***August***
Onthedriveup to the house, I looked over at Charlie and grunted. “Ever stop and wonder what the hell we’re doing?”
He popped his knuckles, something he did when he was antsy. “All the fucking time. Pretty much every fucking day of my life until I saw Rea again.”
Hearing him confirm that he was feeling just as strongly as I was, I smiled as I parked next to Reagan’s car. The car I was going to tow if she didn’t slow down in it. “How deep do we get before we talk about Russ?”
“Deeper than this.” Looking over at me, he shook his head and then shrugged. “She’s waiting inside your house right now. Not just for you, but for both of us. She’s fucking special, Aug. You and I both know it. Theo knows it. Is your conscious going to have you walk away for the second time?”
I shoved open my door and laughed. “Fuck, no. I tried. I really did. That’ll have to be good enough.”
It was easy to tell myself that when I was walking toward Reagan. I would’ve told myself anything to get to her. I knew there was a chance that I was burning bridges with one of my best friends, but my feet moved towards my front door without slowing.
Hunter gave the first warning bark I’d ever heard him give and stood at the door, looking as scary as the goofy dog could look, when I opened it. As soon as he saw it was me and Charlie, his tongue lolled out and he went straight back to the couch.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him pretend to guard the house before.” Charlie chuckled. “Looks like Reagan put a spell on him, too.”
I watched as Hunter jumped onto the couch and then heard Reagan’s muffled voice talking to him. I walked closer to see her stretched out, half squished by Hunter, in a small silk robe that left almost all of her legs bare. Seeing her legs and bare feet on my couch sent fire coursing through my veins.
“Ouch, Hunter. Scoot over, you big horse.” Reagan pushed at Hunter, but he just rolled onto his back and took up even more of her space. She’d clearly been asleep and hadn’t noticed that we’d arrived. “Is this why your daddy keeps you outside? You’re heavy and you’ve farted on me three times already. I’m counting because that’s how many treats I’m not giving you later.”
I laughed and sat on the coffee table in front of the couch. Reagan jumped as much as she could with Hunter on top of her.
“When did you get here? You scared the crap out of me!”
Charlie leaned over the back of the couch and lifted a strand of her hair. “It didn’t take you long to replace us.”
“I’m only offended because I know for a fact that I’ve never farted on you.” I patted my thigh and Hunter begrudgingly climbed off the couch and sat in front of my legs. I watched as Reagan sat up and took in a deep breath. “Better?”
She nodded and readjusted the ties of her robe. Her eyes moved back and forth between me and Charlie, nerves clearly getting to her. “I nodded off, I guess.”
Charlie skirted the couch and sat down next to her. “Tired?”
Reagan quickly shook her head and scooted closer to him. Her hands stayed clasped in her lap. “Nervous. I was all worked up earlier and now I’ve been sleeping and I’m afraid I talked too big of a game.”
I scooted forward and rested my hand on her knee. “Nothing has to happen, Rea.”
Her eyes flashed. “Something has to happen. I might be nervous right now, but it’ll fade. I’ve been walking around in a constant state of arousal. I would rather slam my fingers in the door than willingly decide I don’t want this.”
Charlie threw his head back and laughed while I did the same. He recovered first and pulled Reagan into his lap, still grinning. “We can take it slow, ease our way into things.”
“We could play a game.” She rolled her eyes. “In honor of the teenage shenanigans we never got to do together.”
“Strip poker?” Charlie and I said it in unison, making Reagan laugh.
“Truth or dare.” She climbed off of Charlie’s lap and stood up. “Let me go get freshened up and I’ll be ready to play.”
“I’ll grab a few beers.” I nodded to Charlie. “Turn some music on?”
When I joined Charlie again a minute later, he accepted the beer I handed him and sank back into the couch. He’d turned an old rock station to play low in the background and bounced his knee to the beat. He met my gaze and I could tell that he was feeling anxious to get his hands on Reagan, the same as me.
“I’m about to come out of my skin. Do you have anything stronger?” He stood up and walked around behind the couch just as the bathroom door opened and Reagan walked out.
Her dark hair was down and curling softly over her chest. She’d scrubbed her face clean of any makeup and looked soft and touchable. The robe was pulled closed but when she walked closer, the slit up the middle showed that she wasn’t wearing much under it. Her wide eyes settled on Charlie and then me. Her smile was shy. “Turns out it’s a lot easier to do this sort of thing when you’re eighteen and horny, drunk and horny, or just ragingly horny.”
I nodded to the couch. “Sit. Enjoy Hunter while he still has access to the house.”
Charlie sat in one of the chairs facing the couch and I took the other. All separate, the tension somehow climbed even higher. Taking a long drag from his beer, Charlie smiled at Reagan and followed her movements with his eyes until she was sitting across from us, her body barely covered. “Truth or dare, Rea.”