Chapter Text
“Stop it! Dirty girl!”
It takes a moment for Charlie to fully accept everything that happens in fairly quick succession. One minute he was eyeing up a particularly good arse best to the lake; tight jeans, hands in pockets and thick thighs. The next… all this.
Firstly, the adorable golden retriever paddling in the pond has turned out to be a demon in disguise.
Secondly, his brand new shirt is now covered in flecks of what Charlie hopes is just mud and pond water.
Finally, and most importantly, that he’s suddenly face to face with a man he hasn’t seen in almost a decade. Nick Nelson, in the flesh and flushing red, gripping the collar of a dog who is looking exceptionally pleased with herself.
“Fucking hell, Daisy, what’s got into you?”
Nick, seemingly without thinking, reaches out to brush his palm across Charlie’s shirt, smearing the mud even more. It’s a strangely paternal gesture – Charlie imagines Nick having a wife and two kids at home and being mortified that his act of natural helpfulness is about to bring about a semi in public on a man he’s forgotten about from school.
It’s too long a sentence to be a feasible update when he stamps his feet on a mat later and calls out to his suitably gorgeous wife. No, this will be the kind of anecdote they’ll laugh about over wine.
Well, that’s just great.