fallin' all in you | c.l

Twenty-Two.

Charles shrugged, utterly unbothered by the thought. "We're still friends. We've just added some extra privileges and intimacy on top of that."

"True," Mila nodded in agreement. "But I'm worried that it will make our friends uncomfortable, especially in the event that things don't work out for us."

He frowned, brows knitting together. "Why would they be uncomfortable? I think everyone is very supportive."

Then something shifted in his expression. A thought crossed his mind, something that led suspicion to flicker in the green of his eyes. "You don't still like Luca, do you?"

The laughter that sputtered out of her was unfiltered, mixed with equal parts relief and disbelief. Meanwhile, Charles fixed a perplexed look on her, failing to find the humor, wholly unimpressed. He just wanted an answer.

"Would you believe me if I said I never actually liked him in the first place?" She asked, fighting back a smirk.

He cocked his head to the side, narrowing his gaze, unsure whether to be offended or amused. "No... I wouldn't."

"Okay, fair," she admitted. "Would now be the right time to tell you that everything between me and Luca was fake? I played into his little matchmaking scheme because I wanted to prove him wrong."

Admitting all that out loud somehow made it sound more scandalous because of the amount of time it had been kept a secret from Charles.

His mouth dropped open in shock. Then something resembling guilt flashed across his face. His hands rubbed against his thighs, his tell when he was trying to collect his thoughts.

"I have something to confess too," he mumbled, casting her a sheepish glance. "I only wanted to date Alix to get closer to you, but she saw right through me. All she ever wanted was to help."

Mila's grin widened. "I know."

Charles' eyes went wide. "What do you mean, you know?"

"St. Moritz. She told all of us on the way up to the cabin," she revealed, the memory bringing a smile to her face now as it resurfaced.

The betrayal that crossed his face and the pout that followed were so genuine, so adorable that she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. It wasn't like it was entirely her job to let him know that all those secrets were out between their friends, but perhaps they had silently agreed that it was hers to tell?

"Thinking about it now, we have our friends to thank for where we are now," she mused.

"Why do you say that?" Charles asked curiously.

"I think you teaching me to ski helped me realize that I could definitely like you more than a friend."

A soft chuckle rumbled from him, as if he were remembering the hell he had put Mila through that day on the mountain and the disaster that followed. A slow smile spread across his face regardless. "I still think about that hot chocolate you made that night."

Mila rolled her eyes, almost offended. "Out of all the things that happened that night, that's what you think about?"

The grin on Charles' face turned downright wicked. His green eyes turned emerald as his gaze raked over her, slow and intentional, before settling on her lips. "Remind me again. What else happened that night?"

She considered reaching for a pillow and hitting him in the face to knock some sense into him.

He must have read the annoyance written on her face, because before she could escape, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her flush against him. Her tendency to run was ingrained in his brain now. "I remember now," he backtracked, brushing a teasing kiss against her lips.