Page 191 of The Charlie Method

I can’t deny this sounds interesting. I had no idea what job I’d line up after graduation. To be honest, I haven’t even started looking. And now this offer just lands in my lap.

I can’tnotconsider it, right?

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom before I make the drive back to Boston?” Tessa asks.

“Sure. I still can’t believe you drove all the way here for a twenty-minute chat.”

“I really want you to take this job, Will.” We pause on the stoop, and she reaches for my hand. It’s not a romantic gesture but one of encouragement. “You’re one of the only people I think actually belongs in politics. You have integrity. I think you could make a real difference in this sphere.”

“I’ll think about it” is my noncommittal response. “When do I need to let them know by?”

“Ideally within the month.”

I nod, opening the front door. We step into the hall just as Charlie approaches it, slipping on her coat. A shirtless Beckett trails after her with a travel cup of what I’m assuming is green tea. He bends down to give her a kiss on the lips.

“For the drive, sugar puff,” he says, handing her the cup.

She looks touched, beaming at him. “Thanks.”

When they notice Tessa’s small frame tucked behind me, they startle.

I quickly make the introductions. “Guys, Tessa Diaz. Tessa, this is my roommate and teammate, Beckett. And, uh, Charlotte.” I stutter over this one. “His girlfriend.”

Beckett doesn’t even blink, and Tessa simply nods, uninterested in any personal details. But the introduction is now seared into my brain because I’d felt it in my chest. The lie. The omission. Whatever it was.

It felt too awkward to introduce Charlie as anything other than Beckett’s girl—we just saw him, without a shirt, kissing her. But it evokes a rush of guilt, because Charlie isn’t only his. She’s mine too.

I should be proud of that. I should want to advertise it to the entire world. This is my girl.

But deep down…I know what stopped me just now. A part of me was embarrassed. Of how Tessa might see us. How she might seeme.

And as that bleak truth settles over me, I suddenly hear it. Tick-tock. Tick-fucking-tock. It drums a beat in my head. The clock. The countdown.

The realization that sooner or later, this complicated arrangement is going to come crashing down around us.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

BECKETT

Safe

IWANT TO BE AT THEGRAHAMCENTER EARLY TODAY SOICAN SHOWmy dad around the facility, but Will has his head buried in his laptop and isn’t ready to go, so he tosses me the keys to his SUV and says he’ll catch a ride to the rink with Shane.

Despite the circumstances that landed Dad on my doorstep, I’m happy to see the big oaf. It’s always a good time with him. He’s going to tail the team bus this afternoon in Will’s car and come to our game against Quinnipiac.

As I reverse out of the driveway, the sun glints off the windshield and reflects the snowdrifts on either side of the street. We got lucky with the snow situation this winter. So far at least. The temperature has been freezing, but the snowfall has been almost nonexistent. According to my Marine Ecology and Conservation professor this term, climate change is the devil, and soon all the oceans will dry up and we’ll all die of heatstroke. Actual rant she went on last week when someone asked if a mild New England winter is a bad sign.

In the passenger seat, Dad stares out the window, watching the residential streets of Hastings whiz by. He hasn’t said much since we left the house. It’s strange seeing him like this, unsettled, like a man who’s lost his anchor.

“So what’s the plan?” I ask him. “Are you going to book a flight home for tomorrow? Monday?”

He lets out a heavy sigh, still focusing on the passing scenery. “I don’t know, kid. Your mum’s still pissed. Never seen her this mad before.”

“Well, you did accept a job offer that requires moving across the world without consulting her. Can’t say I blame her.”

“I thought I was doing the right thing. That once it became a reality, she’d get it, you know? She’d feel like she was going home. But Meg doesn’t see it that way. She thinks I’m being selfish.”

Because he is.