Page 60 of To Have and To Hold
Carson pulled back first, and Atticus pretended he wasn’t as off-kilter as he was.
“I’m up for that challenge,” Carson said as he stepped back. “I’ll meet you at the diner.”
Atticus grinned and turned toward his truck.
“Oh, and Atticus?”
He stopped and looked back.
“You might think you’re in charge … and I’ll admit it’s damn sexy”—a devious smirk formed on his mouth—“but I get off on bein’ the dominant one. Don’t forget that.”
Atticus sucked air into his lungs as he grinned like an idiot. That was something he would never forget. Not as long as he lived.
***
Carson spent the entire drive to thediner with a smile on his face.
Atticus was back.
Anddayummm.
The man had undergone a physical transformation that had … fuck, Carson wasn’t sure what had happened, but he looked fucking good. He would’ve enjoyed the shit out of stripping him naked and getting up close and personal with that new ripped body, but at the moment—and he was surprised as hell that he would eventhinkthis—he was more interested in seeing the other changes that had taken place. Like whatever had put that glimmer in Atticus’s green eyes. If he weren’t mistaken, there was an air of confidence that went hand in hand with his musculature.
His smile grew again just thinking about the way Atticus had taken charge in those brief moments they’d spent together. Carson hadn’t expected it, so maybe that was why it turned him on so much. Whatever the reason, he was thrilled to spend more time with him.
He pulled into the diner parking lot behind Atticus, parking beside him.
Carson felt like a teenager on his first date as they strolled toward the restaurant, not sure what to say or what to do with his hands. He didn’t get the opportunity to open the door for him, though. Atticus beat him to the punch, standing there with what could only be described as a cocky grin on his face.
“Table for two, please,” Carson told Rachel, who was standing at the hostess stand.
“Follow me.” She spun on her heel and led the way through the busy restaurant to a table not too far from the door.
“Thanks,” he said, pulling out his chair and waiting for Atticus to sit before he did.
Carson found himself staring at Atticus, unable to help himself. Only four weeks had passed since the last time he’d seen the man, but while the time had physically changed Atticus, it had done nothing to dull this foreign sensation that Carson felt when he looked at him.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was—and Lord knows he’d tried—but he felt different when he was with Atticus. More so than he’d felt around anyone before him. He was pretty sure his sister, Piper, would have a field day psychoanalyzing him as she was wont to do, being that she was a psychiatrist. That was part of the reason he was keeping this development on the down-low. Or trying to. It wouldn’t be all that easy if they were going to be having meals in public. And he hoped this wasn’t the only, but rather the first of many.
“Are you goin’ to Brantley and Reese’s bachelor party Wednesday night?” Atticus asked as he perused the menu.
“Yeah.” Being that Brantley was his cousin, Carson figured it would be the equivalent of a family reunion, and he rarely ever turned down events with family. “You?”
Atticus nodded. “I figured I’d drop in. I spent the weekend with them. A surprise bachelor weekend.”
“I heard somethin’ about that,” Carson admitted, pretending he didn’t have a million questions about who else was there. Namely Slade.
“They brought me back early for it.”
“Did y’all have a good time?”
“We did.” Atticus looked up from his menu. “JJ set up a scavenger hunt meant to embarrass the shit out of everyone. It worked. Brantley’s brothers are crazy as fuck.”
Carson chuckled. “Yeah. Griff was good friends with my brother Wyatt back in the day. They were always gettin’ into shit.” He tried playing it cool when he asked, “Who all went?”
Atticus started counting them off on his fingers. “Cal, Griffin, and Killian. Trey and Magnus. Baz, Evan, and Luca. Oh, and RT and Z.”
“Slade didn’t go?”
