“Leelee didn’t have you on the schedule.”
“I know,” he admits. “And I’m not getting paid or anything. I just told Sierra I needed to finish up some work.”
“How long have you been over here?”
“Since school got out.”
It’s five-thirty. We got home from school at three-thirty.
“Two hours?”
“Has it been that long?” his eyes dart to the computer. Good grief. “I guess I lost track of time.”
He starts back to the couch but I reach for his hand and stop him.
“How about we hang out for a minute?”
“I was just in the middle of this campaign and…” I rub my thumb across his knuckles. He pauses.
“I was just thinking we haven’t had a lot of time to hang out together since we got back.
That seems to finally get his attention.
“I just…well, I didn’t want to presume…”
“What? That I’d want to kiss you again?”
“I don’t know. I’m not like my brother or the other guys.” By far, Charlie is the shyest of the four. A little socially awkward, more of a loner. He’s more comfortable online than he is in the real world, but this summer we got him to join us outside and away from the computer. It’s like he slipped once I left.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not all buff and physical. I’m not popular. I’m the geek. The nerd. I tutor after school instead of playing football.” He shrugs and I feel all his insecurities bubbling to the edge. “This summer, when it was just the four of us you had no idea of what I’m really like, but now that we’re in school together it’s pretty obvious.”
I take a step forward and let my fingers linger near his waist. He’s in a soft, long-sleeved T-shirt, and despite what he thinks I feel the hard muscle of his stomach. “I know you’re not like them and that’s not a bad thing, Charlie. All that’s obvious to me is that I missed you while I was gone and I’m really glad to be back.”
I sense the thing lingering between us—his distraction—the addiction. It’s weird that it’s to a thing, a game, not a drug or substance. I don’t know how to fight it except with dedication, patience, and whatever I have in my arsenal. I know for a fact he likes my mouth, so I push up on my toes and press my lips to his, wanting him to know there’s more out there—something else he can crave.
His hands are hesitant, moving slowly to my hipss but his mouth is less so, falling into rhythm quickly. The room is silent other than the sounds of our breathing, our mouths meeting, the rustle of our bodies coming closer together.
His lips move down my ear, tugging on my lobe. I squeal and yelp, so loud that we both stop and stare at one another wild-eyed and guilty.
“That was too loud,” I say, covering my mouth.
“Good thing no one comes back here,” he moves toward me, but I see the clock over in the kitchenette. It’s almost six.
“Leelee will be closing the office soon. I told her I was at home.”
His eyebrows raise behind his glasses. “So I’m not the only one fudging the truth.”
I grab h
is shirt with my fists. “Don’t push it.”
He looks down at me. “I think you want me, too.”
He called it. I do. I really do, but… “Maybe,” I tell him, “but not right now. You know the rules. No hanging out alone. I suspect the cottages are way off limits.”
Neither of us look at the bedroom, but it hovers like an elephant.