Page 80 of Clause & Effect
I’m jealous of the proximity she has to Charlie because all I want is to be the one talking to her. I want Charlie to tell me her secrets—not to tell Grace. I want to be the one next to her, holding her, laughing with her.
To be inside her.
At least that’s one thing Grace can’t give her. Wow I really have lost it. I shake my head.
“Is everything okay?” She frowns as she takes in the look on my face.
I know my thoughts are erratic, and when my emotions are high, like they are now, it’s almost impossible for me to hide anything from my face.
“Fine, everything is fine,” I reply briskly.
“Maybe if you have a slice of cake or donut, you’ll feel better,” she suggests saucily. “Your sweet tooth must be jonesing.”
“For you,” the words come out before I can stop them. Forget donuts, I want to lick her up and down.
I hate myself for saying them, but I love the look on her face when she hears them. She lights up and her face turns that sexy little shade of pink that I’ve come to adore.
“You just left,” she whispers.
I cock a brow.
“And?”
There’s enough heat coursing through my body to melt the north pole.
“Grace can hear you!” Her friend shouts out from the room. “Very loud and clear, sir!”
I let Charlie know from the look on my face how much I care about that.
“Can I call you back?” She asks softly.
I wish I hadn’t dropped her off so quickly but at the time I was worried about how attached I already was, and I couldn’t wait to create some distance between us.
Now I don’t know what I was thinking.
“I’ll call you after I finish some business I need to attend to,” I tell her quickly.
“Okay, then, I’ll talk to you later,” she smiles at me before hanging up.
Why am I devastated staring at the blank screen on my iPhone? Why do I feel like the world just ended? What’s this awful pit in my stomach?
What the actual hell?
“My God, did someone die?!” Jayson shouts out when he enters the room.
He rushes over to me in worry, looking panicked.
“What is it, man?!” His British accent becomes thicker when he’s nervous.
“It’s Charlie.”
I’m embarrassed for myself and from the look on his face I can tell that he shares the sentiment.
“You have it bad,” he says in shock. “Real bad.”
“I don’t know if I can handle hearing this right now,” I raise my hand and close my eyes as the whirlwind of foreign emotions course through my veins.
“Well, what are you going to do, Stetson?” Jayson looks serious all the sudden. “Are you going to keep her or let her go?”
