Dev turns, and Charlie isn’t on the other side of the couch at all. He’s right there, leaning into Dev, pinning him against the back cushions, kissing him wildly. And thank God.
Dev twists his hands into Charlie’s hair, his legs around Charlie’s legs, because somehow, this makes the most sense. Not Charlie with the six remaining women, but Charlie here, with him.
Dev wrestles his way out of his jean jacket without breaking contact with Charlie’s mouth and is pissed they can’t do the same with Charlie’s sweater. He’s even more pissed that Charlie is so profoundly bad at removing clothing when it really counts, but then the sweater’s gone, and his T-shirt, too, and Dev’s not mad at all. He pulls off his own shirt, and then Charlie’s enormous hands are roving his skin, touching every inch of him.
“Bedroom,” Charlie pants into his collarbone. “I want you in our bed.”
Dev’s heart explodes like a glitter bomb inside him, and he’s barely able to follow through with Charlie’s request. They stumble from the couch to the bedroom, tripping over each other’s feet, kicking off each other’s shoes. Dev is dimly aware of the fact they maybe shouldn’t leave a trail of their clothes through the suite, but he’s distracted by Charlie’s hair and Charlie’s mouth—by pushing Charlie down onto the bed and falling to his knees on the carpet in front of him.
Charlie is flushed and pouting, his gray eyes delirious from alcohol and Dev. This makes sense. He reaches up and unfastens Charlie’s jeans.
“Dev—” Charlie starts, but Dev already has Charlie’s pants down his hips, revealing his gray boxer briefs and his erection straining through his underwear. “Wait a minute.”
Dev waits, hands paused on Charlie’s muscular thighs. “Is this okay?”
“Yes.” Charlie exhales, and Dev watches the way that one small action creates a dozen ripples across Charlie’s chest and abdominal muscles. “Yes, God, yes, but I need a minute. It’s not that I don’t want to, obviously.…” He embarrassingly gestures to his groin in a shy way that is so Charlie, and Dev’s heart pole vaults up to his throat. “I really, really want to, but the thing is… I… I haven’t… I haven’t done this before.”
Dev laughs a little and kisses the inside of Charlie’s thigh. “Yes, love, I was able to guess you’ve never been with a man before.”
“No, Dev.” Charlie chokes on his words, coughs them out. “I haven’t done this at all.”
Before Dev can fully process this revelation, Charlie flops backward and covers his face with his hands, breathing heavily into his fingers. Dev scrambles up onto the bed. “Charlie, look at me. Charlie!” He pries away Charlie’s hands. “Are you telling me you’ve never been with anyone? Ever? Like, in any way?”
Charlie makes a gasping sound like a dying animal and curls himself into a tight ball.
“But you’re twenty-eight!”
“Jesus, Dev, I know! I’m a freak!”
“You’re not a freak. Come on.” He grabs Charlie’s shoulder and pins him on his back. “Stop. Look at me. There’s nothing wrong with you. I just—I can’t believe you came on this show. You realize you’re expected to have sex with two women during week nine when we do overnight dates, right?”
“Well, that is not happening for a number of reasons!” Charlie shouts at the ceiling.
“The show loves to exploit a virgin, but usually they know about it going into the season, and—”
“Dev, please stop talking about the fucking show.”
“Right. Right. Sorry.” Dev rubs Charlie’s stomach until they both calm down a little. “We don’t have to do anything tonight.”