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“Thanks, Charlie, I love you, too.” He grinned, hugging her tight until she caved and smiled.
My muscles tightened at the sight of them, but this time, the jealousy was over their friendship. How easy it was for them to openly parade their friendship without anyone second-guessing their motives. Well, aside from me, but the more time I spent around Finn, the more I realized he was a protector rather than a potential lover.
“Can you guys get a ride home? Jen’s parents had a fight, so she wants to stay over at my place.”
“Alex can drive us home,” Adriana offered but soon realized we’d have a sleeping arrangement problem. “Shit, Alex, can you get a room? If not, maybe you can crash with Charlie. Or you can stay with Elijah.”
Her suggestion was innocent, but the thought of ‘crashing’ with Charlotte made me think of only one thing.
Throwing some bills on the table telling us they were going for a walk, Adriana and Elijah left the table leaving me alone with Charlotte and David. Fuck, this was awkward. For him, that is.
“So, Charlie, did you want to go for a walk as well or something?” he asked, ignoring me sitting right opposite them.
“It’s not that I don’t want to, but it’s been a really long day, and I…” She looked at me, bewildered.
“Sorry, buddy, I can’t have her walking around alone with a stranger. Her father would kill me.”
“Yeah, I totally get it. Sorry,” he sulked.
David grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, jotting down what looked like his phone number, then slid it to her. “Give me a call sometime. We should meet up when you’re free.” He kissed her on the cheek, said goodbye, and walked out of the restaurant.
“I assume you’ll discard that number as soon as we walk outside,” I rebuked.
“Excuse me?”
“What? You actually think you’ll meet up with him?”
“Screw you, Alex. I’m not the one who said ‘I do’!”
Sliding out of the booth, Charlotte raced out of the restaurant leaving me alone.
Burying my head in my hands, I didn’t follow her just yet. She had every right to be angry, and if the roles were reversed I’d feel the exact same way.
I walked around the hotel for a while trying to figure out what to do. I decided I would go see her and apologize for trying to stake my claim without actually having anything to back it up with when all along she was right.
I held my hand up against the door, but with fear, I pulled away. If I walked through this door right there, right now, my life would never be the same. There would be no turning back. I’d be sealing our fate.
Bowing my head, I tapped gently. Maybe it was minutes, maybe it was seconds, but she finally opened it.
I could see the turmoil on her face, the apprehension which lingered.
Did she know how much this would mean to me? To us?
I followed her lead, silently, and walked into the dimly lit room. It was just after midnight, the moon shone through the sheer drapes, and the noise of the outside world slowly faded away. Or maybe that was because the only thing I could hear was her heart beating. She was only inches away from me, yet it felt like a mile.
“I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
“Alex, I’m scared,” she whispered.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her into me. She smelled heavenly, intoxicating, everything I’d ever need for the rest of my life.
“Scared?”
As much as it wasn’t the moment to open up the vault of past sexual escapades, I knew I wasn’t her first.
“I don’t know if I can stop. I mean this… us. If we take this further, where does it go? Where does it end?”
I placed her hand over her heart. “Just follow this.”
