11. Charlie

Chapter 11

Charlie

The police officers sit at a nearby table along with the rest, Ben in charge of showing them the evidence I already sent. They’ve taken off their uniform jackets and kind of blend in with the visitors if you don’t pay attention. I didn’t expect the authorities would react so fast, but the hacker provided everything I’d need so that asshole Andy can be outright arrested.

It’s why I called him here. I want to see it. I want other people to see it.

My heart beats faster as I glance at Ben, his face still taut with disgust. None of this would’ve been possible without him. He helped make it happen. My stomach flutters, filling with butterflies. He’s the best. God, he’s fucking perfect and I think I am done pretending I haven’t realized how much I want him. After the week we spent together and how far he went for me, I am done denying myself.

I’ve had a crush on him since I was a kid. I believed I’d gotten over it, but the moment he popped back into my life? Yeah, I straight out got checkmated. The only problem is that I am so scared this might be a repeat of Andy. That I’m fooling myself there might be something real while in truth I’m being played because I’m an amazing fuck and make decent money.

Except that Ben wouldn’t need your money because he has his own.

He’s successful. He does what he likes, and he helps with the family business, too. And most of all, he’s a bit of a nerd like me. And there really isn’t any faking that.

I squeeze my fists. I need to confront this. Call him out on his Oscar-worthy performance and cut him off before he completely conquers my heart. I don’t think I could ever handle it being broken by him, so it’s best to put an end to things before I fall for him even more.

Ben glances my way, catching me staring. A radiant sun-like smile lights up his face, making my heart hammer like mad. Why does he look so happy just looking at me? It’s so bizarre. It’s not in the ‘I want to bend you over the table and fuck you’ way either; it’s fond and affectionate, like he thinks about me as much as I think about him.

Which is ridiculous. Yes, we are fucking, but we agreed on being friends-with-benefits only. He has no reason to like me… or hang out with me so much, or play games with me, or cook, or let me drag him around London to quaint little cafes and restaurants I think he might like… He also gets nothing by helping me get revenge on the asshole who used me. Honestly, it’s those things that make me read into his actions and consider that maybe I was wrong to write off love so quickly.

Ben frowns slightly, mouthing, “Are you okay?” He looks like some god about to bring on a devastating storm on Earth just because his current hookup was wronged. Like, seriously, who does that?

I nod at him in reply, my chest squeezing, and bite off a smile. He’s been so pissed off since he found out. On my behalf. For me. It feels so good, and it’s made this whole waiting game a lot more tolerable. My sweet revenge.

The bell attached to the door frame chimes, snatching my attention as someone enters the shop. It’s Andy. He’s decked out in a white button up and beige pants, looking annoyingly hot despite how big of an asshole he is. Ben recognizes him immediately, more storm clouds crossing his face. He looks ready to rain devastation.

I hold up my hand, gesturing him to wait. Pursing his lips, he bobs his head.

“Hi, Charlie. It’s been a while,” Andy says, sleazy and oozing self-satisfaction. “I bet you missed me, love.”

He sits down next to me and reaches for my chin. The thought of his hands touching any part of me makes me want to puke, so I lean down and pick up my hot chocolate mug, taking a sip and making it impossible for him to do what he wants.

He eyes me with distaste. “You are drinking this shit again? God, I leave you on your own for a couple of months and you go back to your bad habits. How many times have I told you to stay away from sugar and caffeine?”

Now, if you took his words in isolation, he’s generally not wrong. A good diet equates to good health. The problem is that he’s the biggest hypocrite I know and not only because he gets drunk almost every night. He doesn’t actually care about my health or he’d have known I eat things in moderation. It’s a way for him to control me.

“How many times did I ask you to stop drinking like a sad alcoholic?” I counter, trying to goad him. I need him enraged and emotional if I want to pull his nasty side out.

He bites, his nostrils flaring and his manicured eyebrows slanting. “What did you say?”

“You are an alcoholic, Andy. You need help. I can make a few phone calls if you want. Maybe get you into therapy as well. I think it would benefit you.”

He does not like what I say one bit, his eyes filling with rage. “What is this, Charlie? Did you call me here to throw a silly tantrum?” He scoffs. “I think I need to remind you who’s in charge.”

Me, duh. He just doesn’t seem to realize that yet.

Andy tries to grab me, but I scoot to the other end of the couch. “Why did you make those posts? It was a really shitty thing to do. You had no right.”

He crosses one leg on top of the other and laces his hands together. It’s such a condescending pose, it makes me want to punch his annoyingly handsome face. Instead, I simply glare at him, and in doing so, I realize that while he’s hot, he’s nowhere near the level of hot that characterizes Ben. Ben’s smile is ten times more potent, and his green eyes always make my stomach fill with butterflies when they look at me. Now that I think about it, I don’t remember Andy ever making me feel that way. I was infatuated for a while, yes, but, in hindsight, I have no idea what I even saw in him or why I let him anywhere near me.

“To teach you your place.”

“My place?” I narrow my eyebrows.

He hums. “If you think those posts are the worst I can do, you are fooling yourself. So whatever this”—he flails his hand, gesturing at me—“little rebellion is, it better stop now. I’m done humoring you.”

Red-hot violence flows through my veins. I know what he’s referring to, Ben’s hacker uncovered a lot more than those emails and that one folder. This asshole has secretly recorded us fucking. He’s crafty, if nothing else, a real sleazebag that needs to rot in jail.

Letting my aggression show on my face as I toss him a shit-eating grin, I say, “Yeah? Are you planning to blackmail me like you did Axel?”

His eyes go a little wide, but he recovers quickly. “Did that little shit speak? I’ll need to have a word with him.” Shaking his head in annoyance, he curls his lip and looks at me like he’s some lord and I am his servant who dared oppose him. “Be careful, Charlie. What happened to Axel is nothing compared to what I will do to you if you continue with this.”

“Recording someone without their consent and blackmailing them with a sex tape is a crime, you know,” I toss, draping an arm over the backrest.

His smirk is evil. “You don’t want this stuff leaking, trust me.”

“You’re not particularly trustworthy, I’m afraid to say. No offense.”

He scowls, jaw clenching, and stands up. “What is this, huh? You think you are a smartass? Clearly, being on your own has messed with your head and I need to fuck some sense back into you. Let’s go.” He reaches for me, but I dodge, vaulting over the armrest. “Charlie. Let’s go. Don’t make a scene.”

Oh, a scene is the least of his problems. “Or what?”

His nostrils flare, annoyance rolling off him. “If you don’t come with me, I will leak that video and ruin you. Be a good little thing and do as I say.”

“Why? So you can keep blackmailing me like you blackmail Axel?”

He clicks his tongue, crossing his arms as he notices some people are staring our way. “I was willing to take you back, you know. If only you’d been good and obedient as you should. But after what you just pulled, you need to be taught a lesson. You’ll take my cock without a word of complaint, or everyone will know what a little slut you are.”

“Hey, asshole,” Ben roars just as I raise my hand to bitchslap that piece of shit.

Andy spins on his heel, eating a very loud and nasty slap to both his cheeks. One from me and one from Ben.

“Rot in jail, because, trust me, you will,” Ben adds, stepping to the side so the two police officers can talk to my ex.

There isn’t really much talking involved. They give him a quick rundown of what he’s being arrested for, citing the video evidence we supplied and the confession he just made that the entire café more or less heard.

“What the fuck?” he aims at me, rage and fury contorting his face. “What the fuck did you do, Charlie? I’ll end you, you hear me? I’m the best thing that happened to your sorry life and this is how you thank me?”

I grin triumphantly, satisfaction coursing through me. “Dream on, asshole. You are going to jail. Kiss your career goodbye , because when you get out, no one will want anything to do with your blackmailing criminal ass.”

He trashes and shit-talks as the police drag him out in handcuffs, the people around recording the whole thing with their phones. Even if he gets off with just a huge fine, the moment this is uploaded online, it’s over for him.

“God, he’s really delusional,” Trish says, hugging me from the side.

I hug her back. “He’ll get what he deserves.”

Ben’s arms drape over my shoulders from behind, his solid warmth like a balm to my agitated psyche. Even though I put that asshole in his place, dealing with him has left me aggravated. “You did good, Charlie. I’m so proud of you.”

I turn around as I shake off Trish and embrace my brother’s best friend. “Thank you. I couldn’t have done it without your help.

“Anytime, babe.”

My brother and friends leave my apartment after dinner. It’s just me and Ben. He’s staying over, or that was the plan, except I’m not so sure anymore because I can’t even look at him without nerves swamping my stomach.

It’s like I’ve reverted to my teenage self, blushing and squirming every time I’m in Ben’s proximity.

“Charlie.” He pats the space on the couch next to where he’s sitting. “What’s wrong?”

I pinch my forearm, frowning. “Nothing?”

He raises an eyebrow. “It’s not nothing. You’ve been pacing for the past ten minutes. Still worried about Andy? I heard from a police officer friend. The evidence is solid and there are some serious allegations already coming in. They’ll probably hold him in jail for at least two years.”

And it’s partly because of this perfect as shit man who’s currently worried about me.

I wave his concern off. “It’s not Andy. That asshole is done for, jail or not.”

“Then what is it?” He stands up and comes over to me, gathering me in his arms.

I melt in his embrace, his big frame enveloping mine. It feels so warm and safe, like my own little heaven.

“If you aren’t feeling like it, we can marathon the RS games some other time? It doesn’t have to be tonight. We could watch a movie instead. We still have half of your Halloween playlist left,” he suggests, his voice vibrating into me through where we are touching.

My heart skips a beat. Mr. Perfect strikes again.

“Why are you being so awfully nice to me? Since the start. It’s making this whole friends-with-benefits situation a little confusing.”

“Confusing how?” he probes, his hands roaming my back.

My eyes blink closed as I inhale into his chest. “Well, you know. It’s about sex, but you’ve been acting…” I bite my lips, my heart banging and my cheeks going aflame.

“I’ve been acting how?” he prompts, a hint of fond amusement in his voice.

I groan. “God, are you really gonna make me say it? This is so embarrassing. I’m having a hard time acknowledging it to myself as is.”

“I won’t know what you are talking about unless you tell me,” he says, making a very valid point.

“Well, you’ve been acting like… a boyfriend. You know? Doing shit that you don’t have to do just because we are fucking. And I know I said I don’t believe in love, but it’s making it awfully hard not to…”

He holds me tighter, and I can’t help myself but lean into the embrace and soak up his heat. “Not to?”

“Ugh! Not to fall in love with you, okay? I thought I’d gotten over my stupid crush and then you come back and not only are you amazing in bed, but you treat me like the king I am. So, I think we need to stop this, because I won’t be able to keep things professional.”

He laughs with a full body shake. I scowl and want to scold him, but the easy, affectionate way in which he does it just stirs something warm in my chest. So instead of kicking him out for making fun of me, I laugh with him.

Once he calms down, he steps back and cradles my face with both hands, forcing me to look at him. The intense adoration swimming in his beautiful eyes as they drink me in like I’m the most precious treasure in the world almost undoes me.

“Did it ever cross your mind that I might’ve had an ulterior motive from the start?” he says, his pretty smile in full force.

“An ulterior motive? For sleeping with me?” He nods. “What are you talking about?”

His thumbs caress my cheeks, gentle and loving. “You remember I told you I hadn’t been with anyone for a long time? When we first slept together.”

I bob my head. “Of course, I do.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“I don’t know? You were busy?”

He shakes his head and pecks my nose. “No, silly. I’ve had plenty of opportunities, but you see, I just couldn’t get a certain hotheaded nerd out of my head.”

I frown, trying to comprehend what he’s saying. He’s talking about me. Okay. Thinking about me made him unable to find others interesting. Okay… My chest suddenly feels too constrictive for my wild heart. Surely, he’s not saying what I think he’s saying…

“Hold on. Ben, this is… You didn’t—” I wave my arms around.

He kisses me on the forehead this time. “Did you think you were the only one with a crush back then? But you were my best friend’s little brother, Charlie, and it felt like I couldn’t do anything, so I decided to wait two years until you were eighteen. And then we had to move. I thought it was best we cut contact, so I could get over you. It worked for a while, but I just couldn’t make any relationship I tried last. There was always something missing. And then I ran into you when I moved here and it’s like everything just fell into place. I had no idea it was you when we met, and I thought that maybe I’d finally gotten over you.” He smiles and the open fondness in it, the yearning, squeezes at my heartstrings. “Imagine my surprise when I saw you sitting at that restaurant.”

My mind races with a million miles an hour. This can’t be happening, right? “So—”

“So,” he cuts in, “from the moment I realized who you were, I intended to make you fall in love with me again because I never stopped loving you.”

I can’t breathe. Oh my god, this is not happening. “I—You—”

I inhale deeply, trying to center myself. But the buzz his words unleashed in me, the electric current pulsing within me, is impossible to push down. Because I can feel it, with every cell I possess. His love. His adoration. His single-minded focus on me.

“We don’t have to rush anything. You don’t have to believe me just because I said it. I’ll take my time to convince you, but I want you to know that I’m going to make the most of this second chance I have with you. If you will let me.”

Do I? The truth is that I really thought I’d be forever alone, condemned to meaningless one-night stands and sex-centered arrangements with people who’d laugh behind my back. And then Ben just barreled back into my life and turned it upside down. I’ve had so much fun with him in the past weeks. He supports me. He nerds out with me. He gets excited about the things I love and he never pressures me into doing the things that I don’t.

He's the biggest curveball of the century, thrown precisely so it can put a dent in my resolve and replace the bitterness with titillating anticipation. With excitement, with the want to share with him every experience from now on.

So, really, why did I ever think I could have him back in my life without falling in love with him all over again when he’s turned out to be such a kind and devoted man?

I never stood a chance, did I?

I throw my arms around his neck and jump, his strong hands digging into my ass to lift me up. “You are such a dork.” I kiss his cheek. “And this is still giga embarrassing, but I guess we are even now.”

He grins, smooching my nose. “So, what do you say? You wanna officially give this dating thing a real try, babe? I swear, I’m gonna make you so happy.”

I melt at the endearment—I love that he just started calling me that for no reason since the very start—and perch an eyebrow. “Is that a challenge? Because you better be ready for it, big boy. NeonNuke doesn’t go down without a fight.”