Could I handle never getting married? I’ve always wanted it, ever since I was a little boy. To show the world that I love this man so much, that we’re tied together forever.
“Listen.” Jane stands, collecting the dessert dishes from the table. “We’re going to head home. Nancy, Bill, would you like to come over for a drink?”
“Sure.”
They say goodbye quickly while I head to the sink to start doing the dishes. How did it go from having an enjoyable evening with everyone to this weird limbo? To worrying about what our future holds.
“Hey.” Brooks comes up next to me and grabs the sponge from my hand. “Can we talk?”
“Sure.”
I don’t look at him, staring at the bubbles in the sink.
“Look, Charlie. I don’t want to lie to you. Getting married isn’t in the cards for me. My marriage ended in disaster. Hell, I’m staying at your house because I still don’t have a place to live.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” Brooks grasps my chin and turns my gaze to meet his. There’s a sadness in his eyes.
“Yeah.”
Maybe. Maybe I’ve been lying to myself this whole time. Maybe Hunter was right. Not that I’ll ever admit that to him, but God, this feeling sucks right now.
“Charlie.”
“I’m going to go to bed.” I step out of Brooks’s hold. “I need to do inventory tomorrow at the bar, so it’s going to be a long day.”
“Okay.”
It looks like Brooks wants to say more, but he doesn’t. What could he say to make me feel better? He never lied to me.
Turns out I was just lying to myself.
So much for a merry Christmas.
Chapter Sixteen
BROOKS
A LITTLE SPEED BUMP
“Charlie. Are you ready to go?”
Pulling a sweatshirt over my head, I jog down the stairs to see Charlie laid out on the couch with a mug in his hand.
“I think I’m going to skip it tonight.”
“You don’t want to go paint ornaments together? It’s your night.”
I’m shocked. I know this is Charlie’s favorite night at the Tinsel Tavern. He loves that he can do something fun and at the same time raise money to help others that are down on their luck during the holidays.
Fuck.
Everything between the two of us is all muddled up.
Not being up for this? Charlie is up for everything all the time.
I’ve royally fucked this up.
