Page 27 of What are the Chances

Despite my excitement, the knowledge of Kyle’s indiscretion continues to eat away at me. Fifteen minutes into our trip, I push it back for the hundredth time, swallowing the sickness.

I thought Charlotte would act differently toward me after finding herself wrapped up in my arm this morning, but since she emerged from the bedroom, dressed for Noodge’s memorial, she’s acted the same as always—a little demanding, a little dramatic, wrapped up in her signature sweetness. And since we’ve been in the car, I’ve sighed with relief.

Charlotte twists in her seat, taking a glance at Noodge’s urn before looking back at me.

“So, are the cliffs special to you and Noodge? I’m sensing some kind of story behind them,” she giggles.

I tighten my grip around the steering wheel, willing myself to remain focused on the road instead of Charlotte’s gorgeous face.

“One day, when Sam and I were about ten years old, our parents took us to the Cliffs.” I take a deep breath, feeling a grin beginning to surface. “I mean, we’d been several times, but this time was a little different. Sam, being the terrible older brother he was, convinced me to follow him farther down the trail. We snuck away from our parents, and by the time we wanted to go back and find them, we realized we had gone nearly a quarter of the trail by ourselves.”

“Sounds like something Sam would do,” Charlotte laughs and rests her hand on her thigh.

I can’t help noticing she’s inching closer to me, farther away from her side of the door, leaning toward the center console.

“He’s always been such a jerk.” Sending her a wink, I rest my elbow on the center console, leaning toward her. I can’t help it. I’m naturally drawn to her.

“So, how did you get back? And where does Noodge come in to all this?”

Her genuine interest and curiosity will me to continue. The sun drapes across her smooth skin and the blue flower printed sundress she’s wearing.

“Well,” I continue. “It took forever for Sam and me to make our way back to our parents, but when we were about halfway back, we heard a squeal coming from the side of the trail. Following the sound, we realized it was a cat’s meow, not just a cat, but a wee kitten’s meow. You know, like the real high pitched kind. I bent over the side of the trail, down to where the cliff begins to slope, and behind one of the rocks was Noodge. The poor lad was tucked behind the rock.”

“Oh my goodness.” She’s resting her left hand over her chest like she can’t believe the story I’m telling her.

“Without thinking, I climbed down the slope to where Noodge was and scooped him up. I tucked him into the front pocket of my hoodie the entire walk back. It didn’t take me long to come up with his name. He kept sticking his head out of the pocket and nudging my hand with his nose, so I named him Noodge. Once we found our parents, they were frantic. They couldn’t believe we had just wandered off without them.”

“How much trouble did you guys get in?”

“Oh,” I chuckle. “We were grounded for a month.”

Charlotte shakes her head, the grin still plastered on her face. She swipes her tongue across her lips before biting on the corner. My stomach dips, and the desire to kiss her intensifies with every passing second. My willingness to fight my feelings for her is becoming all too difficult to ignore. Slowly but surely, she’s breaking down every last defense I have left.

“You must have really worried your parents then, huh?” She rests her elbow on the center console, her whole arm pushing against mine. I can’t help but notice when she nudges me, almost as if she’s blatantly showing me what she’s doing—as if I didn’t already know.

“It was totally worth the month of grounding though.” I turn to smile at Charlotte, nudging her back with my shoulder. “If Sam hadn’t convinced me to venture out, we never would have found Noodge. He was the best cat and lived a long and happy seventeen years.”

“Well, he had you to take care of him, so I guess his life couldn’t have been that bad.” She nudges my shoulder one more time before picking up her coffee and bringing it to her lips. Even as she takes a sip, her lips are still spread in a smile, the same glint of teasing in her eyes.

Damn, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think Charlotte was trying to tell me something.

Fuck it, I tell myself. It hits me. At some point during the rest of our trip, I’m going to kiss Charlotte.

I knew it was no longer a matter of if but a matter of when.

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