Page 137 of Betting on You

“Are you kidding?” I said, trying—and failing—not to smile. “Of course you can!”

“Settle your ass down.” She laughed.

“Sorry.” Relief swept over me like a wave.

The rest of my shift was better, now that I knew things might be okay with us. And when I gave her a ride home at the end of the night and she just launched into a story right away, as if nothing had happened with us, I was ecstatic. It wasn’t until we got closer to her house that she turned toward me in the passenger seat and said, “So have you talked to Charlie at all?”

Just hearing his name made my chest ache, and I shook my head and said, “He texts me, but I haven’t responded. I’m just going to ignore him until he disappears.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” she asked, and I was kind of surprised. After everything that’d happened, I would’ve thought she’d want him out of our lives forever.

“For sure,” I said, turning into her neighborhood. The sooner Charlie went away, the sooner I could stop wasting hours thinking about him.

Of course, that wasn’t really working for me so far.

“So do you want to hear about the fight?” she asked, turning in her seat and tucking her legs underneath her.

“Did they actually fight?” I glanced over at her, unable to imagine such an event since neither of them seemed like brawlers. “For real? Like a physical fight?”

I glanced over, and she was nodding emphatically. “The first time we all worked together after Applebee’s, those boys got heated. Charlie was quiet the entire shift—didn’t say a single word to either of us—and when Theo said something stupid likeSmile, sunshine, Charlie went off.”

“Went off?” I looked over at her and asked, “What’d he say?”

As much as I detested him, I didn’t like the idea of him angry.

Ugh. What was wrong with me?

“Eyes on the road,” she said, and I obeyed. She continued with “I think he said, like,Can you not talk to me, you stupid fucking asshole, which made Theo get all puffed up and goWhat the fuck is your problem, man,” she said, doing voices as she spoke.

“No way,”I said, in utter disbelief. Charlie was a smart-ass, a chill-vibes kind of dick. He wasn’t a yelling-in-your-face type of dude.

Or was he? Did I even know what really went on inside of Charlie Sampson?

I sighed because in spite of everything, I still felt like Ididknow him.

“Yep,” she said, and I could see her nodding out of the corner of my eye. “Then Charlie was likeWhy did you have to open your hugefucking dipshit mouth to Bailey, you gossipy little bitch, which made Theo push him. Then Charlie pushed him harder and shoved him against the wall.”

That made me slam on the brake as we came to a red light, staring at Nekesa as shock and worry and stress hit me, all at once. My thoughts were riotous as I tried to make sense of everything.

“This can’t be true,” I said, putting my foot back on the gas and attempting to drive responsibly while dying of shock.

And also stressing about Charlie’s anxiety, wondering how many TUMS he was consuming on a daily basis, which pissed me off because he didn’t deserve my worry.

But dammit, I justmissedhim.

I missed my friend Charlie, even if he’d been a total lie. I missed the teasing and the way he knew what I was thinking all the time and how comfortable it felt to justbearound him.

I’d never forgive him for taking away that comfort.

“I broke it up,” she said, “because I’m a peacemaker, but not before Theo said something likeYou did this to yourself, wagering on everyone like a fucking high-roller idiot.”

I shook my head. “Theo wasn’t wrong aboutthat.”

“Yeah, but then Charlie almost twisted his nipple off.”

That… was not what I expected, and I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye.

“Theo screamed—like full-on screamed high-pitched bloody murder in pain—as Charlie just twisted as hard as he could, and Charlie goes,You’re lucky I’m not violent or that would’ve been a punch.”

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