I collapsed beside Charli feeling exactly like I had fallen down a K hole. In that first moment of bliss, I couldn't form a coherent thought, let alone a sentence. Instead of talking, I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation of my body melting into the mattress.

Since Charli laid there silently too, I hoped that meant she didn't need me to say anything. Everything was wonderfully quiet. The club downstairs had shut the music off after their last call and my Miles Davis CD had long stopped playing.

Eventually my brain started to work again and my first thought was, "If I had known getting with Charli would be this easy I would have made a move a year ago!"

It's not that Charli was 'easy' in the traditional, derogatory sense of the word when guys use it about a girl. But she just made things seem... I guess 'simple' is the word I'm looking for. I've got to laugh at myself because I'm struggling to find the right way to explain Charli, probably the most complex girl I'd ever hooked up with, and I choose the exact contradiction of that.

I suppose it seemed simple at the time because unlike most people I knew, she was honest about her shit.

Usually when you get involved with someone, they put their best foot forward, so you might not learn the real deal on them for months. I'm just as guilty of the old 'bait and switch' as the next guy, so I can't really bash anyone else for doing it.

Experiencing the type of interaction I had with Charli that night was new to say the least, and I was a lucky bastard because the day couldn't have ended any better for me. As I pulled her naked body closer against mine, I thought that maybe coming off the road wasn't going to be so terrible after all.

But then she shoved my arm off of her and threw back the covers to roll away from me. I grabbed her wrist. "Hey, you don't have to go."

Charli looked over her shoulder at me. Her smudged mascara made her eyes look sad, despite her smile. "No, I do."

I tugged her back down against me. "It's three in the morning. What's a few more hours? I'll get you breakfast when the sun comes up."

She pulled away again and immediately stood up to find her clothes. "My Mom will freak out if she gets up at six and there's no sign of me."

I sat up to watch her step into her panties and hook her bra back together. "So you've never stayed out all night?"

"Not without telling her first. And I can't exactly call her right now and explain that I've decided to sleepover with the guy I just fucked. Besides I have to be up pretty early for my internship tomorrow."

Looking at Charli standing there, rosy pink in her sheer underwear, made my dick start to come back to life. She bent over to put on her skirt and I closed my eyes to not look at her perfectly shaped ass, which was currently at eye level. I knew if I managed to convince her to stay, I wouldn't let her get much sleep - selfish prick that I am. "Fine."

I stood up to grab my jeans. Charli pulled her shirt over her head, then turned toward the mirror on my door. She combed her fingers through her hair, while I buttoned up.

We studied each other's reflections for a minute. She spoke to mine instead of turning around. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm gonna walk you home obviously." I watched her sparkly blue toenails disappear into her socks and shoes.

While I put on my shirt, I felt her gently shove me toward my bed. I sat down on it, but only so I could put on my boots next.

Charli grabbed her jacket with one hand, and put the other on the door knob. "Don't be stupid. It's only a few blocks. I'll be fine. Stay where it's warm."

The girl was trying to bolt on me!

I grabbed her jacket. "I am."

Charli shook her head but let me take it from her. "Hurry up then. I'm tired."

I held her jacket open for her and she turned her back to me to slip into it.

By that time, the snow outside blanketed everything and the ground was much more slippery, so I kept my arm around her while we walked the five blocks.

We stood under the tree in front of her house. The streetlights on the block shone through the branches, casting a web of shadows across us. But I wasn't sure which of us was the spider.

I pulled a pen from my pocket. "Can I get your number?"

"If I give it to you, you'll talk to my mother more than me. I'm never home." She shrugged.

It wasn't even worth asking if she wanted my number. I nodded and slipped the pen back into my jacket.

Charli stood on her tiptoes and pressed her icy cold cheek against mine. She whispered, her breath warm and moist in my ear, "You know how to find me if you need me."

Something about the way she said it, made me feel frustrated and frankly a little pissed off.

Could I find a way to make her need me?

I grabbed her face with both my hands and kissed her. The tip of her nose was an icicle and her tongue was lava. She returned my kiss for just a moment before her fingers were on mine, pulling free.

I desperately wanted to throw her down, right there in the snow on her stoop, and explore her depths again. I opened my eyes and looked into hers. "I'll find you."

Then I followed our fresh footprints back to my apartment.