Page 192 of The Charlie Method

I have to swallow a laugh, given that he’s genuinely upset here, but come on, Dad. You don’t make big life decisions like that when your wife isn’t on board. He should know better.

He scrubs a hand over his face. “I got caught up in the excitement, I s’pose. Thought I was doing what was best for us, for the family. Now I’m not so sure. Maybe she’s right, and I was trying to do what’s best for me.”

I hear the weariness in his voice, and it hits me that he’s not just frustrated. He’s scared. Scared of what this boneheaded decision might mean for their marriage, for their life together.

“So what are you going to do?”

“Gotta let the job go. Stay in Indy, work things out with your mum. But the thought of passing up this opportunity… It feels like I’m giving up something important.”

“It’s not worth losing her over. You know that.”

“I know. But it’s hard, kid. It’s hard to let go of something you’ve worked so hard for. You know that feeling.”

He pauses, and it lasts long enough that I glance over at him. His forehead has a disconcerted groove in it.

“What?” I say.

“Ah…so…that Charlie girl. I like her. She seems smart. Funny.”

I knew this was coming. From the second Dad met Charlie earlier, I’ve been waiting for him to bring it up. Grill me about her.

“You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”

“It’s new.”

He nods, but the lines in his brow don’t smooth out.

“What?” I say again.

“Probably shouldn’t tell you this while you’re driving, but, ah, your girlfriend was making out with your roommate after he got out of the shower.”

The resulting silence is so acute, I can hear my own lungs fluttering as I drag oxygen into them.

When I don’t respond, Dad continues in an awkward tone.

“Saw them when I went upstairs to grab a hoodie from your room.” He gestures to the Briar U hoodie he now wears instead of his polo, as if to prove he’d really been upstairs.

I stay silent, trying to figure out how to answer.

“Beckett,” he presses.

Finally, I loosen my grip on the steering wheel and give him a sideways glance. “Charlie’s not just my girlfriend. She’s Will’s too.”

His eyebrows shoot up. “Excuse me?”

I shift my gaze back to the road. “Yeah. We’re… We share. It’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” He lets out a short laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “That’s one way to put it. Son, what the hell are you doing? How do you think that’s ever going to work out?”

“It’s working fine so far,” I admit. “We all care about each other. We make it work.”

He’s quiet for a moment, his eyes burning a hole in the side of my head.

“And what about the future?” he finally asks. “What if you want to get married? How does that fit into this arrangement?”

I swallow hard. I haven’t thought that far ahead, not really. We’re just taking it day by day, enjoying what we have.

But now I feel the doubts creeping in.

---