You're to Blame(75)
“I can give you what you need, Charlotte.”
“What is it I need so bad?” She fights hard against the tears, but her heart breaks open. I allow one tear to fall, sweeping it away with my thumb and promising myself it’s the last tear I’ll ever cause.
“You need flaws.” I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her in close until our bodies feel like one.
“Excuse me?” The way her brow furrows when she leans away from me makes me happy. She’s completely unaware of what’s coming next.
“From the start, we’ve been flawed, and I don’t know about you, but I’m okay with it. Perfection isn’t something we should strive for. You once thought you had that, and if that’s what perfection looks like to you, then I want to give you the opposite, Charlotte. I want to hand over messy and damn near disastrous. I want you to look back at the scars of our relationship and still see something beautiful.”
“Is that what you’re offering me? A disastrous and messy kind of love? You aren’t very good at this romance thing, Duke.” She eases back into my arms, where she belongs.
Her cheek leans against my chest, and I close my eyes for a second to take it in. The feel of her hair weaving through my fingers. The way my entire body is aware of hers. This is enough to know I’ll never remain the man I am right now, in this moment, unless she’s by my side.
“I’m twenty-two years out of practice, but I think I could love you like you deserve,” I whisper into her hair.
“Could?” Through her eyelashes, love sings from her eyes like a familiar song. I want to put it on repeat to remind me how it makes me feel.
“I already love you like you deserve.” I pull away, suddenly aware of the audience gathering around us.
“So, what now, Duke Anderson?” Charlotte tilts her chin, and her blue eyes fill with a deep longing.
I skim a finger over her bottom lip and then replace it with my own lips. Kissing Charlotte is like coming home, and dammit, I’ve never felt more alive than I do when her tongue dances together with mine.
“Breakfast?” I say between our lips.
“I could go for some sausage.”
Damn, I love this girl. She throws her head back in laughter when I tickle her waist. A familiar song plays, drowning out the crowd, and we sway, every inch of her against me.
“Breakfast in bed, then?” Her wide-eyed innocence is for show. Her hips grind into me, and I groan.
Charlotte’s weaseled her way into my heart and cuddled in close, and now, I refuse to let her go. She once said Jacob never danced with her, and as she grins at me, happier than I’ve ever seen her, I know I’d do anything to keep a smile on her face.
Even if it means spending a lifetime shouldering the blame.
Epilogue
Charlotte
Two months later
"Char, please tell me you aren't actually entertaining this idea?" Ever the optimist, Rachel chooses this moment to try to knock sense into me.
The front door swings open, and a loud thud rings through the apartment as it hits the wall, nearly cracking the sheetrock.
"Babe, does this one work?" Duke saunters over in all his deliciousness to where I sit on the floor. His fitted black slacks are perfect for his body. His rolled-up sleeves pull off the relaxed look. He tosses the pink bow in my lap, kissing the top of my head as I peel the sticker and press it to the present.
“Are you seriously going to this thing, Duke? This is weird, you know this, right?” Rachel plops down on the couch and nudges my ribs with her toes. I slap behind me to stop her assault.
“It’s a celebration. You of all people should be jumping up and down.” I hand the present to Duke, and he grins, knowing I love tormenting Rachel. We’ve become quite the tag team against her.
“Is there going to be tequila?” Rachel flips through the television channels. Even though its nearly noon, she’s still wearing her red plaid pajama pants.
“It’s a baby shower.” Duke laughs.
When I first mentioned going to Stacey’s baby shower, Duke tried to talk me out of it. Then, he pulled out all the stops when I informed him it would be a joint shower, meaning he was invited as well.
A lot has changed over the past three months. The night of his embarrassing karaoke, Duke and I walked out of Murphy’s and started living our lives with no secrets. After a rather lengthy toe-curling breakfast, we laid in bed and told each other everything.
He divulged what lengths he went to with Ari and told me a few of Jacob’s secrets that stunned me truly stupid. Luckily Duke talked some sense into Jacob, and now, Ari is the last of any of their worries. Duke’s devotion to those around him made me fall in love with him even more. He’s a protector by nature, something I’ve known since our first meeting. This was reaffirmed when he opened his door to his mom and listened to her for the first time in years.
I confessed why I kept my break-up with Jacob a secret, even when I found myself falling for him. It took a while to comprehend, but now I know I can’t always put everyone else first, especially when it means putting myself last. Everyone deserves better than that, and Duke has made it his goal to remind me every day.
“Let me just state for the record that I think this is a bad idea, and you should stay home and watch Pretty Little Liars with me,” Rachel whines, puffing out her bottom lip.