Page 51 of Break the Rule
“What’s really going on?” Andrew asks, evading the question.
“Nothing, I just—fine,I have a small problem.”
“Knew it,” Andrew says, stretching his legs out on the coffee table. “What’s going on?”
“I’m seeing him again tonight.”
“By him, do we mean the guy you’re completely obsessed with?”
“I’m not obsessed with anyone,” Charlie protests.
“My mistake, some other man must have a studio full of paintings of his crush.”
“I don’t have a crush,” Charlie protests. “He was just interesting at the gallery and okay, maybe some of the best sex of my life, and yeah, alright, he’s the prettiest fucking person I’ve ever laid eyes on. His fucking eyes, Andrew. They’re so fucking blue and that makeup he wears? Don’t get me started on the way his long legs looked in his little skirt. I think I almost came in my pants.”
“That’s more information than I need, Charlie.”
“Sorry,” Charlie apologizes.
“So what exactly is the problem? You finally found someone you like and want to date, it’s not the end of the world. I knew it would happen eventually. I always knew one day you might decide you wanna settle down and?—”
“Slow the fuck down, cloud boy,” Charlie interrupts, unsure how Andrew got all that from a few little paintings. “I don’t want to date anyone. I’m just looking to…hook up again.”
“You know some people call hooking up with the same person multiple times and dedicating art pieces to them a crush. Maybe even dating.”
“Que chingaos,” Charlie grumbles.
Andrew flips him off, a reaction that makes Charlie feel slightly less out of control. “Is Alec giving you Spanish lessons?”
“If by lessons, you mean teaching me his favorite curse words, then yes,” Charlie answers. They’ve all been making more of an effort to learn Spanish. Charlie still feels guilty that it took Alec’s accident for him to come clean about how lonely he’d been, or how much harder he took the loss of theirabuelathan any one of them realized. Alec had been closer to her than any of them, even their dad, which explains why he got a version of her none of the rest of them got to experience. She’d been his deepest connection to their Mexican heritage, something Charlie hadn’t even really acknowledged he’d lost until she was gone.
During his long months of recovery, Alec had confessed he missed speaking Spanish with theirabuela. Since then the entire family has been making an effort. To Charlie’s surprise, Jason’s learned the most.
“You know you could also try studying to learn Spanish instead of just waiting for Alec to teach you,” Andrew points out. “I downloaded an app on my phone.”
“I don’t like using my phone, you know that,” Charlie grumbles, not even sure where he left the damn thing. He hates being accessible to people. It probably makes him a hypocrite because when he wants one of his brothers he expects them to reply to his messages immediately, while also misplacing his own phone for hours, or days, on end when he’s not in the mood to talk to anyone besides Andrew.
“Fine, read a book then. I’m just saying it would probably mean a lot to Alec if you learned something besides curse words and how to ordermole.”
“I can order more thanmole,” Charlie retorts, “and anyway, Alec knows I care.”
“I didn’t say you don’t care, stop putting words in my mouth because you’re cranky that you like a boy and don’t want feelings.”
“I don’t havefeelings,” Charlie protests, but Andrew is already moving on, grabbing the remote and scrolling through the streaming channels.
“I don’t have feelings,” he repeats, unsure why Andrew refusing to argue with him makes him even more antsy.
He doesn’t have feelings for this guy. He doesn’t even know his name, that would be ridiculous. Sure, Charlie likes their flirting, and the sex was out of this world. And okay yeah, his mystery man is absolutely beautiful, and Charlie can’t stop thinking about him, but that doesn’t mean he has feelings. It’s just a little physical attraction that needs to be burned off until the flames die down. That’s all.
Andrew might not be wrong often, but he’s wrong about this.
Charlie does not have feelings for anyone, especially not a smart-mouthed, pretty-eyed boy without a name.
“You came.”
“I said I would.” Charlie pushes off his car, standing taller.
“Your car is fucking hideous.”
