Page 52 of Charlie and Her Sweet Escape
I scrambled as fast as I could toward him, and his eyes widened as I plopped down next to him, our arms pressed together. I tried to imagine doing something like this with Greg, but I couldn’t. First, Greg would have never sat on a dirty floor with me. And second, I was always too self-conscious to call Greg out or be silly with him.
Which made me sad if I thought too much about it, and I needed a break from being sad.
“Hi.” I fluttered my lashes.
His arm bumped against mine playfully. “Hi.”
“Do I smell?”
“No.”
“Do I make you want to vomit?”
He blinked, and his arm finally relaxed. “Of course not.”
“Have you revoked my torso-touching rights?”
He choked on his spit and had to cough a few times before he could speak again. “No.”
“Then why are you treating me like I have cooties?”
“I’m still figuring out how to navigate this.” He shook his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I know this is a hard week, and I wanted to give you space.”
Oh.The last thing Ieverwanted was space. Did no one else feel this nearly consuming desire to justbelong? To be a part of a pair? To be noticed and known and loved? Not that I expected Bennett to give me those things, but it felt like we were the only two people in civilization right now. In just a few days … we’d really be that way.
“I’m trying to figure it out too,” I said quietly. “But I’m not going to survive this without an abundance of Bennett hugs.” Ahorrible, mortifying thought hit me, and I tilted away from him. “Unlessyouwant space.”
“Not even a little bit,” he growled. He threw his arm over my shoulder and tucked me tightly into his side. I relaxed into him.
Warmth rushed through me, which he ruined by giving me a noogie.
20
BENNETT
Stepping off the helicopter at base camp was surreal. We were in the northeastern part of the country, right on the coast, and would be taking boats out to where we would be camping for the next several months.
My stomach twisted with nerves and anticipation. This really was an adventure of a lifetime. I squeezed Charlie’s hand in a silent thanks. For so many years, my family had needed me close—especially Rosie. But now that she’d moved to Montana for part of the year, I was alone in Winterhaven most of the time.
Unmoored.
It was home, and I didn’t want to live anywhere else. But how much was home made up of who you loved? What happened when all those people left? What did it mean when the life you’d always imagined was not the life you were living?
I’d wanted to blame other people for that—my dad, my mom to some degree, and Lily the last few years. But I was the one who’d allowed my life to become too insular. To fall into a routine that didn’t allow for any newness in experience or relationships. My default had always been friendliness, but thelast few years I’d turtle-shelled myself into pushing everyone away.
“This is amazing!” Charlie yelled over the helicopter blades above us as we pushed through the wind toward the tent set up in the distance. Her hair whipped wildly around her face, coming out of the braid she’d put it into while we were waiting for the helicopter to pick us up.
Man, she was beautiful. In a little sister’s best friend kind of way.
“It is!” I agreed, blinking into the distance to clear my thoughts. “Thank you!”
“For what?”
For breaking off your engagement so I could do this with you.Probably too soon to say that. “For applying. We’re going to have so much fun.”
We got far enough away from the helicopter that we didn’t need to shout anymore, and her grip tightened on my hand as we walked up to a group of people sitting and talking around a couple of plastic folding tables.
They looked up as we approached, and I recognized one of them. Carson Tiner. The legend from season four. He stood, and I was surprised to find that he was the same size as me. On television, he seemed larger than life. His brown hair and beard were streaked generously with gray. His eyes crinkled when he saw us.
