Page 54 of Hope for the Best

Chapter 18

Hope Jones

I forgot to take my allergy medicine.

It was a stretch of an excuse since, technically, I could go without taking it. But I hadn't taken it that day, and I did have some of it back at the house, so it was as close as I could come to a legit excuse when I only wanted to be alone with Charlie. I was usually not very good at lying, but I had to say something. I hated that I was gone when he got back to the house, and I was so happy to see him coming out there on the boat alone. I jumped off of the cliff even though Sophia wasn't ready for me to, and I swam straight to his boat instead of the boat I had gone there on.

Sophia eventually jumped and I yelled out to cheer for her which made me shake the boat.

"I'm sorry," I said, steadying myself on Charlie's arm. He looked straight at me when I said that, and our eyes locked in spite of the fact that he had on sunglasses. They were transparent enough and it was bright enough outside for me to see his eyes. We were shouting distance from the Morgan's other boat and there were several other boats around—otherwise I would have hugged him, kissed him, and greeted him like I wanted to. He had come there for me, and I was relieved to see him.

Last night had been so surreal that I doubted myself and wondered if it had all been a dream. But now that Charlie was here and we were together, I knew it was a reality. Charlie was my new reality. AJ yelled something, and it took me a second to figure out that he was talking to us.

"I will!" Charlie yelled, speaking to AJ. He looked that way, smiling and waving easily. "If she wants to come back," Charlie added, yelling and smiling at his cousin as he moved toward his place near the back of the boat.

"What'd he say?" I asked, quietly, as I moved back there with him.

"He said for me not to forget to bring you back."

"You can do whatever you want," I said. I smiled at him like it was a casual statement, but I was serious.

There was room for four in the boat. Two single seats were both available, but I took the fourth seat, which was a shared bench seat with the captain. I got settled next to Charlie, not caring if anyone in the other boat noticed or cared about our seating arrangements. I figured it was logical that I would sit next to him even if I wasn't in love with him, though.

Charlie took off, pulling away from the bluff and heading toward the Morgan mansion.

It only took a minute for us to travel far enough to make it out of view from the others. I turned and looked over my shoulder to make sure no one could see us, and then I reached out to hold Charlie's hand. He held the steering wheel with one hand and grabbed me with the other. He brought my hand up to his mouth and kissed it.

"I missed you," I said, speaking loudly over the sound of the boat motor.

"I missed you," he said. He held my hand close to his chest as he navigated the waters. "Did you really forget something at the house?"

"No," I said easily, assuming he knew. "I was thinking of an allergy pill, but it was a fake excuse."

He looked at me and grinned. "I was hoping you would say that," he said.

I turned and rested my head on his shoulder, looking out at the lake as we made our way toward the house. We rode in silence for a minute while Charlie held onto my hand. I was focused on the sensation of it all—the wind on my face and the feeling of his hand around mine.

"Did you beat my cousins climbing up that rock?" he asked.

"We were just messing around," I said. "We were trying to get those Chicago girls to climb up there and jump in. It was fun, though. I live on this lake, and I go out and swim, but I never go climbing."

"I know. You use Landon's plastic rocks instead."

"Yeah, even Landon has been trying to get me to climb real rocks."

I heard the boat motor change in pitch and I felt the boat suddenly slow down as Charlie adjusted the throttle. We came to an almost instant stop, and I laughed and held onto him as we leaned forward. He regarded me with an easy half-smile when I turned to stare at him.

"Why'd you stop?" I asked. We were still a mile from the house, and I looked around, wondering what I missed.

"Landon," he said, shaking his head. "I don't mean to let it bug me that you spend so much time alone with Landon. I know he's your friend."

I leaned in and kissed Charlie. He was precious. I had done a ton of thinking since I saw him last, and all of it led to one answer. I loved Charlie Morgan with all my heart. I loved the crooked broken road he took to get to me, and I loved the man he was because of the journey he had taken down that road. I also loved that he was jealous. I wanted him to be boat-stoppingly jealous of me, and I kissed him because of it. I kissed his mouth several times softly before pulling back and smiling at him. I couldn't help but smile. He was so perfect and handsome that I smiled just being near him. I couldn't believe I was sitting there, on a boat, touching and kissing him at my own discretion.

"You're really right though," I said. "I wouldn't love it if you had a female friend who you always spent time with—even if it was innocent. That would still be kind of annoying to me. I'll have Stacy go over there with me, or I'll figure something out where she's with us most of the time when we're hanging out. She likes him, anyway. I know she'd want to go over there with me."

"You don't have to make special arrangements," he said. "I hate you being over there with him, but I trust you." He shrugged. "I was mostly just stopping the boat to get a second alone with you."

"I haven't stopped thinking about you all day," I said. "I thought about what you said last night and how I reacted, and I'm so sorry. I should have told you that you're my biggest crush, Charlie. You're my dream guy. Just looking at you makes my heart… here, feel it." I took his hand and rested his fingertips just under my jaw in the sensitive flesh that I knew was vulnerable and pulsing. He rested his fingertips there for a few seconds and then I looked at him, wondering if he felt it.

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