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  “That depends,” I purred. “Are you going to finish what you started?”

  Charlie looked around the bathroom, then put a hand over her chest in mock offense. “Why, Reagan, this is a public restroom. What kind of girl do you think I am?” She walked toward the door, turning around after placing her hand on the knob. “Now, come on. We need to get back to family dinner.” Her smile grew and I knew exactly what she was doing. She was teasing me, and damn, was it working. She waited until I was beside her to finally turn the doorknob, pausing just before opening it to whisper in my ear. “Don’t worry. We just have to get through dinner and fireworks. Then we can make some fireworks of our own.”

  ***

  Just dinner and fireworks. It sounded much simpler than it actually was. Even though she had kept her hands off of me since leaving the bathroom, the desire in her eyes every time she looked at me was just as torturous. By the time we were finally alone in her bedroom, I wanted nothing more than to rip her clothes off. Except when Charlie attempted to do just that, I put a hand up to stop her. “I’ve never been this turned on in my entire life. Which is exactly why I think we should take our time. I want to take full advantage of this.”

  The sweet smile on Charlie’s face was enough to convince me that this was the right choice. I led her to the foot of the bed and paused to run my hands up and down her sides. After dinner, we had both changed into sweats, but that didn’t quell any of my attraction toward Charlie. If anything, I just found her even more attractive in a T-shirt and sweatpants. I bent my head down so I could place kisses along the V-neck of her T-shirt, then ran my tongue from her chest up to her neck, stopping to lightly suck on her pulse point. The soft moan Charlie released was more than enough to encourage me to keep going. I continued my path along her jaw as I let one hand sneak under her T-shirt, reveling in the firmness of her stomach that was pulsating slightly due to her rapid breathing.

  I gasped when both of her hands went under my shirt, fingers pressing into me firmly as they burnt a path toward my bra. Instead of attempting to remove it, she ran her hands over the fabric and squeezed.

  “God, how does this feel so good fully clothed?” I moaned.

  Charlie simply smiled in return, pressing her lips into mine. As soon as the kiss deepened and our tongues met, the desire to go slow began to dissipate. I moved my hand to the bottom of her T-shirt and began to pull it off of her. “This needs to go,” I urged between kisses, backing away only to get it over her head, then letting it float to the ground. She made quick work of my shirt as well and soon our naked torsos were pressed against each other. We both moaned as I allowed my hips to roll along hers. If this continued much longer, I feared I might come while almost fully clothed. I felt like a teenager feeling a girl up for the first time, instead of a 26-year-old woman with plenty of sexual experiences.

  I pulled back to look into Charlie’s eyes and pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. As always seemed to be the case with Charlie, my breath caught in my throat from the view. “Charlie—I like you… a lot,” I admitted. Now I even sounded like a teenager, but what was I supposed to say? It was too early to feel more than that. Wasn’t it? Even though it didn’t feel like it, we had known each other less than three weeks. It was way too early to even like her this much, let alone...

  “I like you too, Reagan. So much. It’s… never felt like this before.”

  “The sex?”

  “The anything.”

  I dropped to my knees and started kissing Charlie’s stomach to keep myself from saying words I might end up regretting. Her small gasps encouraged me to continue my path. I reached up to unclasp her bra as I ran my tongue just below the waistband of her pants. I moved my hands down, removing her pants and underwear in one swift motion. Charlie quickly stepped out of them and kicked them across the room. Once she was naked, I couldn’t resist anymore. I ran my tongue over her as I let my hands drift back up her stomach. Charlie moved her hands into my hair as I continued to give attention right where she needed it. I was met with not-so-subtle moans in response. As much as I didn’t want to, I pulled back. “Bed. Now,” I commanded while pushing Charlie back onto it. Once she was lying flat, I tossed a pillow at her. “I think you might need this.”

  Charlie knew exactly what I was getting at and put the pillow over her mouth. I continued what I had started and was encouraged by the muffled noises that were even too much for the pillow to contain. When I dove my tongue inside of her, she instantly lost control, writhing below me as the orgasm took over. I waited for her body to still, then placed one light kiss on her hip before bringing my body up so we were face to face.

  Charlie’s breathing was heavy as she struggled to push out words. “Reagan… That was… You are… Shit.”

  I chuckled at her rambling, but my laughter quickly subsided as she flipped us over so she was on top of me, removing the rest of my clothes at record speed. As she began kissing a path down my body, I knew it wasn’t going to take much. I was right. A few simple swipes of her tongue and my hips were bucking as I whisper-screamed Charlie’s name. She held me tightly as I recovered, the gentleness of her touch almost enough to make me cry. As my breathing steadied, she crawled up the bed so she was lying beside me. Neither of us said a word, simply gazing at one another while Charlie ran a hand through my hair. My heart was beating erratically, but I knew it wasn’t from the sex. It was from this moment which was somehow filled with more tension and electricity than sex alone could ever be. I kept quiet, worried about what I might say if I actually spoke.

  Charlie opened and closed her mouth a few times before any noise came out. When she finally spoke, her words surprised me. “Go on a date with me.” The confusion must have been apparent on my face, because Charlie chuckled and shook her head. “I know I probably sound crazy right now, given our circumstances, but I’ll find a way to make it happen. I can’t guarantee it will be tomorrow or even this weekend, but I really want to do this. As much as I enjoy what we’ve been doing, I want to spend some private time together that doesn’t just involve ripping each others’ clothes off.”

  “There is nothing I would enjoy more than going on a date with you, Charlie Miller.” And that right there was the understatement of the century.

  Chapter 8: Charlie

  Over a week had passed since I asked Reagan to go on a date with me but the chance to sneak away had yet to present itself. With the arrival of my dad’s other brother and his wife and kids, family time had almost tripled. When my dad declared Saturday night was going to be boy’s night out so all of the men could go to a bar to watch some big boxing match, I jumped on this opportunity.

  As my mom and I set the table for Saturday morning brunch, I used this as my opportunity to move forward with my plan. “So, Mom, I know the guys are doing their thing tonight and you probably wanted all of us girls to spend time together, but it turns out some of the girls I cheered with are getting together tonight. Do you think it would be okay if I did that instead?”

  The wide grin that spread across my mom’s face confirmed that I had chosen the correct lie. She loved when I hung out with the cheerleading girls. Even though she would never acknowledge it, I think my mom noticed some of my tomboy tendencies and thought spending time with the very feminine group of former cheerleaders would have a positive influence on me. “I think that sounds wonderful, sweetheart. We will miss you, but everyone will certainly understand.”

  “I was also wondering if it would be cool if I asked Reagan to come with me. I just thought it would be nice for her to meet some of the girls.”

  My mother’s smile grew even wider with this suggestion. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. I love how well the two of you are getting along. You already seem like sisters. Now Jamie just has to make that official.”

  I turned away so my mom wouldn’t see me cringe. If only she knew just how unsisterly we actually were.

  As soon as we were done setting the table, I went to find Reagan so I cou
ld tell her the good news. I found her sitting on the back porch, laughing with Jamie. God, she was pretty when she laughed. Correction: she was pretty all the time. She was downright stunning when she laughed. The familiar feeling that I had grown used to since meeting Reagan settled in the pit of my stomach when her eyes met mine.

  “Charlie! How’s it going?” She kept her voice calm and collected, but it seemed to me her face lit up a bit at the sight of me standing in front of her. I hoped it wasn’t just my imagination playing tricks on me.

  “It’s going well. Thanks, Reagan. I actually came out to see if you wanted to go with me to hang out with some of my cheerleading friends tonight. If you remember, I mentioned it about a week ago. I told you I would figure out a time to make it happen. Well, it can happen tonight, if you’re up for it.” I hoped I was conveying the actual message, without giving anything away to Jamie.

  “You came out to ask me that? Is that so?” Reagan gave me a sly smile. “As I told you when you first mentioned it, there’s nothing I would enjoy more. I’m definitely in.”

  So, this was happening. I was going on an actual date with Reagan Cooper. Now would be an excellent time to breathe, Charlie.

  I let out the breath I had been holding and returned Reagan’s smile. “Perfect. We’ll leave at six. We’re getting dinner with them, but it’s nothing fancy. Jeans are fine.”

  “I can’t wait.”

  ***

  Due to our impending date, the day seemed to drag by, but none of that mattered when six o’clock finally came. Reagan was worth the wait. Seeing her in those tight black jeans and white V-neck T-shirt with her brown hair curled and dark eyes emphasized with a touch of eyeshadow was worth the wait. I tried my best not stare until we were in my car and away from the watchful eyes of my family.

  Once we were driving, I let my eyes linger over her body as much as I could while still paying attention to the road. Watching her nervously run her hands over her jeans gave me the sudden urge to hold her hand. I kept one hand on the steering wheel and moved my other hand onto the middle console. I tapped my fingers anxiously while I considered my next move. Would grabbing her hand be too forward? We constantly held hands after having sex, but that was different, right?

  “Hey, Charlie?” My head snapped up at the sound of Reagan’s voice. “If you want to hold my hand, you could just ask.”

  I felt my face turning red. Before I could say anything, Reagan reached over and grabbed my hand, this simple contact causing my heart beat to pick up. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Reagan laughed as she playfully shook her head at me. “You’re something else. You know that, right? You have no issues feeling me up in the middle of a restaurant with your nana sitting across the table, but you’re nervous to take my hand when it’s just the two of us.”

  I shrugged my shoulders, unsure how to explain it to someone who was so out and proud to everyone in her life. “I guess hooking up is just easier than simple displays of affection for me.” I shook my head, realizing how bad that sounded. “That makes it sound like I’ve hooked up with a lot more people than I actually have. I’ve casually dated a few people. I tried the whole friends with benefits thing once and that was a complete disaster. But I’ve only seriously dated one person and even though I was out to my college friends, I was still extremely skittish in that relationship, always afraid word would somehow travel all the way from California back to my parents. I guess I just feel like I missed out on learning all the rules of dating along the way.”

  Reagan squeezed my hand a little tighter. “I’m so sorry your parents had that effect on you, even from so far away. I can’t imagine being in constant fear like that. For what it’s worth though, there are no rules of dating. Trust me. Anyone who says there are, is full of shit.” Reagan’s eyes went wide when she recognized where we were. “Are we going out on the boat again?”

  The giddiness in her voice told me that I had made the right decision and I couldn’t help but swoon over her child-like excitement. “We sure are.”

  Reagan met me at the back of the car and easily wrapped her arms around my waist. I surprised myself when I leaned into her touch rather than searching the area to make sure no one could see us. I let myself take in the moment and how good it felt to be close to her, before pulling away to grab the picnic basket I had packed in my trunk. As we walked over to where the boat was docked, Reagan hesitantly grabbed my hand that wasn’t holding the picnic basket. “Is this okay to do around here?”

  “Honestly? I’m not so sure. I don’t think many people come out here at night, but if someone happened to be here, there is a 99.9% chance that they know my family.”

  When Reagan tried to release my hand, I held on tighter. “But I’m enjoying this way too much right now to let that stop me.”

  The way Reagan’s face lit up from that simple confession was almost enough to tempt me to kiss her right out in the open as well, but I decided to save that for when we were a safe distance from land. She must have had the same thought, because as soon as I shut off the engine in the middle of the river, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me close to her for a kiss. When the kiss ended, she kept her arms wrapped around me. “Thank you for this,” she whispered into my neck, causing the hair on my arms to stand up.

  “Are you thanking me for the date or for getting you away from my family for the night?”

  “Mostly for getting me away from your family, but the date is a nice added bonus.” She let her eyes drift around the boat and land on the picnic basket, which I had sat down on the blanket and pillow arrangement I had set up earlier in the day. “I was also promised food sooo…”

  Once we were done eating, we arranged the blankets and pillows so we could lay on our backs and look up at the stars. This time, I didn’t hesitate to take Reagan’s hand. She sighed in response and snuggled closer to me. “You know, for a girl who claims she doesn’t really date, you sure know how to woo a girl.”

  “Maybe I just needed to find a girl worth wooing.”

  Reagan made a noise like she was about to say something, then went silent. I waited to hear what she had to say, but when the silence continued, I gently elbowed her in the side. “Got something to say?”

  “Huh?”

  “You seemed like you were about to say something and then stopped.”

  “It was stupid.”

  I turned to look at Reagan at the same time she turned toward me. “Nothing you have to say is stupid.”

  Reagan closed her eyes and took an unsteady breath. When she opened her eyes, there was something different in them. Something more. I just had no idea what that something was. She placed a soft kiss on my lips before locking her eyes with mine once again. “I feel connected to you in a way I never have with anyone else. Even as I say it out loud, I realize how crazy it sounds. There’s so much I don’t know about you, like what your favorite childhood memory was or if you want kids or even…”

  “Three,” I interrupted. Reagan tilted her head, awaiting more of an explanation. “I want three kids. If you only have one sibling and you don’t get along, it’s like you’re an only child. I don’t want my kids to have that. If you have two siblings, the odds are in your favor that you’ll get along with at least one of them.”

  “Hmm…” Reagan contemplated. “You make an interesting point, but what if two siblings get along really well and the other feels left out? Also, more importantly, what about Disney World? One person would always have to ride alone. That’s not cool.”

  “You make a great point. I’m changing my answer to four.”

  “I could get down with four.” Realizing how that came across, Reagan’s eyes went wide and she immediately looked back toward the sky. “Not saying that I’m planning to have kids with you. That would make me incredibly crazy. I’ve just always wanted a big family with whoever I end up with. You know. Way in the future. Man, I sound like an idiot right now.”

  I grabbed her face and forced her to look back ove
r at me. “Reagan, I feel it too. The connection.” I sealed my words with a kiss and willed myself not to think about raising four kids with Reagan, because as she pointed out, that would just be crazy.

  ***

  When we arrived back at my parents’ house, I was still on a high from the date. So much so, that I pulled Reagan over to the side of the house to share a post-date kiss. We both laughed against each other’s lips as we stumbled into the darkness, arms wrapped tightly around one another.

  “What the hell?”

  Reagan and I jumped apart at the sound of Jamie’s voice beside us. Anxiety overtook me, and I froze in place. Did I just out myself? Should I really be worried about Jamie? I mean, he might be gay, right?

  “Shit, Jamie, what are you doing out here?” Reagan pressed, sounding just as alarmed as me.

  ”I was peeing,” Jamie responded, a slight slur to his words.

  “We are literally standing beside the house. Why wouldn’t you go in the bathroom? Are you drunk?”

  In the darkness, I could barely make out the outline of Jamie shrugging his shoulders. “Obviously I’m drunk. I was out at the bar all night. I broke the seal hours ago so I’ve been pissing like crazy, and now all of the bathrooms are occupied, so I figured why not. It’s not like anyone ever comes over… wait a second! Why are we talking about this when I just caught the two of you kissing?” I watched Jamie’s shoulders drop as he turned to face Reagan more. “Wait a minute. What the hell, Reagan? I can’t believe you. Did you seriously out me because you can’t keep it in your damn pants?” Jamie’s voice got louder the more he spoke and at this point, he was pacing back and forth with his hands resting on top of his head.

  “Jamie, calm down. It’s not what you think.”