Those Who Wait

by Haley Cass

  Apparently, the last thing Charlotte needed wasn’t, in fact, running into Regan as she got a class of water; it was being accosted by Sutton’s little sister in the middle of the night while dressed only in Sutton’s sweater.

  Perfect.

  Chapter 15

  Alex had been the root of many embarrassing moments throughout Sutton’s life. Her childhood and teenage memories were filled with those little moments.

  However, her sister attacking her – her Charlotte in the middle of the night was beyond mortifying. She’d always been a light sleeper, and not only did she somewhat wake up when Charlotte slipped out of bed, but once she’d heard a thump and Charlotte’s semi-shouted words, she’d been wide awake. And nervous enough about what she was going to find that she ran out as fast as she could. Not even grabbing something to wear beyond underwear other than her sheet.

  And this, well, this had been one of the last things she could have expected to see.

  Holding the sheet together at her chest, she pressed her hand to her cheek in an attempt to staunch the furious blush, before pressing it to her forehead and rubbing. Of course this would happen. Just – of course. Tonight, the first night she got to fall asleep with Charlotte in her own bed, of all nights.

  She couldn’t quite bite back a tired sigh, tinged with embarrassment and exasperation. An exasperation that only Alex could bring out in her, really. “Charlotte, this is my sister Alex. Alex, the woman that you attacked is my friend Charlotte. Who you owe an apology to,” she quickly added, reprimanding in a tone that was almost too close to their mother’s.

  She hoped it would work enough to get Alex to do as she suggested.

  It was sort of strange, introducing Charlotte to her sister. Strange and still mortifying, because even though Alex knew about her sexuality, she’d never imagined something like this. Not to mention, Alex had never exactly gotten along with anyone Sutton had been . . . romantic with.

  Not that she and Charlotte were romantic, but – rolling her eyes slightly at herself, she shook her head and let her hand fall to her side.

  She bit her bottom lip as she watched Alex turn to face Charlotte, her gray eyes alight with a suspicion and amusement that Sutton could recognize. Her eyebrow winged up in indecipherable question as she tilted her head. “Hey. Sorry, about the peanut butter. And throwing you against the wall.” She shrugged affably, in a way that was natural and didn’t surprise Sutton in the least because it was so Alex. But, it was an apology. That was all she could ask for.

  “In my defense, though, you were skulking around my sister’s apartment in the dark in the middle of the night,” Alex added, decidedly unapologetically.

  Sutton groaned this time, her head falling into her hands. “Really, Alex?”

  Before she could make any excuses, though, she watched as Charlotte tugged the bottom of the sweater she was wearing in a quick, effortless movement to straighten it out and her shoulders drew back, tall and straight. Sutton felt her stomach drop in amazement tinged with attraction, because wearing only Sutton’s wrinkled sweater, with brown curls tousled and falling down her back, Charlotte looked somehow more dignified than most people could when they were dressed in formalwear.

  Despite the fact that she’d just been practically attacked in the middle of the night, Charlotte appeared effortless as she inclined her head. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, regardless of the circumstances.”

  There was the smallest tick in her jaw though. Sutton’s posture straightened in unconscious excitement and a bolt of surprise at the fact that she’d caught that small tell. A few months ago, she wasn’t sure that she would have picked up on one of the cues of irritation Charlotte tried to hide; she was so good at concealing them.

  “And I might add that it’s an interesting addendum coming from someone who was standing in the room in the middle of the night after apparently giving no notice of impending arrival,” Charlotte’s voice was light and jabbing, with an underlying seriousness.

  It made a slightly too excited feeling skitter down her spine, before she took note of the way Alex’s eyes glinted back. Before she had to intervene a different voice rang out, and Sutton squeezed her eyes closed because of course.

  “What in the hell is going on out here? It’s after one in the morning, and –” Regan cut herself off as she rounded the corner, and Sutton was already shaking her head at the way Regan’s eyes positively lit up in delight. “Oh, wow. It’s never what I expect,” she murmured, the last part mostly to herself.

  Sutton grit her teeth. “Go back to bed.”

  Her words went entirely unheard. “Alex, I didn’t know you were coming here tonight.”

  “No one did,” Sutton interjected again, irritation clear in her tone as it sat heavily in her stomach. But her best friend and sister were long used to her exasperation.

  Charlotte shook her head, expression placid, as she hmm’d softly but skillfully enough to draw everyone’s attention. “Regardless of the lovely time we’re all having, I do have work in the morning. It was quite the experience meeting you Alex, always a privilege to see you Regan. If you’ll excuse me.”

  The look she shot both of the brunettes was enough to quell anything other than Regan’s too chipper, “Goodnight!”

  But she walked by Sutton, close enough to brush their shoulders together. Sutton’s was still bare, but the sweater that Charlotte was wearing – her sweater, which shot a little thrill through her in spite of everything that had just happened – was soft and warm now. She shivered, her hand clenching briefly on the sheet she was holding to herself.

  She couldn’t help but let her eyes trail after Charlotte for a few seconds as she somehow managed to stride back down the hallway. But the snickering that came from Regan and Alex had her snapping her gaze back to them, older sibling annoyance returning easily as she demanded, “Alex, what are you doing here?”

  Alex’s laughter tapered off as she threw her hands in the air, as if she was the put-out party. “You knew I was coming back to New York!”

  Sutton’s other hand came up to tug through her hair, impatience cutting through everything else. Because she did know that Alex was coming back to New York; they’d talked about it a few weeks ago, not to mention that they were leaving to go home together in less than a week. However, that wasn’t the point. “Yes, I knew you were coming back from London but what are you doing here, when I distinctly remember telling you that you couldn’t stay here?”

  She went to fold her arms in the stern way she’d taken to when scolding her sister over the years, then remembered her sheet and dropped her other arm back down while holding it in place.

  Alex’s eyes rolled at her, an exaggerated groan coming from the back of her throat. “Sutton, you know I just had to share a suite with my arch nemesis for three months, and I practically slept with my eyes open every night. I have nowhere else to go,” she insisted before picking up the peanut butter with as close to a sheepish look as Alex could manage.

  Sutton’s own eyes rolled back before she squeezed them closed.

  Even with a deep breath, her shoulders were still rigid with frustration as she reminded, “Your company pays for apartments for you to stay in when you’re here for training. You literally have a home paid for to go to.”

  Sutton knew because when her sister had been recruited, she’d bragged for days about her “sweet setup.” And she knew that the woman Alex referred to as her arch nemesis was legitimately awful.

  But that didn’t mean she should have to have her sister as a houseguest, either.

  “And what about Chris? You know, your boyfr-”

  Alex promptly cut her off, “Not my boyfriend,” she grumbled, because for reasons beyond Sutton’s comprehension, her sister would have an exclusive – by all accounts – relationship with a good guy, introduce him to their parents, and routinely stay with him when she was in New York, yet still refuse to call him her boyfriend.

  Sutton didn’t think she would ever under
stand her sister completely.

  “Besides, I was going to stay with him, but I was on a plane for over seven hours, I have to go to a training meeting in the morning, and I just finished a tournament; Chris is closing down the bar,” she added on, shedding some light. Chris, who worked at a bar and lived above it, so even if he wasn’t working late, it would have still probably been loud as fuck. “I’m tired,” her tone softened, almost petulantly.

  Which, oddly, was what made Sutton’s resolve weaken. Because she knew that the three month tournament in London had taken a lot out of her sister, and for Alex to openly admit that she was so tired to her, in that vulnerable tone – well, it made her feel the distinct protective feeling she got only when she was dealing with one of her younger siblings.

  Biting her lip, she let her shoulders slump in defeat. “You are not staying here for more than a single night. I mean it. Not after last time.”

  “Seconded!” Regan jumped in quickly, before shrugging unapologetically when Alex turned a betrayed look at her. “You made your bed, kid.”

  More aptly, Alex hadn’t made her bed. Hers, as in Sutton’s. Because last summer, Alex had dropped in on their doorstep, exhausted, and complaining about sharing her apartment with her arch nemesis, and Sutton had been unable to refuse her.

  Which had been an awful mistake, because it seemed that five years of not living with Alex let her forget how much they’d wanted to kill each other when they did live together. It had been a week of living with her sister before both Sutton and Regan had gone crazy and worked as a team to kick her out.

  Alex considered their words before humming and shrugging, placing the peanut butter back on the counter. “One night is all I ask.”

  Even though Sutton doubted it, she didn’t have it in her to argue anymore. Especially when they both knew her well enough to know that she’d already lost. “And you’re sleeping on the couch. No arguments.”

  Alex’s mouth fell open but before she could dispute the charge, Sutton adjusted the sheet around her before spinning around and throwing over her shoulder, “Now, I’m going back to my room. I’ll see you both in the morning.”

  She had to bundle up her sheet a bit so that it didn’t get stuck awkwardly around her heels as she quickly walked into her room, shutting the door behind her. She’d expected the lights to be off, for Charlotte to have climbed back into bed – the prospect of it had her excited, despite everything.

  Instead, her room was cast in a soft shadow as the lamp on her bedside table was on, and she had to blink for a few moments to adjust. When she did, she saw that instead of crawling back into bed, Charlotte was standing a few feet away. She was adjusting the hem of her dress even as her other hand was starting to tug on her heels.

  It had only been the span of, what, two minutes, tops? But Charlotte was already dressed and there was no way Sutton could possibly believe that she was getting dressed in that to go to sleep. Which meant . . . “You’re leaving?”

  She bit her lip after she heard her own voice – nerves and insecurities and confusion that she could feel inside seeping into her tone. But she couldn’t help it; everything had been fine, hadn’t it?

  Charlotte nodded, her hair glinting in the dimmed light as she finished slipping on her heels. “I’m just going to go, darling. Your sister is here and you haven’t seen her in a while.”

  But Sutton quickly shook her head, refuting, “I mean, no I haven’t seen her for a while. But I’m going to be seeing her all of the time when we go see our parents for Christmas. It’s not like we’re going to be catching up tonight.” She didn’t like the way Charlotte didn’t meet her eyes as she secured her earring, her stomach dropping so low with unprecedented disappointment she thought it was going to fall to the floor.

  Charlotte finally flicked her gaze to Sutton’s, teasing smirk in place. “No more bonding beyond her throwing me against a wall after assaulting me with peanut butter?”

  Playfulness or not, Sutton’s eyebrows drew together in consternation without her able to stop it, and she waved her hand in the air dismissively. “That’s . . . well, that’s Alex. Which isn’t an excuse! You know, she really is, um, she wouldn’t have intentionally hurt you if she knew we were friends. She drops in and out as she pleases; I’m used to it.”

  If Alex had been what caused this – the fact that Charlotte wasn’t going to spend the night in Sutton’s bed for the first time when she’d thought about it more than a handful of times in the last few weeks – she was going to be royally pissed off with her sister.

  What she’d said didn’t change Charlotte’s mind, apparently.

  She moved to stand right in front of Sutton, standing perfectly at eye level thanks to Sutton’s bare feet and Charlotte’s heels. Her hair was still tumbled despite the fact that she’d clearly run her hands through it multiple times, but it looked unfairly sexy. And she smelled like an enticing combination of her own perfume mixed with Sutton’s and just a bit like sex still.

  Sutton very much wanted for both of them to climb back into bed and to cuddle. Just how Charlotte usually did in her sleep, as Sutton had learned the first night they’d spent together. Every time they slept in the same bed without fail, she woke up with Charlotte curled up against her, and Sutton always let herself enjoy it for just a couple of minutes before she left.

  Her voice was doing that thing where it was soft but firm, leaving no room for argument, “Sutton, your sister is here. I’m going to go, and you can spend some time with her now or in the morning. I know you’ve missed her.” The look Charlotte gave her dared Sutton to disagree.

  She had missed her but Charlotte leaving in and of itself was so disappointing. Even beyond that, Sutton felt like something was off. Maybe she couldn’t say exactly why she felt like that, but the truth of it was sitting heavy in her chest. The fast turnaround of the night, the way Charlotte was ready to go, the way she hadn’t met her questioning gaze at first . . .

  “It’s almost two in the morning.” Uncertainty laced through her veins easily, and she tangled her hands in front of her, eyes searching Charlotte’s as she took a deep breath and asked, “Is everything okay?”

  She watched closely in the dim lighting of her bedside lamp, for any sign that Charlotte wasn’t telling her the whole truth. And for a moment, she thought maybe her expression shifted into something like a grimace, but then her face shifted into that beautifully quirked smile. “Of course.”

  Her hand came up and cupped Sutton’s jaw, her thumb rubbing lightly over her skin and Sutton couldn’t suppress her shiver. Charlotte leaned in and Sutton’s mind jumped in excitement to kiss. Kiss goodbye, which wasn’t necessarily something they did, because . . . well, the rules. Kisses were for sex. Not hellos and goodbyes, but at this very moment she wanted it. Badly.

  Then, though, the hand cupping her jaw gently tilted Sutton’s head to the side, and soft, warm lips pressed to her cheek and lingered. Lingered long enough that her eyes fluttered closed, and a sigh escaped her throat while her shoulders untensed a bit.

  When Charlotte pulled back with another stroke of her thumb over Sutton’s cheek, she was met with another soft grin. “I’ll see you later this week? For a strictly friend hang out, since tonight’s missed that mark.”

  “Okay,” Sutton murmured back, managing a smile back. “I’ll see you.”

  Charlotte, with her tumbled hair and clothes that were rumpled, managed to stride out of her room at two o’clock in the morning like the picture of class. Like she wasn’t leaving after a night of sex that she’d initiated. Like she wasn’t confusing the hell out of Sutton.

  Still feeling that uncertainty, tinged with disappointment, Sutton heaved a deep sigh. She dropped her sheet before pulling on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt to sleep in. Charlotte had said everything was fine, that she had an early morning. And she had just gotten off to a strange start with Alex, so Sutton couldn’t even really blame her for wanting to leave, she supposed.

  Besides, it certainl
y wouldn’t be the first time she read into things that weren’t there with Charlotte. Thinking something was going on now just because of a few fleeting expressions on Charlotte’s face and a feeling, well . . . that was basically meaningless, right?

  She quickly grabbed one of her other sheets from her closet and used it to make her bed, tossing the one that she’d been wearing into her hamper. Slowly, she climbed back into bed, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip. If something was wrong with Charlotte, she probably wouldn’t know what it was unless Charlotte told her.

  A huffed breath left her throat as she pulled her blankets over herself before reaching up to shut off her lamp, the room falling into darkness. Everything had been going so well . . .

  Despite her uneasiness, she turned onto her side, curled up in her covers, and closed her eyes to try to sleep. Everything was probably fine, she assured herself. Though she didn’t convince her own mind, she tried to force her mind to stop working overtime.

  She still had a final to take in the morning, not to mention her meeting with Dr. Martin afterward; Charlotte wasn’t the only one of the two of them with an early day.

  She’d only been settled back into bed for a minute – not even long enough to calm her mind enough to fall back to sleep – when she heard her door creak open. Her heart skipped a beat in excitement that maybe Charlotte was going to spend the night after all.

  Before that was proven wrong, as she felt her bed dip and heard a too-familiar groan of her sister. “I’m so jealous of your comfy bed.”

  Rolling her eyes, annoyance curling through her, Sutton reached out to fruitlessly push Alex. “I know, which is why I’m sleeping in it and you’re sleeping on the couch.”

  Her sister didn’t move an inch – Sutton supposed that’s what happened when your body was basically made of muscle – only to roll onto her side to face Sutton. From the limited view she had of Alex in the dark, she could see that her face was teasing. “Your friend sure left quickly.”