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Trying to get my dick to calm down, I turn my eyes away from her and look out the windshield as I ask, “Where do you want to go? Grocery store or Target? But please, if we go to Target, can we not spend four hours there? I have to get up early for training, and we’ll still need to set up your bed. Do you know when that’s coming yet?” And now I saidcoming, which is making me think about coming down her throat. Jesus. What is wrong with me?

“Target is fine with me. I know what I need, so it shouldn’t take me too long.”

Because my lower head is doing all the thinking for me right now, I just nod and pull out of the driveway.

When we get to the store, she suggests we break off and meet back at the register. She tasks me with picking out a calendar.

“I don’t really care what you get. Just something easy to follow,” she says, looking over her shoulder while walking away from me to go over to the grocery side.

A half hour later, she meets me at the register area. I’ve been waiting here for the last ten minutes, and it took everything in me not to go find her.

“When did you get a cart?” I ask.

“Well, I got hungry, so everything looked good. Plus, I had a feeling you guys would end up eating half of it anyway, even though you’re on a strict food regimen. But don’t touch my macarons. They had the little pink ones that I like with the champagne-flavored filling.” She points her finger at me, nearly poking my chest.

“You know I only like the pistachio ones. The rest are like eating cardboard.” I take the items out of her cart and place them on the checkout counter, and see a few things I know she got for me.

“And how would you know what eating cardboard tastes like? My macarons are crying right now. You hurt their feelings,” she says so seriously.

When I look up from the cart, she’s holding the container of pink cookies like a baby and then starts laughing, which makes me smile. It’s been a really long time since she’s laughed with me. Yeah, I’ve heard her laugh and seen her smile for other people. But this one? It’s mine.

“I didn’t have a chance to see what was in the kitchen, so I just grabbed a bunch of different things. There’s some mac ’n’ cheese in there too. I wasn’t sure how much you had left, but you eat it for, like, every cheat meal, so in case you’re running low, you can have some of mine. I also got some stuff to make chocolate chip cookies, and I got the chocolate milk for Pitz.”

Her face is turned toward the cashier, but I can still see a blush on her cheeks.

“Thanks, Boss.”

This makes her whip her head up, and we lock eyes. Boss is a nickname I started calling her when we were kids because she liked to be in charge of anything we did, and as a result, Casey and I were never bored. Later, I called her Boss because I damn near let her rule my life because she owned me. And I loved every minute of it.

“What did you just say?” she practically whispers.

The cashier saves me from answering by telling us the total. Charlie reaches into the contraption on her chest and pulls out her wallet.

“What the fuck are you wearing? It looks like one of those baby carrier things.”

“And there he is,” she says, shaking her head.

“Let me pay for some of the groceries since we’ll be eating some of this too. And I’ll buy the calendar,” I offer.

“Okay, that’s fine. The calendar was your idea anyway. Plus, I need to save a little cash to order my meal delivery.” Then, to the cashier, she says, “Can you cut the bill in half?”

The cashier just nods and types on the register to separate the bill.

“What’s in your meal delivery? Like, shit you have to make, or is it premade?”

She finishes paying for her half of the items, so I reach over and swipe my card that I pulled from my wallet.

While she puts her wallet away, she explains, “I wanted to try the cooking kits, but I couldn’t do that while living in the dorms last year. And I hated the cafeteria food. Once Brit started bailing on me, it just made sense to get the premade ones that I could just heat up.”

At the mention of Britney, any headway we were making freezes. Charlie looks up at me and opens her mouth to say something, but shuts it.

The cashier scans my calendar separately, and I pay for it. Not another word is said between us.

CHAPTERSEVEN

CHARLIE

“I spoke to the school,and they can get you into the freshmen dorms. It would be a double, but at least you’d have your own place.” Mom’s suggestion echoes through the phone, making me groan.