Early Night

"This is your place?" Carter asks, trying to sound sober. He's unable to hide his confusion at my cute fixer-upper.

"What?" I ask, laughing a little. "This isn't what you pictured for me?"

"No," Carter says once I finally get him inside. He looks around the place and the look he has now is different than what Nolan's reaction was when he saw my home. "This is definitely not what I pictured when I thought of you at home."

"You mean when you pictured my home?" I laugh and his phrasing and a little blush appears on his cheeks. "Oh, you think about me, huh?" I tease him and the blush deepens.

Carter releases me and stands shakily on his own. I shut the front door and go to the kitchen while Carter makes his way over to the couch. He drops down onto it and groans. Carter kicks off his shoes and stretches out his legs, sitting sideways on the couch with his head tipped back on the arm of it.

"I'm going to feel this horribly tomorrow, aren't I?" Carter rubs his hand over his face. "Probably made an ass out of myself tonight." Carter continues but ignores my question about him thinking about me.

I make some tea and grab a bag of chips. I bring everything over to the living room and Carter hungrily grabs the bag from my grip. I roll my eyes but let him take them. He scarfs down a couple of handfuls before taking a moment to breathe and take a drink of the tea I made for him. While he is replenishing his body, I drop onto the floor in front of him and turn on the tv. There is a recap of the game on.

"You guys did great out there tonight," I say while he eats the rest of my chips without sharing. I unmute the tv to hear the commentators speaking and Carter scoffs when they say something about his batting average this year. "Well, today definitely helped increase your average," I say to appease him and he looks over at me.

"Still not enough to make them say something good about me," Carter sits up and leans toward me. "It was just recently that everybody had nothing but good things to say about me. And now, now this."

"You're not the amazing rookie anymore," I tease him, pushing his leg. He grunts at me. "You're still great at your job."

"You're great at your job," Carter says in response and I look up at him. He's grinning down at me. "I assume since you're now working with one of the best teams in the MLB."

"Oh, is that what you think of your team?" I laugh and hiccup as well. I look him up and down and he nudges me with his leg. I look up and see he saw me checking him out. I hold eye contact with him, not backing down because I'm not embarrassed by it. He grins at me again. I need to go to bed before I do anything I might regret tomorrow.

"You can sit up here with me, you know?" Carter says and gestures to the couch.

"Do you see how badly you're manspreading, right now? There is no way I could sit next to you," I laugh and he pulls his legs close and out of the way. He looks very uncomfortable. I push myself off the floor and squish onto the tiny couch, taking up more room than needed but wanted to squish Carter as much as I can.

"See," Carter grunts, trying to get comfortable, "we both fit. Comfortably too."

"Oh, yeah. You look super comfortable," I comment then move off of him to give him a little more space. He looks a little relieved but he throws his arm over the back of the couch and subsequently behind my neck as well.

"I would have been fine. I wouldn't have minded being pressed up against you for the rest of the night," Carter says and I'm shocked that his filter has disappeared but he is still very drunk, even after all the tea and chips.

"Wow, you just said that," I say and try to stifle my shock with a laugh.

"That wasn't too weird, was it?" Carter groans, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

"Way too weird. You are so bad at flirting, it's crazy. I would have thought someone like you would be great at it," I say and Carter opens one eye to peek at me. "Oh, is that insulting?"

"A little bit, yeah. Why would you think that?" Carter closes his eyes again and there's a smirk on his face, he knows why I'd think that.

"So many rumors about you," I admit.

"You know, you shouldn't believe everything you see online," Carter says in response and I nod in agreement, even though he can't see me. "Plus, the rumors about me are nowhere near as bad as some of the guys on our team. Like Nolan, wow, he has a love-hate relationship with the media. And the ladies. I'm just in the news more because…" Carter trails off and I wonder if he's fallen asleep so I answer for him.

"Because you're incredibly hot?" I say it too loud and Carter lets out a loud laugh.

"So you think I'm hot, huh?" Carter lifts his head to give me a look.

"I mean," I say, debating what I want to admit. "I can say that you are objectively an attractive man." I try to sound reasonable but with the sleep in my body taking over, I sound a bit crazy.

"Objectively attractive? Wow, thanks," Carter laughs.

"And I'm not saying you're the only attractive person on the team," I add on and Carter gives me another look, this time, an intrigued expression. "So don't go into the locker room tomorrow saying I think everyone else is ugly. Because I don't. None of them are ugly." I need to shut up.

"Oh yeah? I won't," Carter grins at me, clearly amused. "Who else do you think is attractive?"

"No, no, I'm not going to play this little game with you," I say and shake my finger at him. Carter laughs.

"Oh, come on. I won't tell anyone," Carter nudges me once again and I roll my eyes, pushing him away from me. "Is it one of the starters from this last game?" Carter pries, studying me.

"No," I say too quickly and Carter sits up, moving closer to me. His eyes widen and he taps his fingers on his knee.

"Oh, so it is?" Carter says and I can tell that he is trying to think back about the game's roster.

"I specifically said 'no'," I remind him, interrupting his thoughts about the roster. He looks back at me, suspicious. I stand up, much to Carter's chagrin. "Okay, on that note, I'm going to turn in for the night."

"Ah, you're no fun," Carter teases me but doesn't press the issue. "Bathroom?" Carter asks.

"Yeah, just over there," I point to the open door down the little hall and he nods. Carter shoves himself off the couch and shuffles to the bathroom.

"I'm going to put some sheets by the couch, with a blanket and pillows. Sheets if you need them," I say and he nods in acknowledgment before he shuts the bathroom door. I doubt he'll take the time to put the sheets on the couch but I want to be a good hostess.

I go to my bedroom to change. I change out of my work clothes, relieved to slip into something comfortable. Carter finishes up in the restroom after I'm done changing so I step back into the hallway to freshen up.

"Perfect timing," I say when Carter comes out of the bathroom. He looks tired and ready to pass out. He begins stripping before I make it into the bathroom. He strips off his pants and leaves them in a pile on the floor then he tosses his shirt off and while I am not against what I am seeing, I don't want it to go any further. "Please, I am begging you, if you normally sleep naked, don't do that here. At least keep your underwear on. Deal?"

Carter laughs but he releases his boxer's waistband and nods his head. "Agreed. How'd you know I sleep naked?" Carter asks like I didn't just catch him about to take off his last remaining article of clothing. "Are you profiling me, Scar? Because I'm 'incredibly hot'?" Carter grins at me, using my own words against me. I shake my head and roll my eyes.

"I'm going to wash up then go to bed. If you get hungry or thirsty, you are welcome at anything I have, in the kitchen." I add the last few words because, with the look in his eyes, he might try to find relief from his hunger or thirst in another room. I can't help but blush from the way he's looking at me. Carter nods and drapes one of the sheets over the couch before dropping back down onto it. He snatches the remote off the coffee table and flips through things. I go into the bathroom to finish getting ready for bed.

"Thanks for driving me and letting me crash here for the night," Carter says when I come out of the bathroom. I stop in the living room to make sure he's settled.

"Of course," I say and we both know that he could have found a way to get home but neither of us wanted to let go of the other. I hesitate before leaving because Carter looks like he wants to say something to me. "You look really uncomfortable. If you want, you can come sleep in my bed, with me," I say awkwardly and Carter raises his eyebrows, looking at me. "Only like, half of your body fits on the couch," I add and Carter smiles.

"That would be great, thanks. I was already starting to cramp up," Carter admits as he stands up. He follows me into the bedroom at a decent distance. "Wow."

"Yes, my room is tiny," I say and Carter nods. "But I love this place. I would so excited when I found it. And yes, I realize that I have a lot of work to do on this place but it's mine. No more renting bullshit, no neighbors directly on the other side of my walls, no terrible landlords. I'm done with all that."

"Good for you. That is a big accomplishment," Carter says and he yawns as we both climb into bed. "Oh god, this bed is so comfortable," Carter groans happily, stretching his legs out and accidentally pushing mine aside. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I chuckle and shift in the bed to make room for him. My huge bed barely fits in the tiny room but ever since I bought a California King, I haven't wanted to sleep in anything smaller. Which is very unfortunate when I travel with the teams. "Goodnight, Carter."

"Goodnight, Scar," Carter says with a yawn.

As we drift off to sleep, Carter's legs spread out more, and soon the length of his leg is pressed against mine. I think he's done it on purpose because he stopped moving once it was against mine. His body heat helps me fall asleep quickly.