The next morning Lydia woke up before it was light out and when she felt the firm naked chest that was pressed against her back, she was grateful that she'd stirred from her peaceful sleep.

Carter's arm was draped across her waist, his heavy breathing fanned the top of her head and she thought back to last night when she'd rolled around in the sheets with him. Their bodies exploring one another, their mouths tasting every inch of each other's frame.

She expected there to be some sort of regret when the high wore down. But it wasn't there. She enjoyed it, she wanted to do it again. With him.

But when she lifted the phone from where it rested on the mattress beside her, she saw that it was almost six and her parents would be home soon. She couldn't risk them seeing Carter.

The bed shuffled beneath her as she rolled over to face him. Much to her surprise he was already watching her with a tired grin and narrow eyes. His hair was messier than usual but he still looked adorable.

"I know," he murmured, closing his eyes again. "I gotta go."

"Sorry, I don't think Nathan finding us like this would be good for either of us."

"Hell no," Carter chuckled and rolled on to his back, the sheets slipping down his torso as he stretched his arms above his head. "Your step Dad could kill me with his bare hands and I feel like he would."

"Yeah," Lydia giggled. She curled up on her side and watched as Carter flicked the sheets back. He sat up and picked his Calvin's off the floor, sliding them on before he stood.

The hint of morning light was starting to filter through the window but it wasn't enough to see more than his silhouette as he got dressed. She thought it was a shame, she loved admiring his chiselled frame last night.

After he was dressed, Lydia climbed out of bed in just her bra and underwear. Carter was much less subtle about his staring than he had been before and even then it had been obvious.

"So I'll pick you up tonight?" He asked as she flicked her window latch and pushed the glass panel open.

He swung his leg over the frame and Lydia's teeth began to chatter as the cold air hit her like a brick wall. "Y-y-ye-ah."

"Fuck, it's freezing out here," Carter sucked in a sharp breath and glanced over to his car which he'd covered last night. It might have been iced over otherwise. He dropped to the ground and turned around, pulling Lydia down by the nape of her neck. His lips met hers in a soft but stirring kiss and for a brief moment, the cold was gone.

"See you at school beautiful."

As much as she would have loved to watch him until he was gone, she couldn't handle the temperature for another second longer. She pulled the window closed and made a mad dash for the shower in hopes of heating back up.

—

"Hello?" Lydia answered her father's phone call at lunch time. As usual she sat at the far back corner cafeteria table with Allison and Sadie.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

"Not bad, not bad," Grayson replied dismissively. "Hey listen, do you want to come and spend the weekend with me? I feel like it's been a while."

"Oh, um. I can't tonight Dad. But I suppose tomorrow would be fine."

"Oh. Okay cool. That sounds good. We'll get some snacks and stuff. Watch some movies?"

"Yeah Dad. That sounds great."

Lydia loved her father but she didn't spend as much time at his house as she used to. All of her things were at her Mom's. She preferred her bed at home and it always felt a bit foreign when she slept over at her Dad's. Still, she made the effort whenever he did.

"Sleepover at Daddy Grayson's this weekend?" Allison wiggled her brows with a sly smirk which made Lydia wince with disgust.

"Can you not talk about my Dad like that. It's — disturbing."

"It is a little weird," Sadie nodded with agreement. "He's like thirty seven."

"Same age gap between Lydia's Mom and Coach Bryan," Allison shrugged, sticking her fork into her crouton salad.

"Not even close," Lydia corrected with an unimpressed glare.

"What?" Allison spread her arms with wide eyes. "It's not my fault that Daddy Grayson's a DILF. He's so cute."

Lydia rolled her eyes, deciding to drop the argument. There was no point continuing the debate when Allison would just get more descriptive with her thoughts the more she defended herself.

As her fingers twisted the plastic fork in her grip, she glanced around the crowded lunch room, absentmindedly gazing over the faces of her peers until her sights fell on Carter who was on the other side of the room.

He was sitting with a couple of his friends - Riley included - although the two of them sat far apart and weren't engaged in the same conversation. She watched his lips move, his arms flexed as he gestured, his smile almost floored her as it so often did.

She was so lost to flashbacks of the night before, his mouth on her core, his abdomen under her lips, his hands pulling on her hair. She jumped with startle at a hand covering hers.

"Did you hear me?" Sadie questioned when Lydia turned to her with confusion.

"No," Allison smirked, staring over her shoulder. "She was to busy perving on Carter."

"No I wasn't," Lydia blushed, waving her hand in dismissal. "What were you saying?"

"Do you wanna go ice skating at the rink tonight?"

"Aw I can't," Lydia apologised, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I've got something on with Mom."

"Allison?" Sadie gave her a hopeful glance.

"Sorry," she shrugged. "I'm grounded for telling my Dad to go fuck himself."

Lydia zoned out as Allison went into detail about the incident that lead to her prison sentence. She was sure that ice skating would have been a perfect Friday night activity. She felt bad for turning Sadie down. But there was no part of her that wanted to miss out on whatever Carter had planned for them. She bit down on her lip as she imagined what round two could be like.

—

Here's some sneak peeks of the prequel that I'm working on.