Just Like Her

Chapter 58

Emma

"Charlie—" I tried to cut in for the umpteenth time, but the poor man steamrolled right along.

"All of it was my idea. Tom only tagged along to look out for me—he's always looked out for me, you understand. It's what he does, he—"

"Looks out for people," I managed before he nodded eagerly and rushed on.

"Exactly. So all the partying—it was all my fault. All of it! Tom had nothing to do with it, he was only—"

"Looking out for you. Yes, Charlie, I know!" I nearly hissed and took a step toward him as my eyes darted around the room.

Everyone remained exactly where they had been when Tom had left to follow his uncle out of the room—everyone, that is, except for Charlie.

I had little wonder why Charlie gave Tom such trouble on the rugby pitch—the boy was agile as a panther the way he practically pounced on me the moment Tom stepped out of sight. I had been relieved to see him at first, that is until he opened his mouth and unleashed a tirade of apologies and excuses for his and Tom's gallivants.

"You've told me near a dozen times!"

He opened his mouth again, and—unable to take another onslaught of apologies—grabbed his arm and squeezed tightly. "Charlie."

He practically jumped at my touch and the desperation I knew flooded my voice.

"It's alright. I know," I gave his arm another squeeze and attempted to smile reassuringly. "I know Tom isn't a drinker or a partier or a brawler—unless of course someone's... putting their hands where they don't belong. And from the way he treats me, I know he's not some playboy either."

I hesitated then, trying on different words on my tongue in search of the right ones to fit together. "Tom's... got a truer moral compass than I've ever seen before, so if he appeared to be doing something contrary to that, well, I can only assume it was to support someone he cared about."

Charlie's creeping blush seemed to reawaken his lips as his mouth silently flopped open and closed.

I dropped my grip on Charlie's arm when Tom suddenly appeared between us.

"Sorry about that," he said to me with a tight smile fixed to his face. He glanced cordially at Charlie and, belatedly recognizing his cousin's stupor, returned his now focused attention to me. Finding no answers in my expression, Tom turned sharply back to Charlie. "Christ, do I even want to know what you said to her that was so abhorrent it made even the likes of you blush?"

I took a breath to launch a defense for Charlie, but the accused cut me off before I could really start.

"It wasn't him I—"

"I was just telling Emma what a perfect pairing you two make," he grinned innocently and added with a smirk in my direction: "So, when's the wedding?"

I did my best to cool my flaming cheeks and allowed myself a chuckle. It felt good to be teased by Charlie, as if he were my pestering cousin, not Tom's. "That's the question of the evening, isn't it?"

"And it will be of every evening and even until there's a ring on the proper finger," he added glibly.

"Perhaps we should just make up a random date anytime someone asks," I suggested to Tom.

Charlie snorted and then clasped tom on the shoulder. "I like her, Tommy-boy."

Tom merely shook his head in mock resignation. "The two of you aren't allowed alone together."