“Yeah,” I mumbled, sinking deeper into the couch. “Somehow.”
“Apparently, he came over,” Sierra teased, bumping her shoulder with mine.
Fuck! God, Charlie is going to hate me after this!
In the reflection of the TV screen, I spotted Charlie pausing mid-cut. I gulped and hoped that he would drop it and return to his normal bubbly self. I really didn’t want him asking any more questions that I couldn’t answer.
“Who wants cheesecake?” Charlie asked after a second. When the girls didn’t say much, he placed two big slabs on plates, walked over to us, and handed me one. Charlie plopped down beside me. “What are we watching?”
Heather yawned and stood. “We were watching this horror thing, but it got kinda boring.”
“Anyway, Steven is waiting for me. We’re supposed to go to dinner tonight,” Sierra said.
I followed them toward the door.
Heather placed her hands on Sun’s shoulders and squeezed. “And someone has a date tonight with a certain couple at Radiant! I’m going to help her get ready for it. A, you wanna come with us?”
I swallowed hard and looked at Charlie sitting on the couch, his fork sliding into the cheesecake to break off a piece. To anyone else, he looked like the fun, calm, and collected Charlie that everyone loved.
But he was gripping his fork a bit too roughly.
“I’m going to stay here,” I said, beaming at Sun. “But have fun. I want all the details!”
Sun blushed and hid her face in Heather’s shoulder. “You don’t have to tell everyone.”
“Yes, I do,” Heather said. “This is your first relationship. And with a married couple!”
Sierra giggled. “A married couple?”
“Sun snagged literally the two hottest people who attend Radiant,” Heather said.
“I’m jealous,” I played along, but it only seemed to make Charlie grip the fork harder.
Heather looped her arm around Sun’s and dragged her to the door with Sierra hot on their heels while trying to tug on her winter coat.
“We’ll see you later!” Heather called.
Then, the door swung closed.
I sucked in a sharp breath, unsure of what to say to Charlie. Talking about Derek—insinuating anything with Derek—really was going to screw me, if it hadn’t already.
A moment later, Charlie’s arm came around my shoulders, and he plunged his forkful of cheesecake into my mouth, the way he usually did whenever we had some dessert.
“How is it?” he asked, his upbeat self.
Though I could tell that he felt bothered.
I chewed and swallowed. “It’s good.”
“Want another?”
“No,” I whispered, peering back at him. “Are we going to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” Charlie asked.
“You know,” I said, shifting my weight from side to side.
Hell, I didn’t know whether I was talking about earlier today or Derek anymore.
