“You murder plants? Now who’s crazy?” He gave me a swat on the butt, and I laughed, feeling good again. Things were OK. We were OK.
Ten minutes later, we sat in front of my couch, plates on the coffee table, eating Thanksgiving leftovers, drinking wine, and watching Breaking Bad on Netflix. I’d never seen it, but Charlie was a huge fan.
After one episode, I was dying to watch another, even though we’d finished our food. Charlie said he could stay for one more, so we poured a little more wine and moved up to the couch. I was careful to stay on my side, curling up in the corner and covering myself with a blanket when I got chilly rather than moving closer to him.
We ended up watching three entire episodes before Charlie yawned. “Man, I’m exhausted. I better go.”
“Do you have to work tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Early.”
“Yeah, I have to be over at the studio by nine.”
“Oh, that’s right. The dumpster’s coming. How late will you be there?”
“Not sure. However long it takes to get all that crap cleaned up and the new subfloor down. But that’s just plywood, I think. Shouldn’t take long.”
“OK. You’ll call if you need help?”
“I’m sure we’ll be fine.” I picked up the remote and turned everything off, startled at the quiet darkness once the electronics were silenced and the television screen was black.
We sat there a moment, neither of us speaking nor moving. Finally I felt Charlie’s hand on the top of my bare foot, which peeked out from beneath the blanket.
“You’re freezing,” he said, rubbing his hand back and forth.
“Not really. I just get cold easily.”
“You should turn up the heat.”
“Nah. Then you’d have been too hot.” I stuck my foot out and nudged his thigh. “Wasn’t that considerate of me?”
He laughed, circling my ankle with his hand. “Yes. What nice manners you have. Unlike me, showing up here uninvited.”
I clucked my tongue. “That’s right. You scared me to death, too. I nearly dialed nine-one-one!”
“Oh yeah?” Suddenly he pulled my ankle so I was lying on my back, tossed the blanket aside, and stretched out above me. “And what would you have reported?”
I giggled, a little drunk, a little delirious at his weight on me, at his face above mine in the dark. It struck me that I’d never been beneath him this way. “Help, help, there’s a man here with a large erection!” I yelled. “Who knows what he wants to do to me?”
Charlie laughed, setting his hips on mine. “I know.”
Widening my knees, I twined my legs around his, tucking my feet between his calves. “I thought you had to go.” My hands crept beneath his sweater and undershirt, sliding around his lower back.
“I do.” But he lowered his mouth to mine, kissing me softly. Kissing each lip and each cheek, and each eyelid. “I should.”
“Don’t.” I slid my hands lower, beneath the waistband of his jeans, and kissed the underside of his jaw. I put my face in the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent, my entire body shivering.
“You still cold?” He picked his head up and looked down at me.
“Yes, in fact, I think I have hypothermia and I need mouth to mouth.” I trailed kisses along his jaw, which was starting to feel scratchy under my lips.
“You don’t give mouth to mouth for hypothermia.”
“Then I need a hot injection of some kind,” I said, laughing as I dug my fingers into his ass.
“Oh, Jesus.” He kissed my nose. “You’re a bad girl, Red. I gotta go before I end up throwing you over my shoulder and carrying you up to bed.”
“Mmm, do it.”
He hesitated, and I knew he was thinking about it.
“Come on, it’s all freezing and snowy out there, the roads will be bad.” I picked my head up and tugged his earlobe with my teeth. “You know you want to stay with me.”
Groaning, Charlie got to his feet. “No. Now that’s enough, you. Quit trying to trap me here. I’m not the sleepover type.”
A second later, I sat up, bringing my feet together on the floor. “God, Charlie. I was just kidding.”
“I know.” Gone was the warmhearted, teasing Charlie of a minute ago. This one was cool and detached. “But I have to go, so no more.” He disappeared into the kitchen, and again I marveled at his ability to make it seem like somehow it was my fault we kept fooling around, and I was the only one who needed to be reminded to behave. I followed him to the kitchen, squinting at the light.
“You know, I didn’t ask you to come here tonight.” I leaned against the doorway, crossing my arms. “You’re the one who showed up saying you couldn’t stop thinking about me.”
Charlie was buttoning up his coat. “I never said I didn’t.”
“You just accused me of trying to trap you. Like I have some master plan to trick you into being my boyfriend.”
“That’s not what I meant at all, Erin.” He pulled his gloves from his pocket. “Look, I wanted to be here tonight. And I had a great time. I’m just making sure you remember what this is.”
Steam had to be coming from my ears by now. “You’re unbelievable. Get out.”
“What’d I say?”
“Get out!”
He rolled his eyes. “Erin, come on.”