I feel his hand slide into mine and he rests his head on my shoulder. “It feels longer than a week,” he says.
“Hmm?” I ask, looking down at him.
“Since I came to stay with you.”
I rub my hand up and down his arm and rest my cheek on his hair. “Don’t regret it yet?” I tease, and he chuckles.
“Not for a second,” is his reply.
Me neither, sweet boy. Me neither.
ChapterEight
CHARLIE
Paul and I make dinner together that evening, and he doesn’t hesitate to touch my shoulder, or playfully nudge me over with his hips when I’m in his way, or press a kiss to the side of my head when I say something that makes him laugh.
After dinner we sit on the couch together, me curled up beside him with the laptop on his lap as we look up the possibility of me getting a copy of my birth certificate and applying for a job. If I can work, I’ll be able to get out of the house and not be home alone all day, make money to pay for my own GED, and maybe even save up enough that I can eventually pay him back for everything. Or at least some of the things.
“It looks doable,” he says as he reads, his sexy as fuck glasses perched on his nose again. “You just have to apply.” He turns to me and grins. “You wanna make this happen?”
I nod. “What do I do for transportation?” I bite my lip. Paul only has the one car and it’s definitely too far to walk. It might be within biking distance, though. I mention the idea to him and he frowns.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as he slides his glasses off.
“I don’t like the idea of you biking that far. What if something happens to you?”
I smile and squeeze his hand, then nuzzle his shoulder with my nose. I can’t get over how protective he is of me and it does things to my insides.
“Maybe you can use Uber, or get a ride from someone who works there?”
“So you are okay with me getting into a car with a complete stranger but riding a bike alone is off limits?” I tease, raising an eyebrow at him.
He frowns. “Fair point.” There’s a pause. “Okay, look, I have a bike you can use, but only until we can afford another set of wheels. I’m gonna see what’s out there.”
I nod. “I can look too,” I say. And I smile because he said ‘we.’
I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about the idea of working. “You sure you are okay with this?” I ask. “It’s not exactly what we agreed to. I won’t be the doting house boy.”
He smirks at me and I grin. “Of course I’m okay with it. I want you to be happy, Charlie, and that was more just to give you something to do, keep you occupied. I think this is a great idea.”
I beam at him and press a kiss to his cheek. Then I pull the laptop away from him and get to work on getting that copy of my birth certificate. Tomorrow I’m going to go back to Sunny’s and get an application.
Paul laughs and grabs his book, then sits next to me, reading while I work. I can’t remember ever being this happy.
PAUL
Three more days go by and we still don’t hear about Charlie's test results. I’m nervous as fuck the entire day at work, and everyone senses it. I just don’t have my head in the game today, and I’m constantly checking my phone to see if Charlie’s messaged or called me, even though I have the volume turned up as loud as possible.
“Dude,” Aaron says as we work on installing the cabinets in the kitchen. “What’s got you so distracted today, man? You seem upset. Is everything okay?”
I sigh. “I’m fine.”
“Carlos says you have someone staying with you. Is everything okay with him?” He’s not asking to be nosy, I know. That isn’t Aaron. He really just wants to make sure everything is okay. I’m just not sure how much I should be sharing about Charlie. I don’t want to betray his trust.
“I appreciate you asking, but I don’t think I should say. It’s not my place.”
He nods. “Okay, well, if you need anything, or if he does, you let us know?” He places his hand on my shoulder and looks me in the eyes. I nod. “Okay,” he says, and claps my shoulder before we get back to work. “I’ve got a date so we need to hustle.” He grins at me and I realize I never did find out how things went with the attractive brunette that night. Shit, Charlie’s taken up all the space in my head, consumed my thoughts, and I’ve become a dick of a friend.
