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His footsteps stumbled on the sidewalk and he pressed a hand to his chest against the sudden ache there. In his life for less than twenty-four hours and the idea of losing them made it hard to breathe.
No, it was better if he never saw them after today. He had his own life to lead.
And Charlie had his. The two paths didn’t cross anymore.
7
CHARLIE SANDS
The music was loud and annoying.
Which was a first.
The music was never loud and annoying. The same way the eye candy was never boring. But both were true tonight.
Edison had generously offered to take him out to get drunk and/or laid. Most likely, he’d drawn the short straw of their companions and was forced to occupy their leader, giving Kairo and Westin a night of peace and quiet.
It had been more than forty-eight hours since Will left the house, and Charlie was turning into more of a bear. His mind drifted to Will over and over again, no matter how hard he tried to forget about him. Edison mentioned that he’d passed along Charlie’s phone number just in case Will ran into any more trouble, but he had yet to hear a single peep from him. Not that he expected Will to contact him. Well, other than to tell Charlie to rot in hell.
He was worried.
He had good reason to worry!
Will was in the middle of something he shouldn’t be, and Charlie was willing to bet it had something to do with Benicio Perez. Nothing good could possibly come of that.
Will had trained for years to become a surgeon. His only desire in life was to help sick people.
A smile played through Charlie’s mind. Will also wanted great sex and to be held when he slept. Outside of work, those were his ex’s favorite things in all the world. Charlie would never call himself a cuddler. The second everyone was satisfied, he was pulling on his pants and making a beeline for the door.
But that changed his first night with Will.
Oh, they’d gone into it knowing exactly what it was—a one-night stand.
The sex was amazing. So good in fact, that Charlie hadn’t been able to get his legs to work to climb out of the bed. It meant Will could take the perfect opportunity to pull Charlie’s arm around his waist and up against his chest, wrapping Charlie’s larger body across him like a blanket.
“You wanna do this again before breakfast?” Will had asked as he yawned.
Charlie’s brain had struggled to form the words needed to remind his companion that he wasn’t staying the night. It had been too busy melting down over how perfectly Will’s long, slender body fit with his own. As if they were made to lay that way.
The next thing he knew, Will’s breathing had evened out into sleep and Charlie had followed right behind him. When he woke the next morning, it was to Will straddling his hips while gently kissing him awake. They’d had sex prior to breakfast and then in the shower after breakfast.
After that, it was like he never really left Will’s place. He’d gone to work, done his job, but part of his soul had left with Will as he worked at the hospital. Only when they were together in Will’s apartment had he felt like he was whole.
A feeling he’d not had since they’d split up.
He needed to get his head out of his ass. There was no getting Will back. The man had his own life, and Charlie had his. They were moving in separate directions.
“Oh, how about that one?” Edison’s low, deep voice rumbled through his ear, breaking through the endless swirl of thoughts about the good doctor.
He looked up, scanning the bar he’d largely forgotten about. There was no need to point the guy out. The same one had been very directly staring at him for the past thirty minutes, clearly expecting Charlie to approach him.
The man was appealing in all the usual ways for his type. Yes, he had a type—young, short, cute, with a bubbly personality. Outgoing free spirits who liked to be bossed around in bed but not tied down in a relationship were his bread and butter.
No emotional baggage.
No tomorrow.
No fuss.
Sure, he’d had a few clingers who’d decided afterward that they didn’t want the party to end with just one night, but they’d been easy to brush off with a gentle smile and a wink.
His life was perfect. Adventure. Excitement. Good friends. And his bed was never empty.
Why the fuck would he want to complicate his life with his ex?
Will wasn’t short, cute, or bubbly. He definitely wasn’t a free spirit. Will was nearly the same height as him; dangerously sexy in a smooth, polished sort of way; and possessed a sharp, dry humor that reminded him of a fine wine. Will was the steady, calm dependable type you built a life with. And he certainly wasn’t someone who could ever be brushed off with a smile and a wink.
