Page 63 of About That Pact

It was torture being so close and not spending time with her. He missed talking to her, missed making her laugh. Seeing her and not being able to do the things he loved with her was unbearable.

Maybe the only way to survive vacation with her was to actually spend vacation with her.

Okay, he hadn’t been up for winning any philosophical awards, but the reality was there was no way he could ignore her. Like Jason had quickly pointed out, they had both been miserable in the airport. If this continued, their sadness and pouting, more and more of their family and friends would notice and start prying for answers.

Charlotte had been on point about their families being involved if they were in a relationship. Well, one they knew about. It would only make matters between them worse. She might have been on the receiving end of the poor thing looks, but he would be getting the how could you glares. Family functions would never be the same.

He talked a big game about not speaking to her, but it wasn’t going to solve any of their problems. If they called a truce while on vacation, it would probably help getting over her. They could go back to rebuilding their friendship because there was no way he could survive without her in his life. He’d deal with all the consequences later. Besides, spending the rest of his life ignoring her was going to get old.

This vacation, spending time with her, was the best solution.

By the time Rafe got back to his room after playing blackjack with Jason and Nate, he had to scramble to get ready for dinner. Their parents had made one rule while in Vegas that all ate breakfast and dinner together. Anything between or after was free rein.

Five minutes to spare, Rafe walked into Hell’s Kitchen, hoping the name of the restaurant wasn’t anticipatory of the expected atmosphere of dinner with Charlotte. Everyone was seated, but Jason stood up.

“Take my seat,” he said quickly. “Charlotte badgered me to sit with the adults.”

“You are an adult,” she shot back.

Jason shook his head no and took the empty seat meant for Rafe next to Nate. He bet they were probably going to make plans for later in the night. Nate and Jason were notorious for playing the field, so it made sense. Rafe didn’t want to be excluded, though. Part of getting over Charlotte meant he couldn’t pine away for her alone in his room while the rest of them went out and partied.

“Whatever you two are planning, count me in,” Rafe said as he sat at the other side of the table next to Charlotte.

“Well, that was pretty quick,” Charlotte said with disdain.

Rafe glanced around the table, but no one else had paid any attention to her attitude. Everybody was having a great time and couldn’t stop talking about what the rest of the long weekend entailed.

“You can’t expect me to sit in my room.” Though, at one point, that was an option for him.

“I don’t expect anything from you.”

He couldn’t stop himself with his next comment. It was like she’d teed it up for him. “And you know I’m not quick.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “There was that one time.”

“How many times do I need to remind you, it was your first time,” he groaned.

“That wasn’t the time I was referring to,” she sassed back.

He paused, then smiled. “When we were at Will and Callie’s house. In my defense, it had to be quick. We were in their bathroom during what was supposed to be a double date for movie night.”

She sipped her white wine. “When we got back to their basement, Callie’s hair was all messy. I think all of us had taken a sex break.”

“There was no way we weren’t taking a break, not when we had been sexting the whole time.”

“It wasn’t so much sexting as it was me telling you I wasn’t wearing underwear,” she said low so no one else could hear.

Rafe scooted close to her and whispered in her ear, “Charlie, that is the definition of sexting.”

She pulled back a little so they were eye to eye. “So, now I can cross sexting off the list of things I’ve never done. How come you keep getting to be my firsts?”

Ten minutes into dinner, and she already had him tongue tied. He had no clue why he was the lucky bastard who got to give Charlotte her first experiences, but he didn’t regret it. The idea of her sexting someone else made him irrational.

She handed him a bottle of wine. “Your sister ordered wine for the table, so it’s good.”

Their waiter was ever the professional and took their orders while making sure everyone had their wine glasses filled. Soon after, their first courses arrived.

The chatter around Charlotte and Rafe continued. The ambiance of the restaurant was like being on a television set.