Page 215 of The Charlie Method

It’s ridiculous how much weight these one-page letters carry. How a single sentence can make or break my future.

There’s a knock on my door, and I know it’s Faith even before I hear her say, “Char? You in there?”

“Come in,” I tell her, and she pokes her head inside.

“You want to watch a movie or something?”

“No, babe. I’m too distracted.”

She stares at the sea of paper. “Grad school?”

I nod.

“Any closer to picking one?”

I nod again. “I think so. I’m going to run a pros-and-cons list now and see if it points me in one direction.”

She rolls her eyes. “You are the biggest nerd in the world, and I love you dearly.”

“Love you too.”

Once she’s gone, I grab my laptop and settle on the bed, leaning against the headboard.

I open a new document and begin my favorite process in the whole world. The Method.

ACTION: Move to Sydney.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

WILL

Ours, baby

THE JOB OFFER FROMTESSADIAZ SITS IN MY INBOX LIKE AN ARMEDbomb, waiting for me to either defuse it or let it blow my life up. A campaign job in DC, working for one of my father’s biggest critics.

It’s so tempting.

And so fucking risky.

I just had lunch with Case, and we spoke about it in length. He thinks I should take it. But Case doesn’t know my dad. He can’t grasp the sheer force of my father’s wrath.

Now, I’m driving home from the diner, still torn, and after several more minutes of vacillating, I call the one person who might actually give me valid advice.

“Hi, kiddo.” My stepmother answers on the second ring, her voice wafting out of the car speakers.

“Do you have a minute?” I ask Kelsey. “I need to talk.”

“Of course. What’s going on?”

I turn at the end of Main Street, driving in the direction of Hastings’s residential neighborhood. “I got a job offer. A big one. Campaign work.”

“I know. Your father told me.”

I frown. “Oh. Okay.”

“And I knew it would only be a matter of time before you called to talk about it.”

I hesitate, feeling the words catch in my throat. “Harper Wozniak has been really critical of Dad in the press.”

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