Page 23 of Threads That Bind Us

And I told him we could get home on our own.

Charlie

That’s not the deal. Support, remember? Comes with the territory of being my wife.

Even via text, that word—wife—makes my chest feel tight and my limbs feel loose, like I’m swimming a little too deep for comfort and enjoying it.

And as much as I want to protest, the selfish part of me craves this. I try to justify it, convincing myself that it’s better for Ana, that she can stay at school a half hour longer because we don’t have to jump on the Metro and a bus. Shame makes it hard to swallow, but I type out a response anyway.

Me

We’ll discuss it. See you in a bit.

“He’s going to meet us near home for lunch. Does that work?”

Ana puts her head on my shoulder.

“Thank you.”

By the timewe’ve hopped off the bus in Columbia Heights and made our way downhill toward our neighborhood, Ana’s lost her bravado. For all her big talk, she’s a pretty reserved kid when she’s not putting on a performance.

Cosplay? Easy, she’s behind a costume and makeup. Softball? No problem, she’s got a role to play and a team with her. But one-on-one, she tends to be an observer, and hesitant to trust.

Man, our parents fucked us up.

I do my best to quell my own nerves as we head into the cafe, sweat dripping down the back of my neck despite the temperature. Like a magnet, my eyes land on Charlie sitting at a back table, and he grins when he sees me.

“No fucking way,” Ana whispers, and I smack her on the back of the head lightly before helping her gently take her coat off. “No offense, Ginny, you’re pretty and everything, but comeon.”

My face is on fire, I can feel it, but I hope it’s being played off as flush from the walk over. I lean down next to Ana’s ear.

“Don’t be a weirdo and hit on my boyfriend.”

Ana gags dramatically. “Ew, he’s old enough to be my dad, you freak. I can just objectively tell who the reacher is here.” She snags her coat from my arms and fishes her phone out of the pocket.

“Real nice, Ana. Thank you so much for the assessment,” I bite as we navigate around the tables to the back of the restaurant. She scoffs behind me.

“Don’t know why you were hiding this guy. If it was me, I’d be renting out billboards.”

Jesus Christ, this was a bad idea. Also, when did she start talking like this? I should start paying attention to the books she’s reading.

“Behave, please,” I whisper as we get up to the table.

Charlie’s already standing, and when we reach him, he grasps my elbow, pulls me forward, and presses his lips against my cheek. It’s the first time he’s touched me like this, a fact that my brain is blasting like a tornado alarm through my skull. When he pulls back, I’m sure I look like I’ve been electrocuted. Sure as hell feels like it.

“Hi, missed you,” he whispers. He’s so good at this. From the outside, with the casual touches and soft smile, it has to look like we really are enamored with each other. He chuckles at my expression and turns to Ana. “You must be Morgana.”

He puts out his hand, and Ana glances at it, and then me, before shaking it.

“Yeah, Ana is fine,” she says, hugging her coat closer to her body but keeping her face neutral.

Charlie pulls out a chair for her and takes her coat to drape it over the seat next to him. He does the same for me, so I’m sitting beside Ana, and it feels intentional. Like he doesn’t want to separate us.

“It’s really nice to meet you, Ana,” he says, pulling up the sleeves of his sweater. The left one catches on a bandage wrapped around his arm. When I raise my eyebrows at him, he covers it back up and winks at me.

Christ.

“Nice to meet you too,finally,” she says, and her attitude has me elbowing her in the ribs, but only because it’s her good side.