Chapter 8 #4
“You look like you’re at war.”
“This is a fucking terrible system.”
“They’re literally coffee filters in a box.”
“Why the fuck aren’t they already in the machine?”
Charlie leaned against the doorframe and watched him continue muttering. There was something ridiculously domestic about the sight of him standing there half naked and sleep-rumpled, swearing at her coffee machine as though the two of them had developed a personal feud overnight.
Reeze felt her staring and looked up.
“You’re doing it again.”
“Yes.”
His mouth twitched.
“Becoming a habit.”
“I’m gathering material.”
“For what?”
“For when I regret this.”
He went still for half a second before turning and crossing the kitchen towards her. Charlie remained where she was, holding his gaze until he stopped directly in front of her.
“You going to regret it?”
“Not right now.”
“Good.”
He kissed her, not with the same hunger as before but warmly and almost casually, as though kissing her whenever she came within reach was simply something he did now. His hand slid over her hip before he released her and returned to his battle with the coffee machine.
“You do that deliberately,” she said.
“What?”
“Make me forget what I was going to say.”
Reeze laughed under his breath.
“One of my better qualities.”
Once the coffee was finally ready, they ended up at the kitchen table with no real plan beyond remaining close.
Reeze sat beside her instead of opposite, one arm resting along the back of her chair while his other hand settled on her knee.
Charlie found herself leaning into him without consciously deciding to.
“Are you working today?” she asked after a while.
Reeze’s thumb moved slowly back and forth over her knee.
“A bit.”
“A bit?”
He sighed through his nose and took another mouthful of coffee.
“Need to show my face at the club. People expect me there.”
“To show them you’re there?”
“Mm.”
Charlie fell quiet and took his hand in hers, her fingers tracing the rough knuckles and old scars while she tried to find the right words for what she had been thinking.
It wasn’t really about the club or his job, or even the man she had seen standing in the yard.
It was about Reeze and the way he seemed to throw himself into other people’s problems without stopping to consider whether he ought to.
How naturally he had taken care of Molly when she was frightened, how he appeared at Charlie’s door whenever she called and how he always seemed to be the one carrying slightly more than everyone else.
“You look after a lot of people, don’t you?”
He looked at her.
“What?”
“I don’t know. Molly. Me. Probably half the fucking neighbourhood if they asked you nicely enough.”
Reeze laughed.
“Now you’re exaggerating.”
“No.” Charlie met his gaze. “I actually don’t think I am.”
For once, he seemed genuinely uncertain what to say, which was fascinating in itself. Reeze had an opinion about almost everything and rarely hesitated to voice it, but now he went strangely quiet.
“I suppose that’s just what you do,” he said eventually.
Charlie smiled.
“You just said something that explains an awful lot about you.”
He laughed and shook his head.
“I have no fucking idea what that means.”
“No. You probably don’t.”
Her thumb moved over his hand again, and she was struck by how natural it already felt to sit like this with him, as though they had been doing it for far longer than they actually had.
“I’m not used to anyone staying,” she said quietly.
Reeze didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turned her hand over in his and pressed his lips to the inside of her wrist before drawing her slightly closer.
“I’m not used to wanting to.”
Charlie looked at him, and the simple honesty of it hit far harder than any polished romantic line ever could have. She knew he meant it.
Perhaps that was exactly why it made her feel so warm inside.
They stayed in the flat longer than either of them had intended, not because they had any real reason to remain but because everything between them suddenly seemed to take a little longer than usual.
Charlie spent far too much time in the bathroom trying to sort out her hair while Reeze took over her kitchen again to make more coffee even though they had already had two cups.
At some point he discovered her old radio and began muttering about the songs as though modern music had personally wronged him, making Charlie laugh so hard she nearly choked on her coffee.
It was almost ridiculous how easy having him there felt, and perhaps that was exactly what made her nervous.
Charlie wasn’t used to something feeling this good and this natural at the same time.
Eventually there were no excuses left. Reeze genuinely did have a job and a club that needed his attention, so they got dressed and left the flat together.
But when Charlie locked the door behind them, she could still feel the warmth of his hands against her skin.
And for the first time in a very long time, she found herself hoping this was something she would never have to learn to live without.