“How about you leave Charlie the fuck alone?” I counter, getting closer to him. He reeks of stale cigarettes and booze. This faint flash of my dad runs through my head before I shake it off.
“Why do you care? Is that stupid whore fucking all of you now?”
“None of your fucking business,” I growl.
“She is, isn’t she? I always knew she was a dirty slut. Known it since the first time I had her on her knees and she su-”
I don’t give Chuck time to finish. I punch him right in his disgusting mouth, effectively stopping the bullshit that was spewing from it. I throw two more quick punches, one to each cheek. He goes down like a bag of bricks, screaming in agony. I see the skin on my knuckles has split, but I can’t feel it. At least not yet.
I lean down, grab his greasy hair, and pull him up to meet my eyes. There is something missing in the way he looks at me. There’s no soul behind his gaze. Another dead-eyed asshole who feels entitled to a woman who once gave him the time of day. Shit, you know what? He actually kinda looks like my dad.
“I give zero fucks what your history with Charlie is and what you want from her. You’re going to leave her alone. Don’t go to the rink. Don’t go to the bar. If me or either of my brothers see you again, you’re a dead man. You hear me?”
I land one more punch into his gut before throwing him down to the ground. Chuck’s body shakes, almost like he is crying, but then I hear the most disturbing laughter coming from the bloody mess that is his face. The sight and sound of it is so appalling, it makes a shiver run down my spine.
“She’ll break your heart too man. Just you fucking wait,” Chuck utters, still laughing like a total creep.
“She can’t break what’s already broken,” I tell him with a final, swift kick to the ribs.
I pull up to the house to see that Max and Charlie are already here but don’t see Andy’s truck. I make my way inside and find Max sitting on the couch with Charlie resting her head in his lap.She is on her side and has her legs pulled up to her chest with her arms wrapped around herself. Max is stroking her hair but looks up at me when I come in, quirking his eyebrow in question.
I nod at his unasked question. He nods back. There’s nothing that needs to be said for him to know what I’ve just done. Charlie notices the movement and looks up at me. She’s not crying anymore but her eyes are still puffy like she was. I feel a random pang in my chest and reach up to rub it absentmindedly. That’s when Charlie notices my hands.
Sitting up, she looks me up and down with concern in her mesmerizing eyes. “You didn’t have to do that for me.” Her voice is whisper quiet.
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “It’s no big deal. I would have done it for anyone. I don’t like creeps.”
You’re so full of crap, dude.
Charlie comes over and surprises me by giving me a big hug. My muscles momentarily lock up at the contact, but she feels and smells so good that I forget I shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy this moment.
“Itisa big deal to me though. I’ve been terrified of Chuck since high school and coming home just to end up seeing him again has been one of my worst nightmares come to life.”
I give Charlie a quick squeeze back before she pulls away and returns to her spot next to Max. I take the opportunity to sneak away to the bathroom to wash my hands and put bandages on the worst of the damage. By the time I return to the living room, Andy is just coming in the door with the Chinese food.
“Charlie! Sweetheart, you gotta tell us what kind of spell you have on this guy,” Andy says loudly, dropping the bag of food on the coffee table and flopping down on the couch next to her.
Charlie leans over and rests her head against Andy’s chest while he wraps his arms around her. Green flashes across my eyes for just a moment but I shake away the intrusive thoughts before they form into something more.
“I don’t really think it’s a spell. More like his mental illness and my people pleasing tendencies forming a warped version ofmyself in his mind,” Charlie says, pushing away from Andy and sitting herself up between him and Max. Andy scoffs and pulls her back over to him.
“I think you should tell them about it gorgeous,” Max tells Charlie. “Only if you want to of course, but I think we’d all like to understand a little better.”
“Yeah okay, but alcohol first.” Charlie says, getting up off the couch to head to the kitchen.
Max gets up at the same time though and gently pushes her back down into Andy’s waiting arms. Another flash of green. They’ve all already gotten so close. I claim my spot in the recliner chair, trying my damndest to ignore the jealously I feel at their easy rapport.
“Allow me,” he tells her warmly. “Start with what you told me on Friday.”
Max heads into the kitchen and Charlie starts telling us about how Chuck was her first and only boyfriend in high school. Things weren’t always bad between them, but there came a point when Chuck had stopped taking his meds and he would become aggressive and scary. Charlie tells us about how it was like dating Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and how she never knew who was going to show up at school the next day.
“Eventually I found the courage to tell him I didn’t want to see him anymore. He was good that day and told me that it was okay, and he understood. He even promised me that he’d get back on his meds and hoped that one day we could be friends again.” Charlie takes a beer from Max and continues while he hands one to me and Andy. “But the next day, it was like he didn’t even remember that we had spoken. There he was, waiting at my locker for me. I asked him if he remembered what we talked about yesterday and he told me that I hadn’t been serious.Of coursewe were still together. He told me I didn’t get to decide when we were done. I got upset, and we argued. The bell rang and it was time for class. I told him to leave me alone, and when I started to walk away, he pushed me, and I went down a flight of stairs.”
Max, Andy, and I all collectively growl. “You didn’t tell me that part Charlie,” Max grumbles.
“I was fine!” Charlie protests. “I twisted my ankle and bruised a rib but that’s it.”
“Yeah, sounds like you were fine,” Andy grumbles and takes a swig of his beer.
