Page 90 of Sex Positive

Should I?

Do you want to?

Only if you want me to.

Wes gives the slightest of nods before turning away. The tension Charlie’s felt from the moment she stepped through his door lifts slightly. Perhaps they’ll talk later.

“Sure.” Charlie shoots Rebecca and Emilia a look somewhere between a grimace and a smile, hoping it looks convincing. “I’d love to go.”

On the short ride to the restaurant, Emilia chats easily about classes and asks whether Charlie has visited the new bar that recently opened. When she replies in the negative, Emilia holds out a hand for her phone and plugs in her number.

“We’ll go together soon,” she replies, handing it back to her.

Emilia’s magnetic energy reminds Charlie of Syeda. Charlie can easily imagine being friends with her regardless of who her brother is.

“If I didn’t know better,” she says, “I wouldn’t believe the two of you are related.”

Wes, staring out the window, asks, “Why?”

Charlie glances at him. “Your sister is very charming.”

He looks at her for the first time since leaving his apartment, his lips curving into a ghost of his usual smile. “I can becharming, Rogers,” he murmurs, his voice more seductive than it should be.

Charlie flushes and stares out the window the rest of the ride.

The Italian restaurant a few miles from campus is quiet with soft lighting and an ivy-covered exterior. She sits beside Emilia and across from Wes, who slides into the chair next to his father. Gabriel rests a hand on his son’s shoulder and murmurs something in his ear. Wes simply nods, his face impassive, then looks up, catching her watching him. He holds her gaze until the waiter arrives, then turns his attention away.

Rebecca orders a slew of appetizers and two bottles of wine for the table. When the waiter leaves, Gabriel leans forward and trains his full attention on Charlie. She thought she could coast through dinner under little to no scrutiny, but she now sees she is mistaken.

“Are you the same Charlotte Wes always talked about freshman year?”

Charlie glances at Wes, but he’s considering the complimentary bread basket with the utmost seriousness. She smiles, strained. “Maybe? We studied together a few times—”

“Bex.” Gabriel reaches for a piece of bread. “Remember how he used to talk about a girl he was hanging out with? Said she was much smarter than anyone else he knew?”

Charlie sips her water, suddenly warm. Her gaze snags on Wes’s fingers as he dips his bread in olive oil. When he looks at her, his green eyes shine with an intensity she can’t decipher, and she feels like she’s standing too close to an open flame.

He talked about her to his parents? Freshman year?

Why?

“And now you’re tutoring him.” Gabriel’s tone is genial, but Charlie doesn’t like the sharp edge to his smile. “Wesley was very tight-lipped about who it was.”

Charlie keeps her face neutral, twisting her napkin in her lap. “It’s not a big deal.” She glances at Wes again. He rests his cheek on his palm, drumming the fingers of his other hand on the table, watching her. “Wes asked for my help, and I was more than happy to give it.”

Wes’s lips quirk at her version of the truth. Her skin feels like it’s incinerating under his gaze.

“Where do you want to go to law school?” Rebecca chimes in.

“I don’t—” She pauses when the waiter arrives with their wine, and she takes a moment to steady herself. She accepts a small glass, citing an early class the next morning—not untrue—while Wes nearly fills his glass to the brim.

“I don’t have class tomorrow morning.” He raises his wine in a mock salute. “Plus it’s my birthday.”

His parents laugh. Charlie sips her wine, her cheeks flaming.

“So, no idea where you want to go yet?” Rebecca prompts again.

“No.” Charlie sets her glass on the table. Wes’s wine is already half gone. “I’m taking a year off to work on my sex education program.”