Page 25 of The Pucking Fake Marriage

But then…

I think of the early days after Charlie broke her ankle.Ifshe was upset about the fact that I got to live my life without any hitch, why did she keep dating Kali? They dated for a full year after her injury, until my dickhead brother broke up with her. His life was going pretty well, too. Maybe even better than mine, according to her standards.

My feelings of pity are drowned out by a greater surge of annoyance. Charlie might be going through the biggest mess of her life right now, but it doesn’t erase the fact that she cut me out for no good reason.

My fingers ball into fists.Stop thinking,I order myself. The past is in the past. The only way I’m interested in Charlie now is sexually. Andshe’s going to pay for everything she’s done to me.

There’s a knock on the door.

“Are we expecting someone?” I ask Alex, resigned to the fact that he probably invited half the team over.

He shakes his head. “Not that I’m aware.”

I roll my eyes as I go to the door. It’s probably another one of the guys…or so I think, before the door opens and I’m staring down at Charlie. Her face is bare of makeup, her hair is in a messy knot, and her body…

A ball forms in my throat as I stare at her. She’s wearing a turtle-neck dress with full sleeves, stopping past her knees. Decent, really, except for the fact that it’s a dark green number that clings to every curve of her body.

And I meaneverydamn curve.

It’s about the worst choice she could’ve made.

“Hi,” she mutters quietly. I tear my gaze away from her body long enough to notice the expression in her eyes. There’s way more humility there than I’m used to seeing from her, but there’s also something else.

Desperation.

Realization dawns on me. This is no ordinary visit. She’s actively seeking me out for the first time in ten years.

She’s finally ready to tell me everything.

Why she was interested in getting together back in Las Vegas. Why she’s been avoiding me ever since.

I’m going to have all the answers.

“We should leave,” Alex announces. There’s shuffling in the background as my friends rise to their feet and start to slip through the doorway. Charlie moves aside to let them pass, but her gaze is fixed on me. I barely pay them any attention. Knowing that she’s going to tell me what’s been going on puts everything else out of my mind—even the damn dress.

In a few seconds, Alex, Reggie, Blake, and Matt are all gone. I take a few steps back, silently inviting her in. Still, she remains by the door.

I raise my brows, fighting back an impending feeling of irritation. If Charlie’s playing another game or trying to imply that she can’t trust me enough to be alone in a roomwith me, then I’m going to have to strongly consider slamming the door in her face.

Or just straight up fucking her and proving her wrong.

My body grows hot as I imagine it—pulling that sheath halfway up her body, banging her from behind, her ass cheeks bouncing as I pummel into her again and again.

Call it reparations.

Damn it, I want that. Screwing Charlie sounds a lot better than hearing her truth. In a few minutes, I’m not going to be able to keep my hands off her. Even if it means having to deal with the overwhelming confusion.

I close the gap between us by taking a step closer. In that brief second, I’m decided on kissing her, on pulling her in, and taking everything I can.

But then Charlie takes a step back.

Anger burns red hot in me. What the fuck is with her?

But it’s only for a second. Because just then, Charlie reaches behind her into a tote bag I didn’t even see she was carrying. She pulls out a document and holds it up with trembling fingers so I can read it clearly.

The ball in my throat grows larger.

It can’t be. It can’tfuckingbe.

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