Page 59 of The Charm of You

“Whoa, man. That’s not what I’m saying,” he says, his words rushed. “It’s just that people tend to get attached to the ones they’re sleeping with. I did.” He pauses with a hint of a wistful smile like he’s lost in a dream. He’s probably thinking of his girlfriend, Ivy, and while I was happy for them to get together, I can’t currently remember why. “Normal people do, but you’re not normal.”

“Much better,” I deadpan. “Please cut off the flow of compliments. I’m drowning.”

“Come on, Austin.” He chuckles. “You’re not the relationship type. I’m not saying something you don’t already know.”

“You’re emotionally unavailable, Austin.”

Keely’s words cut through me for the hundredth time since she uttered them, and I clench my fists on the table, an unsettling weight on my shoulders.

“It would be fine too, if you were happy, but you’ve never seemed particularly happy to be forever single,” Cole continues.

“I hope you let yourself be happy someday too.”

What is with everyone thinking I’m not happy? I’m as cheery as fucking sunshine. They don’t know what they’re talking about.

“I kissed Caroline,” I blurt.

Cole’s eyebrows fly into his hairline, and a gasp echoes between us.

“There is something going on, then,” Scarlett cuts in with the worst damn timing and sets our food on the table. “So juicy! Matilda,” she hisses and waves for her friend to join us, but she’s too far out of earshot since she’s actually doing her job. Instead of going after her, Scarlett goes after me. “Tell me more.”

“We don’t know each other like that.” I give her a tight smile and shoo her away with my stoniest glare, but again, it doesn’t work.

The thorn in my side is still here, giddy as hell.

“Keep what you heard to yourself, or I’ll gift Kenny three free shifts in order to put you in the kitchen,” Cole warns.

“You wouldn’t…” Scarlett seethes. They stare at each other before she finally relents and holds her hand up. “Fine. Our little secret.”

She knows Cole took down business giants in another life. The fact that she thought she might stand a chance against him is adorable, at best.

She’s got some balls.

Once Scarlett bounces away, Cole sets his elbows on either side of his plate and levels me with a stare. “So, you and Caroline,” his voice trails off, leaving a question in the air.

“Let’s not. I changed my mind. Let’s talk about anything else.” I dig into my wings, and barbecue sauce covers my fingers in record time.

“I’d like to talk about Caroline.”

“I’d rather talk about your nose hair.”

“It’s black. There. End of talk. Guess we should get back to Caroline, then.” He takes his sweet time with the pull of his beer, then exaggerates an “Ah.”

The smartass.

It could be good to talk about her with him. It’s better than keeping all this shit in my head, since clearly, it’s driving me damn nuts.

“I kissed her twice,” I tell him, lowering my voice. “And I don’t even know why. Something about her just… She gets under my fucking skin.”

“That’s great, man.” Cole waves a clean bone in celebration.

“Great? That’s what you think it is?” I scoff. “She represents everything I despise—annoyingly bubbly people, hoity-toity attitude, and the big city, to name a few.”

“You know what I’ve come to realize?”

My stomach churns as I stare at him, knowing good and well that I’m not going to like what he says. Hell, I don’t like any part of this conversation, but I did this to myself, didn’t I?

“We tend to despise the things we fear.” He sets aside the bone in the empty basket between us and continues through the pile of wings without a care in the world.

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