She felt Hailey lift herself up and look down at her. Hailey’s lips pressed to her forehead.
“Charlie, I love you,” she said when she pulled her lips back and looked into Charlie’s eyes with her perfect green ones.
“Hails, you don’t-”
“Shh,” Hailey quieted her. Charlie felt the press of her lips and the taste of her own arousal on them. “I love you,” she repeated. “I love you as my best friend.” She kissed her again. “And I love you as more than just my best friend.” She lowered her head to Charlie’s neck. “I want you to be mine, Charlie.”
“Hailey, I’ve been yours for years,” Charlie reminded.
“And I want to be yours,” Hailey revealed. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Charlie told her, and she felt the sudden relief that came along with finally having the woman you love more than anything in your arms saying she loved you back.
They remained that way for a long while as the soft music continued to play in the background and the candles began to die down. Charlie felt her body pulling her into sleep, but she resisted because she had Hailey in her arms, pressed against her body. She didn’t want to sleep, in case this was a very vivid dream. Hailey lifted herself up after a while and rolled onto her side, facing Charlie. She began pulling rose petals off of Charlie’s body and tossing them onto the floor.
“I’ll deal with those tomorrow,” Hailey said and then pulled some off her own body. “I’d thought about taking them off you with my teeth, but I don’t think I have the energy for that.”
“I can’t believe you did this whole thing,” Charlie said and looked at Hailey’s nude body for the first time that she could just focus on it.
“I wanted to do something nice for you.”
“This was definitely nice,” Charlie replied and kissed her shoulder as Hailey finished removing flower petals from their bodies.
“Yeah?” Hailey checked.
“Hails, this was the fantasy. You are the fantasy,” she told her and ran a hand over her stomach. “I’ve always just wanted you.”
“I get that now,” Hailey offered.
She encouraged Charlie’s arm around her, so she could lie on her shoulder and wrap her own arm around Charlie’s waist.
“So, are we…”
Hailey leaned up to look at her.
“Together?” Hailey questioned. “Yeah, Charlie. I think we can safely say we are finally together.”
She leaned down and kissed Charlie gently.
“Do you want to get ready for bed?” Charlie asked, realizing it was likely close to three in the morning, and they were supposed to be in the kitchen for breakfast at an early hour before they’d hit the road.
“I’d love to get ready for bed with you.”
CHAPTER 24
Hailey woke up with Charlie pressed against her back. She smiled and held Charlie’s hand tighter against her stomach.
“Morning.” Charlie kissed the back of her shoulder.
“You’re awake?” Hailey questioned.
“I usually am before you.” She kissed her shoulder again.
“How long?”
“About twenty minutes,” Charlie replied. “I didn’t want to move.”
“What time is it?” Hailey rolled over in her arms.
“About 7:45,” Charlie said. “I slept in, technically.”
“And we have to be in the kitchen in fifteen minutes?” Hailey asked and held Charlie close.
“Yes.”
“So, we don’t really have time?”
Charlie laughed. Hailey felt the rumbling in her own body.
“Not really, unfortunately.” Charlie kissed her forehead. “But I’m free tonight, if you are.”
Hailey pulled back, slapped her own forehead and said, “I made plans with Emma.”
“Oh.” Charlie pulled back.
“No, no. Not like that. We’re over, Charlie. Way over. We’re just trying to be friends, and I didn’t know this was going to happen between you and me.”
“It’s okay.”
Charlie rolled onto her back. Hailey knew it wasn’t okay by the way Charlie pulled her entire body away from her own so that they were no longer touching at all.
“Hey,” Hailey said and placed a hand on Charlie’s stomach. “See this?” She tugged on Charlie’s shirt. “Whose shirt is this?”
“It’s your shirt, Hails,” Charlie stated and glanced at her.
“And whose shirt am I wearing?”
“My shirt.”
“And neither of us is wearing anything else, Charlie,” Hailey said. “I do not love Emma. I love you. I’m with you. I will cancel my plans with Emma because Emma is a friend, but you are my love, Charlie. You’re my person, remember?”
“I remember.” Charlie lightened.
“We should get dressed and head back,” Hailey said and pecked her lips.
“You know everyone is going to know we did this, right?” Charlie asked as she sat up.
“Yeah, because I’m going to tell them.” Hailey moved to straddle Charlie’s thighs.
“You’re going to tell them what we did last night?” Charlie lifted a curious eyebrow and held onto Hailey’s hips.
“I’m going to tell them that we’re together. That’s okay, right?”
“That is very much okay.” Charlie kissed her neck and pulled her down on top of her as she fell back on the bed, causing Hailey to scream and then giggle.
◆◆◆
Charlie felt lighter than she’d ever felt before, as she and Hailey walked back toward the main house pulling and carrying their bags. When they arrived at the back door and left their stuff outside, they found Hannah and Alyssa already at the table. Both women looked up in their direction and grinned a mile wide.
“Okay,” Charlie said. “That’s enough.”
Hannah laughed first, but Alyssa joined in right after. Ember and Eva entered from the back door, and Charlie turned around to see the two of them also had matching grins.
“Good morning, Hails,” Ember said. “And, Charlie.”
“Morning, newlyweds,” Alyssa offered over Charlie and Hailey.
“Hey, old-ly weds,” Ember joked and pulled Eva along to sit down at the table. “Coffee, babe?”
“Yeah, thanks.” Eva lifted her head to kiss Ember as Ember moved to the coffee pot.
“So, how did you two sleep out there, in the old place?” Ember asked and then turned to look over her shoulder.
“Good,” Charlie said.
Hailey took her hand and then placed the her other hand over their clasped ones.
“We slept well, thank you,” she said in Ember’s direction. “And thank you,” she delivered sincerely to Hannah and Alyssa.
“So, it finally happened?” Eva asked. “You two…”
“Yes,” Hailey confirmed. “We’re together.” She looked over at Charlie who could only smile.
“Finally!” Ember offered the room.
“Ignore her. She’s a little excitable right now,” Eva excused her wife. “And, Charlie, thank you. The tree house is perfect. You guys put in so much work. It was amazing.”
“I was happy to help. It’s really cool up there. What are your parents going to do with it now?” Charlie asked. “Hails, coffee?”
“Yeah, thank you.” Hailey let go of Charlie’s hand.
Charlie made her way over to the counter, where Ember was pouring cups for all four of them now. Ember lifted an eyebrow in her direction and then bumped her shoulder.
“I’m happy for you,” she whispered.
“I’m happy for you.” Charlie nodded back to Eva.
“I’m happy for me too.” Ember turned to deliver Eva her coffee and carry her own over as well.
“I don’t know,” Eva answered Charlie’s question. “I don’t think they thought that far ahead. They’ll probably leave it like that until winter. They can take the mattress out and turn it into a cool hangout for the grandkids.”
�
�Your parents will likely burn that mattress,” Alyssa said and got a laugh.
Charlie turned around and carried Hailey’s coffee to the table where she was sitting next to Hannah. She also set down a bowl of cereal, earning a glance upward from Hailey and a wide smile. Charlie took advantage of the moment and leaned down to kiss her gently.
“Oh, guys. It’s so cute,” Ember said.
“Okay. Calm down,” Charlie returned and went to grab her own coffee.
◆◆◆
Hailey drove the van back home so that Ember and Eva didn’t have to. They took the prized back seat and spent most of their time smiling at one another and sharing sweet moments. Hailey caught each of them staring at their ring while the other wasn’t looking. She was pretty sure that during the entirety of the six-hour drive, they were never not touching one another in some way. She found herself glancing in Charlie’s direction several times and wishing they could have private moments like that, but thanks to the wide gap between them up front, they couldn’t even hold hands. It was a small price to pay so that the two married couples in the car could have their time together, but she still didn’t like being that far from her when they’d just shared so many intimate moments. Charlie appeared to be deep in thought most of the drive, and Hailey wished more than anything, more than the touches she so desperately wanted again, that she could know her thoughts.
“Are you okay?” she asked her.
“I’m good.” Charlie turned to her, smiled, and then turned around to see that Alyssa was lying in Hannah’s lap asleep while Hannah was playing with her hair and looking out the window. “I want that, Hails.”
Ember and Eva both had their eyes closed, and as Hailey looked through the mirror at them, she could tell they were asleep. Eva’s arm was around Ember’s shoulder, and Ember’s head was pressed into Eva’s neck.
“Want what?”
“What our friends have,” Charlie said.
Hailey smiled out the windshield and wished they didn’t have a little under an hour left in their drive because she wanted to be alone with Charlie more than anything right now.
“Tell me which parts specifically,” Hailey said.
“The marriage and the kids,” Charlie stated without reservation.
“Yeah?” Hailey turned and saw Charlie’s confident free expression.
To most people, after sharing one night together, the idea of talking about marriage and having kids would be terrifying, but apparently not to Charlie. Charlie Adams was afraid of the dark but was finally unafraid of sharing her whole self with Hailey.
“Yes,” Charlie confirmed.
“With me?” Hailey asked.
Charlie didn’t answer right away. She turned back to see a field of high grass pass by the window. Her eyes squinted in deep thought, it seemed.
“I never thought about that,” she finally said.
“You never thought about having that with me?”
Hailey was more than surprised. She’d assumed that if someone loved you for more than a decade and they wanted those things, they’d think about you being the one they shared them with. It actually jarred her a little bit to know that Charlie hadn’t considered it.
“It hurt too much,” Charlie said and then leaned over the center console. She pulled Hailey’s right hand off the wheel, brought it to her lips and kissed it. “Whenever I thought about those things, I’d picture this nameless, faceless woman. Because if I pictured it with you, it just hurt.”
“Oh, baby,” Hailey replied sweetly and pulled Charlie’s hand onto her thigh.
“It’s okay now. Do you want that stuff though?”
“You know I do,” Hailey said. “You heard me in the van the other day. I could tell you were listening. A super spy you’re not, Charlie Adams. Besides, we’ve talked about this stuff before.”
“Not since we started this,” Charlie said. “Not since I told you how I felt and we went on a date, and definitely not since last night.” She smirked. “And yes, I was listening in, but things are different now.”
“Well, nothing’s changed, Charlie. I still want all that,” Hailey said.
“Nothing’s changed?” Charlie checked and pulled her hand back.
“That’s not what I meant,” Hailey argued. “You know that.”
“Yeah,” Charlie returned in an unbelieving tone.
“Charlie, don’t do this.”
“Do what?”
“You always do this.” Hailey glanced at a sign that said Chicago was in twenty-seven miles.
“I always do what?” Charlie asked.
“You spend all this time working toward what you want. Then, when you get it, you start pulling back and question it.”
“I don’t do that,” Charlie stated in her defense.
“Yes, you do,” Hailey retorted. “You always have. You spent two years in college trying to figure out what to major in when you knew you wanted architecture and design. When you finally declared, you spent weeks fighting it. You even went to UC’s counseling center and took that aptitude test to see if you were right about what you wanted to do, which is ridiculous, because it was exactly what you wanted to do, and you were good at it. The test agreed, and even then, you kept reading the course catalog to see if there was something else out there for you. The job you have at the firm took you forever to decide on, and you needed Ember’s math to help push you in the right direction. Right after you took it, you reached back out to your old boss to see if your position had been filled already, in case the firm didn’t work out. You wanted a contingency plan. Your apartment,” she exclaimed and continued, “You saw that place first. I was there. You loved it, and wanted it right away, but you went all around Chicago looking at other places, until you finally picked it, and then as soon as you signed the lease, you started talking about how it was only a six-month lease just in case something went wrong or you didn’t like it. You proceeded to point out that it wasn’t as close to work as another place we saw, or that key cards could be hacked and maybe that didn’t make it more secure. I had to show you that study on RFID to get you to calm down about that and not ask the building owner to call a locksmith. You love that apartment. You love your job. You fight with the things you love right after you get them.” She looked toward Charlie for the longest moment she could chance while driving. “I’m asking you not to do that with me. Don’t have a contingency plan for me, Charlie.”
◆◆◆
The downside to just starting to date a best friend after over ten years of friendship was that she knew all the secrets. Hailey knew everything Charlie kept from everyone else. She knew Charlie’s familiar trepidation and her hesitation when it came to major life decisions. She also hated when Hailey was right, and Hailey was right about this. Over the course of the drive, she’d started to feel uneasy and couldn’t understand why. She’d finally gotten everything she’d ever wanted. She’d spent an amazing night with the woman she wanted to spend her life with. Why couldn’t she just enjoy it? Why couldn’t she push feelings of inadequacy away?
“Charlie?” Hailey asked after Charlie failed to say anything.
“Yeah, I won’t,” she said and could tell by Hailey’s expression that she was unconvinced.
“Hey, beautiful,” Alyssa must have woken up and greeted Hannah.
Charlie turned to see her sit up in her seat and give Hannah a kiss.
“Hey, sleepy head,” Hannah replied.
“Are we almost there?” Alyssa asked and sat up straight, placing her arm over the back of the seat so Hannah could slide over and rest against her side. Charlie watched as Hannah’s hand pressed gently to Alyssa’s stomach. Alyssa smiled and looked down at it before covering it with her own hand. “Still in there, babe.”
“I know. I just like touching you. Is that a problem?” Hannah looked up and teased.
“No, not a problem at all.” Alyssa returned her smile.
“And we’re about a half an hour away,” Hannah told her.
&nbs
p; “Remind me to call my mom when we get back.” Eva had woken up. “I promised I’d let her know we got back okay.”
“Okay.” Ember kissed her temple.
And Charlie and Hailey’s moment of pseudo-privacy had been broken.
◆◆◆
When they arrived back at Ember and Eva’s, everyone unloaded their stuff with the exception of an annoyed Alyssa, because Hannah wouldn’t allow her to carry or lift anything.
“I’m not broken, Han. I’m pregnant,” she argued.
“What’s your point?” Hannah returned with a smile.
Alyssa gave in and hugged each woman goodbye one at a time before climbing into the passenger’s seat of the car.
“I think we got everything,” Ember called as she walked toward them. “Now, I love all of you for everything you’ve done for this wedding and for us, but I’m going to need some privacy with my wife now.”
“Babe!” Eva came up from behind her and wrapped her arms around Ember’s waist. “You guys can come in if you want,” she said.
“We need to get home. Al’s pretty worn out,” Hannah replied.
“No, I’m not,” Alyssa disagreed through the open window and earned herself a laugh from everyone.
“Charlie, are you riding back with us?” Hannah glanced from her wife to Charlie.
Charlie looked over at Hailey who was closing the van door. Hailey’s phone rang in her pocket. Charlie watched her pick it up and look at the screen. Charlie knew instantly who was calling. Her nerves and hesitation got the better of her.
“Yeah, let me put my stuff in the trunk,” Charlie replied and hastily shoved her bags into Hannah’s trunk.
Hailey just watched her in disbelief as she put the phone to her ear.
“Hey,” she greeted.
Charlie looked at Ember, who shook her head sideways in disappointment at her. Eva seemed to pick up on it and glanced pleadingly at Charlie.
“Congrats, guys. I’ll see you later.” She climbed into the back seat and closed the door behind her.
Just Tell Her Page 28