23. Jesse
I did the dishes while Tara hunted for something to watch. We cuddled up together on the couch, a movie from one of our favorite sci-fi series playing softly on the flat screen.
She rested her head against my chest, and I let my cheek rest on the top of her head, catching a whiff of Charlie’s fruity, buttery scent off the hoodie she’d bundled up in. The omega nesting behaviors were really in full force.
In a way, it was nice… comforting. The smell of home, Tara and Charlie together, making things seem a little less dire with every ping of the laser guns on TV.
I’d left my phone on the counter. Charlie didn’t know I wasn’t home, so I was safe. In the middle of the second movie, Tara snuggled closer into my side.
“Pizza for lunch?”
“Do you even have to ask?” I replied, raising an eyebrow.
Pizza was not just a food group, it was the food group.
It had it all, meats, dairy, grains, and veg. The perfectly balanced plate.
Or something, I don’t know, I’m not a nutritionist.
“Perfect,” she said with a mischievous grin, passing me the phone with the app already open. “Charge it up, extra cheese, extra every topping really, wings, oooooh! How about dessert? It’s Charlie’s card.”
“Uh, yeah? Why do you have Charlie’s card?”
She blushed, delicate strawberry pink dusting along her cheekbones and nose. “It’s kind of a… thing between us. He likes it when I spend his money. And I obviously love doing it, it’s sort of like back pay for all the courting gifts he missed. But it’s especially fulfilling when I get to treat you.” Tara stretched, adjusting to catch my lips in a chaste kiss.
I smile, a genuine one. Whatever my feelings were about the situation, I was glad the two most important people in my life were happy.
I did as she asked though, getting my pizza loaded with extras and ordering a side of wings and one of those cookie pizza things. The total made my eyes boggle, but Tara had no issue completing the order and adding a hundred-dollar tip on top.
I knew at this point Charlie had more money than he knew what to do with. In honesty he treated me a lot of the time—but I never saw our bills. He always slid them over and paid, even when I insisted. There were even times I had just sent him the amount I assumed he paid, but every time he would just send me the amount back doubled, telling me not to argue next time.
God that infuriating alpha.
The second movie was just about over when there was a knock on the door.
“Will you grab that sweetheart?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I giggled a bit as I got up. She was rolled up like a sausage in her blanket, her pillows tucked under her and I was sure at least three blankets in that pile. There was no way she was getting up, maybe ever.
I stood and walked around the coffee table to the door. When I swung it open, I expected a delivery driver but was met with a much more familiar face.
There, Charlie stood, his smile on his face but not quite as bright as normal. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Here to take you to Board City,” he said easily. “I told you I’d come for you, just like last time.”
My face heated and my chest warmed, though I never asked it to. “I’m spending the day with Tara.”
I was surprised when I felt her behind me. I did truly think she would have been buried under blanket mountain forever. “I told him you were here lemon drop.”
My body swiveled to her. “You did?”
She nodded. “I didn’t want to interrupt our day, but I think this is important. For you guys, and for us.”
Her eyes looked hopeful, and how could I say no now? I looked back at Charlie, who wore almost the same expression. Now I had more than one set of puppy dog eyes to deal with, and what was I supposed to do with that?
“Yeah, we can go. But our food didn’t come, so you better plan to feed me.”
A genuine laugh came from both of them now and I could admit it felt good. “Deal.”
I faced back to Tara. “See you later?”
She smiles, kissing me. “Dinner tonight.” she leans over, “both of you?”
“We’ll be back,” Charlie promises, not waiting for me to answer.
I grabbed my bag and followed him to the car. It was weird. The first time was like this, except we were in his 2004 Jeep that was covered in mud and barely had a running engine. Now he was opening the door for me in his spotless, brand-new SUV. It was this weird sense of de ja vu, but also not quite.
He got on his side and shut the door, rattling me from my thoughts. “Excited?” he asked.
Charlie pulled off the curb, the car driving smoothly as we made our way downtown. “I guess.” I sort of was actually. I hadn’t been in months, though I knew what this trip meant.
I rolled the window down, letting the warm breeze hit me in the face. There was always the slight smell of the ocean here, the city being so close, and it was one of the reasons I stayed. That and all of the sun I got.
My hand fluttered into the breeze, the air pushing it up and down. Charlie started the music. It was from the playlist we made one summer during college. We took it road-tripping when we went up to San Francisco. It was on a burned CD back then but was now a streamed playlist that he made a few years back. I would never forget this first track, and I knew he wouldn’t either.
I glanced at him as he put it on. His eyes caught mine for a moment before focusing back on the road. Mine went back to my hand riding the airwaves.
Charlie parked the car when we got there. It had always been impressive to me that he could parallel park such massive cars with ease, never even needing to adjust, and this one was the biggest yet. As soon as the car was in park he unbuckled and hurried out like the place was on fire.
I unbuckled and just before I could open the door, it flew open with Charlie there. His hand gestured out, waving me out like I was about to walk on a runway.
“You’re ridiculous,” I told him as I got out of the car.
“But you like it,” he said easily, shutting the door and pressing the handle on the outside to lock it.
Fancy ass car.
Board City had a large sign in big red letters. The ‘o’ was a D20, and there was a game board at the end of it. There were displays of games in the windows, showing off their latest haul, along with collections of different trading card packs.
The bell above the door clanged as we walked in. It was a cute place, with shelves lining the walls, filled to the brim with different games, a cashier at the front with a full food and drink bar, and cafe tables scattered around the space. There were a few people in here playing, but it was a bit early for a full crowd. It seemed a group in the corner was playing a role-playing game of some kind, and there were a few other patrons playing cards or other games and sipping drinks.
“Welcome in, can I get you anything?” The woman behind the counter asked. She had thick black eyeliner and long purple hair.
Charlie stepped up to the counter. “Yeah, two game passes. I’ll take a latte, they’ll have an iced macchiato, and we’ll split…” he glanced over the menu for a moment, “the cheese fries and jalapeno bites.”
Her extra-long acrylics tapped across the screen as he spoke. “That’ll be forty bucks,” she said, her gum popping with her words.
Charlie pulled out a shiny black card that certainly didn’t look like plastic. He tapped it on the card reader before shoving it back. I watched as he added a large tip on the screen.
“Great,” she said, turning her tablet back. “You’re welcome to play any game you want on the wall, if one has missing pieces let us know. Your food will be out soon.”
“Thanks,” Charlie said, taking my hand and guiding us to the wall. It took me a moment to even register he was holding my hand. I knew it was such a small thing, but something about it made me nervous.
“Which one do you want to play?” We were at the shelf labeled “collaborative”. I knew that’s what would happen, but being here again had my emotions running a bit wild.
Trying to ignore that, I looked over the shelf instead. There were a lot of boxes, some worn with age, especially around the corners, and some brand new and barely touched.
My eyes caught on one—a planet builder. It looked to be a sci-fi game, focused on building up your plant’s resources in order to go off and conquer more. “What about this?” I asked as I pulled it from the shelf.
He looked over the box. “Looks great.”
His other hand stayed in mine as he carried the game back to a table. He sat on one side of the table and I went to sit on the other, but he stopped me.
I gave him a look. “It’s always better to sit together for these, so we can view it the same way.”
He was actually right. The last time we played a co-op we sat together, just for ease.
I came back around and plopped myself in the chair next to him, ignoring the self-satisfied grin he wore. These were the times I wished we had that bond, so I could tell what all these faces meant truly.
I opened the box worn by play and took out the instructions, handing them to Charlie. If I needed to learn the instructions I would just watch a video, but Charlie could just read and know exactly how to play. I pulled the pieces out, admiring the artwork on the cards and the pieces.
“Okay, so the goal is to gather the most space rocks as possible. And different colors are worth different points.”
He continued explaining all the rules and I tried to keep up. By the time he was done, I was slow-blinking at him. It was obvious he understood I was confused, and he laughed. “You can learn as we go.”
“I got it,” I quipped.
His smile fell a slight bit at my harsh tone, but not terribly. “Lets do it.”
We started playing. Charlie was right, after a round or two it started to make sense. Not long after our drinks and fries were dropped off. They were crinkle fries, the perfect shape to hold all of the toppings. I pulled one of the fries up, the cheese stretching high before falling back down. I moaned as I shoved it in my mouth, it was really good. And cheese fries were some of my favorites.
Feeling someone staring I looked over at Charlie whose gaze was locked to me, his mouth hanging open slightly. My face heated. Why was he looking at me like that?
I swallowed. “So, do you want to pull a tool card, or try to get a new worker?”
He faced the board, thinking about my question. The intensity that was between us then lessened, and I felt like I could breathe again. “A tool is probably the safest since we don’t know the stats of the worker we’ll get.”
My focus now came back to the game. “That’s true, but if we pull one of the large diggers, we won’t have enough workers to operate it and it will be a lost turn.”
He considered my words. This was something that had always drawn me to Charlie. Most people didn’t take me seriously, and I understood why. I was the class clown in high school then I dropped out of college and grew up to be a streamer. A lot of people joke that I get to play video games all day for a living. And though I enjoyed those titles most of the time—it felt like it was something that made me successful at my job—it could be annoying in situations like this where I wanted to be listened to.
But I never had to worry about that with Charlie. He’d always weighed my words like they were as important as his own, even with something as mundane as a game. It always made me feel valued and important in his eyes, which was in part why this was all so frustrating.
I jumped when Charlie’s finger touched between my brows, smoothing across and up my forehead, leaving a trail of warmth in it’s wake. “What’re you thinking about?” he asked, head resting against his free hand, propped up by his elbow on the table.
“Us.” I didn’t mean to be so blunt about it, but I didn’t want to lie either.
His expression didn’t change. “What about us?”
I leaned back in my chair, facing forward, towards the mostly empty cafe area. “Everything.”
“I’m going to need more than that, Jesse. What’s bothering you?”
“That’s what I’m saying, everything about this is bothering me. My girlfriend mated you! I’ve never even seen you date or really even have interest in someone, but suddenly Tara comes along and you’re all but obsessed with her. And what about me? Where does that leave me with either of you?”
I was breathing heavily now, and probably talking a bit too loud for being in public, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t stop myself from just letting it all out.
If the dumb alpha had an issue with it, we could go back to the car.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Charlie said, hand hovering before finding a home cupping my cheek. “Tara is obsessed with you and I…” he trailed off. His eyes shining with unspoken emotion as he looked away with a sigh.
“You what?” I asked, almost too hopefully, my voice hardly above a whisper.
Charlie seemed to consider the question for a moment before he leaned in close, the movement sudden and unexpected. When I didn’t move his eyes bounced around my face, as if he was trying to map the entire thing—or maybe save it to memory.
“This.” His lips crashed into mine, lacking the finesse that I’d gotten used to with kissing Tara. Or even during her heat before she’d bitten him… no softness. Just pure, unfiltered need.
Was this real?
It felt real, but also like a dream. One I didn’t realize I’d been waiting for until the moment it arrived.
He took control of the kiss quickly, deepening it, letting himself become softer as he pressed in closer to me. Being in two different chairs quickly became inconvenient, I wished I could just swing my leg over and sit myself in his lap.
Charlie pulled away far before I was ready, but we were in public, and I’d already need a minute before I could stand. My cock reacted to Charlie even faster than my mind, swelling until it pressed against the zipper of my jeans. If I got up from this table it’d be very obvious exactly how I felt about that kiss.
The kinds of thoughts I was having.
“God, I’ve wanted that for so long,” Charlie murmured absently, his warm breath skating across my cheek. It was as if he was thinking it and hadn’t really meant to mumble the words aloud, a private thought given space between us that I couldn’t help but want to explore.
“You have?” I asked.
He nodded, so close that his hair brushed my forehead with the movement. “Since middle school, at least.”
I pulled back to look at him, mouth hanging open with incredulous surprise. “Middle school?”
I might’ve assumed he was joking, but his face was so genuine—steady—that I had no choice but to take it as fact.
“Why do you think I’ve never been with anyone else, at least not seriously?”
My heart pounded. Was he saying what I thought he was? Did I even have the courage to think it, much less ask it aloud?
“I don’t know,” I said hesitantly.
I thought I knew, wanted to know. But until he said it, I wouldn’t let myself read too far into it. Being wrong would crush me.
Charlie scoffed. “Jesse Turner I’ve been in love with you forever, and I didn’t see a point, until Tara, to try and build something with somebody that was never going to be the person I wanted. No, needed. Just because I have feelings for her now doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped having them for you. The same way my feelings for you don’t lessen how I feel about her.”
My entire existence tilted on its axis.
Charlie—perfect, smart, rich, tall, charming Charlie was in love with… me ?
“I wouldn’t call myself all of that, but I am rich,” he said with a smirk. “And tall.”
Oh fuck, had I said that aloud? At this point, it didn’t really matter. What mattered was his words. “So you… like me?”
He shook his head and I opened my mouth to ask—but he plowed on, refusing to let me interrupt his next sentence with my lack of understanding. “I love you.”
My breath caught. “You’re sure this isn’t just about you getting close to me for Tara?”
“No,” he said, exasperated. “Why would it be? It's about you, about us, if you want it to be.”
“Of course I want it to be about us, Charlie.”
He drew me in for another kiss, his hand finding mine.
My head was spinning when we parted.
“God you’re good at that.”
Charlie barked a laugh. “So are you. How about we finish this game and get some more space rocks.”
I couldn’t help but laugh along with him, the sound light and infectious. “Yeah, let’s do it.”
We agreed the next move should be a worker, which ended up in our favor because his tool stat was high. It was fun to just go back and forth, strategizing the best moves and finding excitement in succeeding together. It was something I’d learned to like about OVWatch, teamwork made the dream work. And winning together almost better than winning solo.
Almost .
That gave me a wicked little idea. I was hardly able to keep the smirk off my face as I naked,. “Hey, do you want to come play with me on stream next week?”
I knew Tara and I were going to do the under-the-desk stream for Glitch, and something about knowing Charlie would be there on my end, having no clue that our girl was underneath me was so hot I could barely stand it.
Plus, he deserved another stint being king og the cuck chair.
Take that, you fucking girlfriend stealer.
“Sounds fun,” he said as we boxed up the game. “Just let me know what time and I’ll jump on.”
I smiled. This was going to be fun.