Facade of Love

Chapter 300 Passing Out

Charlie tried to smile, but it was a weak one that faded quickly. “Yvette,” he said, looking at me with a hint of his usual strength, “does this mean we are friends now?”

“Absolutely,” I replied with a smile.

He held my gaze a moment longer and then said, “Then stop with the ‘Mr. Yates.‘ Just call me Charlie.”

I thought about it for a second. Calling him Mr. Yates did feel a bit stiff, but saying Charlie made me think of Idris, and it seemed like everyone close to him called him Iddy. That thought made my heart twinge with sadness. I took a deep breath, looked at Charlie, and said, “Yeah, I’ll just call you by your first name if that’s okay. I’m not really used to being so formal with people.”

He gave a small smile, nodded, and said, “Sure, first names are fine.”

I grinned back at him, but then I realized we had hit a lull in the conversation. I racked my brain, trying to think of something to say. Suddenly, I heard Charlie’s voice. “Yvette.”

“Huh?” I blinked, a little thrown off that he had dropped my last name so casually. It felt strange, yet I tried to act cool about it. “What’s up?”

He looked at me with those expressive eyes and asked, “Is it okay if I call you that?” I nodded, “Yeah, of course.” He smiled, and maybe it was the meds wearing off, but there was a bit more color in his cheeks.

looked at me and said, “So, can you call me by my first

nothing to talk about, they would just end up repeating each other’s

was hard to look away. Eventually, he caught me looking and

shying away from the truth, and said, “You know, you’ve got a great smile.” It was a genuine compliment. Maybe it was because we had been through a life–or–death ordeal together, but

smile that was impossible

relaxed a bit. I turned to see him still caked in dry mud, looking like he had been through the

I knew better than to think he would listen to my advice, so I glanced

few days. Go take a shower and hit the

some paperwork on the nightstand, and left

walked out, I could not shake the feeling that there

300 Passing Out

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not seem like they were just friends; it was more like

curious, but I let

Inch was gone, my mom called. I grabbed my phone and was about to step outside to talk when I suddenly stood up too fast,

black, and the last thing I heard was Charlie’s voice calling