Page 71 of From the Ashes
He rolled his eyes, pushing me away. “Alright. Go do your author stuff and take your cheesy Hallmark lines with you.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow. Do you think we could talk then?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, smiling at me despite his anxiety.
“Bye Charlie,” I said, grabbing his hand and placing a kiss on the back of it. “Until next we meet, fair maiden.”
“Get out of here,” he laughed, pulling his hand away. “Let me go freak out in peace.”
I lifted a hand to wave, and he smiled, not saying anything as he watched me walk back down the street to my parent’s house. Even when I walked up to the front door and looked back, he was still there. In the distance I saw him raise a hand and I returned the gesture, heat flooding through my body.
After three days in Charlie’s presence and in his bed, I was so smitten I could barely breathe. What had started out as an unrequited crush had quickly turned into the most all-consuming passion I’d ever experienced. I had no idea how I was going to survive even a single night without him now. But I’d have to figure it out somehow.
And I couldn’t wait to see him again tomorrow.
“So, you gonna tell me about it?” Tony asked as we stepped into our hotel room after the speaking event that night.
“Tell you about what?”
“The reason you’ve been sighing all day. And staring wistfully out the window like a love-struck schoolboy.” He tossed his suitcase onto one of the queen-sized beds, claiming it as his own. “And why you disappeared the moment you stepped foot in Creekside.”
“I didn’tdisappear,” I said, taking the other bed. “And I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Alright. Then I guess you won’t mind letting me ride your dick then, will you? You know. Sincenothingis going on.”
“I… I’m not in the mood.”
“Bullshit, Phie.” Tony trotted over to me, poking me in the chest. “You’ve been up to something with that boy, and I know it. Now spill the beans.”
Tony’s insistence only made me want to fight harder. But I knew the more I resisted him, the more he’d push. He was like that at work, and he was like that in our friendship. Before I found it kind of nice, like I never had to hide anything and even if I tried, he’d get it out of me, eventually. But now, with Charlie asking me for some time to think, I didn’t want to jump the gun and make it sound like we were dating without his approval.
However, as Tony stared at me, his finger poking me insistently, I recognized that look in his eyes. He wasn’t going to give up until I gave himsomething. Maybe just a little bit would make him happy and get him off my back.
“Fine,” I said at last. “I had a good week. Happy?”
“The kind of good week where you feel relaxed and happy or the kind of good week where you got laid and fell in love?”
I looked up at him, no words leaving my lips.
“Ah. So, it was the latter.”
Turning away, I put the bed between us and opened my suitcase. I wasn’t the type to unpack my clothes and put them into hotel dressers. That felt really fucking weird. But it was something to do, and it meant I didn’t have to look Tony in the eye. He could always tell when I was lying that way.
“You already knew I liked Charlie,” I said, taking my clothes out one piece at a time and fixing the folds. “And you knew that we were coming down here to visit him.”
“Yeah. But I figured you were too chicken shit to take it much further than that.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Anytime.”
I let out a long sigh. “Well, he read my book.” I rolled my eyes as Tony gasped dramatically. “And he figured it out of course.”
“He’d have to be blind not to.”
“Anyway. We talked and decided to go on a date. While we were out on that date… my old high school bully showed up and started calling us some nasty things. I’d intended on just walking out and forgetting about it. But when he grabbed me, Charlie stepped in and knocked one of his fucking teeth out.”
“Jesus Christ…” Tony sighed, shaking his head. “It’s a good thing you didn’t hit him.”