So Charlie gave up on the waiting. Instead, he cradled my face in his hands and tilted me up to meet his eyes. Then he shifted his gaze from my eyes to my mouth, and he wasn’t just looking, he was seeing. It was like he was taking in everything about my mouth—from color, to texture, to shape. It was physical, like it had a force, and I swear I could feel it, like he was brushing the skin of my lips with nothing but the intensity of his gaze. And then he leaned in closer, staying laser-focused on this one place right in front of him. The anticipation was excruciating. I watched his mouth as he
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