to silence him. “Being here with you has been the greatest moment of my life. There is nothing better than this.”
Pulling me as close as our two bodies could be, Charlie rested his mouth against my ear and laughed when I shivered against him.
“I wish I could keep you.”
I slept the deep, dreamless sleep of lovers who carry no worries—waking only occasionally to remind myself that Charlie was still with me, and to snuggle up more closely against him. As we drifted off into a world of sleep and stars, I felt his arms reaffirming their hold on me with a gentle tug. At some point during our unconsciousness, our legs entangled and snaked around each other as if the natural need to be together grew to be too much for them.
The sound of his soft snoring in my ear soothed me in a trance of my own. I could hardly picture doing this with anyone else during my lifetime. What had Charlie intended when he said I should get something better? Now I was confident that he wanted me as much as I wanted him, but there was still something holding him back, keeping his happiness at bay, and I would be damned if I didn’t discover its origins and obliterate it completely.
Chapter 11
When I awoke I fully expected to be greeted with some smart comment in a low southern drawl. I reached out with my eyes still closed, hopeful my hand would latch onto his, or that I might tease his hair before he was even awake. Unfortunately, none of these things came about as he was gone before I woke up, his scent still relatively fresh on his side of the bed.
I quickly brushed my hair into a bun-ponytail hybrid and headed for the galley. My only mission was to find Charlie and scold him for leaving me alone. I was only really aware of a few locations on the ship, and since the rec room seemed unlikely, I figured that hunting for food would be the next most logical choice. I could also feel my own stomach complaining with the occasional gurgle so I decided I’d head there first and take it from there.
Without any clocks around, it was difficult to tell what time of day it was. Judging, however, by the lack of anyone in the corridors, I guessed that it was mid-morning to early afternoon. I laughed a little as I jogged up the stairwell—only days ago not knowing the exact time (or at least not having access to it) would have made me freak out. Today it felt like the guess was good enough.
I was cautious about going into the galley by myself. If Charlie wasn’t there, then it would probably be pretty awkward. Luckily, he was already sitting at the cafeteria table—freshly showered and everything.
I spent a few minutes watching him through the bay windows of the galley doors. He and Yuri were laughing heartily about some jockey and a horse that seemed to cause them a great deal of amusement. Meanwhile, Polo was trying to find an alternative for coffee filters while simultaneously rummaging through the drawers and cupboards for some he swore he had.
Charlie and Yuri tossed the filters back and forth to each other while Polo’s back was turned. If I hadn’t known him up until that moment, I would have said he was an average man with the same amount of struggle as anyone else who was just enjoying the moment. His immature humor made him seem familiarly brilliant, casting a bright hue over him I couldn’t take my eyes off of. If I didn’t know any better, I may have guessed he was a newly freed man, basking in the carelessness that came with that epiphany.
I pushed open the door and ambushed the group, managing to grab the coffee filters in mid-air as they were being tossed back to Yuri.
“Here, Polo, look what I found!”
I looked down on the laughing duo and shushed them. “Really? Shame on you two.”
Charlie snorted. “You really want that boy havin’ caffeine in his system?”
I looked at the filters as I considered his argument. “That is a good point…”
“Addie! Addie! You found them! Oh man, I’ve been looking everywhere for those things! Where did you get them?” Polo rushed over and hugged me gratefully.
I was already beginning to regret my kindness.
Yuri laughed at my expression. “Let’s see if he can’t burn it again, ah?”