Chapter Eleven Charlotte
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHARLOTTE
W hy am I nervous?” I chewed a hangnail as I watched the judges sip each team’s drinks. They gave nothing away, which annoyed me. Like, come on , people. Give me a smile or a wince or a wink. Give me something!
“I’m not good at a lot of things, but making drinks is one of them.” Hayden’s voice came directly behind my left ear, his breath tickling my skin in a wicked, dangerous kind of way.
It was warm and unintentionally naughty. I had a lot to unpack in my We’re Over Hayden mission. But the dude made it difficult! The attention to detail? The forearm porn? The deep, low chuckle? Ugh.
I only had so much strength. If he put on his glasses and volunteered reading to young children, I would die.
Clearing my throat, I found my voice and sounded totally normal and chill. “I like your confidence, big guy. Drink making is not one of my skills.”
He placed both of his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “Trust me. We’ll win. I have a good feeling about tonight.”
Maybe he put his hands there to distract me as the judges lifted our Sexy Santa Sidecars. It had been months since I felt this tense, this on edge, from a silly competition! They had to like our drinks. I couldn’t fathom losing this competition to my brother, let alone not winning this thing for Penny.
“See?” Hayden whispered, his deep timbre a Charlotte-specific aphrodisiac. “The dude on the left widened his eyes. The woman in the middle tilted her head to the side. They are impressed.”
“You can’t know that,” I whispered back. He leaned closer, his chest pressing into my back. This was the danger zone, baby. For two winning-obsessed people, this adrenaline was our kryptonite. I could feel his heart pound in his chest, and its erratic rhythm matched mine.
“I study people for my job, Char. I watch the pitcher for their tells. Do they grab their hat twice before a slider? Do they lean a little bit to the left before a curve? Reading people is something I do on the daily, and the judges like our drinks.”
“Do you study everyone?” I asked without thinking. “Like me?”
He laughed and stepped back. The removal of his touch sent a blast of cold air over me. I missed his heat already, which was absurd. “I know what spot you prefer to sit because you’re left-handed. Does that not answer your question?”
“You do.” I wiggled my brows. “What else do you know? Huh?” I poked his side, charmed and curious about what he knew about me from studying me. “What am I thinking now?”
“I’m a smart enough man to know to step away from this game.” He held up both hands, a huge smile on his face. “I will say it’s easier on the field than real life. So calm down, tiger.”
“Coward.” I narrowed my eyes, teasing him. Looking back at the judges, I could see they were on group six. “Uh, I want the scores! Have you heard from the team?”
He pulled out his phone, shaking his head. “Silence. Well, Garrett texted me that he found twins he wants to flirt with, and damn it. He ditched the competition.”
“No.” My stomach dropped. “He can’t… what if they are disqualified? What if they are arguing the entire time? Hayden, this is bad.”
Hayden ran a finger over his eyebrow, releasing a long sigh. “We don’t know for sure what happened. Plus the next activity is with the whole group. We can monitor it.”
“And do what? If they lose this… it’ll crush them.”
“Okay. Any idea what the third competition is? So we can mentally prepare?”
I opened up the competition app—they had coded their own app for these games; that took some serious dedication—and groaned. “Lyric Mess Up?”
He squinted at my phone. “Does… does that say we read lyrics on a projector?” His voiced cracked on the end.
“Yeah, that gonna be a problem for you, Gramps?” I teased.
He grumbled. “I should get my glasses. Do I have time to run to the room?”
Hayden in glasses will murder me. My eyes fluttered, and I dug my nails into my palms to calm myself down. Were they thick and black? Oh my. This was the opposite of good.
“Char, can you cover me if I run back for a minute?”
I nodded, barely able to get the words out. “Y-yes. Are you sure you need them?”
“Yes. My vision’s getting worse. My parents think I should do LASIK, but the thought of someone touching my eye freaks me the fuck out. Okay, I’ll run to get them. You need anything? Your shoulder still doing okay?”
“I’m fine, Hayden. Go get your bifocals.”
“Okay, I’m not there yet. Settle down, Char.” He smirked before jogging out of the lobby. Once he disappeared from view, I gripped the table and released the longest sigh of my life.
He wore freaking glasses. Life was unfair and cruel. Was this revenge for the time in third grade where I laughed when my teacher accidentally farted? Or the time I hid from my Sunday school teacher and jumped out, scaring her so much she fell? It had to be.
I wasn’t used to being around Hayden so much. He overwhelmed my senses, and I had forgotten how intoxicating he could be. My breath shuddered, and I walked toward the front doors to cool off for a minute. The judges were conspiring, probably taking bribes.
Get a grip, Charlotte. They don’t take bribes.
We don’t know that, do we though?
Fuck. The wind knocked some sense into me the second it hit my face. A cold dose of reality was exactly what I needed to settle down. I had too much going on in my head right now. Between the interview, and Penny and Christian, the competition and Hayden… Hayden.
Should I google how to get over a crush or cheap spells to break feelings ? Might be worth it.
“Hey, you okay?”
I jumped. “Jesus, you’re quiet.”
“Any reason you’re standing outside in freezing weather?”
I bundled my arms around my middle before glancing up at Hayden. My heart stopped. The world froze. Someone call the doctor. My skin grew two sizes too small.
The man wore dark glasses, and it was the end of me. He looked like Henry Cavill and Chris Hemsworth had a love child, and that child wore thick black glasses. I couldn’t breathe. He was too sexy. Too handsome. Too perfect .
“What?” He adjusted the frames, frowning. He shifted his weight side to side, like he was uncomfortable. “I know they are dorky—”
“You look so hot,” I blurted out. I wasn’t one to have a filter on my best day, but of all the things I could say why did I say that?
His gaze snapped to mine. The air became charged. Puffs of condensation left his mouth, his gray eyes zeroing in on my mouth. “Char—”
“Hayden! Charmander!” Christian’s familiar voice penetrated the moment. A wall went up on Hayden’s expression, and he stepped back.
He looked at me like I was nothing more than a decoration. Something that blended into the background. I could’ve been a tree for all I knew. It was probably for the best, because he looked too good with those glasses.
“How’d you do? We had to run into a forest! I almost tackled this huge dude from Normal. Who lives in a town called Normal? Not me, that’s who.” Christian’s energy was unmatched.
“That was something.” Penny smiled, but it wasn’t her normal cheer. Her cheeks were super red, and she looked cold.
Did they argue? Where was Garrett?
“There he is,” Hayden said, almost reading my mind.
Garrett swaggered on up with a flask in one hand and a goofy smile. “Hello, teammates. I have… news.”
“What news?” Penny asked.
Garrett took a drink before eyeing all of us. “They dropped the scores.”
“And?” I probed, almost choosing violence. Garrett often chose drama for fun. “What place are we in?”
“Not first.” He cringed as Penny sucked in a breath. “We’re in second.”
“How are we second? Who didn’t perform?” Penny asked, a frown replacing her smile.
We couldn’t lose this. A wedding was at stake. Hayden met my worried glance and shrugged in a we did what we could gesture.
“Who’s in the lead? We have a few more chances for this.” Christian cracked his knuckles, a sure sign of his stress. “Could we see the breakdown?”
“It’s too cold out here. Let’s head inside and game-plan.” Hayden took charge, the air of authority in his voice sending a bolt of electricity through me.
“Good idea. I can’t even feel my toes anymore. It’s probably fine. I don’t really use them for much.” Garrett giggled at himself. “Guys, I might be drunk.”
“Dude.” I nudged his side as we all headed back into the lobby. The elves had cleaned everything up, probably preparing for the next round. Irritation danced along my neck. I leaned closer to Garrett, away from Penny and Christian, who stood off to the side with their arms crossed. “Why are you drunk? I need you focused to help us win.”
“Because I’m at a bachelor party? Because I can?” He hiccuped and rolled his eyes at himself. “Penny kept passing me her shots ’cause she hates vodka.”
Penny didn’t hate vodka, but that didn’t matter.
“Okay, but you could have said no. We have to win this for them.” I tried not to let worry show in my voice, but Garrett wasn’t getting the message.
“Nah, it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine!” I whisper-shouted. I felt more than saw the stares of the group, and I straightened my posture, clearing my throat. Being dramatic wouldn’t help the cause. “Where the hell is the next competition?”
“The ballroom.” Hayden approached us, his gray gaze focused on me. He put his hand on both our shoulders and gently squeezed mine. “I don’t know how I’m saying this with a straight face, but this next competition is even weirder than the others.”
“Weirder?” I asked, mouth gaping.
He nodded. “Prepare yourselves and follow me.”