Page 41 of Hold Me Instead
“Hugged,” Charlie corrected.Wow,the wordtouchedsounded so intimate.
“He bought youcookies?”
Charlie nodded. She bit her lip, remembering his eyes as they roamed her face. How close his mouth had been to her hand, how she’d ached for his lips to brush her skin. To move up her arm… It was ridiculous. Why allow herself to go down this fantasy road? It was different when she was young, when they’d actually had a fun relationship to make the fantasy enjoyable.
Amber’s mouth gaped open, and she pointed a finger at Charlie’s face. “You’re blushing. Why’s she blushing? Why are you blushing?!”
“Holy moly, Amber, the whole bar can hear you.” Brooke sidled up to their table bundled in a charcoal peacoat, her ivory skin brightened by pink cheeks, her dusty-blue eyes piercing. She grabbed a cocktail napkin from the table to dab her red nose.
“Brooklyn Rose Marchand, where the hell have you been?” Amber turned her pointed finger at her older sister, and Charlie released a slow breath.
“My sister’s name is Rosa!” Magnolia said, her cheeks and nose flush from her whiskey.
“Sasha loves roses!” Cleo said.
Amber turned her head toward her friend, keeping her finger pointed at Brooke. “Don’t even get me started on Sasha,” she warned.
Cleo snickered into her glass.
“You’re all well ahead of me, I see,” Brooke said with a smirk.
Amber dropped her hand, concern rushing over her face. “Hey. You alright, Brookie?”
“Mm-hmm,” Brooke said. She picked up Charlie’s old fashioned and took a long sip. “Chilly out there tonight. Wonder if we’ll have snow before Thanksgiving.”
“Ugh, don’t say that. I’m not ready for it!” Magnolia moaned.
Charlie patted Magnolia’s hand gently. Her friend was in for a treat. “You can’t truly prepare. At least you’ll get about six months of practice,” she said helpfully.
“What do you mean, six months?” Magnolia whispered.
“I need a drink. Hey, did you see the new bartender tonight?” Brooke asked.
“You’re changing the subject. Wait, who?” Amber strained her neck to look at the bar.
Brooke winked at the table as Amber stood for a better view and gasped, fanning herself.
Cleo strained to look. “Oh yeah, he’s right up your alley.”
Amber faced them and started slow steps backward toward the bar. “Okay, don’t think I’ve forgotten what we were talking about. All of you.” She pointed to each of them in turn. “Actually, Mags, yours is easy. Your sister’s name is Rosa. Rose and Rosa…cool.”
Magnolia tipped over giggling, grabbing hold of Charlie’s hand to avoid falling off the seat, which set the whole table to laughing.
“Come on, next round’s on me!” Amber turned and shimmied her way toward the bar.
They filed out after her. While this was a far cry from any drunken college night out, Charlie was thankful for the silliness of her friends just the same. It was exactly what she needed to keep her mind off the practice, off Daniel’s health. Off Zachary Lee.
Who wasnotthe love of her younger self.
Definitely not.
Chapter 12
Zachary
Zacharycouldn’tgetoverthe amount of white streaked through his dad’s black hair. That and his mom lightening her tousled bob from its usual brown shade to what she called “caramel blonde”—the long game to lighten it and ease into her grays—glaringly reminded him of how long he’d been gone. One thing that was steadfast, though, was the commitment between his parents.
Leaning against the wall of the hospital room, arms crossed, his focus went from his mom fixing the sheets around his dad in bed every half hour to the rain pummeling the window.
