Page 17 of Never Kiss and Tell

Fuck it. No one’s ever going to read it anyway. I can live out my best Wattpad life in the backyard of Andi’s family Airbnb and then fly home to California and act like nothing ever happened.

Almost two thousand words later and a noise from the house startles me. I jump, almost slamming my laptop shut when I catch the glimpse of a curtain closing in the room next to mine.

My stomach knots, but I force the nerves bubbling upinside me and pretend I’m working. The back door to the other side of the house opens and shuts loudly, echoing off the brick walls of the small courtyard.

And that’s when I see him.

CharliefuckingCoulter.

The last year and a half looks good on him. The last time I saw him, he was pale, his eyes were rimmed with purple bags and he reeked of liquor. I’ve never seen someone look so devastatingly handsome, yet so sick at the same time.

Now, Charlie looks every bit of the Greek statue he always had. Big, broad shoulders, stormy gray eyes, and a scowl that could set any woman’s heart on edge. Don’t even get me started on the jawline that could slice an artery. Fuck, he’s hot —

“What are you doing here?” he snaps as he nears the table.

—and such a fucking asshole.

“Well,” I say, reaching up and straightening the buttons on his shirt. The thin material stretches over what I know are taut abs . . . the kind that make you want to lick chocolate off them. “I thought I’d surprise you and see how the biggest asshole in my life is doing.”

His eyes narrow, growing dark. He looks down to where my hand is touching his stomach and pushes it off like I might have a dangerous bacterium that will make his manhood spontaneously fall off. “I think that spot’s reserved for your fiancé, or did you marry the poor bastard, now?”

I cringe, sudden unease stirring in my stomach. So, he wants to fight dirty? The tension is so stiff in the air between us that it almost feels hard to breath — or maybe it’s just the humidity of Louisiana at the end of spring.

“Actually,” I said, my voice sickly sweet. “I broke off my engagement. I told him you were the love of my life and I couldn’t live without you.”

His eyes slide over me, filled with something dark and sinister. A shiver runs up my spine and I try to hide it by shutting the lid of my laptop. There was no way I would be able to get a thing written with him hanging over me and also no way in hell I want him to see what I’m writing.

“Tell me, how are you and . . . what was her name? Petunia?”

“Priscilla. She reminded me too much of you. Couldn’t stand her after that.”

“Wow, we’re both single?” I taunt. “Looks like it’s meant to be,Casanova.”

He leans back against the brick wall beside the table and crosses his arms over his chest, watching me stand and pick up my things.

“You wouldn’t survive a night in my bed, princess.”

Why does everyone feel the need to call me princess?

“Actually, I’m abstaining from sex. You know, higher power and all?” I point to the sky. “Besides, I’ve never been one for the broody,my dick’s bigger than everyone else’stype.”

That’s exactly what I’m in to, but after his last rejection when he basically told me to go fuck myself at his poor Mom’s funeral, I’ll never let him know that.

I probably shouldn’t read into it. He was going through a horrible time, but that didn’t make it cut any less deep. When I told him about my dad, I thought we would be able to connect. I wanted him to know I understood. Then, Drew came out and it’s like a switch flipped. I wasn’t Bailey, the girl that he couldtalk to, anymore. I was Bailey, the spoiled princess with her stepdaddy’s credit card and a rich boyfriend.

Charlie opens his mouth to retort, but my phone ringing cuts him off. I pick it up off the table and my stomach sinks to my pink painted toes.

Mom.

I hold up a finger to him. “Sorry, would love to chat, but I’m a busy woman.”

He shakes his head, but doesn’t say anything. He also doesn’t freakingleave.Nosy bastard.

“Hello?”

“Why the hell would you think it was a good idea to hop on a plane and go to New Orleans without asking me first?” My stomach roils and instinctively I take a step back. Charlie’s eyes narrow on me, darkening.

“I’m sorry. Andi needed help planning her wedding.”

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