The Bad Boy Next Room (Charlie and Taylor)

'Tiffany? No wonder the name sounded familiar.' Charlie thought. 'So this was the girl Taylor had mentioned before. She was his first?'

Honestly, she could not help but feel a bit jealous, but Taylor had been honest with her about this from the start. There was no use dwelling on his first sexual experience.

Clearly, this was not something Taylor wanted. Charlie could tell by the way he was holding her tightly. Why was this woman even bringing up the past? Oh, Charlie was affected, but not in a way Tiffany had probably hoped.

"Well, that's okay. Someone had to be the practice round," Charlie said, leaning back and folding her arms casually against her chest.

"Ooooooooohhh." The guys reacted. Some laughed at Tiffany.

"Excuse me?" While she was still in her sexy bikini and stylish outdoor robe, Tiffany's composure faltered. She asked Charlie, “Are you mocking me?"

"Mocking? Oh no, I'm just giving you the attention you were so desperately begging for," Charlie reacted, going head-on in this petty fight.

"Ooooooooohhh."

“It's such a shame that you are still clinging to the past, but yeah, I get it. For some people, that's all they can hold on to," Charlie added. "News flash, though, Taylor was still in high school then. All you had was the demo version of him while 1?"

Charlie turned to Taylor and firmly pointed a finger at his solid chest. She

declared, “I got the luxury edition side of him. How could Taylor be your best sex? Unless? You never got any after that?"

"Ooooooooohhh."

Tiffany's eyes rounded. She gasped, resting her hand on her chest while turning to Taylor. "Taylor? Control your girlfriend! It was just a game of truth or dare!"

"I'm with Charlie on this. Clearly, you and Nadia planned to provoke Charlie. Sadly for Drew, he took the bait," Taylor retorted, sideglancing at Drew. "You are really something, Tiffany. Really? I was your best experience? Your timing is as bad as your memory. Your ability to ruin a moment is truly Olympic-level. What's next? Bringing up exes at a wedding toast?"

"That's not my intention here," Tiffany defended herself. "I was just -"

"Yeah, Taylor. How could you judge us," Nadia reacted.

Taylor got up, taking Charlie's hand. He said, "Well, to be clear. You are a thing of the past for a good reason. And the sex part was mediocre at best! I mean, come on! If firsts mattered that much, we'd all still be using flip phones!"

While the guys cracked up, Taylor announced, "We are leaving -" "Oh, come on, Taylor. Let's hang out some more," Drew insisted.

"Another time, Bro," Taylor said, urging Charlie to get up too. "Let's meet again when it's just us, guys You can thank Tiffany for ending your welcome party prematurely. I'd rather scrub my eyeballs with sandpaper than spend another second seeing Tiffany's fucking face right now."

'Taylor!" Tiffany reacted, and so did the rest of her friends.

"We can kick them out. You are more important to us," Drew said, but Taylor was already dragging Charlie out.

"Another time, Drew! Another time," Taylor said.

***

There was a long silence as Charlie and Taylor drove out of the Sports Club.

While Taylor was behind the wheel, Charlie kept looking out the window.

After what felt like five minutes of stillness, Taylor said, "That was a long time ago,

like pre-historic, and for the record, it was a one-time thing."

Charlie did not answer because she was still mad at Tiffany!

What Charlie did not expect was for Taylor to pull over on the side of the road abruptly, causing her to jump in

her seat. He raised, "Chatter?"

thought my past did not matter?"

"It doesn't matter!" Charlie shot back. “She just... pissed me off, okay?"

Taylor then threw his head back. He sighed, saying, "I'm just as pissed too." They stayed quiet again until Taylor reached for her hand, saying, "I wish I met you sooner."

Well, Charlie understood what he meant, but what permeated her mind was the thought of being Taylor's first sex. She ended up blushing, her face making varied expressions.

"I don't mean that." Taylor held her hand tighter, adding, "You know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Charlie acknowledged, looking away.

He started the engine, and just before driving out, he pinched Charlie's cheek, saying, "You know you are really cute when you are

mad, even cuter when you are

jealous. You are acting more dike my real girlfriend every day."

Charlie pursed her lips. She turned to him, saying, "You are acting like my realnoveldrama

boyfriend too, so we are even."