I hate you?” I rested my head against him “This has been, and statistically speaking, probably will be, the greatest adventure of my life.”
The moment I said it, I realized it was true. It wasn’t just something I was saying to bring him comfort, something to make someone else feel better. For once, I was having an experience of my own, and while it had been terrifying at first, it had also been a wonderful thrill. Charlie tensed against me. I was afraid I’d said something wrong, but I cut him off before he could ponder it further. “Remind me to thank whichever one of the guys it was who wanted coffee.”
He chuckled warmly. “You’re supposed to be seventeen, right?”
I laughed. “Yes, why?”
“Ya don’t seem like it.” He smiled.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
He paused; his smile lapsed into a frown. “Addie, you’re just a kid.”
“I might be young, but at least I can control my temper. You should be old enough to know better.”
“How old do you think I am?”
I looked up at him and pretended to examine his face. Truthfully, I had already spent numerous moments considering this question.
“I’m not sure. Enlighten me.”
It was obvious he was indecisive about whether or not he wanted to answer. I was about to remind him that when I got home I had every intention of doing the most extensive research on him available.
“Twenty-nine,” he said finally.
“Hmm.” It was good to know that I hadn’t been too far off.
He laughed a little, although it sounded a little uncertain. “You probably gotta set an age maximum for your beaus. I bet you start turning them away around twenty-five just to narrow ‘em down.”
I hit him on the arm, although it wasn’t with much effort. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m not the sort of girl that has guys.” I felt the blush creeping up in my cheeks and cursed myself. “I’ve never had any guys.”
“That I ain’t believing.” Vigorously, he worked to shade in something on the sketch. “Not possible…” His pressure on the paper became intense enough to break the point. “Your old man and brother probably killed more men than me tryin’ to keep ‘em away.”
I pretended to look at something on the wall, but really I was concentrating on getting my blush under control. From the corner of my eye I could see him smiling, which was doing nothing to help my cause, and that only gave me more difficulty concentrating.
It was something of an oddity to think that Charlie found me attractive. I considered that maybe he was putting me on, but I had caught the way he looked at me and didn’t think he could fake a reaction like that. While I was nothing much to look at, Robbie’s friends had shown some interest in me over the years, much to Dad’s distress. But unlike girls my own age, I hadn’t had much interest in socializing with people. The only solace I had ever really known I got from books and studying. Not knowing how I felt about something was like being in a foreign country—exciting and scary at the same time.
All at once the sound of the pencil snapping interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to Charlie. He threw them across the room. In one straight motion they hit the wall.
“I’m not, I—” He swallowed hard and closed his eyes. It was like watching a man drown. I reached my hand out and tried to touch his forearm, but he flinched away. I was beyond hurt.
“I’m a bad person, Addie. You shouldn’t be so good to me.”
I felt my heart stiffen. To some extent he was right and I knew that.
I did know that, right?
“Well, I don’t care, I’m going.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Bye.” It was hard to keep serious through my laughter.
“Get. Back. Here.” The words were almost grit through his clenched teeth.
I just laughed and ducked under his arms, which were blocking the door. I think we were both shocked I managed to evade his grasp, but he was behind me, quickly trailing me with long strides.
I began a full on jog ahead of him and he chased after me willingly. It wasn’t unlike two days ago, only this time I was endeavoring to let him catch me.
“This ain’t a good idea!” He was only a few steps behind and I anticipated the moment he would reach out for me. That realization within itself gave me a sense of glee,