Page 46 of Matched

A small smile tugged at his lips. “I’m not gonna lie. It’s a bit of an ego boost to think I was the one who made you stop living in denial.”

His words made me laugh. “Of course that’s the part you focus on.”

“You’re fucking sexy, and I’m average. Of course I’m gonna focus on that.”

I leaned in, cupping his chin with my fingers. “There’s nothing average about you, Charlie B.” Brushing my mouth across his, I stroked my thumb over the line of his jaw.

He leaned into it, kissing me soft and slow, and my stomach swooped again. Drawing away from his tempting mouth was so much harder than it should have been, but if I kept kissing him, we’d never get this sorted out.

“Okay.” I licked my lips, savouring the taste of him. “Okay. We need to finish this conversation. We’ve established that I’m bisexual or pansexual or something. Whatever isn’t just me liking girls. What about you?”

He gave me a wry smile. “I actually thought I was straight until you came along.” Sighing, he twisted his hands together as he gathered his thoughts. “I dunno…I guess it didn’t shock me as much as it probably should have. All my housemates are queer,and my siblings don’t care who I like as long as I’m happy. So when I realised I…y’know, I just kind of thought, okay. Guess I’m not so straight, after all.”

“When you realised you ‘y’know’?” I grinned at him. “When did that happen?”

“Right around the time you took your top off in Hyde Park,” he shot back, his cheeks flushing. “Fucking show-off.”

“Really. You liked that, huh?”

“Fuck off.” Shaking his head, he cleared his throat. “Actually, it was before that. I think it was our second date. But I thought…I guess I wondered if I’d been imagining things because I was a bit drunk. Then, when we were at Hyde Park, I knew for sure it hadn’t just been my imagination.”

He liked me. I couldn’t have stopped my smile if I tried.

Catching my expression, he rolled his eyes. “No need to look so smug, mugger.”

“I think I have every reason to be smug.” I nudged him with my shoulder, and then somehow, we were kissing again.

“I can’t believe we just did that.” It was instantly clear that he was referring to what had happened in the changing rooms.

“Me neither. I’ve never done that with anyone before.”

“You wouldn’t know it.” He paused for a moment, his brow furrowing. “The weird thing is that it didn’t seem weird.”

“Yeah. It was fucking hot,” I admitted, pulling him into another kiss.

“We have to stop doing that,” Charlie mumbled when we parted, both of us breathless. “We have to talk about the rest of it.”

The rest of it. The hardest part. My smile dropped as the guilt that I’d been keeping at bay rushed over me. “Sophie. She really likes you, and I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Yeah. Uh, like I said before, I had a conversation with her today, and I told her I didn’t feel anything but friendshiptowards her. She… I could tell she was upset about it, and I felt really bad, but I can’t force myself to feel things that aren’t there.” He glanced up at me from beneath his lashes. “Especially when I can’t get her brother out of my head.”

His words gave me butterflies and made me nauseous simultaneously. “Yeah, and that’s the first issue. The biggest one. My sister is the most important person in the world to me, and as much as I like this—” I jerked my finger between the two of us. “—nothing is worth hurting her over.”

“Then there’s the issue of you moving to Plymouth this summer.” Hurt flickered in his gaze. “Something you never brought up.”

Shit. “Yeah.” I stared down at my hands. “I know I should’ve said something, but I just thought we were becoming casual friends, and you wouldn’t be bothered when I left anyway.”

“You really thought that? Seriously?”

“Yes. No. Honestly, I tried not to think about it. I was just having fun with you, and…” With a shrug, I trailed off.

Charlie sighed. “Okay. Good to know where I stand on your list of priorities.”

“Fuck. Don’t be like that. You are a priority. I love—like spending time with you. I’m gonna be fucking sad when I leave you, okay?”

“Yeah, alright,” he muttered.

“Charlie. Please.” Shifting to the left so I was right next to him, I pressed my shoulder against his. “You’re important to me, okay? I fucked up. I’ve fucked a lot of things up.”

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