E I G H T E E N
I feel like I’m being watched.
I lazily open my eyes and find him.
On his side, his elbow tucked under his head, shamelessly staring at me.
“You’re a creep.”
He smiles. “Good morning to you too.”
“How long have you been doing that?” I tug his comforter up to my ears.
“Not long,” he murmurs, brushing a piece of my hair off my forehead with his finger. “I decided to play hooky.”
“And why is that?”
“I want to take you somewhere.”
My eyes narrow as he moves his foot over my calf. Our legs are utterly entangled, and I am sheathed in one of his t-shirts.
“We’ll come back tomorrow,” he says.
“I have an overnight shift tomorrow.”
“I know. We’ll be back before you have to go to work.”
I turn up my nose as I roll to my side. “Where are you taking me, Next-Door-Charlie?”
“Wherever I want to,” he muffles. “It’s my birthday, remember?”
I smile. “It is.”
He lowers his head, nudging my nose with his. He wants a kiss, which I gladly give. His hands slip under his t-shirt creasing my skin as I wrap my fingers around his curls, pulling him on top of me.
He starts to shake his head. “We’ve got to go,” he says against my lips.
My eyes snap open. “You don’t want to have morning sex first?”
He looks at me through his eyelashes. “Oh, I want to have morning sex,” he corrects me. “But we’re already behind schedule.”
“Schedule?” I lift a brow as he settles between my legs, his morning wood pressing against my core. “I thought this was a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing?” I lift my hips a little, further taunting him.
“Banks,” he playfully growls.
“Fine,” I pout, letting my hips fall back against the bed. “Up we get.”
He gives me a soft peck and we rise. He instructs me to pack an overnight bag, and he will meet me at my apartment in thirty minutes.
“Need to take a cold shower, do you?” I hum, pulling on my jeans.
“Don’t make me change my mind.”
I grin. “I wouldn’t complain.”
He snickers, kissing my cheek.
“You created a monster.”
He winks at me before heading to the shower.
Given fairly little direction, I dressed for the cold and packed an overnight bag with necessities. Charlie was prompt thirty minutes later with a backpack slung over his shoulder and some wet curls framing his face. He took my bag from me as I locked my apartment and led me down to his truck.
“Alright, come on,” I murmur as he lifts me into the cab. “Where are we going?”
“Patience, Banks,” he taunts, shutting the door.
I anxiously sat beside him, while he drove us out of the city. Farther and farther toward destination unknown.
After about two hours, I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Where are you taking us?” I ask pointedly. “Really.”
His lips curl as he tucks the edge of them between his teeth. His brows raised out of humor and his body sat lax. He’s enjoying this.
“I am never going to be able to surprise you with anything, will I?” His tone is full of amusement.
“I don’t like surprises.”
“I know.”
“Yet you torture me anyway.”
He chuckles. “We’re almost there.”
“You’re lucky it’s your birthday,” I gruff while crossing my arms.
He doesn’t reply, rather offering me a side smirk. My anxieties would just have to fester in my stomach till we arrived.
“Have you heard from your mom today?” I figure it’s best to distract myself.
He shrugs. “She sent me a text earlier.”
“A text?” My eyes widen. “That’s it?”
“It’s fine, Banks,” he says. “It’s just another year older.”
“Yeah, but it’s one without your family. ”
He takes his eyes off the road for a moment. “I’m exactly where I want to be.”
A selfish bundle in my gut flutters.
“You talk like I’m the center of your world,” I tease.
“You are,” he says softly. “You’re the most important person in my life.”
I inhale deeply.
It’s scary how easily he can say such intense words.
What’s scarier is he means them.
Wholeheartedly.
“Anyone ever tell you, you’re intense, Next-Door-Charlie?”
His cheeks flush. “Why do you think I had to be your friend for six months so I was sure I wouldn’t scare you off?”
I roll my eyes. “What about your sister? How’s Carsyn?”
He scratches his jawline. “She’s good.”
My mouth parts to ask him something else when a small structure comes into view in the distance.
“What is that?” I blink as he turns down an unmarked gravel driveway. The driveway is obviously maintained as the rest of the area is covered in snow. Fresh, untouched snow. As we got closer, I realized the dome-shaped building was completely made out of glass. Including the roof.
“Charlie,” I gape.
“You said you wanted to go into the middle of nowhere and watch the stars.” He slows, parking just outside the front door that is also a sheet of glass. “I thought we could spend the night.”
“But— ”
Letters and syllables escape me as I take another look around.
There truly is nothing around here as far as the naked eye can see. If it weren’t daytime, I have no doubt we’d be in utter darkness. The building looks like a snow globe, yet none of the snow stuck to the glass.
“You want to go in?” Charlie undoes his belt and turns his body toward mine.
I slowly twist my neck. “But it’s your birthday.” My words barely float. “You can’t make my wish come true. It’s your day.”
Charlie reaches for me, his palm brushes against my cheek. “I am about to stargaze with my dream girl. This is my wish come true.”
My eyes pool, overwhelmed as his lips bow. His eyes sparkle with a familiar Charlie warmth.
“Let’s go in.” He scrunches his nose at me before letting his hand fall.
There is a keypad on the door, which Charlie enters a code, and we step inside. The place is circular and you step directly into the small kitchen. It’s not more than a little stove and a porcelain sink. The two cabinets are a dark blue and the miniature fridge is tucked under the countertop. The lights are mounted on the walls that encased the bathroom in the center of the dome. Walking around the edge you find a fluffy white bed pushed against the wall with tiny strands of Christmas lights strung above it. The walls are short, maybe eight feet as they are just designed to be privacy screens.
“This is insane,” I murmur under my breath as I set my bag on the side of the bed .
“Wait till you see it tonight.” Charlie leans against the wall.
“Have you been here before?”
He shakes his head. “But the pictures online are pretty cool.”
I smile.
“How about some food?” he says.
“Don’t we need to go to a store or something?”
“I already took care of it.”
I sigh as I stalk toward him, sliding my arms around his waist. “You’ve planned everything? I should have done this for you.”
He smirks.
“I just feel like you’re spoiling me when I should be spoiling you,” I confess.
“Quit,” he advises, simply, quick to run his index finger across the bridge of my nose. “Just be here with me.”
I lean forward resting my chin on his chest as I stare up at him. “Okay,” I breathe with a shy grin. “Let’s eat then.”
He leans forward and presses his lips to my forehead before tugging me around a half circle to the kitchen.
I shamelessly pulled open all the cabinets and drawers to find things left over from other people. I mentally took notes over the essentially fully stocked kitchen. Eyeing the flour, sugar, and a half-used box of red candles that Charlie definitely didn’t see me shove into the pocket of my jeans. He had a freezer bag that he unzipped and started pulling out things.
“Are we boring?” I titter, pulling the tomato sauce from his hands. “This is all we eat.”
“Consistent,” he winks. “Not boring. ”
He then proceeds to set out ready-made pizza dough, a mixture of cheeses, and a couple of ciders.
“Put these in the fridge, yeah?” He hands me a small carton of eggs and a package of bacon. Likely for breakfast but I’ve already tallied those eggs for something else the moment I saw them.
“You know what we need?” I say as we start working on making our cheese pizza.
“What?” He glances over his shoulder at me.
“Hot cocoa.”
“There’s a store about thirty minutes from here. I could go grab some.”
I hated to do it, but I needed to get him out of there if I was going to execute my own last-minute idea.
“After we eat?”
He chuckles. “Sure, before it gets dark.”
I nod.
The two of us are one too many to make a simple cheese pizza, which ends in us nearly having a food fight in the process. We ended up on the floor in front of the bed, a mess of entangled legs and gooey cheese.
“How does the glass not fog?”
“It's the heat,” he explains. “Sort of like the windshield of a car. That’s why the snow doesn't stick.”
“Makes sense,” I nod, biting the slice of pizza in his hand. Which, he then yanks from me with a pout, drawing a giggle from my lips.
“Do you remember that snow day when we were kids?” I settle my back against his bent legs. “That tree broke and blew the transformer? ”
“I remember,” he murmurs. “It was freaking freezing. Coldest winter in decades.”
“Remember how dark it was?” I reminisce. “You and Kai snuck out into the yard and laid in the snow, looking up at the stars.”
“You saw that?” His brows push together.
I smile. “I was in my room, bundled under two comforters. I saw you guys through the window. I remember thinking how stupid you two were. I thought for sure you’d get frostbite.”
He chews on his cheek with a shrug. “We don’t feel cold like we do now as kids,” he hums. “But even then, it was pretty cold. It was worth it though,” he decides. “That was the first time I saw the stars for what they truly were.”
“Is that when your fascination began?”
“Probably,” he replies. “I was just…”
“Starstruck?” I grin.
“You’re funny,” he scoffs with a little leer as he pokes my side with his finger.
I laugh as he prods me once more, my body cringing at his playful assault.
“Does that mean you’re against snow angels tonight then?” he taunts.
I grip his arm as he continues to tickle me. “Yes,” I whimper. “Stop.”
He snickers, nudging me a few more times before hugging me to him.
“Come on, I’ll warm you up after,” he whispers in my hair, his tone vibrating through my skin.
“Promise?” I shiver.
He kisses my neck. “Always. ”
I shut my eyes, holding him close.
Savoring the feeling of his breath on my skin.
It’s the safest feeling in the world.
Here in Charlie’s arms.
“I should go to the store if I’m going to go,” he says after a moment. His face remains tucked into the crook of my neck, dragging out the inevitable.
I still feel shitty for suggesting it, but I tell myself the means will be worth the reward.
“Please,” I murmur softly. “How can you stargaze without it?”
He lets out a faint chuckle. “You’ll be okay here alone for a bit?”
I nod. “I’ll be right where you left me.”
He leans back, his gaze catching mine. They trail over my face, looking at me as if he hasn’t seen the same face a couple hundred times. As if he’s memorizing every line and pore because they’ll fade. “God, you’re beautiful,” he huffs.
Heat rushes to my cheeks.
“Whatever it is that creates us, made you with perfection.” He cups my face as I lean into his palm.
“I’ll tell my parents you think so,” I shyly grin.
“A plus,” he scrunches his nose. “Truly.”
I giggle as he gives me a brief peck.
“I’ll go,” he utters as the two of us shovel to our feet. As he straightens his gray shirt, I reach for his hand, gently yanking him toward me. His hips bump mine as I wrap my arms around his neck. I push myself to the tips of my toes, and he happily meets me halfway. Taking his lips with my own, I kiss him passionately. Praying that somehow this kiss conveys how I feel about him .
It’s sweet and tender as I lightly pull away, my words echoing off his lips. “I hope this is one of the happiest of your birthdays, Charlie.”
I watch as his eyes slowly open, a bit hazy as they devour mine. He doesn’t physically say anything in return, but I heard him loud and clear; he does feel what I feel.