What He Never Knew (What He Doesn't Know, #3)(49)

Confusion still whirred inside me like the wind outside as I stared at her in my house. I hadn’t seen her since school let out, and I hadn’t planned to.

“Um, this is Rojo,” I finally answered, shoving a hand back through my hair.

“You got a dog?” Charlie asked, smiling at me as she peeked up from where she was petting Rojo.

I nodded. “Had her a little over a week now.”

Rojo licked at Charlie’s hand before prancing back over to the couch. She neglected the bed I’d bought for her completely, hopping back up on the middle cushion and looking at me like she expected me to resume the position I was in before Charlie showed up.

“She’s so cute,” Charlie said, crossing her arms over her chest. We both watched Rojo for a long moment, Charlie smiling and me frowning before I turned to her again.

“Charlie, what are you doing here?”

Her smile fell, eyes softening as she looked up at me. “I just wanted to see you.”

“Does your husband know you’re here?” I asked flatly, not bothering with niceties. I wasn’t in the mood to pretend.

Charlie narrowed her eyes then. “Of course he knows I’m here.” She sighed, eyes falling to the floor before she lifted them to mine again. “I just… I know what today is, and… I don’t know, I just wanted to check on you.”

Her words might as well have been a fist around my ribcage, crushing the bones into my lungs with the weight of them. I didn’t know what hurt worse — the reminder of what day it was, or the fact that she remembered, that she still cared about me enough to give a shit.

But not enough to be with me, I reminded myself.

“Thanks,” I finally said, sniffing. “But I’m fine.”

Charlie nodded, surveying my living room with a look that said she didn’t believe my lie for even a second. There was an ashtray on the coffee table, evidence that I’d been smoking like a chimney inside all day, and with only a couple of candles lighting the entire house, it felt as dark and dreary inside those walls as it did inside my heart.

“You know you can still talk to me, Reese,” Charlie whispered after a moment, her eyes on the low flickering flame of one of the candles. “I know things didn’t… well, I know that we—”

“Charlie, please,” I interrupted her, holding up one hand as my eyes squeezed shut against the possibility of what she was about to say. I shook my head, swallowing to steady my voice before I spoke again. “Don’t.”

I didn’t want to open my eyes again, to see her standing there and giving me the same look of pity she’d given me since the moment she told me she was staying with Cameron. But I didn’t have a choice.

Another knock at my door forced my hand.

Rojo jumped off the couch again, skittering into action just like she had before as I let out a frustrated growl. “Jesus fucking Christ, what now?”

I crossed behind Charlie, not bothering to apologize for my language before I ripped the front door open.

Sarah stood there just as Charlie had, except she had no umbrella, and no rain jacket. She was soaked from head to toe, a grocery bag slung over one shoulder and her oversized t-shirt hanging off the other, sticking to her skin as her eyes widened, brows tugging inward the more she searched my face. “Reese? Are you okay?”

The girl was soaked and standing in the rain, and she asked if I was okay.

I clenched my jaw, swinging the screen door open and ushering her inside before I shut it again. Rojo stopped barking once she saw it was Sarah, but she greeted her with a vigorously wagging tail as she licked at her soaked jeans. Sarah smiled at her, bending to scratch behind her ears with water still dripping off every inch of her.

And there we were, Charlie, Sarah and me, all standing in my now very-wet foyer.

Sarah’s smile fell when she saw Charlie, and her eyes flicked to mine and back again, all color draining from her face. “Oh… I’m sorry, I didn’t realize…”

“No, no,” Charlie assured her, holding her hands out. “Please, don’t be. I just stopped by unannounced. Don’t tell me I’m crashing your lesson… again.” She smiled at that, and Sarah tried to return it, though it looked a little more like a grimace.

“Well, actually—”

“Yes, we really should get started,” I interrupted Sarah, who gave me a perplexed look as I turned my attention to Charlie. “Thank you for coming by, though. I appreciate it.”

Charlie’s little mouth popped open in an o, but she closed it promptly, nodding with a glance in Sarah’s direction before she looked at me again. “Of course.” Her eyes surveyed me then, as if she’d just realized I was in my sweat pants and an old t-shirt. I knew she was trying to put the pieces together, because she knew I wouldn’t dress like this when I had a student expected. “I’ll let you two get to it, then.”

I avoided her questioning eyes, helping her into her coat and passing her the still-dripping umbrella when she was back on my porch. She said a goodbye to Sarah, wishing her luck with today’s lesson, and then just as quickly as she had come, she was gone again.

I shut the front door, locking it behind me like it would prevent any other unwanted guests from showing up. Then, I leaned my back against the door with my eyes on my bare feet, letting out a long sigh before my head fell back with a thud. I stood there for a beat, not wanting to meet Sarah’s heavy gaze for fear of what I might find there. And when I finally did, it was exactly what I expected.