Page 46 of Beautiful Desire (Blossom Beach #3)

Georgia

F letcher: Think I nailed it!

Me: Of course, you did! So proud of you!

His response is instant, and I huff a laugh at how on par it is for him.

Fletcher: Soooo, celebrate tonight? *wink emoji*

I send him a smirk and a tongue emoji before locking my screen and setting the phone in my lap, just as Charley drops down beside me on the sand. It’s a warm, sunny, cloudless day, so we decided to spend a couple of hours at the beach this afternoon and take advantage of it.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” she asks, handing me a cup of chocolate and vanilla swirl ice cream.

“Fletcher had the presentation for his capstone project today,” I explain, taking a bite. “He just texted me that he thinks it went well.”

“Hell yeah, go Fletcher! Does that mean he’s finished, then?”

“Not yet.” I shake my head. “There’s still a couple more weeks.”

“That’s good,” she mumbles, but her focus is on the phone in her hand, and I know her mind is a million miles away.

“Everything okay?” I ask softly.

“Yeah, sorry.” Blowing out a breath, she shoves the phone into the pocket on her zip-up and glances at me, eyes hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses. “Every time my phone goes off, I think it’s my mom with more awful news.”

Charley’s dad had a pretty massive heart attack a couple of nights ago. He’s still in the hospital, which is where she was before we came here. While he seems to be doing a little bit better as of today, it’s been rocky.

“Girl, you do not have to apologize. If you want to go back to the hospital, I can come with you.”

Shaking her head, Charley watches the kids playing a game of football near the water in front of us. “It’s okay, but thank you. He’s resting right now anyway.” Turning her head toward me, she asks, “What happens once Fletcher does finish?”

“Char, we don’t have to talk about this?—”

“No,” she cuts me off. “I could use the distraction, so please, give me all the steamy, juicy stepbrother tea.”

“You know I’m here to talk it out with you when you’re ready, or be a shoulder to cry on, right? What you went through is traumatic, Char, and I don’t want you to ever feel like you need keep it bottled up because you’re worried it’ll be too dark for me.”

A small smile spreads as Charley nods, the tip of her nose red. “I know, and I love you for it, but right now, this is what I need.”

My heart hurts for my best friend, but I agree that getting her mind off things for a few hours will be good for her.

So, even though it seems so trivial to talk about this, I heave a sigh and say, “Okay, fine. Once Fletcher finishes the program, he’ll be going back to Charleston, and that’ll be the end of it. ”

“So, you guys will just…end?”

“Well, yeah.” I nod. “Him being here was temporary.”

Charley’s face scrunches up, and I can see the furrow to her brow under the sunglasses. “How do you feel about that?”

“Fine,” I mutter, ignoring the gnawing ache in my chest that only seems to appear when I let myself think about this. “There will be no point in us continuing to hook up after that. We live hours away, and once he’s back home, there will be plenty of women for him.”

“He said that?”

I shake my head. “No, not exactly.”

“So then, what did he say?”

“Nothing. We haven’t talked about it.” In fact, I’m actively avoiding anything even remotely close to talking about it.

Clicking her tongue to her teeth, Charley sounds like a disappointed mom as she murmurs, “Georgia…”

“What?” Glancing over at her, I chuckle. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yes, there is.” Turning her body toward me, she sits criss-cross, and says, “Georgia, you’ve been seeing each other for months. There absolutely needs to be a conversation about this.”

“First of all, we are not ‘seeing’ each other,” I point out.

“We have been roommates for the past few months, who also happen to enjoy having sex with each other. But also, this was never meant to go anywhere or be anything other than what it is. So what, exactly , is there to talk about? To confirm what we already know? No, thanks.”

“But you want it to go somewhere?” she asks, the question like a punch to the gut.

“No, of course not,” I scoff, the words like chalk on my tongue.

“Okay, Georgia.” Charley snorts. “You may be able to lie to yourself, but you sure as hell aren’t fooling me.”

My head snaps in her direction, mouth falling open, and I rear back like she physically slapped me. “Charley…”

“I’m sorry, that came out harsher than I intended,” she says softly, pushing her sunglasses to the top of her head.

Her eyes are puffy from crying, but she holds my gaze as she continues.

“All I’m saying is, yeah, maybe when things with Fletcher started, it was just casual, convenient sex, and nothing more, but as your best friend , who probably knows you better than you know yourself sometimes, it has so obviously become more than that. ”

My throat tightens, and it’s right there on the tip of my tongue to tell her how wrong she is, to say, yet again, that I feel nothing more than a sexual attraction toward Fletcher. And god , I want to say it, but more than that, I desperately want to mean it because the alternative is terrifying.

“And trust me, Georg,” she goes on, reaching over and taking my hand in hers. “I get why you’re fighting it, why you’re pretending nothing has changed, and why you are so insistent that you don’t have feelings for him.”

I grit my teeth, willing the pressure behind my eyes to go away.

“I know you’ve been hurt before, and I know there are impenetrable wrought-iron gates surrounding your heart to ensure nobody can ever hurt you again, but I fear you’re just going to end up hurting yourself in the long run by never letting yourself feel anything real.”

Swallowing around the bolder-sized lump in my throat, I exhale a sharp breath through my nose. Sure, she might be right. I could end up hurting myself, but at least I’d only have me to blame. I can live with that, but what I can’t live with is giving another person all the tools to destroy me.

Not again.

“You’re wrong, Char,” I lie through my teeth, the words bitter on my tongue.

“I love you for wanting to look out for me, but you’re wrong.

When Fletcher returns to his life, and I continue with mine, I’ll be fine.

” My voice cracks, and I hate it. “Yeah, I have fun with him and the sex is great, but it’s nothing more than that, and it never will be.

” We both know I’m lying; I can see it in the way she’s looking at me, but as my vision blurs, I’m thankful for the sunglasses hiding that truth from her.

“Besides, Fletcher is about to graduate and start his career. He has his whole life ahead of him, and that life is in Charleston. So, even if I did have feelings for him, it wouldn’t matter.

I would never ask him to give up his life and his career, because I would never want somebody to ask me to give up mine. ”

“Okay, but babe, that is not just your decision to make,” she says.

“You can’t decide what’s best for his future.

” Before I even have a chance to formulate a response, Charley’s phone dings.

Pulling it out, her eyes scan the screen before she sighs.

“I don’t want to leave the conversation like this, but I have to get back to the hospital. ”

“Is your dad okay?”

She nods. “Yeah, he’s fine, but my mom has an appointment she can’t reschedule, and we don’t want him to be alone.”

“Of course, go.” Standing up, I ask, “Want me to come with you?”

“No, I’m good, but thank you.”

I pull her in for a hug once we get back to our cars. “Call me if you need anything. I mean it. Love you”

“I will. Love you too, Georg.”

I have to stop by the bakery real quick, but my mind is a mess on the drive back to my house.

Everything Charley said to me is playing on repeat, and I can’t shake it.

Even if she’s right about me having feelings for him, it doesn’t change the fact that this would never work.

My life is in Blossom Beach, Fletcher’s life is in Charleston, and I don’t see that changing.

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, Fletcher’s dream is to join his father in his business, and he deserves to have that.

He deserves the chance to live the life he’s always wanted, and that life isn’t here.

It’s for the best that we end this once he graduates.

Charley’s right, though… We have to have that discussion, so as I pull into the driveway beside his car, I decide to do just that.

We can clarify what this is, we can agree on it, and then we can enjoy the rest of the time he’s here for what it is without it looming over our heads.

It doesn’t have to be some big, daunting conversation. It’ll be fine… Easy, even, I’m sure.

Walking into the house, I kick off my shoes as Fletcher comes around the corner, beer in hand and a wide grin on his face as he meets my gaze. “Peach! I’m making steak.”

Following him into the kitchen, my brows furrow. “You are?”

“Yup.” He chuckles. “I’ve got ’em ready to go in the fridge. What’s that?” he asks, gesturing to the white box in my hand.

“It’s for you.” Opening the lid, I show him and say, “I had Grace make this for you.”

Taking in the cake that has ‘Congratulations’ written on top with a mortarboard beside it, he flicks his gaze up to meet mine. “That’s sweet,” he says softly. “Thank you. But we don’t know if I passed yet.”

“You did,” I say with confidence. “I know you did.”

“What would you have done if I told you I thought I tanked it?”

“Not picked up the cake.” I shrug, breathing out a chuckle.

Fletcher sets the cake on the counter, closing the lid, before leaning in and pressing a kiss to my lips. “Are you hungry now, or wanna wait?”