Page 72 of The First Time

“Well, I don’t think there’s any reason for name-calling here,” Josh defends. “Wait…are you pissed?”

“No, you fool. I’m relieved that this whole charade of hating each other is finally over. It’s been exhausting.”

“For crying out loud, you too?” Josh falls back into his chair.

“What do you mean, me too?” Asher asks with amusement.

Josh looks frustrated now for an entirely new reason, and I find it kind of adorable. Charlotte smirks at me.

“Liam and Eric guessed it at Brie’s party. They said the same damn thing to me. Does everyone feel this way about us? What about you, Charlotte?”

Charlotte shrugs. “I mean…I kind of guessed there was something between you two.”

Asher winks at Charlotte. “We talked about it all the time,” he adds.

“It’s okay, babe,” I tell Josh. “We were both fools for denying it to ourselves.”

“Still,” Josh mutters. “It’s kind of humiliating that everyone knew but didn’t say anything.”

I place my hand on his knee and squeeze it. “At least we admitted it to ourselves eventually.”

Asher looks at my hand and cringes. “I’m definitely happy for you two, but this touchy thing is going to take some time getting used to.”

Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Oh, please,” she touches his knee, “they do a lot more than that in the bedroom.”

Asher stands up quickly. “Ok. Sex talk is off the table. I’m sorry, but I can’t hear stuff like that.”

A flash of humor crosses Josh’s face, but I can also tell that he is relieved Asher isn’t pissed.

“Fine!” Charlotte agrees as she pulls on my brother’s hand. “Just sit back down, you big baby. Ugh, Layla does the same thing to me when I try to talk about us.”

Asher’s eyes bug out. “You try to tell my sister about our sex life? What is wrong with you?”

“She’s my best friend. I want to tell my best friend these things.”

“Well, find a new best friend, because you will not be discussing our sex life with my sister.”

“Hey!” I interject. “She will not find a new best friend. But I do agree that from here on out, sex talk between anyone in this group is strictly off limits.”

Asher puts out a fist for me to pump. He’s such a dork, but I concede and hit my fist with his.

“Well, I’m gonna go get started on dinner,” I announce as I stand up.

“Ooh, I’ll come help,” Charlotte replies as she follows me into the kitchen.

She’s beaming as I start to get the ingredients out of the fridge.

“Oh my gosh, this is so exciting!” she exclaims as she leans against the island.

I start to chop the vegetables for the salad while she snacks on pretzels in front of me.

“I thought you were going to help,” I joke as I continue to chop.

She waves her hand in the air. “I just wanted to come in here and gossip. I’d just be in the way if I tried to help. Anyway, does it feel good to have it all out and in the open?”

I turn around and drizzle some olive oil in a frying pan. “It does. Although, it’s not like we kept it a secret for very long. Just a couple weeks.”

“True. You two have moved along very quickly in this relationship.”

---