Read Online Selling the Drama by Theresa Smith - Free Book Online

write on a note for a boy. But
Toby did not evoke normal feelings within her. He hadn't right from
the start. He evoked far more. Marking his place again with the
note, she straightened his bed before leaving his room, flipping
his pillow to hide the damp spots from her tears.
     
    Charlotte was lying out by the pool when
Toby got home from school. She heard the door shutting, movement
within the house, taps running, footsteps getting closer, and then
he was there, standing over her, his face full of concern.
    "Why weren't you at school?" He collapsed
into the lounger beside her, leaning forward with his elbows on his
knees. While his tone had been demanding, his expression was full
of concern.
    She shrugged. "I just needed a day off." She
closed the book she had been reading. Great Expectations, one of
her favourites. Reading about Pip made her think of Toby. She
imagined herself as Estella, but as a far more sensual and
welcoming Estella, one that would not have let Pip go, no matter
what Miss Havingsham, or society, might have insisted.
    "I missed you." He smiled at her, his eyes
crinkling, dimples showing.
    She tried to ignore the leap her heart made
at the sight of his face looking at her in that way. He was
dangerously appealing, and she was hopelessly addicted. Well and
truly ruined. Endeavouring to hold onto some small shard of her own
dignity, she regarded him coolly. "You never come anywhere near me
at school so I find that hard to believe."
    "I always know you're there. I watch you all
the time. My eyes missed you today."
    She smiled at that, unable to help herself.
He was adorable when he teased her. She lay her head back on the
lounger, content with just being near him again.
    "I broke up with Anne today."
    Charlotte tried not to feel excited about
this, but it was useless. Her heart thudded, heat flooded her
armpits, and a jittery sensation of butterflies pushed its way into
her stomach. "What did you tell her?" She leaned forward eagerly,
hoping he had really let Anne down, so much so that she may have
even cried.
    "That I didn't want go out with her
anymore."
    "Was she upset?" Charlotte probed, unashamed
at her inner glee.
    "Not particularly. She said she thought it
might be for the best. That we had been moving along a bit too fast
and that things were in danger of getting a little bit out of
control." He grinned then and Charlotte smirked.
    "What did you do to her? Mess up her pink
lip gloss with a kiss and try to touch her on the boob through five
buttoned up blouses and cardigans?" Charlotte rolled her eyes. Anne
was a freak.
    "It was an accident!" Toby laughed and
looked away. "Seriously, she was okay. It was never much of
anything." He looked back at Charlotte. "She's not really my
type."
    Charlotte licked her lips. "What's your
type?" Her heart beat faster with excitement. She loved this game
he liked to play with her, this cat and mouse exchange. The
knowledge that Anne was no longer a threat boosted her confidence.
It was pathetically galling to have been in the position of
competing with someone like Anne.
    Toby stared at her, his eyes wandering down
the length of her body. "The type of girl who reads me stories at
bedtime."
    Charlotte did not trust herself to speak. If
she did, she would likely ruin this moment and then he would run
again. Always running from her. She waited him out.
    "The type of girl who tries to grow her
virginity back for me even though I don't even care that she no
longer has it. The type of girl who makes me laugh without even
trying to. The type of girl who makes me feel like there is no one
else in the world quite like me." Toby reached out with a finger
and touched Charlotte on her arm lightly. "You make me feel
important."
    "That's how you make me feel," Charlotte
responded, her voice no more than a whisper. She could barely
breathe. She was so close. So close to getting what she craved more
than anything else.
    Toby put his whole hand onto her arm,
cupping her elbow. "If