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The sight of her pushed back everything he thought he should do. It was too easy to give in to urges, but he was someone who thought of the long term. His long-term didn’t align with hers. When things don’t match, then they get ugly.
“I don’t know, Charlie,” he said. “Let’s take a break. You’re high strung right now, and I need some air.”
The look of disappointment emerged, only a little, before she hid it with a smile and another nod. They stood about two feet apart, and he found the distance irritating. A heated staring contest strung between them afterward, and he wanted to kiss her all over again.
“Do you want to get out of here? Grab a bite somewhere else?” he suggested. Putting themselves in another setting should help. Maybe then he could find some headspace to think better. Since she was feeling strained, they could use a change of environment.
“Yes. I’d very much like that.”
In hindsight, it would have been smarter if he dropped her off back home, because he couldn’t guarantee if he’d behave while being near her. But the vulnerability covering her face was enough to draw him like a hypnosis; he couldn’t get enough.
“Hey, Min.”
Rick turned to the voice of one of the gym members who frequented the weight room, Kyle Warren, as he made his way toward where Rick sat on the bench. After finishing a one-hour session with the dumbbells by himself, he was taking the next few minutes to rest.
Kyle smirked, flung a towel over his shoulder, and stopped before Rick. “You know, the point of us coming here is to work on our health, and some of us… work on losing weight. But if your girlfriend keeps coming here to feed us, well, then it’s almost defeating the purpose, don’t you think?”
Rick shut his eyes.Charlie.
“But I do appreciate a woman who knows her way to your heart,” Kyle added.
Sighing, Rick stood. “What did she bring this time?”
Already hearing the commotion from behind the doors outside, he braced himself before the collision of people trailing behind, as though they were at a food bank.
“Not sure, but I do smell herbs and garlic. I’m thinking Thai,” Kyle said enthusiastically. “Your girl really keeps things fresh with the varieties.”
When the noises behind the doors continued but didn’t open, Kyle and Rick looked at each other in confusion. The people in the room stared at Rick for guidance.
Frowning, he marched towards the door with the others following. Through the threshold, he faced an onslaught of crowd hovering around who he assumed was Charlie. He only saw the back of her head. Coolers laid on the floor, opened, and almost completely wiped out.
It looked like the food didn’t make it to the main room before the herd attacked. After only a few visits, Charlie had already conditioned everyone in the gym to horde as close as the front desk.
“Alright, guys. Settle down.” Rick reached for Charlie by her arm and dragged her out of the flock. “Can we get some space?”
“Oh, Rick. You’re here,” Charlie said, out of breath. “It’s packed today! Where’s Nick?”
“He’s busy,” Rick muttered before guiding her away from the swarm, pushing past the exit, and didn’t stop until they were outside. Unstuffed from sweaty, warm space and into a coolerair, Rick took a deep breath before catching Charlie under the sun.
What was he to say? If he reprimanded her for being incredibly thoughtful while looking insanely good, he’d be pelted and scorned as an ungrateful asshole. But she was seriously doing things to him he wasn’t looking to experience.
“I know what you’re going to say,” she said first.
Crossing his arms over his chest, he raised his brows in curiosity. “Let me guess, this was a small gesture for going to the party.”
She nodded in delight. “Yes, that’s exactly it.”
“We didn’t end up staying, so it didn’t count,” he argued. “That was not worth another catering service.”
Her infectious smile flashed. “You and I measure things differently. You got dressed up, went out of your way, and helped make me feel better…” A blush rose from her cheeks. “I think that more than counts.”
“Is that so?” He wanted to laugh at the poor effort they were putting into their debate. “So that’s what you’re compensating for, my ability to satisfy the bare minimum.”
“I wouldn’t call those the bare minimum. I think you did a lot.”
Rick held back the part of him that would respond primally to the seduction in her voice. They stood so close, all he had to do was bring his hand around her hips and they’d be touching. Her trim waist called, outlined so femininely in her floral-wrapped dress. Long bare legs in white skinny heels made him think things. So many things.
“What’s it going to take for you to act like a normal person and settle with a simple ‘thank you’?” he asked.
