Page 80 of Break the Rule
“I took Advil thinking about you.”
Eden’s palm presses against his own, still not holding hands but so close Charlie’s entire body thrums. He had no idea physical contact that wasn’t sexual could be so fucking gratifying.
“I’m going to take that as a win.”
“You do that,” Eden snorts. “I uh…I need to call Addy if I’m staying. She’ll worry if I don’t come home.”
“Okay, do you need my phone?”
Eden shakes his head. “Mine’s in my car. I parked on the corner down the street. I wasn’t sure if, well…I didn’t want to park in the driveway because...”
He trails off, but the unspoken words are clear. Because he didn’t know if Charlie would want him. Well, fuck that. Fuck anyone who ever made Eden unsure if he’d be wanted.
“Let me walk you to your car. You can move it into the driveway and call Addy.”
“You don’t need to walk me to my car,” Eden scoffs.
“And yet I’m going to.”
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those possessive cavemen kind of guys.”
“Walking you to your car in the dark is less caveman and more gentleman I think.”
“Thought you weren’t a gentleman.”
“I can be anything you want me to be,” Charlie smirks.
“I don’t need a gentleman.”
“What about what youwant?” Charlie asks, emboldened by the way Eden’s eyes darken with desire the longer he watches Charlie.
Slow, so as not to startle him, Charlie lets his fingers slip into Eden’s, his smaller hand cradled in Charlie’s larger one. Even slower, he lifts their joined hands up to his mouth to kiss the back of Eden’s hand. His arm of beaded bracelets jingles, his hand trembling when Charlie does it again.
It’s the smallest affection, yet Eden’s body trembles. Has no one ever kissed this man before? Has no one ever been gentle with him?
“Eden.”
“Shut up,” Eden hisses, chest heaving.
Suddenly Charlie isn’t sure he wants the answer, afraid it might break his heart.
“I’m going to hug you now, Eden.”
“If you must,” Eden grumbles. “Needy fucker.”
“That’s me,” Charlie whispers, slotting Eden into his arms so easily as if he belonged there.
Holding Eden close, Charlie can’t stop from appreciating the way his smaller body fits snugly in Charlie’s grasp. His face is shoved into Charlie’s chest and his arms smashed between their bodies where Eden cradles them against his chest. He’s rigid but unmoving, and Charlie tightens the hold into a firmer hug before pressing a kiss to the top of Eden’s head.
“Fuck you,” Eden whispers.
A smile spreads across Charlie’s face as he holds Eden close. If Eden needs to pretend he doesn’t want this, then Charlie will be bold for the both of them. Eden will come around eventually. Charlie’s sure of it, if only because the alternative is something Charlie isn’t sure he wants to imagine.
Sittingon the edge of his bed in nothing but his boxers, Charlie stares at the bathroom. He’s been staring at that closed door for so long, listening for any hint of Eden, that he’s starting to actually feel like a stalker.
In Charlie’s defense, Eden’s been in there for nearly an hour. After showing Eden his paintings, they’d gone to move Eden’s car, and Charlie had pretended to busy himself with something in the other room to afford Eden some privacy while he’d called Addy. The call had been short and left Charlie with a lot of questions about who exactly Eden was wishing good night. He’d sounded different on the phone talking to someone who must’vebeen a child from the higher pitch of his voice and the sweetness of his words. Did Eden have a kid? Eden said he was gay and not interested in Addy, but that doesn’t make the scenario impossible.
It’d taken every ounce of self-control Charlie possesses to not to interrupt Eden's phone call, even more to keep his curiosity to himself when Eden asked if he could shower. That was over an hour ago, and Charlie’s been waiting for him to come out of the bathroom since—the need to know if Eden is a single dad killing him.
