by Santo, JC
“Wait, I have a negotiation with all this.” She gestures between the two of us. “No sex until Tessa knows. I’m having lunch with her today, so I’ll talk to her. Tell her we’re going to do this; I don’t want to start off as some big secret again.”
Even though I don’t like the idea of waiting, I can admire the fact that Tegan isn’t completely shutting me down. And she does have a point, if I want her to believe that I’m in it for real this time, I shouldn’t start things off as a secret, with anyone.
“What if she’s not okay with us being together?”
In all honesty, this is a question I’ve dreaded asking Tegan. I know how close her sister and she are. And I wouldn’t want to be the reason there’s a divide between the two of them.
Tegan ponders my question.
“Well, I guess if she doesn’t like it, she’ll have to work through that herself. I like you, a lot, Reed. And if you’re serious about wanting to try this, then I’m in. It has nothing to do with my sister, she needs to accept I’m grown and can make my own choices.”
“Alright, I can agree to that, but I have my own negotiation,” I stand directly in front of her and wait for her nod of approval, “There’s no fucking way I’m not kissin’ my woman whenever I want to.”
“I guess I can’t argue with that one.” She smiles innocently.
“Oh yeah? Good to know.” I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her against me, before I take her lips in a slow, soft kiss.
“One more thing,” I say against her mouth. “Don’t, call me Reed again. To you, I’m Charlie.”
“Okay.”
“Yeah?” I kiss her again.
She bites her bottom lip and smiles. That fucking look is like a weakness to me. So timid. So beautiful, and she doesn’t even know it.
“Yeah, babe.”
We make some plans to meet up later in the day and I drive back to where we left her car.
“So, I’ll see you tonight?”
She thinks for a moment before answering me.
“Oh, no, I can’t.”
My good mood begins to quickly diminish. I want Tegan all to myself tonight.
“What? Why?” I find myself asking harshly.
“I’ve got a date.”
“A date? What the fuck, Tegan?”
She smiles smugly. “Yeah, a date with this guy Charlie, I’ve had a thing for a while now.”
Her smile fades when she notices my gloomy-looking expression.
“Hey, calm down, it was a joke.”
Without a word, I grab her by the back of her neck and smash my lips to hers. Hearing her call me by my first name feels amazing.
It was always something that I resented. My mother named me Charles after my father, and that’s all I know of him. She only ever called him by his first name and never had anything useful to say about him. He was long gone before I was born.
Anyway, I guess it was used with such animosity in my mother’s house and then having so many foster parents refer to me as Charles, I developed my own source of resentment to my namesake.
Since joining the Navy, I’m always referred to by my last name, I’m not sure half my friends know my first name. And I can honestly say the same for them, I know Tessa and Jo’s but I couldn’t tell you what the J in J.C. stands for.
When Tegan says Charlie, though, I don’t feel angry or irritated by where I came from. I feel hope that things will get better. I feel like this Charlie can be Prince Charming.
Tegan
I didn’t want to go to lunch with my sister, hell, I didn’t want to leave Charlie’s apartment.
Charlie.
His first name has always been a touchy subject. I never called him by it, I could just tell when we first discussed it that he wasn’t okay with it. I knew it got under his skin for people to use it, that was why I called him by it at the bar; I wanted to get under his skin like he had mine.
It means a lot that now he asked me to call him that. I’m hoping that he’ll explain the animosity to me about it sometime. All I know is that he was named after his father, nothing else.
We never discussed his childhood or his life before the Navy. Again, I sensed there was some bitterness to it all.
I drive to my house and quickly change. I volunteered to pick up Tess for lunch. Something she suggested after complaining that Hunter didn’t want her driving anymore.
It seems Hunter has taken the overprotective husband/father-to-be role very seriously. From what Tess said at the baby shower, he overanalyzes everything the doctor says.
For example, she needs more rest. Hunter’s interpretation: She shouldn’t get out of bed at all. Or be sure to drink plenty of water. Hunter’s interpretation: Remove all soda, juice, and tea from the house so Tess’s only option is water.
Trust me, as a southern woman, I know the importance of having some sweet tea in the fridge at all times. He was in the doghouse for a while with that stunt.
I sent her a quick text letting her know I was on my way, so I’m not surprised she’s waiting for me outside on their porch. I am slightly taken aback when I see my five-year-old niece sitting with her, ready to go.
They skip and waddle to the car as I climb out to figure out what’s going on.
Sawyer rushes to me and throws her arms around my legs.
“Hi, auntie Teevan! I’m cited for our girl lunch!”
I look at my sister’s guilty appearance.
“I may have told her she can tag along,” she says over the car hood.
So much for talking about me and Charlie now. I know Tessa and I won’t get much personal space to have serious discussions with little Miss Nosey there.
I love my niece, but at five years old, she already holds the gossip title for our group. Poor girl just loves to talk, to anyone, about anything, regardless if it’s a secret or not.
Which is exactly how Marshall knew about my sister and his brother’s engagement before I did. Sawyer spilled the beans before they made the announcement that afternoon.
Luckily, I have a carseat already installed in the back seat of my car. And there’s no way I can say no to Sawyer.
I suppose the discussion about Reed and I will just have to wait.
Tessa and I originally planned to sit down at a nicer restaurant, however with a messy and somewhat loud five-year-old child, we decide on Johnny Rockets instead. The fifties style theme is amusing to Sawyer, and she loves playing with the tabletop jukebox.
She rolls her eyes when we have to be seated at a table due to her belly being too large to fit in a booth while Sawyer and I both giggle.
Tess is right at seven months pregnant now, and it’s obvious she’s over the pregnancy. She complains about the exhaustion, her weight, and all of the unpleasant side effects of pregnancy. Even if she hates it now, she’s more than entitled to complain a bit. Carrying twins cannot be an easy task and I’m sure this is the easiest part of it. Once they come it will be a non-stop job for my dear sister.
As soon as we sit, Tessa pulls out some weird kiddie tablet my niece is obsessed with and headphones, leaving my sister and I to ourselves.
We small talk until the waitress arrives to take our order. After she jots all of our preferred choices down, she heads to the kitchen.
“So.” Tessa releases a long sigh. “What’s going on with you?”
“I want to talk to yo—”
The sound of “Whatta Man” by Salt n’ Pepa interrupts me.
Glaring around the restaurant, I try to pinpoint who would have such an awful ringtone, when Tessa startles me with a question.
“Are you gonna answer that, Bug?”
Flabbergasted, I pull my phone from my purse that’s sitting on the floor. The whole time confused as to why my sister thinks I would have this ringtone.
My confusion deepens when I see that my phone is in fact ringing.
When I read the name of the incoming call, my confusion disappears and a smile breaks out on my face.
&
nbsp; “Hello?”
“Hey, babe, just wanted to see if you’re okay with going out for dinner tonight?” Charlie’s smooth voice echoes through the line.
“Uhh, I have some studying to do, but other than that, yeah.”
“Cool, don’t make any plans then, I’ll pick you up at eight.”
“Hey, care to explain the ringtone?”
“No idea what you’re talking about, babe.” I can hear the smile in his voice.
“Uh huh, sure. Okay, well I should go, I’m at lunch with my sister and Sawyer.”
“Oh okay, good luck, and I’ll see you tonight.”
With that, we hang up, and I’m met with a curious set of eyes staring me down.
“Who was that?”
“Nobody.” For some reason, I’m freezing up. Now is the perfect opportunity to tell her that I’m seeing Reed, that I like him and he’s finally showing the same interest in me. But I can’t.
I’m unable to add anymore burden onto her right now. Her plate is full with worrying over Sawyer and preparing for the twins arrival. She’s finally reaching the end of her enlistment so she can discharge from the Navy.
I know she’ll worry if I say I’m dating Reed—she doesn’t have the highest expectations of him. Whether or not people understand my sister’s and my relationship doesn’t matter to me. She looks after me as if she’s my mom, and I appreciate that. Granted, yes, there are times when it is infuriating, but I still see the value in having someone care that strongly about me.
“I have a question for you,” I say casually, although I feel anything but casual. “Why, out of curiosity, were you so against me and Char—Reed?” I catch myself before calling him by his first name.
She lets out a long sigh. “I don’t think Reed is good enough for you. He comes from a fucked up past, and I think he’ll carry all of that baggage into a relationship. Plus, there’s a good age difference between y’all.”
“Why is—was the age difference a big deal? Dad is like eight or nine years older than Mom.”
“I guess I never thought about Mom and Dad’s age difference. But Dad didn’t have all the baggage Reed has.”
“What kind of baggage? Everyone has mentioned this shit, but no one will tell me what it is.”
She steals a glance at Sawyer, ensuring that she’s still zoned in on her tablet and not our conversation.
Is there some long lost child or an ex-wife back home in Michigan that I don't know about? What baggage can he be carrying that is too much for me to handle?
Tess must sense my confusion.
“Did y'all ever talk when y'all had your little thing going on?”
“We did, but not about anything like that,” I answer her.
“Well, I can't say that's surprising. Reed doesn't talk about his past. All any of us know is he had a fucked up childhood. All of us assume whatever happened to him was seriously fucked up. And you don't need that in your life. You have a good head on your shoulders, you're Mom’s only hope for a college graduate out of us.”
Tessa dropped out of college after two semesters, and our older brother Tucker never went, he instead chose to run off and elope shortly after graduating and knocking up one of the cheerleaders.
“He’s just got a fucked up mindset from all of it. He doesn’t do love, Bug. He’d rather fuck any and every girl possible then move on when they get too attached. I love him, and many of our friends said he’s the male version of me, but he has issues for why he is the way he is. I just liked to have fun, it’s more than that with Reed.
I can’t say it doesn’t cut a little to hear, but I knew these things about Charlie. I heard them constantly while we were sleeping together. That was different, though. Even though I wanted more, I knew, or thought, it wasn’t a possibility. Now that we’re actually trying this dating thing out, I feel the fears of my heart being broken.
“I know I was probably overstepping my boundaries where all of that was concerned, but I was just worried about my baby sister.”
She says it jokingly, but I can't stand when she or any of her friends refer to me as a baby.
“I might be younger than you, but I’m not a baby, Tess. I know you want to look out for me, and I appreciate that more than you know, but who I choose to sleep with or date or whatever, is my choice. I hope that next time you’ll respect my decision and not interfere.”
“I'm sorry,” she says with watery eyes. “I didn't mean to, Bug.”
I lay my hand on top of hers, trying to give her comfort.
“No big deal. Olive you, T.”
“Olive you too.”
“Mommy, why you crying?” Sawyer damn near shouts. Her headphones are still over her eyes and, I'm sure, the movie or game is still going.
Tessa and I both break out in laughter, smiling at Sawyer. Leave it to her to lighten up any situation.
“So, I’m pretty boring except school and working in the coffee shop. Tell me what’s going on with those babies?”
“Things are good. The doctor thinks they’ll come early, though; he said it’s pretty common with twins. I’m surprised they’ve stayed in this long.” She rubs her hand gently over her bump as she talks.
As if on command, Sawyer’s hand goes to the other side of Tessa’s belly. It’s amazing how in-tune these two have become in such a short time.
Our food arrives and breaks up their little moment. We eat and chat more about the babies, school, and everything except Charlie Reed.
Tegan
Arriving back at Tessa and Hunter’s house, after a moment of persuasion from Sawyer and the promise of baked goods, I decide to hang out for a bit.
Charlie is running errands and I have the day off anyway, so what better way to spend the afternoon hanging out with two of my favorite people?
Sitting at the dining room table, eating my second sprinkled cupcake, my phone chimes with an incoming text.
CHARLIE: When’s xmas brk 4 u?
Me: I c u changed ur name n my phone.
CHARLIE: brk?
Me: Y?
CHARLIE: No reason
CHARLIE: …….
Me: Dec 16- Jan 7
CHARLIE: K. C U at 8.
I put my phone down, dumbfounded by his question. He’s up to something I know, I just have no idea what it could be.
I don't have long to ponder it, though; my sister is in full prepping mode. We've already organized the nursery, again—this makes three times now—since returning from the restaurant and now we’re making turkey day arrangements.
It’s coming up soon, and with Tessa being pregnant, we have to decide what the best logical plan is without causing her any stress. And I have to figure out how to tell my sister I’m bringing a date, more specifically a date she and her husband advised against.
“So it’s just going to be us and then Marsh for Thanksgiving dinner at Jeremy’s house.”
“What about J.C., Jo, and Reed? Are they going home?” I ask hoping by including Jo and J.C. in my question that it won’t cause any suspicion.
“Jo is going home to spend time with her mom, she’s not doing well at all. If I had to guess, I’d say this is probably her last Thanksgiving. I believe J.C. is going home to Georgia and I’m not sure about Reed. Hunter invited him forever ago, but with everything that’s gone on, I don’t know that he’d want to come.”
Hunter and Reed’s friendship has somewhat diminished since he caught Charlie sneaking out of my apartment all those months ago. Although they still talk, it isn’t nearly the bromance it used to be.
I make a mental note to ask Charlie about Thanksgiving when I see him tonight. The thought of seeing him gets me giddy with pent-up excitement that doesn’t go unnoticed by Tess.
“So who’s the reason for that smile?”
“Just a guy I’m kind of seeing,” I say timidly.
“Uh huh, details.” She stops whatever it is she’s doing in the kitchen and comes to sit across from me.
“I just started seein
g him, so I don’t want to get my hopes up yet. That was him that called earlier.”
“Oh, awesome, well you’ll have to keep me updated on things with him!”
“I’m sure you’ll meet him sooner or later.” Or you already have I silently add on.
I need to talk with him first, figure out how we’re going to play this situation. I know I was the one who insisted on telling my sister right away, but maybe waiting until after the twins have arrived would be a better option.
Is it irrational to think my dating Reed can cause her to lose her shit and go into labor early? Possibly, but it’s not a chance I want to take.
We finalize our Thanksgiving plans and Hunter arrives home. While the invitation was extended to me for dinner, time had gotten away from me, and I was due to meet Charlie in an hour.
Using study group as an excuse, I head home where I quickly change and freshen up my makeup. Ten minutes after I finish there’s a knock at my door.
I don’t expect to see him standing in my doorway with a bouquet of tie-dyed Gerber daisies—my favorite flowers—wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and one of his beanies.
The sight is enough to make any girl’s panties instantly soaked. Mine included. The man looks like sin in a tall glass leaning against the door frame. He really makes me question all of my morals with the naughty thoughts running through my head.
I rake my eyes from his Converse to those strong, denim-clad thighs then up past the black, thermal shirt and leather jacket, and finally to his face.
His chiseled jaw sprinkled with a five o’clock shadow begs for my lips. His full lips tempt me as he runs his tongue along the bottom one. When I finally pull my line of vision to his eyes, I’m met with green eyes gazing back at me. The gleam in his gives away that not only did he catch me checking him out, but he did a little ogling himself.
I’m rocking my skinny jeans and ankle boots with an oversized, off-the-shoulder, black top. My hair is straightened for once and I’m actually proud of how good my makeup looks tonight.
“Hey,” I whisper.
Why does this feel awkward?
Charlie places a small kiss to my cheek. Even he, the King of Cool, seems nervous.
