know you’re dying to say?”

I glance at Olivia to find her staring down at her lap and gnawing on her thumbnail. Her entire face goes beet red as she fiddles with the blankets.

“Give them a break.” Emmett drops down beside me on the bed. He stuffs his face in front of my phone, smiling at Olivia, and I’m grateful for the distraction.

Until he keeps speaking.

“Carter’s still coming to terms with the fact that he loves someone more than himself and Oreos. Ollie’s struggling to admit to herself that she’s in love with the world’s most arrogant, controlling, annoying man. It would be impossible for anybody to wrap their head around such a mind-blowing scenario.”