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“Hmmm…tomorrow evening? Or is that too soon?”
“Too far, more like,” I heard them mumble, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to have heard that. So of course I had to tease them.
“Oh yeah?” I laughed as they made a squeaking sound when they realized I’d heard them. They were so damn adorable.
“Tomorrow sounds good,” they said, voice almost back to normal.
“Great! I’ll let you go now so you can get some beauty sleep. Good night, sweetie.” I held my breath as the endearment slipped out. I usually called all my friends sweetie or honey, but I’d never done that with Charlie. Not until now.
“Good night, Brady,” they replied softly, and I was smiling for a long time after they’d ended the call, my mind whirring with plans about our first date that was going to be absolutely phenomenal.
11
Charlie
AsIwalkedtheshort distance between our homes, I marveled at everything that had changed between us in the span of twenty-four hours. I was about to have a date. With Brady. With the man I’d been enamored with since the moment I first saw him in that café, laughing at something one of his customers had said. I’d never, in my wildest imaginations, thought that this could happen. Yes, I’d had a crush on Brady, but I’d never expected my feelings to be returned. The kiss yesterday had been perfect, and it had managed to turn my world upside down with how out of the blue it had been. Had I really been oblivious to Brady’s feelings, or had he just hidden them well? And if so, then why? Did he think I wasn’t interested in him?
I scoffed at the idea, hefting the bag of groceries higher as I climbed the stairs to Brady’s apartment. I could hear Cherry’s tiny barks on the other side of the door, and I smiled when it opened before I could knock. Brady smiled at me as he gestured me in, and I let my gaze roam over him as I stepped inside. He’d changed out of his work clothes and was now dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a crop top that put his pale, toned stomach on display. It didn’t help that his jeans were practically molded to his hips. It wasn’t my fault if it took me a few moments to move my gaze upward and meet his eyes. If his smirk was anything to go by, that was exactly what Brady had intended to happen.
He grinned at me before leaning upwards, and I instinctively leaned toward him, making the kiss he’d planned to press on my chin land on my lips. Brady let his lips linger but didn’t push to deepen the kiss. After a few moments, he pulled away with a much softer smile on his face. Then he jumped on his toes once before grabbing my hand and pulling me into the kitchen. “So, since it’s still early, why don’t we put the groceries away, and then I have something fun planned for us?”
I nodded along with him as I removed the things I’d brought and started stocking his pantry. I’d made quite a few meals here when Brady had been sick, so I knew where everything went, and we were done in minutes. Once I was satisfied with where everything was, Brady grabbed my hand again and pulled me down a short hallway. There was only one room at the end of it: his bedroom. Hadn’t he said we’d be going slow? Had he just said that to keep me calm? Fuck.
“Before you fall into a panic, no I’m not bringing you here to ravish you.” Brady winked at me as he opened the door, and my face flooded with warmth. I didn’t meet his eyes as he led me into the room, but I did look around as soon as we stepped inside.
Much like Brady himself, his room was bright and colorful. A huge window was open across the room, and though the view outside was nothing beautiful, the light was enough to brighten up every corner of the room. Rainbow tassels hung from the corner, as if Brady had gathered up all the leftover decor from Voice Out and thrown it around the room just to brighten it up. There was a dresser in the corner that was covered in makeup products, while the queen-sized bed looked as comfy as it had the last time I’d sat in it. Of course, then I’d been here to care for Brady and hadn’t really paid much attention to the rest of the room. There was also a small bookshelf beside his bed that held thick books that did not look like fiction. Were they textbooks?
“What are those books about?”
“Hmm?” Brady turned to see what I was talking about, and a slight blush covered his cheeks. Damn if that didn’t make him look even more stunning. “Uh, they’re textbooks. I studied psychology in college, and I still like to read them sometimes. I know, boring, huh? But they help me be a better support for the kids at Voice Out so…” He drifted off with a shrug, and it took me a minute to speak because I couldn’t believe howgoodhe was.
“Wow. You’re kinda amazing, you know that?”
Brady flushed deeper and rolled his eyes before dragging me toward the dresser. “Remember when you asked me if I’d teach you how to use makeup?”
“No?” I was sure I’d asked him to teach me how to use eyeliner, but I didn’t remember anything about makeup. Plus, seeing the millions of products on the dresser was making me want to back away.
“Yes, you did. So sit down. Today, we’ll just do eyeliner and some eyeshadow. Next time, I’ll teach you about contouring and stuff. Makeup is phenomenal, Ceebee, but only as long as you know how to use it.”
I settled on the ottoman in front of the dresser and watched as Brady ran his fingers over a few eyeliner pencils before picking one up. “Now, the first thing you gotta remember is to pick the right kind of eyeliner. Pencil liner gives you a nice smudged look, but I personally prefer liquid liners because they’re perfect for smooth and swooping lines. So that’s what we’re gonna use today, okay?” He picked an eyeliner that looked like a pen and placed it on the dresser table before grabbing a small palette. “This is a basic eyeshadow palette. As you know, they come in a lot of colors, but we’ll use some brown tones today. This one is in powder form, though you can also get the cream ones once you’re better at it. One thing to always remember is to do the shadow first, okay?”
I nodded, following his moves with rapt attention as he grabbed a flat brush and brushed it over the compact before lightly dabbing it onto his eyelid. “Never, ever swipe. It’s dab, dab, dab, or you end up with a mess, yeah?”
“Gotcha,” I said and watched as he picked another brush that he told me was called a soft dome brush and used it to dab a darker shade around the crease of his eyelids. He patted the brush around the edges of his eyelids, and I watched as the two colors mixed and formed a smooth, singular shade.
“Did you catch all of that? Think you can do it yourself now?”
I nodded, and he handed me a fresh brush and the eyeshadow palette. I followed his instructions, and though the color wasn’t as perfect as Brady’s, I still did a pretty fine job.
“Good job! It’ll take a bit of practice to get it as good as me, but you’ll get there,” Brady said with a grin, and I couldn’t help chuckling. We spent the next half hour with Brady showing me how to properly apply eyeliner, and I realized that there was nothing easy or simple about makeup. It was a wonder how put together Brady was every day, with his makeup in place and not a touch too bright or dark. He had makeup down to an art form, and I wanted to be like him.
Once our eyelids were so full of color that we couldn’t see what color it had actually been, we decided to stop. When I looked at the clock and realized I’d been there for two hours already, I couldn’t believe it. How had the time passed so quickly? But even as I wondered that, I knew the answer. It was because we’d been enjoying ourselves so much that we didn’t feel the time passing.
“How about I clean this up while you wash up, and then I’ll help you with dinner?” Brady offered.
“Sure.” I turned around to leave, but Brady grabbed my hand, stopping me in my tracks.
“Wait!” I turned around to see him holding his phone. “How about we take a selfie before you wash it off? It’ll be a nice photo to look back on and laugh at when you become a pro at makeup like me.”
