Four months earlier
I pulled at the tie on my neck, trying desperately to loosen it. It was hot as hell in this car, and the fact that Charlotte had dressed me up like Mr. GQ wasn't helping matters.
"How long do we have to be here?" I grumbled, as the limo driver pulled us up in front of her old high school. I scoffed, looking at all the tacky decorations that they had put up for the occasion. There were streamers and balloons and confetti canons celebrating Charlotte's high school reunion. For the first time in my life, I was thankful that my parents hadn't sent me to public high school. This looked like a fucking nightmare.
"If you're going to be a grump about it, I'll make you stay all night." Charlotte smirked, checking her makeup one last time in the mirror. She was a knockout in that dress and for a fleeting moment, I found myself wondering who she was getting so dressed up for. That feeling was gone as quickly as it had come, though. Charlotte was mine- mind, body, and soul- and she never forgot that. Jealousy was a state of comfort for me, though. I always jumped to it in uncomfortable situations, and right now, I couldn't think of anything more comfortable than spending an evening of dinner and dancing in a room full of Charlotte's high school classmates. Especially since that included ex-boyfriends. We rarely got a weekend away now that the kids were so busy and when Charlotte suggested we take one to go to her high school reunion, I had been less than enthused.
"If you make me stay here one minute past eight, you'll pay for it when we get back to the hotel room." I snickered, actually hoping she would press me on the issue.
Charlotte narrowed her eyes at me. "We are at least staying until nine."
I shrugged. "That's fine, baby. That just means that's one hour of you tied to the hotel bed with me doing anything and everything I want to you as payback."
"Is that supposed to be some kind of punishment?" She winked.
Right as I opened my mouth to respond, the limo driver opened the door, and I lost my opportunity.
Charlotte took my arm, and we walked in through the gymnasium doors. It took every ounce of strength in my body to fight, rolling my eyes at the atmosphere. Many people were already there, and the gym was set up like some sort of low budget prom. There was a dance floor in the middle, with tables scattered around it and a few bars along the wall. At least there would be alcohol at this thing. Maybe I would survive after all.
"Charlotte?" A blonde approached us from the side with a Botox smile on her face.
"Renee!" Charlotte smiled, less enthusiastically. "So good to see you. This is my husband Luca."
The woman gave me a predatory smile and stuck her hand out. "So nice to meet you. I have heard lots of things about you."
"Nice to meet you as well." I gave her a tight-lipped smile. Something told me Charlotte and this girl weren't exactly on the best of terms.
"Charlotte and I were so close in high school. We shared everything. Even boyfriends." The woman smiled evilly, and I just raised my eyebrows at Charlotte. That was certainly a story I hadn't heard before.
"Not on purpose." Charlotte glared at the woman.
"You'll have to find me later for a dance." Renee winked.
"Back off Renee," another girl chuckled, walking up to us. "Don't want to repeat of what happened in high school, now do we?"
Renee's expression turned sarcastic. "Well, look at that. I should have figured you'd be close by, Jess. Always riding Charlotte's coat tails, after all."
"Don't you have a future ex husband to find?" Jess smirked.
Renee stomped off with a scowl.
"God, that woman is still just as bitchy as ever." Jess grinned, turning her attention to Charlotte and I. "You must be Luca."
"I am." I smiled, shaking her hand.
"I am so happy to see you." Charlotte threw her arms around the girl's neck. "I about ran right back out of here when we ran into Renee first thing."
"Nobody would have blamed you." Jess laughed.
"Luca, this is Jess. She was my best friend in high school." Char smiled, grasping my hand in hers.
"Basically, what she's saying is that if you want to know any of her wild stories from high school, I'm your girl." Jess winked at me, leading Charlotte and me through a mess of people to an open table.
"I'll keep that in mind. I'd love to hear what happened with Renee." I squeezed Charlotte's knee when we sat down, determined to make her squirm the entire night.
"No, you definitely don't." Char shook her head.
"Now that's a story!" Jess grinned, leaning forward to tell me. "This guy, Jude, asked Charlotte to prom our senior year. He was a foreign exchange student who ever girl fantasized about, but all he cared about was little miss goody two shoes over here. She refused to sleep with him on prom night like any self-respecting girl would, and Jude left and went and fucked Renee. He was probably her fourth or fifth of the night, but that's another story entirely." Jess grinned as Charlotte covered her eyes with her hand and shook her head in laughter. "Anyway, the next week at school, Renee was bragging about it to somebody and Charlotte walked right up and punched her right in the nose. Nearly knocked her right out."
I looked at Charlotte in amazement. She had never really been one for violence, and it was her last result.
"It didn't exactly go like that." Charlotte blushed. "She left out a few key details, like the fact that she was telling everybody I slept with him, and I didn't."
"Details, details." Jess rolled her eyes. "The point of the story is that your girl can pack a mean punch."
"Oh trust me, I know." I chuckled, pulling Charlotte in closer to me. "I've been on the receiving end of her right hook a few times and I am only gonna guess it's gotten stronger."
Jess burst out laughing. "I like you."
"Wow!" a deep voice came from behind us. "If this isn't a blast from the past."
I turned to see three men approaching. I pulled Charlotte even closer protectively.
"Oh, my gosh!" Jess squealed, jumping up and throwing her arms around the first one. "Look at you guys! You haven't changed a bit."
Charlotte smiled, standing up to greet them as well. "Hi guys!"
"Wow, Jo, you look amazing. Time has been good to you." One of the men said, wrapping her in a tight hug.
I felt a jealous rage growing inside of me and decided to assert my dominance before things got out of hand. Why the fuck was he calling her Jo? Her name was Charlotte. And we weren't just going to be talking about fists flying if he didn't get his hands off of her.
"I'm Luca. Charlotte's husband." I said, sticking my hand out.
"Nice to meet you, man." He grinned. "I'm Will. These are my buddies Steven and Cody. We hung out with these two in high school."
"Nice to meet you." I said, wrapping my arm around Charlotte's waist. I knew she could tell what I was doing and was thankful when she put her hand to my chest to reassure me.
"Why don't you guys sit with us? Is your wife here?" Charlotte asked, trying to ease the tension. Yeah, sure, sit with us. Fucking fantastic.
Will shook his head. "She couldn't make it. Home with the kids." Of course. I knew this guy's game. Leave his family at home and come to his high school reunion and find a nostalgic hook up. If I didn't know better, he had his eyes on my wife before realizing I was here with her.
Dinner was served shortly after and I was forced to listen to them reminisce about the good old days. Charlotte kept her hand on my leg underneath the table in reassurance, but I was still hating every second of this. There were about a million things I wanted to be doing to my wife right now and not one of them included listening to her talk to her exboyfriend. Once everyone got up and dispersed, I took my opportunity and leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"Ready to get out of here?"
Char rolled her eyes. "Would you relax? We're hardly through dinner. I'm catching up with my friends."
"Friends, right." I scoffed.
"Luca, is there something you want to say to me?" She narrowed her eyes at me menacingly.
I huffed, knowing this was going to make me sound like an insecure fool. I had nothing to worry about, but I still didn't care for that Will guy. "Are all of your ex boyfriends such colossal, dueche bags? I mean, I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I might take Grant over this guy."
"You are being absolutely absurd, you know that, right? He's a nice guy, and he was a good friend of mine for a long time."
"I just don't like the way Will is looking at you. It's like he's forgotten he's married."
Charlotte started laughing and bit her lip. "We're just talking, Luca."
"I know that. But the guy looks at you like he'd jump your bones if I wasn't here." I pouted. What the fuck was wrong with me? Why were a bunch of pussy has-beens making me feel so insecure?
"But you are." She grabbed my hand reassuringly. "And even if you weren't, I wouldn't let him. I love you and you've got nothing to worry about. Normally I like a little jealousy on you, but this is ridiculous. You're five times as hot and successful as any of these guys. And we're married, remember?" She flashed her ring finger at me, wiggling it. "I chose you, and I would choose you every single time. So stop being such a grump."
I let out a sharp laugh, realizing she was right. I was being petty, and I hated being that way. This was a special night for her and I was interfering with it. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. I know I'm being ridiculous. Forgive me?"
"Of course I do." She smiled. "And I love you even when you're being a giant asshole. So I'll get one more drink and then we can go."
"You're an angel." I grinned, swatting at her ass. Charlotte just rolled her eyes and started towards the bar.
I watched every step she took, thanking God she was mine. Scrolling through my phone, i sent a group text to the kids making sure everything was okay. "Everybody safe and happy tonight?"
Lucy was with Elena and Mike this weekend, and Layla was away at school. We'd left the boys alone at home for the two nights we were away, only after I put the fear of God into them about how much trouble they'd be in if they had a party.
"I changed my mind." I looked up, shocked to see Charlotte back here already. "Let's get out of here." She smirked, reaching for my hand.
"Your wish is my command, my queen." I grinned from ear to ear, wrapping my arm around her waist and kissing her passionately. A deep blush filled her cheeks, but I didn't care who saw.
"Oh, not so fast!" Jess appeared out of nowhere. "They're starting the slideshow. You can't go yet. Luca, you have to see Charlotte in her volleyball uniform."
I chuckled, holding Charlotte against me. "Now, how can I resist seeing my girl in those tight shorts?"
"I think we should just go," Charlotte laughed. I could tell by the flush in her cheeks she wanted to get back to the hotel. I loved that she was just as insatiable as I was, even though we'd been together for almost twenty years.
Before we could, though, the lights dimmed, and a screen turned on, starting a reel of photos.
"Fine." Charlotte conceded to pacify Jess. "But we're leaving after this."
Char sat back down next to me and I kept my eyes on her the whole time we were supposed to be watching the slide show. I loved seeing her expressions and the way the corners of her lips turned up into a soft smile as she was reminded of memories. I felt like I was getting a small glimpse of who she was before we met, and was loving every second.
She was so beautiful and looking at her back then. It was almost like I was looking at photos of Layla. I loved that our girls looked so much like their mother, although it certainly kept me on my toes. On Tuesday, Layla was coming down from school for dinner and bringing her new boyfriend. I was less than thrilled, but even as much as I hated to admit it, she was an adult now and could make her own decisions. It didn't mean I had to go easy on the lucky bastard, though.
"Okay, can we get out of here now?" Char rolled her eyes. "You get enough of the volleyball shorts?"
I chuckled, rubbing my hand up her thigh. "You think you can still get a pair of those? I'd like to see you wear them in person tonight."
"Not a chance, buddy." She smiled.
We said goodbye to her friends and headed back to the hotel. I was determined to take advantage of every spare moment I had with her this weekend.