Page 3 of More Than Friends

I stare at the side of her face, making sure my eyes don’t drift lower again.

“Sure you weren’t.” She laughs and shakes her head, her focus staying on the skirt and treating the stain. “It’s nothing you haven’t seen before. I’ve worn bikinis that showed more skin than this.”

She has a point. The thing about the bikinis, though, is that I was expecting to see her in those. I prepared myself not to look at things I shouldn’t be looking at. I can flirt with her all I want because it’s fun, and I don’t know hownotto flirt, but I’m well aware of the line she’s drawn for us, and I never want to cross it. Her friendship means too much to me to do that.

Needing a change of subject, I rip my gaze from her face and look at the clothes she’s busy treating. “I can’t believe you don’thave an extra uniform.” I give her a smirk. I actuallycanbelieve it. Charlotte spilling coffee all over herself and not having an extra outfit to change into is just like her.

“Lesson learned,” she mutters, scrubbing at her skirt to remove the coffee.

Wanting to help, I grab her shirt and repeat the same motion as her. Luckily, the coffee comes out pretty easily.

“If only all your fangirls at the club could see you scrubbing coffee out of my shirt for me. Jude Kensington doing laundry? They’d fall in love with you.”

I meet her gaze with a cocky smirk. “They’re already in love with me. Plus, I only do laundry for the special women in my life.”

Charlotte rolls her eyes. “Your charm doesn’t work on me, Jude. Stop wasting your lines on me.” She snatches the shirt from me and grabs the skirt before walking over to the dryer and throwing them inside.

I make sure I keep my eyes safely on her face when she turns around and meets my gaze. I swear there’s a hint of pink to her cheeks that wasn’t there a moment ago, but I could be wrong.

“Nothing with you is ever a waste.” My grin gets even wider before I wink at her.

Her entire face breaks out into a smile. I’m pretty sure she crosses her arms over her chest before leaning up against the dryer, but I can’t be sure because my gaze is safely locked on hers. “Another line wasted on me.”

“Not wasted,” I immediately respond, lifting an eyebrow and daring her to argue with me. She doesn’t. It’s silent in the laundry room for a few beats before I decide to break it. “Were you able to drink any of your coffee before spilling it all over yourself?”

Her bottom lip juts out in a pout. She lets out a low groan. “I wasn’t lying. I really only got, like, maybe two sips. All I wantedwas a Friday treat before starting my busy day, but the universe had other plans for me.”

“You didn’t trade shifts with anyone, right? You’re working all day?” I have her new schedule memorized, but I know the cart girls sometimes switch things around.

Charlotte nods. The motion causes a piece of her curled blonde hair to fall into her face. My fingers twitch at my side as I fight the urge to tuck it behind her ear. I know I shouldn’t. That’d cross a line I shouldn’t cross, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting to. Luckily, she beats me to it and tucks the stray strand herself. “Yep. Hoping it’s a good day, lots of good tippers. Devin keeps reminding me how low my rent is and how much more he could make if he rented out my place to someone else for the summer, so I want to give him extra this month.”

“Are you trying to bribe your landlord?”

Charlotte purses her lips. “Maybe. Don’t judge me. We can’t all afford houses like this.” She waves her arms above her head.

“I’d never judge you, Char,” I rush to say. My body feels tight at her insinuation that I ever would. “Let me know if you need me to talk to your landlord.”

Charlotte shakes her head before clicking her tongue. “Nope. I don’t need you to swoop in and save the day. Plus, I don’t know if your charm would even work on him anyway. I’ll just hope I make extra money that I can give Devin, and I won’t have to worry about finding a new place to live this close to the busy season. I’m nervous he’s going to find renters at the last minute, and I’m going to be out of a place to live. Maybe paying him more will prevent him from doing that.”

I nod. My jaw clenches as I force myself to keep my mouth shut. She’s been going back and forth with her landlord for weeks about her rent and being able to stay there. I know the unknown is stressing her out, and I want to help her with it, but I also don’t want to overstep. If she believes that the landlordthing isn’t a problem and that paying him more will keep things how they are, then I’m going to stay out of it. That doesn’t mean I don’t like that she won’t let me help her, but I know her well enough to know she’s too stubborn to ask for help.

Neither one of us says anything else, and eventually, the dryer lets out a loud chiming noise. It slows down before the clothes stop tumbling.

Charlotte turns around, and I peel my gaze from hers.

“How much time do I have left to get to the club?” she asks.

I look at my watch. “About ten to fifteen, depending on how fast you get dressed,” I tell her. Just then, I remember the coffee that was spilled all over her seat. I turn around. “I’ll meet you outside.”

“Oh, so now you leave the moment I put my clothes on?” Charlotte calls out, her tone teasing.

“I’ve got something I need to do!” I yell over my shoulder. I stop in the kitchen and grab a roll of paper towels and some all-purpose cleaner before walking back outside.

Opening the door to her car, I find coffee all over her seat and even some in the cup holders and space between the seats. I get busy wiping her car clean, making sure to check all the nooks and crannies.

She really meant it when she said she didn’t get to drink any of her coffee. It’s everywhere.

“I feel like I should take a photo of this.” Charlotte’s voice comes from behind me.