Risk Taker [Englot]

Chapter 23

Charlotte stirred lightly against me. I had woken up just a few minutes before her. My heart filled with happiness when I realized she was still there next to me. I couldn't stop myself from threading my fingers in her hair. This might have been why she was awake now. She pressed herself a little bit tighter against my skin, breathing deep. That simple gesture made me smile. I kissed her forehead gently and let my head rest against hers.

"I didn't realize until I woke up that the room was this beautiful..." I said, looking at the painted ceiling.

"I didn't either." she replied.

She looked around before she turned back towards me.

"The only thing I saw yesterday was you... and your amazing body." she added, kissing my shoulder.

"You're such a sweet talker." I said, rolling my eyes.

"You seemed to like it quite a bit last night... I saw how it was affecting you when I was telling you what I would have done to you at work."

She was absolutely right... The way she talked to me last night made me lose the staring contest...

"You played me dirty..." I sulked.

"I just told you the truth."

"You made me fantasize, that was... arousing." I said, thinking about everything she wanted to do to me at work...

"We can still make it happen..."

My eyes opened wide as I looked at her, surprised she was sounding serious about it.

"No! We can't let that happen at work, as hot as it sounds..."

She pouted. She was way better than me at fake sulking. Her face was so damn cute right now.

"Awww, you're a cute little pouty rabbit."

I leaned in to peck her lips, hoping she would stop and smile again... but when I let go of her mouth she sat straight up yelling.

"YOU PAID FOR THE NIGHT!"

"What..."

She made me jump. My body reacted on its own, getting on my elbows, looking around.

"You paid for the room. It must have been so expensive!" she explained, looking stressed out.

That girl... she was so precious. The need to reassure her and protect her at all costs spread inside me again. I didn't know why or how but I always felt so protective about her.

"It was worth EVERY. SINGLE. BAHT." I replied, teasing her.

I grabbed her arm gently, trying to pull her towards me. She was sitting up, fully naked and it was starting to make me lose focus.

"Come back under the sheets, you'll catch a cold." I said, smirking lightly as thoughts filled my head.

"Don't sweet talk me back! Engfa, you can't pay for everything. I'm serious. Let me pay you back my half." she insisted, getting away from me.

"Charlotte, I..."

"Engfa! Listen to me. If you want... this... then you can't pay for everything. I want us to share and support each other."

Those words filled my heart with joy. Charlotte wanted to share. Charlotte was already thinking about how we could manage being... a couple? This shook me to the core... but at the same time her perky breasts on full display were making me lose track of what I wanted to say.

"I do want... this... But please, come back down, I can't think straight with you completely bare in front of me."

"There's nothing straight about what we're doing..." Charlotte said, getting back under the sheets.

I laughed so hard. She was so quirky.

"Come here" I said, squeezing her against me to hide the blush on my cheeks.

Charlotte had a habit of surprising me in the best way. She was so caring. Her actions were always affecting me so much. I loved this feeling. Thinking about a life together wasn't something I thought we were going to discuss this soon. Not that I didn't want it. I did. I just simply imagined that she wasn't there yet. But once again, she astonished me with how open she was about what she wanted.

"I'll let you pay me back. You're right, we're in this together." I said, accepting her demand.

"I'm always right."

I bit my lip.

"Damn, this attitude of yours..."

"Well, now you know the real me!"

"Oh, I always knew that you were quite the cheeky one, even though you try your best to hide it at work... But when you stand up to me... I swear..."

"You love it."

Yes. So much.

"I love... you." I said, deciding to let go of my fears.

"I love you too. Happy New Year, Engfa."

Oh right. I had forgotten about this.

"Happy New Year indeed..." I said, before kissing her softly.

"You know what they said about how you start the year..."

Her fingers were trailing around my breast, brushing my nipple gently, making it harden.

"You're insatiable..." I breathed out, as desire started to strum inside me.

"I told you... I always want you... but my hormones are on fire right now."

After the almost sleepless night we had, Charlotte still wanted more of me. This was such a good feeling. Her lips replaced her fingers around my nipple.

"God..." I moaned, while she tickled my tight bud with her tongue.

She kissed it gently and rested her head on my chest. I loved feeling her weight on me. She was like a soft warm blanket.

"How long do we have left before we have to leave?" she asked.

I took my phone to check. It was almost 10am already.

"Mmm... A little less than two hours."

We used those two hours until we really had to get up. Charlotte took her time to go down on me and I tortured her by kissing every single mole on her skin before making her come. I might have pushed the teasing a bit too much as she shook for a full minute before I could hear her breathing again.

"We have to leave the room soon..." I said when she had finally calmed down.

I kissed her back to life but tried to keep it PG. I didn't want to awaken her crazy hormones again when we only had a few minutes left to get ready. I held her hand to help her get up and we took a really quick, rather cold shower. I could feel her gaze raking along my body but she refrained from touching me. We got dressed rapidly and left the hotel. It was weird to be walking outside still dressed with our New Year's Eve outfits. Charlotte looked really good in the daylight.

"Are we doing like... a walk of shame... with us wearing yesterday's clothes, after having sex all night long? You know like in the movies..." I asked, chuckling.

"More like a walk of pride and you forgot all morning too." she said with a wink.

I grabbed her hand in mine as we walked towards nowhere. I was just happy to have her by my side. Just for a few more minutes... before we had to part. She smiled and blushed lightly, her fingers interlacing with mine. I squeezed her hand and lifted mine up to stop a taxi. I didn't let go of her hand this time as we hoped inside. The ride to her house was rather silent. Talking openly wasn't that easy but when the car stopped I knew I had to say something.

"Are you sure you're going to be ok?"

"Yes, don't worry about me. I'm gonna change and pack some of my stuff to go leave at Heidi's. I'll pack some for Miles as well for when he'll be back from his grand-parents." she answered.

I wasn't worried about that. We never talked much about our family lives, besides from what we shared about parenting on the flight to New York. I didn't know how her husband could act, especially after a fight. And it was painful to admit that I was both scared for Charlotte... and our relationship that had yet to blossom...

"I know that you'll be ok to pack on your own but... will you be ok being alone with Mew?"

"He's not a bad guy... I mean we will probably argue and it could get ugly but that's normal I think..."

"Call me if you need anything, ok? And call me anyway when you're at Heidi's."

"Promise."

She squeezed my hand softly and left the car. I should have held her fingers, stopping her to kiss her before she got out. But I didn't. I didn't care about the driver. I just wanted to feel her against me again. But maybe Charlotte wasn't ready for that. Maybe kissing me in front of her house wasn't something she wanted to do either. Maybe Mew was already there...

I quickly got rid of the dark thoughts that tried to invade my mind. I needed to focus on the good things. I had found my way back to Charlotte. We had shared such an amazing night. It was only the beginning. I couldn't let my fears get the best of me. Charlotte still had some stuff to deal with and I could wait for her. As the taxi got across town I breathed in and smiled, looking through the window. Yes. We could make it work, going slowly.

When I opened the door of P'Daad's apartment it looked empty. I got rid of my shoes and tiptoed to her bedroom. My sister was there, snoring like a baby on her bed. The night must have been fun for her too. I shut the door to let her sleep some more. Roaming through one of my bags I found fresh clothes and put on sweatpants and a loose shirt. It was good to finally be wrapped in a soft and casual outfit.

It was already 1pm so I decided to make lunch for P'Daad and I. I opened the fridge, looking for inspiration. An hour or so later my sister emerged from her room, looking like she was struggling to open her eyes.

"What smells this good?" she asked, her hands on her cheeks.

"Chive pancakes and soup!"

"Oh soup!"

"Come, sit down, I'll bring you a bowl and a glass of water too... You look like you need it." I smiled.

"Why are you so joyful?" she asked, sitting at the table, rubbing her eyes.

I didn't answer. I brought everything to the table, sitting down with her. The pancakes looked really good and they tasted even better. Maybe I was just really hungry... Anyway... I was proud of myself for cooking them this well. And when P'Daad took a bite and sighed happily it made me even prouder.

"They're so good!"

"I know, right?" I smiled.

"So, I guess last night was fun with Nudee? How was it?" she asked.

"Oh damn Nudee! I should text her!" realizing I didn't send any news since morning.

E🥭 : Happy New Year Nudee
E🥭 : Thank you for last night
E🥭 : I hope you had fun, sorry I stood you up...

I quickly sent Happy New Year texts to a few friends too. P'Daad made me come back to the room by poking me with her spoon.

"Don't!"

"What happened? Where's Nudee?"

"I don't know..." I started to say but my phone buzzed on the table.

N🌼 : Guess you're gonna have to buy me coffee
N🌼 : Meet me around 5pm?
N🌼 : There's a new coffee shop in Watthana that I wanna try
E🥭 : Deal!

"What do you mean you don't know? Stop texting and explain yourself!" my sister said.

"I didn't come back from the party with her... Charlotte was there."

"What?? You knew?"

"No! It was a total coincidence!"

"Damn... What happened?"

"Well... erm... We stumbled on each other while dancing. Her friends are friends with Nudee."

"Really? Fate brought you together... Did you tell her about the divorce?"

"Yes... Well, no... To be honest... Nudee did. And we kinda got into an argument. I'm gonna meet her for coffee later to apologize... You were right, both of you... I should have talked to Charlotte a long time ago..."

"So what happened?"

"I spent the night with Charlotte." I said, smiling without being able to refrain myself.

"That's why you look so cheerful... You should get laid more often..."

It was my turn to smack her arm with my spoon.

"Hey! I'm telling the truth! Look at you! You barely had any sleep yet you're beaming! And you just cooked an amazing lunch!"

"There's no correlation between my cooking skills and getting laid!"

"Well I'm sorry to tell you that your food tastes better when you're happy."

"I've always been a good cook!"

"You wish!"

We bickered for a while and ended up laughing.

"I'd like to meet her one day." P'Daad said quite seriously suddenly.

I stopped laughing.

"I..."

"Don't worry, I'll be nice. I just want to see her with my own two eyes. I want to know who's that girl that's making my little sister go through so many emotions... "

"I... I'm in love with her."

"WOW! What's happening to you? You never talk about feelings! Are you ok? Should I call an ambulance?" my sister said, looking like she was only half joking.

"Stop... I'm serious."

"Then I need to meet her for real." she insisted, crossing her arms.

"I'm not sure that's..."

"It's my duty to protect you."

"I don't need protection, Charlotte is a really good person." I said, smiling as my mind drifted to her.

"I"ll be the judge of that." she replied, quite firmly, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"But I..." I started but stopped myself when I saw her smirking

"I'm glad she makes you this happy, now let me eat!" P'Daad said before returning to her pancake.

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