shut it down for safety reasons. But the bar says they have all the insurance for it, so it shouldn’t matter.”
“Wow,” Denise said. “That sounds like a fun bar. Dangerous, but fun.”
I watched them talk back and forth. I purposely withdrew from the conversation to see what would happen. Charlie made her laugh more than once, and he slowly became more confident.
It was like I wasn’t there at all.
When Denise left, Charlie carried the dishes to the sink and started to wash them, along with the pots and pans.
I walked into the kitchen and crossed my arms over my chest. “Okay, what the hell was that?”
“What?” He scrubbed the dish then set it on the counter.
I placed it in the dishwasher and waited for the next dish to be put away. “Don’t what me.”
“I was just talking to her.”
“Yeah, but you were interesting and charming.”
He scrubbed the next dish before handing it to me. “I’m always interesting and charming.”
“Yeah, but never around her. You were finally yourself. What’s up with that?”
He worked on the next dish and didn’t say anything.
“Charlie?”
“Kat is still dating Nathan, so I thought…I don’t know.”
“You’re gonna go for her?” I asked in surprise.
He turned off the faucet, dried his hands, and then turned to me, leaning against the counter. “Sometimes I think she could be into me.”
“Because?”
“We ran into each other a while ago, and…I don’t know. I can feel it.”
I didn’t tease him because this was important to him, but I didn’t believe that. “Are you sure you’re not projecting your feelings onto her?”
“Maybe. But you saw us at dinner. We click.”
“Charlie, you just had a conversation. That’s it.”
“But we have chemistry. Just ask her—”
“I told you I’m staying out of this.” I raised both hands. “Switzerland, alright?”
He crossed his arms over his chest. “I waited six months after our breakup to do anything, and Kat’s seeing someone, so I think I’m going to go for it. I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of going on dates just to get laid. I actually like Denise, so I should do something about it instead of doing nothing like a pussy.” He got riled up quickly, like this had been bothering him for a bit.
“For the record, I never told you not to do anything. You made that decision entirely on your own.”
“But I know the predicament it will put you in.”
“Well…it’s shitty. But if you feel this strongly, you can’t just turn that off. You can’t not do what you want to keep someone else happy. I mean, that’s no way to live. And you have waited long enough, Charlie. I don’t think it matters how long you do wait. It will hurt Kat either way.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “Does she still have feelings for me?”
I couldn’t betray her confidence. “Even if she did, I would never tell you. If you’re going to do this, you just need to figure out the best way to go about it.”
“Which is?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t got a damn clue, Charlie. There’s really no answer here.”
“Yeah…” He straightened and ran his fingers through his short hair.
“Denise may not even feel the same way, Charlie. So, I would figure that out before you do anything.”
“Then ask her.”
“How many times have I said I can’t do that? I’m loyal to her, I’m loyal to you, I’m loyal to Kat… You’re gonna have to do this on your own.”
“What if I’m wrong, and she’s not into me?”
“Then we pretend it never happened. And maybe it’ll give you the closure you need to move on.”
He took a deep breath. “I hope I don’t need to move on…”
Selfishly, I wanted Charlie to drop his feelings because it was going to make my world extremely complicated if he didn’t. I was going to lose someone at some point, and I couldn’t cut out my sister or my roommate, so it would probably be Kat. But I didn’t want to lose my best girlfriend. I didn’t want her to be so hurt that she could never be around us again. I didn’t want her to hate my sister or my best friend. I didn’t want her to hate me for not telling her the truth. The odds of this going over well were slim, and I was really dreading that moment.
We walked into the room with the court, all four of us.
Denise looked at the guys on the court, who were already doing their warm-up by taking shots and passing the ball. Most of them