Page 65 of Charlie Takes a Chance

“Oh, me too,” Grandma agrees with him as she pulls a peanut cluster from the bag and begins munching on it while her gaze swings between the two of us.

“I don’t know what kind of person you think I am—” He begins.

“Not sure you want the answer to that right now,” I fire back with a glare.

“Charlie! Be nice.” Grandma is not the referee I want right now.

Max smiles at her and takes a step toward me. “Believe it or not, I don’t go around kissing every beautiful girl I see.”

He unfolds his arms and hangs them at his side.

I quickly cross my arms to maintain some kind of distance between us as he steps close enough that my elbows bump against his chest.

“I thought I was pretty clear with my intentions last night,” he continues. He’s just putting one foot in front of the other on the way into the doghouse.

Grandma gasps from behind me and I can hear her crunching on that peanut cluster.

“We kissed. So what? We kissed under the mistletoe and you said it was nothing.”

“I was trying to make it nothing. But when it comes to you, Charlie…There’s too much there.”

“Oh, so now I’m too much?” I scowl up at him, and he just keeps smiling down at me like he’s lost his ever-loving mind.

“You’re too much of everything I want. I’d be a fool not to pursue something with you. Even if it means figuring out a long-distance relationship.”

I try to govern the expression on my face, but I probably don’t do a good job because Max is grinning even bigger now. “Tell me you want the same.”

“You know I do.” I grind out. “I practically threw myself at you the other night.”

“Charlie!” Grandma exclaims.

“But there’s something else you should know.”

There’s silence in the room except for Grandma’s crunching.

“It’s the real reason Bryce broke up with me.” I would like a special portal to transport me to anywhere but here. I’ll take Narnia or Scotland at this rate.

“You’re not going to scare me off,” Max replies with a chuckle. “I know I was scared the night of the mistletoe…but I’ve had time to process and think it through. I’m sure. I want to be with you, Charlie.”

I quickly mumble a rushed explanation to Max.

He stares at me. “I can honestly say I understood none of that.”

I clear my throat and raise my chin so that I look him clearly in the eye. “I’m not changing my career for you.”

“Wait, what?” Max asks, confused.

“Oh!” Grandma gasps from behind me.

Yeah….this is not going well. He’s finally admitting his feelings for me, my grandma is like a bad sitcom audience, and I’m about to give him a solid reason to lose interest in me.

“Every single boyfriend I’ve had, has asked me to change careers at one point.”

Max blinks twice. “So?”

“So? I’m saying that I’m not going to change careers if you can’t handle it. If that’s a deal breaker for you, now is the time to walk away.”Before I get my heart crushed.

“You mean the deal where I want to date you?”

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