Page 106 of The Charlie Method

We walk to a quieter area of the hall, where Charlotte fidgets with the strap of her oversize bag.

“I just want to make sure you’re okay,” I say quietly, searching her face. “You deleted the app, so Beckett and I were—”

She glances around at the mention of his name.

I stifle a sigh. “No one’s listening to us, Charlotte.”

Her teeth sink into her bottom lip for a moment before she lets out a hasty breath. “I’m okay. I promise.” Her firm tone and resolute gaze tell me she means it.

“We didn’t make you uncomfortable or…hurt you?” My stomach twists at the notion.

“Not at all.” The hard edges in her expression soften, smooth out. “Shit. I’m so sorry if I made you think that.”

I offer a rueful shrug. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I literally haven’t heard from you since you snuck out of the house yesterday at five in the morning.”

“I’m sorry. But you don’t have to worry.” Her voice drops so low I can barely hear her. “I had a really good time.”

“You sure?”

“Positive. It was…” She bites her lip again. “Fun.”

Her cheeks are bright red. If this weren’t such a tense exchange, I might tease her about it, but she’s still on edge, and I don’t want to scare her off.

“But it can’t happen again, Will. It was a one-time thing. And it needs to remain a one-time thing, so that’s why I deleted the app. I needed to…” She trails off.

“Eliminate temptation,” I supply.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Because it can’t happen again.” I raise a brow. “For some reason.”

“No,” she says. “For a thousand reasons.”

“Okay, well, give me at least one.”

“Becauseitsnotnormal” is her hissed, unintelligible reply.

“What?”

“It’s not normal.” Jaw clenched, she meets my eyes as if daring me to contradict that.

But I was right there with her this summer. I backed away from Beckett and our sexual escapades because I thought the same thing. That what I was doing was wrong. That it wasn’t “normal.”

“Charlotte, listen, I know exactly what you’re feeling, okay? You liked it too much.”

Her mouth falls open. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

“You liked it too much, and it scared you, right? Because it goes against what ‘normal’ sex is supposed to be like.”

“Itdoesgo against it.” She rubs the bridge of her nose. “At least in the long term. It’s fun for one night, Will. But making it a regular thing feels…I don’t know…sleazy.”

A prickly sensation travels along my skin. “Yeah? What does that make me then? I’m sleazy?”

Shocked, she meets my eyes. “No. Not at all.”

I laugh without humor. “Look. Charlotte. I used to feel the same way you did. I basically avoided Beckett all summer because I felt that way. But I realized, after a lot of introspection, that there’s nothing wrong with liking what I like.”

“Will—”

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