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The best part of my plan had been to crash to sleep after the test.
And then, probably, to continue sleeping for about twelve hours straight tomorrow night to catch up on all the sleep I’d been lacking. I was craving sleep like it was a drug, for God’s sake. I’d never burned the candle on both ends quite this much before.
But sleep could wait. I wasn’t going to miss anything when it came to Charlie.
“I’ll be there,” I told him. “Tomorrow night.”
“You’re ruining me for all other men, Jax,” he said. “I hope you know that.”
My cock twitched.
Deep down inside, a devious twist of satisfaction filled my body at the idea that I could have any effect on Charlie’s life whatsoever. But it gave me a possessive thrill that snaked its way through my mind now.
I liked the idea of ruining Charlie for all other men.
I really did want to be the best he’d ever had, even if I was just a fake boyfriend.
“Well, I plan to ruin you some more,” I told him, my voice a little low.
“Quit it. Stop being hot,” Charlie said. “Text me if you need outfit ideas, okay? I have to get back to this brickwork before Nathan chews me out.”
“Good luck at work, boyfriend,” I said, loving the way the word felt on my lips. “See you tomorrow.”
The next 24 hours passed by in a sleep-deprived blur. I’d memorized way too much shit for the test, staying up until the sun began to rise. Around seven in the morning, Stevie and Aaron had started cooking a fuckload of bacon downstairs in the frat house kitchen. I dragged myself awake to eat, chatted with Aaron about a girl he was hooking up with, and then headed to the quad for two classes and tutoring afterward.
And then came the pressure cooker of a test. It was a grueling ninety minutes, and I’d done okay, but my brain and body were absolutely fucking shot.
Then it was time to head to the brewery for my “date” with Charlie.
By the time I got to Jade Brewery, I knew I would be tired as shit, but what I didn’t expect was to be a total fucking zombie, trudging into the bar in a delirious haze and running on zero sleep at all.
It was surreal enough to walk into the brewery as a customer instead of being there to bartend. After sauntering up to the bar, I pulled out one of the leather stools and for a split second, I wondered where my wash rag was.
I finally sat down, slumping over a little as I rested my arms on the bar top. Even my eyelids felt heavy.
“Hey, you. You okay over there?” I heard Charlie’s voice say as he came up and sat down in the seat next to me, and already my body responded.
For fuck’s sake, the sound of his voice sent me straight to a place I really shouldn’t have been going right now. The tone he used to greet me was so sexy, even though it was just his normal voice, probably.
“You’re already here,” I said, sitting up a little straighter. My eyes landed on him. “Jesus. You’re looking all hot and fancy again. Sexy-ass motherfucker.”
Yeah. It was official. My filter was completely fucking busted when I was this tired. Charlie gave me a disbelieving look before glancing down at his outfit, which was just a simple pair of jeans as usual and a fitted black zip-down hoodie with white strings. The sleeves of the hoodie were pushed up to show his tattooed forearms, though, which was apparently enough to be industrial-grade catnip to me these days. His hair was pushed to the side in a perfectly messy kind of way, too, that made me want to bury my face in it.
“You know, Jax, you always come across as one of the most normal people in this place, but I knew you were a little crazy.”
I furrowed my brow at him. “I am not crazy.”
“You’re crazy if you think this is anything different than what I normally wear. Did you just call a hoodie ‘fancy?’”
I was already holding back a laugh, and my lack of sleep made me feel drunk even though I hadn’t had a drop of alcohol. “Fancy wasn’t the right word. You have the whole, uh, don’t-give-a-fuck kind of style going on. The Charlie special. You know?”
“I’m not going to say this isn’t adorable, but I have to ask… are you okay tonight?” Charlie asked, his eyes looking warmer and more understanding than ever. “You seem a little out of it.”
Understatement of the century. I was out of it, putting my foot in my mouth, and acting like a crazy person around him, and I’d only been here for a few minutes. I pulled in a slow breath, trying to gather some mental fortitude.
