Page 80 of Runaway Pride

His eyes moved to another corner and caught a wall covered with magazine covers and posters of… boy bands? He only recognized a few. Some American, some Korean. This looked like…

Ateenager’sbedroom.

Charlie bought her house recently, which led him to believe she’d completely moved over her childhood room to her new place and left it as is. It was…cute. She didn’t want to leave the kid in her.

As she slept, Rick wondered how he looked in her room. Being large and coarse, he should feel out of place, but he didn’t mind the excessive girliness the room packed. The mattress was comfortable and smelled like Charlie. What’s not to like about it?

He thought about resting with her but decided to plan for dinner. Their verylatedinner. She’d gotten off work later than expected. When they arrived at her garage, food was long forgotten the second they stepped into the house.

Rick got off the bed and pulled on his boxers. He hiked down the stairs two steps at a time, whistling a tune he couldn’t remember the name of. Charlie’s kitchen looked new enough that he wondered if she even walked in the area at all. The countertops were dusty, and imprints of water droplets camped on every corner. Her pantry was virtually empty except for a box of pasta and two single bags of instant ramen.

At least she remembered she had that.

It got him wondering if she was too busy to even hire a maid. Even he had a cleaning crew who came over once in a while during his travels.

Rick went through the other cabinets, unlocking more empty spaces, save for one drawer of utensils. She had about enough bowls and plates for two people, and he found a space filled with pots and pans that looked brand new.

If he didn’t know any better, Charlie lived more like a bachelor than he did. She said she rarely cooked, so there was no need to have much dinnerware. Upon opening the fridge, it was another tragic surprise of emptiness. Cans of sparkling water still in its box sat at the top tier. A box of butter and blackish-looking tomatoes, or something similar, sat on the second. And on the third was a sad-looking sandwich half eaten and half-wrapped.

He grimaced, wondering if there was more he needed to help Charlie other than possibly cleaning out her kitchen. She didn’t quite exhibit too many signs of a workaholic, but was bordering there.

Sighing, he took out the rotten tomatoes and sandwich. There wasn’t much to throw out, anyway. Ordering delivery was the way to go unless he went to the grocery store at ten o’clock at night. The closest market was ten minutes away.

While weighing his choices, a series of beeping noises came from the front entrance. Before he realized, the doorknob twisted and pushed open. In walked his brother, dressed in scrubs, holding a large shopping bag.

The deer-in-headlights phenomenon flashed over both brothers, the two standing frozen in a face-off. The seconds ticked by before he was reminded of one particular fact.

What the…hell?

“You have access to Charlie’s house?” he growled. His brother could walk into his girlfriend’s house unannounced whenever he wanted to? This was his brother, who wasmarried, but Rick didn’t like the idea of anyone randomly barging into Charlie’s place.

Alex hiked up a brow before scowling, his scrutiny skating over Rick’s near-nakedness. “Andyouhave access tomore, it seems.”

Taking on his nudity in stride, Rick stood straight behind the counter and crossed his arms. “What are you doing here so late?”

“Sarah wanted to give back the clothes Charlie lent her, so I offered to drop it off on my way back from work,” he said, setting the shopping back on the bench by the foyer. “Charlie didn’t answer my texts when I asked if she was home. Looks like she wasdistracted.”

“You couldn’t just ring the doorbell like a normal guest?” Rick demanded.

“She programmed me a passcode since she first moved into this house, bro. If you’re going to get technical, thenIwas herefirst.” Alex crossed his arms. The two rarely fought, but their disagreements could get a little tense. “It’s my turn for questions. What the hell are you doing here? Although I have a few guesses.”

As Rick concocted explanations in his head, Charlie’s voice boomed from the stairs, catching the brothers’ attention. Her footsteps on each landing grew louder as she arrived at the bottom.

“Sorry for falling asleep on you, but I’m kind of starving now. What do you think of take out and having it in be-ed…” her sentence trailed to a whispering stop when she met them. Her lips formed into an O before she awkwardly fumbled with the neckline of her satin robe, doing a poor job hiding the fact that she was completely bare underneath. “Alex, fun to see you here.”

Alex blinked at her, then landed back on Rick, his expression unreadable.

“You two,” he began, pointing at them disapprovingly. “You’re hot, you’re cold. The whiplash is getting real annoying here.”

“I can explain,” Charlie defended, coming closer to him. “I didn't want to tell you, since things had been… complicated.”

Scoffing, Alex blurted. “Oh, that’s the reason? Not wanting to complicate things for me?” He stared at her, then at Rick. “My best friend! And my brother? You two didn’t even like each other!”

“Hey, no. That’snot true.” Charlie threw a finger at Rick. “Hedidn’t likeme! I was perfectly fine with him.”

“Well, it’s not likethat–” Rick had his own defensive speech, but Charlie cut him off.

“I know it’s unexpected, and I didn’t think it was going to turn out this way,” she said. “I mean, you knew I was a hot mess, pissing off so many people running away at my wedding.”

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