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I nodded, unsure if I should say anything more.
“Well, that’s great that you’re figuring out who you are and what you need to be happy.”
Charlie looked away, his voice barely a whisper. His suddenly stiff posture told me he thought it was anything but.
“But I don’t know if he—this person—feels the same,” I continued, willing him to look at me again.
“All you can do is talk to them. When you’re ready.”
“I just did.”
The silent pause felt like forever.
“Kiernan, I—”
“It’s okay.” I stood up and backed away. It took me two steps until my back hit the cabin door. “I don’t expect you to say anything. I shouldn’t have opened my big gob. Now I’ve made you uncomfortable. I fecked up.”
I turned and reached for the door handle until I realized I was still wearing the towel. And only a towel.
I stopped short but didn’t turn around.
“No, you haven’t,” Charlie blurted out. “You’re not the only one. I’m… I’m attracted to you. That’s why I stopped texting. I realized that I was flirting with you. And I assumed from our conversations that you were straight and I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable, so I pulled back. The thing is, though, I don’t do romantic relationships. I keep things casual. I’m always up front about that.”
The first person I really wanted, for what felt like the first time in my life, wanted me.
Only, not the same way.
I was starting to develop real feelings for Charlie. He just wanted my body.
The pain of that realization hit harder than any physical blow I’d ever received.
“I’m gonna sleep in the lounge.”
I turned and bent over my bag, rummaging until I found my grey sweatpants. I pulled them on under my towel, threw the towel on the floor, and then grabbed my pillow and blanket.
“Kiernan, wait—”
“Just for tonight,” I finally looked at him.
The buzz of awareness that now snapped between us was as shocking as our admissions.
“Just for tonight.”
CHAPTER6
CHARLIE
“What have you done?” I said out loud to my empty cabin.
A cabin that felt entirely too quiet without Kiernan.
How was I going to fix this?
Hearing Kier admit what he was going through and how he felt about me made my heart ache like nothing else. And when finally I admitted, out loud, that the attraction wasn’t all one-sided, fuck, that weird fluttery feeling took hold of me again.
But nothing could come of it. Nothing.
He said it himself, he was struggling. I was not going to mess around with a man who was coming to terms with his sexuality. And someone who was looking for a real relationship.
