✦ rio delgado / @landslidess
continued from here
what choice had charli had but to move on from her first love. only love, truthfully. she never really tried again after him. while she understood the explanation and his reasonings when he'd broken up with her, nearly a decade and a half was a very long time to wait and to be in some limbo partial relationship. but . . . the brunette would've done it. the hacker would've remained his girl through all of it. he'd wanted her to live because neither of them had any idea what life would be like with him locked up.
the part that hurt almost as much as being dumped by rio was that she knew he'd be left to face prison completely alone. maybe his friends called, wrote, and visited him but she'd had to stop after their relationship was ended. not because charli hadn't wanted to, she never stopped thinking about him and cycling through all of the 'what ifs', but because it was too painful. being in love with rio and having to take a step backward and act as a friend instead was a level of devastation she never fully faced.
"well, thrift store did you well," her dark eyes continued to take her ex in, not really caring that she was openly and blatantly checking him out, "you fill out your clothing a little differently." they were well into their thirties now and he was grown. a full on man stood before her and while she'd never really expected all the tattoos she couldn't deny the appeal they had as she looked rio over. it was a blessing and a curse to see him so well. guilt seeped in at the edges because she hated that it'd happened without her.
maybe because it'd been so long charli found herself blushing just slightly under rio's gaze and scrutiny. the fact that she could tell he liked what he saw only added to the heat touching her cheeks. "it's a passionate color," she said of the red, glancing down at her dress, "and you know how much i love passion." perhaps that was her way of saying some things never change.
as much as her head was warning her heart to take it slow, to ease into this reunion and all things rio now that he was a free man, the hacker couldn't stop herself from moving closer to him. in the casino with everything going on around them she at least had that as an excuse to fall back on if he questioned it. charli didn't think he would, though. "well, i remember it, but this is a good surprise. i just . . ." as she looked at him, finding that familiar affection in his gaze, the words died in her throat. wishing she could've been prepared made no real sense if she thought about it, because there was no way anyone could be ready for this.
the one that got away returns?
"true, i do have a different number. i've actually had a few different numbers since . . ." again, she couldn't, instead biting them down even thinking about their breakup could send her into a spiral now that he was in front of her. "i get it, though," she assured rio, "i would've been scared, too. how do you even start that conversation or make that call?" the question was rhetorical but she inched closer as it came out. then her ex hit her with it. i'm here with you. charli could feel something crumblr inside of her. maybe it was her resolve.
a moment later she'd eliminated any space or distance between them and wrapped her arms around rio. "i've missed you so fucking much," she whispered into the crook of his neck, her face turning into him. maybe this was too much, overboard, but it'd been an action she couldn't have compelled herself not to make. somewhere in the back of her mind rio's right now comment niggled but for this moment she ignored it. if some date of his walked up and found them this way the brunette really didn't care. she was owed this because her heart had waited fourteen years for this, for him. "you smell so good, too. damn it." the hacker pulled back a bit, bittersweet sat in her gaze as she peered up at her ex in the close proximity. "so . . . you're a biker now," a little smile, "well, that seems fitting." when the question returned to her, charli shook her head. "i'm not here with a date, no. nor a club." the syndicate didn't really name themselves but that also wasn't something to broach at the moment.
"what would you do if i was?" her fingers had pinched his shirt between them, tethering herself to him in that moment. "would you have eventually come for me or was this is? it would've had to happen by chance?"