The Man I Thought I Trusted - E. L. Todd Page 0,36

too late.”

I nodded in agreement. “You’re probably right.”

He brought his beer to his lips and took a drink. “Carson’s been turning to you for comfort, though…that must be nice.”

I didn’t want Carson to be upset about everything, but I couldn’t lie about that. It was nice to be the first person she went to instead of Charlie. “It is.”

“And it’s nice for me because I have so much more free time on my hands,” he said with a chuckle.

“And what are you doing with this free time?”

He lowered his beer to the table and shrugged. “Nothing, actually.”

“And is that going to change?” This guy had the willpower to hold off for a long time, so how did he still have the strength to keep up that restraint?

He shrugged. “You think I should?”

“Only your dick can answer that question.”

He released another chuckle. “He and I never agree or anything.”

“Anything?” I asked incredulously. “I find that hard to believe.”

He grinned. “I guess I wanted to wait until Kat and Carson officially made up, but I have no idea when that will be.”

Now I understood why he and Carson were so close. They were both so selfless, always putting everyone else’s needs before their own. “Who knows when that will be or if it will even happen? You deserve to be happy, Charlie. Go for it.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, man. It’s been a long time…”

He stared at his beer for a while before he gave a nod. “Yeah, it has.” He brought his beer to his lips and took a drink before he looked across the bar, clearly thinking of something else. “Yeah…I think I will.”

“Good. When are you going to go for it?”

He shrugged. “Next time I see her…maybe.”

“Good luck. But I have a feeling you don’t need it.”

He turned back to me, a slight smile on his lips. “I think she’s into me, which has made this so much harder. But I guess the wait is over. I haven’t been seeing anyone for a while now, so that’s made it even more challenging.”

“That’s sweet, Charlie.”

“Or lame, depending on how you look at it.”

“If someone means something to you, the wait is always worth it.” Carson popped into my mind, the woman who was so much more than sex, so much more than all the superficial sensations of lust. I waited a long time for her, but I would have waited longer.

“Okay, now you’re lame,” he teased.

I shrugged in guilt. “Yeah, I’ve been pretty lame since I settled down.” I’d closed the doors on my playboy lifestyle and turned into a monogamous and committed man—and it wasn’t hard. I didn’t miss my past at all. It was just money and loneliness. The reason I wanted Carson to meet my rich friends was for them to understand why I declined their invitations to party. Instead of giving me shit about it, they would see she was a great woman and respect that.

“Are you going to ask her to move in?”

I stared at him for a while, surprised by the question. “Why do you ask?”

“Because it’ll be nice to get my apartment back. When I walked into the apartment the other day, she was watching some stupid reality show on the couch with dishes in the sink and shit everywhere. Be nice to have the place to myself again.”

I took a drink to suppress my grin. “You’re really selling it, man.”

He laughed. “That was a stupid thing to say, huh? I mean, she’s not all that bad…” He took a drink of his beer.

Even if she was a slob, it wouldn’t bother me. I was sure she would be different living with me, because we were partners rather than roommates.

“And I just want some privacy for Denise. I bring girls to the apartment all the time, but none of them have ever been her sister. So that’s a little weird. I hear you guys going at it sometimes, and I know she hears me, so…”

“Yeah, that would be weird.”

“So, I need you to take her off my hands.”

I chucked. “Your suggestion has been received.”

“You know I’m kidding, right?” He looked at me over the top of his glass. “No pressure.”

I loved having her over, loved fucking her first thing in the morning before I was even fully awake. We made dinner together in the kitchen as an evening ritual, and sometimes we watched a game on TV before we got nasty on the couch. I loved having her around. I wished I had her around