Logan, able to sense what’s going on, I’m sure, comes up behind me.
“Hey, Charlie,” he says, all smiley and happy. Right. Charlie doesn’t drive everyone crazy. Just me.
“Hey, Logan,” she replies with a smile just as big. “I heard you got married. Congrats.”
“Thanks. I’m a lucky guy. Danielle is everything I could ever want.”
“That’s really sweet.”
Logan refills her wine glass. “And I’m sorry to hear about, uh, what happened.”
Charlie watches the wine fill her glass. “Thanks. It’s all for the best though, right? Gotta find that silver lining.”
“Right.” Logan steps to the side, handling Ms. Designer Tits, who’s now freaking out a bit that Logan and I are identical twins. It happens all the time, and usually I use it to my advantage.
“You said you want quiet,” I go on, studying Charlie’s pretty face. “Everything okay on the home front?”
She takes another sip of wine. “Oh, it’s fine. Just…busy.”
“Busy?”
“My sister’s house sold in record time and the buyer wanted to close as soon as possible. Which meant my sister and her family needed somewhere to stay until their new house is built.”
“Which will be a few months at best.”
“Exactly.” She takes another sip of wine. “So right now it’s me, my sister, her husband, her three children, their dogs, and my cat all crammed in with my parents. I have a deposit down on an apartment, but it won’t be open until the end of next month.” She brings her fingers to her temple. “It’s a first world problem, I know. But my God, I’ve never hated my sister so much as I do right now.”
I laugh. “It’s rough being crammed together like that. There’s nowhere else for you to go?”
She slowly shakes her head. “The three rental properties available were not cutting it. But it’s fine…I just need to tough it out for another month.” She drains the rest of the wine.
Charlie is in a weird situation. She’s smart, probably has a decent amount of money in the bank. I have no idea what she’s doing for work right now, but if she wanted to get another city job, I’m sure she would. Taking over her father’s firm was always her plan…maybe that’s why she’s sticking around town. Her father has to be getting close to retiring.
The rentals in Eastwood are shit. They were back when I graduated from college and didn’t want to live at home anymore, and they still are today. The only apartment complex here is decent enough but isn’t very large and I’m not surprised to hear it’s full.
“You could come stay with me,” I offer before I get a chance to fully think about it. “We both know my house is more than big enough.”
Charlie looks at me, blinking. “No fucking way, Owen,” she laughs. “I am not living with you.”
“Why?” I rest my elbows on the bar. “What are you afraid of? That you’d get in behind closed doors and wouldn’t be able to resist me?”
“Oh yeah, that’s my main worry.” She rolls her eyes.
“What is your main worry then?”
“That I’ll get arrested for murder because living with you would be worse than living with my entire extended family.”
“Ouch, that was harsh.”
“Fine, I wouldn’t kill you. Just do major bodily harm.”
I wiggle my eyebrows. “That sounds like something I might enjoy.”
“You are impossible,” she sighs. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
I shrug. “Why not, though? I have the space. Ever since Logan moved out, the house has seemed kinda empty anyway. Don’t tell him, but I miss Dexter, his dog, more than him.”
Charlie’s eyes start to narrow as she looks at me. “I’m not stupid, Owen.”
“I never thought you were. Not ever once.”
Her hard glare softens. “I…I know. But…no. I’m not moving in with you.”
“Don’t think of it as moving in, more as me swooping in and coming to the rescue. You can crash at my place until the apartment is ready for you. No strings, no expectations. Though we both know you’ll be crawling into my bed at night.”
“Seriously?”
My tongue darts out, wetting my lips. Charlie’s eyes flick down to it, and she pushes her shoulders back in a subconscious way to try to make it seem like she’s holding it all together.
And maybe she really is. Or maybe…maybe she’s feeling what I’m feeling too. It’s a long shot, but fuck, I want to take it.
“The offer is on the table,” I tell her and step away for a minute to take care of a few other customers. In the minute I’m gone, she somehow slips away and is nowhere to be seen.
Then it hits me, and I wonder what the hell was I thinking? Asking Charlie to live with me? To sleep in the room next to me. Eat breakfast by my side. Watch late night TV together like we’re friends.
I will never be just friends with Charlie, and having her so close yet so far would hurt.