Chapter 34
SAM
Sam stood before the mirror, mascara wand in hand, as she delicately applied one more coat to her lashes. With a satisfied nod, she stepped back to admire her handiwork.
It had been a while since she had last taken the time to apply her makeup so meticulously or with as much extravagance. There was only a little time left before they all needed to leave, so it was a mad dash with four people getting ready at the same time.
“You need any help with your hair?” Angel asked from the bed behind her, her legs crossed in front of her and a curling iron held in place above her head.
It had been Angel’s idea that they all got ready together at Charlie’s apartment. The two of them had holed up in Charlie’s bedroom, while Charlie and Peter had been banished to the smaller bathroom and office down the hall.
Sam smiled at her reflection before responding. “No, I think I’m going to do a side-swept half up-do. Pin one side and have the other side let down. What do you think?”
Angel gave her a thoughtful once-over before nodding. “Not a bad idea. It’ll give Hollywood starlight vibes.”
The exact vibe she had been going for.
“Are you still not going to tell me what’s going on between you and Peter?” Sam asked, waggling her eyebrows.
Angel’s eyes cut to hers. “I don’t know. Are you going not going to tell me what’s going on with you and Charlie?”
Sam’s face heated. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell Angel; she just hadn’t found the right time to do it.
She hadn’t wanted to say anything while they were trying on dresses, dinner with her and Peter afterwards was at a loud restaurant where they couldn’t hear each other much anyway, and they’d been so busy getting ready today that they’d barely even had time to really talk.
She turned back to the mirror. Angel would kill her if she didn’t tell her soon, though, so she decided that as soon as she finished applying her lipstick, she’d tell her.
That was until a sudden, high-pitched, scream pierced the air. Startled, Sam dropped the tube onto the counter and spun around.
Angel was leaned over toward the wall, close to the electrical socket the curling iron had been plugged into, but she seemed to be focused on something behind the nightstand. She snatched the offending object off the ground and spun on her.
“Samantha MacMillian!” Angel exclaimed loudly, stomping her foot on the ground as she held the object up.
It took Sam a second, but when she figured out what it was, heat abruptly rushed up her neck to her face.
Oh. Oh no.
At that moment, the bedroom door flew open, and both Charlie and Peter hurled themselves through the entrance. Charlie, leading the charge, gripped the door frame to prevent himself from colliding with Sam, Peter not more than a step or two behind him.
“What happened? Are you two okay?” Charlie asked, sounding as if he’d sprinted clear across the apartment. Charlie had managed to at least pull on his trousers and his undershirt, but the same couldn’t be said of Peter as he shoved himself further into the room behind him in just a pair of boxers.
“Who screamed?” Peter asked, unapologetically shirtless next to her as Sam felt herself flush even harder.
Angel whirled on them, showing off the item in her hand.
A condom wrapper.
An empty, open condom wrapper.
“I fucking knew it!” Angel cried out. Quite the picture she made indeed, waving the condom wrapper above her head, as if it were some victory trophy, in nothing more than the bathrobe she’d brought with her. The rest of them in various states of undress as they stared.
Peter nudged Charlie from behind. “You dog.”
Sam wished she could drop dead.
Charlie, to his credit, at least looked almost as embarrassed as Sam felt. His ears and face were red, growing redder by the second.
“Fuck, I wondered where that one had gone,” he mumbled.
“Bitch, if you don’t stop keeping things from me, I’m gonna fucking deck you!” Angel stated, though the smile trickling through hardly gave any weight to it. “You two finally got together?”
“Y-yes,” Sam said. “Can you please put the condom wrapper down at least—”
Angel whirled around, facing Peter, and waved the wrapper again in the air like it was a key piece of evidence to a crime she’d just solved. “You owe me fifty bucks!”
“What?!” Sam exclaimed.
“We had a bet going,” Peter replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Sam turned to look at him but immediately covered her eyes and rubbed at the tension that had so quickly formed between them.
Peter was a bit leaner than Charlie was, but it was easy to tell that he was no stranger to the gym as well.
Charlie rolled his eyes and nudged Peter. “Dude, go put a shirt on.”
Peter puffed out his chest. “I didn’t exactly have time to grab one when I came running in here.”
“Both of you, out!” Angel declared, shooing them with her hands. “I have to talk to Sam.”
“But—-” Charlie started but retreated from Angel’s sweeping hands.
“Your concern is duly noted, both of you, but shoo! I have to talk to my best friend. Get out!” she said, shoving at the two of them until she was able to close the door firmly behind them.
She tossed the offending wrapper onto the nearby nightstand with a grimace and plopped down heavily onto the bed.
Angel patted the spot next to her. “Sit, I want all of the dirty details.”
Sam giggled. “Are we just going to ignore the fact that you and Peter bet on my relationship?”
“We’ll call it even for you not immediately telling me about this. Now, spill!”
Sam shrugged, suddenly feeling a bit shy about the whole thing.
She’d planned on telling Angel while she was here visiting; she just hadn’t formed the words she was going to say and was now at a bit of a loss.
“It just sort of… happened? We finally had a conversation about how we felt, and things just sort of happened from there…”
“Finally,” Angel sang out. “I told you everything would be fine if you just told him how you felt.”
She shrugged again. “I know. I was just worried that I would mess everything up.”
Angel aimed a sarcastic grin at her. “And now that feels pretty stupid, huh?”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, a bit… Are you mad?”
“That we literally just had a whole-ass conversation about being open and honest?”
Sam winced. “Yeah, that.”
Angel sighed, scooting closer and nudging Sam’s shoulder with her own. “I’m not mad. I’m aware that protecting your peace is sort of your thing, and given how your family is with you, I can’t say I blame you.”
Oh yeah, that.
“I guess now’s a good time to also tell you that I told my aunt off? Cut ties with her and the rest of them.”
Angel’s mouth opened wide before she smacked Sam’s arm. “Okay, now I’m mad! How could you not tell me the wonderful news? Ding dang dong, the witch is gone!”
The laughter that burst out from Sam was unexpected but certainly not unwelcome.
“For real, though, I get it,” Angel continued, sounding more serious. “I do. I would have loved for you to have told me about you and Charlie on your own before I found… that… but I get it.”
“You do?”
“Of course. Regardless of how obvious it is for the rest of us how head over heels in love you two have been for each other, it’s still something new to both of you. You had a lot of catching up to do, I’m sure. So, no, I’m not mad.”
“Promise?” Sam asked. She knew she probably would deserve it if she was still angry after everything, but she wanted to start over. Clean the slate, so to speak. No more secrets between them.
Angel’s expression softened. “Promise. Plus, I’m fifty dollars richer, so who am I to complain? But… I do have just one more question, and we’ll be completely even.”
“Okay?”
Angel waggled her eyebrows. “How’s the sex?”
“Angel!” Sam exclaimed, shoving her playfully.
The only surprising part of Angel’s question wasn’t the question itself but more that she hadn’t thought Angel would be curious about it.
“What? Am I not allowed to be curious? Is it good? You promised no more secrets!”
Sam chewed on her lip before letting a sigh hiss out of her. “It’s fucking incredible.”