Love Notes

Chapter 37-Charlie



When I walk out of the bathroom, my friends are waiting for me. Will is leaning up against the wall staring, not so subtlety at Tori. They seem to be in a heated conversation and I feel like I have walked in on something private. “Anything I should know about?” I ask.

Simultaneously they respond with, “No.” I glance from one to the other and say, “Okay,” in a drawn out way. I’m not even going to begin to think about what this might be about, or what is going on. However, I will get to the bottom of it. Just not at this very second. Plus, neither of them looks like they’re in the mood for talking at the moment.

We walk down the hall silently and separate off to our respective classes.

The day seems to be flying by, which of course never ever happens when you want it to. I know it’s only like this because my class with Maverick is coming up. I’m dreading the moment I have to walk in there and see him. I have about fifteen minutes until my class with Maverick will start and have to face him. I can’t seem to concentrate on anything, and my nerves are all riled up. I start thinking about the very first time we ever went out on a date as a couple.

I recall being so nervous even though I didn’t know why. I mean, we were a couple already. I remember calling Tori and asking once again, for her awesome fashion sense. Of course she teased the hell out of me at my expense. I remember hearing the front door bell ring and running like mad to get to the door before anyone else, thank goodness I had succeeded. I opened the door and Maverick completely took my breath away. He was all kinds of hot and a freaking bag of chips and he was all mine. I knew when he looked at me that my clothing choice had done what was intended. His eyes looked like they were going to bug right out of his head. Tori had talked me into wearing a skirt. I so don’t wear skirts, mainly because I 'm not tall. I felt like I had stubby legs. She informed me that it didn’t matter and that I still had great legs. So I took a chance. I went with a shorter skirt and found a sequined tank top to wear with it. I brought along a swing sweater just in case it got chilly outside. So maybe the tank was a little snug and showed off all of my curves and was not something I would normally wear without always wearing the sweater. But I took a risk. His reaction made it completely worth it. He grabbed my hand as I shut the door and yanked me to him. Not hard, but just enough to get his point across. “You look gorgeous Charlie. You know I’m going to have to beat the guys off of you with a stick tonight, right? Maybe we should stay home?” I lightly smacked him on the arm, “Oh woman, you can really pack a punch, Okay, okay, we'll go out. I need to show you off anyway. The guys will be so jealous.” I had just rolled my eyes and thought he was completely out of his mind and kinda crazy.

We hadn’t done anything really super spectacular, but yet, we did. If that makes sense. It didn’t matter where we went, as long as we were together.

We went to a nice Italian restaurant . As soon as the waitress showed up, she grew one of those “insta” smiles that you see when a girl sees a good looking guy. She was tall and blonde, just like most of this town’s girl population is. I’m not going to lie. I felt a quick twinge of jealousy when she threw her one thousand watt smile at Maverick. However , he never even glanced her way. Not one glance. And her smile quickly dissipated. He looked at me and continued eye contact with me, as he was telling her what he wanted to drink. Who knew ordering a cherry Coke could sound so hot coming out of a guy’s mouth? Not just any guy though, my guy.

He just kept staring at me. Finally, he spoke the minute Miss Blonde walked away. He reached over the table and grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb along the pulse point of my wrist. Lord, he sky rocketed my heart when he did that . I glanced down at the tabletop, not used to the attention or the compliment. “Look at me Charlie. Please?” he’d said.

I know my cheeks were on fire. They’d felt like I was standing near a large flame. I glanced at him and could see the sincerity in his face. Especially, in his eyes. “I’m still getting used to your compliments, but I’m learning how you see me. You’ll need to be patient with me, this won’t happen overnight.”

“I understand that. I also know you have had years of listening to someone close to you, tell you things that aren’t true about yourself. I just want you to see yourself the way that I do. I do realize, this’ll take time. I’ll also be here, to continue telling you, until you believe it yourself. Having said that, he’d leaned over and whispered, “Actually Charlie, you look good enough to eat.”

I couldn’t help, but throw my head back and laugh. Leave it to him to not only lighten the mood, but also make me feel like I accomplished exactly what I meant to. Score for me! I couldn’t help but feel inwardly pleased with myself.

Dinner was so nice and easy. We walked out holding hands and I may have had a very smug smile on my face, when we passed by the waitress.

Me, gloating? Okay, maybe just a little. And I enjoyed every bit of it.

We spent the rest of our evening at Lookout Point. It’s not exactly what you may be thinking either. Well it is. but it isn’t. It’s a beautiful overlook, that shows the town. The lights are gorgeous down below at night. It’s also a great place to talk and yes maybe kiss a little.

We did do a lot of talking. There was also some kissing involved. There really isn’t anything I enjoyed more, than initiating ‘It’ and shocking the shit out of him. Maverick never expects it. I’ve always been timid around guys, but I’ve never found anyone that I felt so very comfortable around, or one I wanted to kiss so much.

I grabbed him by his shirt collar and yanked him close. I couldn't help but chuckle the minute our noses collided. I took the opportunity to lick the tip of his nose. I was just playing around, but all of a sudden, his eyes darkened and the storm raging in his eyes was unmistakable. “You know, you just started something right?” I, of course, played innocent. “I’m not sure what you're talking about.” I tried not to laugh, but couldn't help it. He started to say something, but in the moment, I decide to silence him and render him speechless. I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his ear, then his cheek and then his jaw. I started my path to his chin and back up to his lips. His breathing started to get a little erratic. I loved this feeling. The feeling of empowerment and knowing that I was the cause. The minute our lips touched, it was on. On, like Donkey Kong ' as Tori would say.

He put his arms around my back and pushed me towards him. The problem was, we were in a car. A car with no room. I was feeling brave, so I stopped him, told him to hold on and scooted over the console. I sat right in his lap sideways. I was in a skirt after all. His eyes looked as if they would bulge right out of his head. I loved it. I resumed kissing him, but instead of the pace we had left off at, I start back achingly slow. He pulled me close with his left hand around my waist, but placed his right palm on my face. It was like heaven. No other way to describe it. His tongue made its way into my mouth and I opened willingly, giving into the kiss, everything I had. Then he moved his lips and tongue down my mouth and to my jaw line. Teasing me, like I had done to him earlier. Except this time, it sure wasn’t funny. Lord have mercy we needed to stop, but my body didn’t want to.

As if sensing my thoughts Maverick stopped suddenly and sighed. “Charlie, we need to slow down. I’m not ready for this and I know you aren’t either and certainly not like this. Although I could kiss you every damn day of my life.”

How had I fallen head over heels for a guy this quickly? One who knew me better than I knew myself?