Page 82 of Betting on You

That made me start laughing, all by myself in the dark. I texted:Can we be serious for two minutes?

Charlie: Doubt it but I’m listening.

Me: Is there anything I should know about you—or we should know about each other—as fake boyfriend/girlfriend?

Charlie: My favorite thing about you is the way you always bite the inside of your cheek when I tease you.

I made a noise in my throat and texted:what???

Charlie: For real. It’s like you don’t want me to know I got to you. But Glasses—the minute I see your move, it’s like the gauntlet has been thrown and I can’t stop until you’re smiling at me.

Another noise—something like a squeal—emanated from me, unbidden.

Because that was an incredible answer.

I tried to think of a snappy retort, some sarcastically charming something, but I couldn’t come up with anything.

What were words again?

I gasped when my phone buzzed.

Charlie:……? No response?

I held the phone, but literally had no words.

Charming Charlie had rendered me speechless.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINECharlie

Goddammit.

I stared at the phone, waiting for Bailey to respond and wondering when in the hell I’d lost all common sense. Had I seriously just admitted to the one person in the world that didn’t mindfuck me on a regular basis that I liked making her smile?

I was a moron.

Yes, Charlie, you should absolutely admit that you like making her smile. That is a brilliant way to ensure your coworker exits your life.

The phone lit up in my hands.

Bailey: Well my favorite thing about you is the way your voice gets deep and crackly when you’re tired.

Well, shit. I rolled over, the bar of the pullout sofa totally digging into my back, and I texted:The only thing you like about me is my voice??

Bailey: Not what I said. I said it’s my FAVORITE thing, because you’re relaxed and mellow when your voice gets like that. Your edges soften a little.

My edges.

I wasn’t sure how she knew me so well, how she’d somehow always seen me.

I spent most of my time feeling like everyone in my life didn’t get me, yet there was Glasses, seeing right through me.

Bailey: Should I have a pet name for you?

I smiled in the darkness, wondering how best to irritate her.How about King?

Bailey: Gross

I pictured her eyebrows scrunching up as I texted:Lover?

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