My dad wrapped an arm around mom’s waist and kissed her cheek. “That’s what I try to tell her every day.”
Mom bumped him with her hip, but she was blushing. “You both eat up now,” she said to us, even though her eyes were on my dad the entire time.
They left together, my mom’s giggles trailing behind. I shook my head as I sat down at the table across from Charlie.
“You’d think they were the ones in college instead of us,” I said.
Charlie had thrown her hair up into a haphazard bun while I was in the shower. The sun shone in through the kitchen window and caught all the different colors, turning them into spun gold. It glinted in the light as she cocked her head to the side and sighed.
Without thinking, my mouth opened and I started to ask her if we could maybe take a chance. See where that kiss would take us.
Then she said, “I guess we better hit the road if we want to get back on time,” and I lost my nerve. I had the drive back to campus to think about it.
Part of me already knew I was going to ask her. It was just a matter of getting up the balls to do it.
Chapter Eight
Charlie
I couldn’t putmy finger on it, but something was off with Liam. I chalked it up to the patchy sleep he must have gotten from snoozing outside in the truck and resolved to make it up to him the first chance I got. I really couldn’t ask for a better friend. It was starting to wear on me how much I had to remind myself that’s all he was, all he could be. What excuses I did have didn’t seem to carry much weight anymore. Not when I spent the night wrapped in his arms. At first, I thought I’d been dreaming, but there was no denying how turned on I’d been when I’d woken up.
“Is everything okay?” I peered over at him since we were nearing our exit and he’d barely said more than one-word answers in response to my questions. “Is it about your parents having to sell the farm? I didn’t want to push, but I’m here if you need to talk.”
He scowled at the mention and I instantly regretted bringing it up. “It’s that and some…other things. It’ll be alright, shortstack. I don’t want you to worry about it.”
“C’mon, don’t go all strong and silent on me. Talk to me.”
His scowl turned into a grin. “Since when did we become girlfriends? ‘Cause I sure as hell don’t talk like this with Tripp.”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t deflect. I know something’s bothering you.” My left foot was already tucked under my right thigh, so it was merely a matter of twisting my upper body to direct all my attention to him.
“I don’t know, Charlie. I didn’t want the family business, you know that.” I nodded, even though his eyes were on the long stretch of road in front of us. “But it’s still where I grew up, it’s all my sisters have ever known. I hate that I could have saved it if I hadn’t been so determined to do my own shit.”
“Don’t say that. You can’t sacrifice yourself for something your heart’s not in. That’s the difference between you and your dad. He gets up every day and works his ass off because he does love it. If you were to quit school and help him, you’d resent him and hate yourself within six months. That’s no way to live.” I lifted a shoulder. “Life is just too short.”
He reached over and wrapped his hand around my knee, squeezed then released. I could feel the heat from his palm shoot straight to my belly. I swallowed hard.
“In my head, I get all that. I don’t know, man.”
“You hate to disappoint him.”
“Yeah, I guess I still do,” he said with a snort. “I guess some things you just never grow out of.”
I nodded, but I didn’t think that was all that was bothering him, but I didn’t want to push too much. He’d tell me the rest when he wanted to. He always had. What I didn’t want to do was smother him. He’d done enough this weekend, whisking me away when I needed space and time to regroup after the blowup with Andrew.
“I know you probably have work to catch up on or something. I texted the girls last night and they wanted to get together to bash men and have a drink. Would you mind dropping me off at The Georgetown on Tennessee?”
His head snapped over to me, his gaze intense.Had I said something wrong?
“You don’t want to stop by your place?”
“If you don’t mind leaving my stuff in the back of your truck, I’ll get it after. Unless you want to leave it in my place on your way home?”
He was quiet for a few long seconds. Something else was definitely going on. Whatever it was, the mood inside the cab of the truck had gone electric. I shifted in the seat and pulled at the thin material of my jersey top.
Finally, he said, “If you’re heading out, I can get some studying done at the library. I’ll pick you up when you guys are done so you don’t have to get an Uber.”
“Are you sure?” I’d never wanted to back out of meeting my friends before, but they’d been begging for the low-down on what had happened with Andrew and I couldn’t keep putting them off, despite how much I wanted this weekend with Liam to never end.
