Page 43 of Charlie and Her Sweet Escape
While I was wearing his underwear.
Perfect.
Bennett came out of his bedroom, the scent of fresh soap and steam following him, wearing sweatpants that pooled at his bare feet and a T-shirt that clung to his still-damp chest. His shoulder-length hair was wet and looked like it had been finger-combed.
“Smells good.” He took a stool at the counter and grabbed one of the plates I’d loaded with pizza. “I’m starving. Thanks for heating that up.”
“I don’t think we should sleep together,” I blurted.
Bennett froze, the pizza halfway to his mouth, a comically shocked expression on his face. Or it would be comical, if I weren’t so mortified.
I dug myself deeper. “It’s just that it would be weird, right? I’m wearing your boxers, so like, where is the line, you know? But that’s not the kind of marriage this is, and I value our friendship, but I know that there are certain expectations when you get married, and …” I waited for him to interrupt my rambling, to cut me off and tell me what was going to happen like Greg would, but he didn’t.
Instead, he nodded and chewed through his bite of pizza slowly, every moment agonizing for me. Then he grinned. “You’re wearing my boxers?”
I groaned and dropped my head to the counter as I hiked up the hem of the oversized sweatshirt. “The ones with the rubber ducks on them.”
His laughter was contagious, and I couldn’t help giggling, even as I kept my forehead pressed to the counter, in case the universe decided to start working in my favor for once and suck me into it.
“Weshouldset boundaries,” Bennett said casually, still smiling when I finally got the courage to glance up at him.
“Right?” I glanced at my pizza in relief. Maybe I was a little hungry after all.
“You can wear any of my clothes at any time.” He cocked a half-smile at me. “We’ve already gone over how you have an open invitation for touching my chest.”
My cheeks could not get any hotter. Physically. Could. Not.
He reached across the counter and tugged my hands down from my cheeks. “You know I’m an affectionate person, but I’llneverdo anything you don’t want me to do. We can keep acting as we have been, as friends, okay?”
“Okay. That’s a relief.”Is it, Charlie?Then why did it feel so disappointing? “Sucha relief.”
“Good,” Bennett said. “What boundaries do you have?”
“Well, um. You can also wear my clothes whenever you want.”
“Thank you so much for that generosity.”
“My torso is a little more off-limits?—”
He snorted a laugh.
“—but I’d love to hold hands and be close still,” I continued as if my face wasn’t turning hot. “I mean, we kind of have to for the show, because we’re the newlyweds. If that’s okay. Only if you want to.”
“I always want to.”
My face was the burning fires of Mount Doom. “Great. Okay. Good. I’m glad we had this discussion.”
“Me too. I want you to feel free to talk to me about anything, anytime, okay?”
I took a tiny nibble of my pizza, just enough to know that my stomach was done for the day. “I’m going to bed.”
“Good idea,” Bennett said.
“The camera crew is going to meet us at the docks tomorrow morning at 9 to film our send-off.”
We both stood and had an awkward moment where I had to slip past him, but he moved with me one way and then theother. He took my arms and held them gently. Then he dropped a friendly kiss on the top of my head. “Good night, Chuck.”
Ilay awake for hours, trying—and failing—to fall asleep. My body was exhausted, but my brain wouldn’t turn off. What in the world had I done? I’d never been so impulsive in my entire life.
