I harrumph. “Why?”
Andy doesn’t answer, he just winks at me with a goofy grin on his face. Max comes over, “I promise you’ll be fine. I’ll meet you at the bar later if Andy ends up being a total dud.” Max winks at me too.
Max gives me a quick peck on the lips and leaves the kitchen. “Not likely bro!” Andy says to Max’s retreating back.
What the fuck am I getting myself into?
Chapter 19
Andy
Charlie kicks ass. Clearly sex agrees with her because she seems a lot less wound up than she did last night. Even before all that shit with that stupid mother fucker at the bar, you could feel how wound up she was. We spent the drive chatting about ourselves. She compliments all my tattoos and piercings and tells me that she has one of her own, but I can’t see it. I teased her that I bet I will get to see it by the end of the day. All she said was, “Yeah maybe if you’re lucky!”
She’s so delightfully cheeky. I love it.
I park in the driveway and notice a vase of wilted red roses sitting at the front door. Charlie frowns at it, and mutters under her breath “Well I guess he figured out where I was” while getting out of the truck.
I start to follow her, but she stops me, “You can’t come in. I’ll be quick I promise. Just wait here.”
I get back into the truck and watch her pick up the roses, frown at them for a moment, then toss them right into the garbage bin outside. They must be from that dill hole down south. What a tool.
True to her word, Charlie is back out a few minutes later wearing jeans, ankle boots, and a hoodie underneath her jacket. She’s also tied her hair back. She gets back into the truck but that sparkle from this morning has left her and she is being quietagain. I’ll knock that bastard out for stealing her smile.
I start driving towards our first destination, which is Tommie’s to get some hot chocolate. “So, I take it you don’t like roses?” I ask in attempt to get Charlie to open up.
She snorts. “I love roses,” she sighs. “From the right person at least.”
“Were they from the guy down south?” There is an unmistakeable growl to my voice.
Charlie sighs deeply.
“Yeah. I don’t even know how he figured out I was up here. I didn’t tell anyone I know from down there that I was moving home.” She pauses for a moment, then adds “I guess being rich and powerful has its creepy little perks.”
“That’s fucked up,” I respond because I really don’t know what else to say and I am trying to keep a damper on my temper for Charlie’s sake. Ben’s right. Maybe we should take a trip to Van.
Charlie is silent for a moment, “I don’t even get why he gives a shit now. He certainly didn’t care when I caught him. Took him a freaking week to send a text message or call. Makes me wonder what the hell he wants from me now.”
“I can’t tell you what to do, but I don’t think you should talk to him again unless you have to. He can’t want anything good.”
“You’re probably right. What’s messed up is that is the first time he’s ever gotten me flowers.”
“Stupid bastard,” I mutter, which makes Charlie laugh.
“Did Max tell you what happened?” she asks me quietly.
“He gave me the briefest rundown possible and asked us to help keep you distracted while you’re here,” I tell her, then add “Most of what he has told us so far is about how gorgeous and smart and funny you are. He’s got it bad for you.”
Charlie giggles, but then suddenly frowns. She groans, responding to some sort of internal debate before saying, “I’m glad to have met you guys but I’m definitely going home in the spring, and I don’t want to hurt any of you. You guys have been so great with reassuring me that it’s fine, but I’m still scared.”
I reach over and give Charlie’s leg a squeeze. “I promise it’s fineCharlie. We all think you’re great. Max and I will razz each other and pretend to be in competition over you but we both just want to see you happy and make you feel good. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that. And you definitely don’t need to worry about our feelings. We’re big boys. We can handle our own shit.”
Charlie smiles over at me and gives my hand a quick squeeze. “Thank you.” Her voice is a whisper. “I’m sure that won’t be the last time I need reassurance, but I want you to know that it really helps.”
I return her smile but don’t say anything else. We’ve reached Tommie’s and I pull into the drive-thru, getting us two hot chocolates before continuing to our next destination.
“So how did you and Max meet anyways?” Charlie picks up her hot chocolate from the cup holder and takes a small sip.
“Max and I have known each other since kindergarten. His mom brought in cupcakes on the first day of school and little me knew he was the guy I should be friends with.”
