Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93453 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 312(@300wpm)
“Where is your partner?” Brady asks, and I look at him. “He hasn’t come in.”
I know he’s talking about Charlie. He’s a topic like the elephant in the middle of the room. Neither of us talking about the fact that he’s been a constant in the bar for the past two weeks. Or the fact he’s caught me making out with him more times than I care to admit even though we were away from prying eyes. I know he’s worried about the whole thing, but I also know he’s not getting on my ass about it. I mean, I don’t even want to think about what the fuck we are doing. “Guess not.” I ignore the fact I’m worried about him, but I also know that it’s not my place to worry about him. We are fuck buddies, or at least that is what I tell myself we are.
“You sure you’ll be fine?” he asks, and I glare at him. “Fine.” He holds up his hand. “I’ll come in early.”
“Okay,” I agree, knowing full well that I’ll also be in. “Have a good night,” I say as he walks out toward the back. I serve the tables I have left and finally close up shop at close to eleven. By the time I clean up and walk out to my car, it’s a little past midnight. I drive home, ignoring the way my chest tightens when I think about Charlie. The scenarios run through my head the whole time. Him at home sleeping. Him on a date. Him being anywhere but here and me wanting to know if he’s okay.
Pulling up to my house, I see him sitting there on the second step, his arms on his knees, his hands in front of him. He looks up, and I see his face looks like he’s exhausted. “Hey,” I say, getting out of the car and slamming the door. He stands up by the time I make it to him, and he doesn’t lean down to kiss me, like he always does, which makes my heart speed up even faster than when I saw him.
“Hey,” he says softly. “We need to talk.” His voice is tight, and I nod, walking past him toward the front door and letting myself in. We should have had this talk outside so I wouldn’t have the images in my head. If he’s ending whatever this is, I should not let him do it here in my house.
I put my purse on the table, trying to control my breathing. Trying to control the way my hands are shaking, trying to control myself. I turn to face him, and he stands in front of me. His hands go to my face, and he holds it in them. I look into his eyes, wishing I had left the lights on so I could see his eyes for one last time. He bends his head, and I inhale when his lips touch mine. My hands come up to grip his wrists as he kisses me. “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you,” he apologizes when he lets go of my lips, his thumbs rubbing my cheeks.
“That’s okay.” I try to steady my voice so it doesn’t shake with the way my heart is pounding.
“I was afraid that if I came to see you, I wouldn’t be able to wait until we were here to have this conversation.” I swallow the lump as I step back, his hands falling away from my face. “And I wanted to do this privately.”
“You don’t really have to do all of this, Charlie.” I try to let him off the hook. “It’s—”
“This morning when you left me, I didn’t go to work.” His voice is soft, and I look at him confused. “I had something to do beforehand, so I went to do it.”
“Okay.” One of my hands grabs my index finger, twisting it nervously.
“I went to Jennifer’s grave.” I put my hand on my stomach to stop it from lurching. “I went to tell her I’ve fallen in love with you.” The minute he says the words, I think the air is being sucked out of me. I have to put one hand on the table to stop myself from falling. “I told her she would always have a piece of my heart, but that it now belonged to you.” The tears come so fast and so hard I can’t even control wiping them, falling one after another on my hand that is at my stomach. “I told her it was time for you to have all of me.”
“Charlie.” I shake my head. “You don’t have to do that. I know how much you love her.”
He chuckles as he sniffles at the same time. “Exactly what I told her. I was thankful I wouldn’t have to hide the fact that Jennifer meant something to me.”