Oh, god.
My stomach tightens.
"I'm not-" my eyes flick from Charlotte to Asher. "Can we not-"
"Asher," Charlotte says suddenly, without looking at him but I can see her blue eyes are bright with mischief, "you don't mind, right? Girl talk."
He grins lazily and that does something to me I refuse to look into. "Please. Discuss away."
"So," she says, singsong, "this mystery guy of yours."
I stiffen. "What about him?"
She grins. "You're being weird about it."
"I'm not."
"You are," she insists. "Vague. Dodgy. All 'oh, it's nothing' when it's clearly not nothing. Tell me about him in bed-"
My mouth pops open, but Asher beats me to it.
"You know I'm still sitting right here, yeah?" he says lazily, one arm slung over the back of his chair. His eyes are bright - amused.
Charlotte turns her head slowly to look at him.
"You said you didn't mind. But don't worry," she says sweetly. "This part's for you."
I know that look. She's got something up her sleeve.
His brow lifts. "Lucky me."
No. Lucky me.It think sarcastically.
She turns back to me, lowering her voice just enough to make it feel conspiratorial - but not enough to exclude him.
"I'm just saying," she continues, "if you're doing the casual thing, you should probably make sure the guy you're seeing is actually capable of it."
My stomach tightens. "What does that mean?"
Charlotte shrugs, completely unfazed. "It means some people are built for casual."
Her eyes flick to Asher now.
"And some people," she adds pointedly, "absolutely are not."
Asher lets out a quiet laugh. "Wow. Okay. Is this my cue to be offended?"
She smiles innocently. "Why? It's true."
I glance at him.
He's still smirking - but there's something tighter about it now.
Charlotte presses on, clearly enjoying herself.
"You either don't care at all," she says, ticking it off on her fingers, "or you care way too much. No in-between. No chill. You would be horrible at the casual thing."
Asher clears his throat. Subtle. Controlled.
