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"Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation."
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Sure, Charlie was the admirable guy I had known for the past 13 years—hell, he was the boy all the girls in high school had dreamed about. Perfect grades. Perfect family. A treasure, wrapped in a shiny bow. He grew up in a house where love wasn't just a fleeting feeling; it was a constant. A younger sister, two parents who were always there, always supportive, always caring. He was yet another other golden child in a town where everyone else was struggling to even get by.
I had always known him like that: the perfect guy, gliding through life effortlessly, a star in a world that was full of shadows. And maybe it was easy for him back then to be that person — the guy who had it all together, who never seemed to falter. I envied him for that. I envied how he made it all look so effortless, like life didn't throw him the same shit luck it threw the rest of us.
It was the kind of life I'd always imagined for myself, one where things made sense, where I didn't have to try so damn hard to fit into the pieces that never seemed to work for me.
I couldn't help but feel like the man next to me had left behind that perfect little world a long time ago. He had grown into something else, someone who wasn't defined by this small-town ideal, someone who could shift gears between the man he was expected to be and the man he was, all without losing himself in the process.
He always had that carefully managed chaos about him, sure, he knew exactly how to attract those despite his sworn vows of celibacy and that appeal didn't go unnoticed. Charlie had a look that was almost too effortless, yet it completely drew you in. His hair was a rich, dark brown with just the right amount of curl — like he hadn't spent a second trying to tame it. His eyes were always this deep, almost chocolate brown, warm yet intimidating. He glanced in my direction.
"What screams indifference about me now, Venicia?" He teased, changing gears as we slowed to enter the usual town road.
