Freeing Carter by Nyrae Dawn Read Free Book Online

work done , help Kira , and keep my relationship in one piece.
    ***
    " Dude , why can ' t basketball last for six hours and school for one and a half? " Travis collapses next to me in the grass. He has a bag of chips in his hand and that ' s all there is to his lunch.
    " I ' d be game with that. " I grab a handful of chips out of his bag.
    " I swear , all you guys care about is basketball. " Mel rolls her eyes and Trina agrees with her.
    " Seriously. There ' s more to life than ball. It ' s ridiculous. "
    " Hey , I care about other stuff. Food , TV—ouch. " Laughing , I try to dodge Mel ' s punch. " I ' m kidding. I care about you , too. You ' re right behind food , and TV—ouch. " She pinches me this time , but she ' s smiling.
    " Not me , Trin. You ' re above TV for me ," Travis adds. Lucky for him , his girlfriend only shakes her head rather than assaulting him.
    " Whatever. " Crossing her arms , Mel turns her back to me.
    " I ' m kidding. " I wrap my arms around her and pull her to my lap. " You ' re way better than that stuff. " I nuzzle her. " Hey ... want to come to the shop with me after practice? Mom wants me to help out the new girl she hired. "
    I ' m iffy on whether or not this is a good idea . Mel and Kira don ' t seem like the type that will get along , but I ' m hoping it will cut down the chance of anymore drama in my life. Carter and drama don ' t mix.
    " You have to go in? Everyone ' s getting together tonight! " She pulls away and sits up. " Can ' t you tell her you have plans? "
    My tongue hurts from how hard I have to bite down on it not to snap at her. " Mel , if she asks me to go , it ' s because she needs my help. I can ' t just tell her no. "
    " Whatever. You only want to see me when it fits your schedule. That ' s not fair , Carter. "
Open mouth. Withdraw tongue from between teeth. " I ' m pretty sure I said Mom needs my help. I didn't purposely make plans without you. Actually , I ' m pretty sure I invited you. Just like I tried to see you last night. " Why does she have to be like this? My life is a whole lot different than Mel ' s and she knows that. My Mom doesn ' t make a million dollars a year. I have obligations. Responsibilities . She ' s always been bitchy about it because she just doesn ' t get it , but this is too much . I try to understand that it ' s not the kind of life she leads. Why can ' t she do the same?
    " You ' re coming with us tonight , aren ' t you , Trav? " Trina asks. He looks at me , back at her , then me again. I nod my head to let him know he doesn ' t have to have my back this time .
    Kira says from beside us, " Carter? "
    How long has she been standing there? My pulse kicks up and I ' m not sure if it ' s because I ' m grateful for interruption , or if I fear an ato mic bomb might go off now. I almost want to walk away from them all right now. Mel , Trina , Kira , even Travis , just so I can breathe.
    " Hey , Kira. " Shielding the sun from my eyes , I look up at her. " What ' s up? "
    " Does Sara spell her name with an ' h ' at the end? "
    Huh? Why would she want to know that? " Why? "
    Mel clears her throat.
    " I ' m making something for her and I want to make sure I spell it right. " She crosses her arms and looks down on me like it should be obvious or something. I toss a glance at Mel , who is scowling. Travis has a smirk on his face. Whatever. This is about my sister.
    " What are you making her? " Now my pulse is going wild. No matter what it is , Sara will freak. She loves getting surprises. She ' ll really think it ' s cool , getting something from one of my friends. Whoa. Friend? Yeah , I might have just met her , but I consider her a friend.
    Kira shrugs. " It ' s a secret. Girl thing. Yay or nay on the ' h ' ? "
    It takes me a minute to reply. Who is this girl? She ' s known my sister for five seconds and she made her something? It ' s cool. It's no 'h'.  You know she'll show me, though. Twig wouldn ' t keep a secret from me. " So there.
    Kira gives me