Charlotte's Tangled Web: L.B. Pavlov (45 page)

As soon as they opened the doors of the plane, my feet were running. I sprinted right out to the street and hailed a taxi like I was a big-city girl from New York. I wasn’t afraid of anything right then except losing Daniel. I jumped in and gave him my home address. I told him to start driving toward my house, and I would get more specific as soon as I got the actual address.

I frantically called Grace. She answered the phone sounding stunned. “Charlotte?” she asked, excited to hear from me.

“Grace, hi, I will explain everything later. I need to find Daniel right away. It’s an emergency. Do you know where he is?” I asked frantically.

“Of course, honey. He and James just went to get a pizza and play some pool,” she said sweetly.

“OK! Great,” I said, and I told the driver to go to the pizza place on Seventh Street.

“Are you in a taxi, Charlotte? Are you home?” she asked, excited.

“Yes, Grace! My dad told me the truth about everything, and I’m rushing to find Daniel,” I said breathlessly.

“OK, honey, I’m so happy! We miss you so much!” she said, and I could tell she was starting to cry.

“I miss you too. We are just pulling in. I will see you soon. I love you,” I said. I was about to finally see Daniel after all this time.

“I love you too, honey,” she said, and I hung up the phone.

The taxi driver told me it was $30, and I handed him the $100. “I don’t have change,” he said nervously.

“Keep it!” I replied, frantically jumping out of the taxi.

I ran as fast as I could to the front door. I was suddenly desperate to see him. I knew that Daniel was on the other side of that door, and I couldn’t get there quickly enough. I put my hand on the handle and pulled the door open, immediately scanning the crowded room for him.

I had just shot a ball into the corner pocket when I heard the door whip open forcefully. She was breathing like she had just used her last breath to get there. Everyone turned at the ruckus. I was shocked. It was Charlotte. She was standing there in her Stanford tracksuit, hair in a ponytail with wisps falling out from the wind, and the storm that was brewing outside. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, and she looked frantic, scanning the room quickly.

We locked eyes as I heard James’ voice. “Charlie?” he said, concerned.

She had her eyes on mine, and I slowly set my pool cue down, waiting to see what she was going to do. The entire room had stopped and everyone was staring. It was as if time was standing still.

She began to run fast toward me, and she leapt into my arms, wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, and she nestled her face into my neck. I wrapped my arms around her tightly, and our emotions overtook us, and we wept. We had both been through so much, and we missed each other more than words could express.

I walked into a more private corner of the room, still carrying her, her face buried into me, so that I could look at her. She lifted her head and met my eyes. Her eyes were more mesmerizing than ever, even with tears streaming from them.

“I’m so sorry, Daniel. I’m so sorry,” she said, crying.

She unwrapped her legs and slid down my body to stand. I sat down in a chair and instinctively pulled her into my lap. She smiled, and I wiped her tears from her beautiful face.

“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything,” I said, looking at her. I couldn’t get enough of her. I just wanted to look at her. She was so beautiful. I was stroking her hair and her face.

“I’m sorry for believing that you cheated on me and for believing that you didn’t love me anymore,” she said sweetly.

I had missed the sound of her voice even more than I had realized. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I never should have lied to you,” I said firmly.

“That’s true!” she said, and we both burst out laughing.

“Oh my gosh, Daniel, I didn’t know if I would make it here. I was at a race in Ohio when my dad told me everything. I barely made the flight. And I know you are leaving for Tahiti tonight, but now I don’t ever want to let you go,” she said, hugging me tightly.

She was running her fingers through my hair, and we were looking each other right in the eyes. The emotions were overwhelming.

“I’m not going to Tahiti tonight, Charlotte,” I said, caressing her face.

“What? When do you leave?” she asked, excited that we would have more time together.

“I’m not going. I had changed my flight this morning. I was leaving for California in the morning,” I said, staring at her perfect lips.

“What? Why aren’t you going?” she pressed.

“How could I have fun in Tahiti when my girl’s in California?” I said, smiling.

She fell into me, letting out a squeal. “You were coming to get me?”

“Of course I was,” I said, smiling at her.

“And do you know the best news of all?” she asked, giggling.

“What’s that?” I said, staring at her gorgeous face as she intertwined her fingers with mine.

“That you don’t have a baby mama!” she said, and we both started laughing again. I missed her laugh, and I missed how often she made me laugh.

“The only baby mama I will ever have is sitting on my lap right now,” I said, watching her blush as I tucked her hair behind her ear.

“I hope so,” she said.

“I know so!” I said, and I pressed my lips to hers.

“Um, excuse me! Don’t mean to be rude, but I haven’t seen my sister in a while either,” James said, laughing.

Charlotte jumped up and hugged him tightly, and then she hopped right back on my lap. Now that I had her back, I was never going to let her go again.

We went over to Daniel’s house so that I could see Grace, Tom, Devon, and Preston before they left for Tahiti. I couldn’t believe that Daniel was going to miss Christmas in Tahiti to be with me. I would have been crushed if he had left when I just got him back. I could barely keep my hands off of him, and I think that he felt the same way. We were either holding hands, hugging, or kissing every second that we were together. The time apart had been torturous, and it only made everything all the sweeter now.

He opened the front door and Grace came running toward me. “Charlotte Rose Ford, you are never allowed to stay away that long again!” she said, hugging me tightly.

Tom came walking up. “There’s our best girl,” he said, giving me a big bear hug. “Look, Grace, our son is actually smiling,” Tom said with a grin.

“Thanks for letting Daniel stay behind with me for Christmas,” I said happily.

“Are you kidding, after what you two have been through, we couldn’t keep him away. And it’s good to see you both happy,” Grace said, beaming.

Preston and Devon gave me a big hug and thanked me for bringing their brother back to normal. Everyone seemed happy to be back together. They loaded up their car, we all hugged good-bye, and they left for the airport.

We were standing in the doorway, and Daniel was standing behind me with his arms wrapped around me. He rested his chin on my shoulder, and I could feel his warm breath in my ear. It made my entire body tingle with excitement.

I turned around to face him. “So, we are finally alone,” he said with his head cocked to one side, smiling. “What would you like to do?”

“Well, honestly, I have my uniform on under these sweats, and it is not really comfortable. I’d love to get out of these clothes,” I said, twisting my ponytail into a bun to get my hair off my neck.

“Hmmmmmmm…I’ve never seen you in your uniform. The track suit is pretty cute, let’s see the uniform,” he said in his raspy, sexy voice as he sat down on the couch, smiling at me.

“Are you serious?” I said, blushing.

“Completely,” he said with his smoldering eyes staring into mine.

“OK, I will show you the uniform, and then you have to give me something comfy to change into,” I said, lifting my eyebrow to let him know I was serious.

“Deal!” he said excitedly.

I pulled off the sweats. I had my Stanford track shorts and tank top on underneath. It was very tight, and the shorts were like spandex underpants, so I was ready to get them off.

“Wow! That’s one sexy running outfit,” he said staring at me, his eyes blazing.

“Are you kidding me?” I said, laughing.

He scooped me up and carried me up to his room. “I am not kidding. You are the sexiest girl I’ve ever seen,” he said, placing me gently on his bed.

“Let’s see, what would you like to wear?” he asked, opening his drawer. I looked over at his laundry folded on the dresser, and I saw his Notre Dame jersey.

“Oooohhhhh, I want to wear that!” I said, pointing and smiling.

“I would love to see you in that jersey,” he said, smiling back at me.

I changed right in front of him. I had nothing to hide from Daniel anymore.

“Wow! That jersey has never looked better,” he said, and his eyes were smoldering. I felt a wave of desire run through my body just looking at him.

“Hey! I know what I’m dying to ask you!” I said eagerly.

“What’s that?” he asked, still gazing right into my eyes.

“My dad said Crystal’s accusations were blown up because of this tattoo mystery. I insisted to him that you only have one tattoo. He said you got another one. Is that true?” I asked, curious about the addition.

“Yes, it’s true,” he said sweetly.

“Really? What is it?” I asked, interested to know his choice.

“It is a reminder of what is most important to me in my life,” he said firmly.

“Will you show me?” I asked, curiosity burning through me. I wondered if it was something relating to football? Or something about his family?

“Of course I will,” he said, planting a kiss on my cheek.

He lifted his shirt, and just that movement alone made me weak in the knees. Daniel was so muscular, and his chest was ripped. He had definitely been working out a lot, and his stomach was so chiseled now. I had to fight the urge to touch him as he pulled his shirt completely off.

When he turned toward me, my jaw hit the ground. Across his chest, right over his heart, was a black spiderweb about the size of my hand, and in a beautiful, light-pink script it said
Charlotte.
I was completely unprepared for that. Daniel had inked me onto his body forever. It was the most romantic gesture ever.

“I love it,” I said, feeling a blush creep across my cheeks.

“Now I will always have you with me,” he said confidently.

I took my hand and gently touched it. “I can feel your heart beat right where my name is,” I said quietly.

“That’s the way that I wanted it,” he whispered into my ear.

Daniel and I talked all night. We were laying in his bed, facing one another, and filling each other in on our lives. We made a pact to never go a day without speaking. We would finish our second semester of college where we currently were, and then see what we wanted to do for next year. We realized that we could get through anything as long as we were together. We would make decisions together from now on and not allow anyone else to have a say in what we did. We also promised to never, ever go a day without telling each other how much we loved one another.

Our hands were intertwined as we talked until six a.m. the next morning.

“You know, we both live on our own now,” I said shyly, feeling my face flush.

“Yes, we do. What should we do about that?” he said, and he smiled his beautiful smile. He wrapped his strong arms around me, and he pressed his lips to mine.