Cut Free (The Sublime Book 4)

by Julia Wolf

  Charlie trailed his fingertips down the back of my arm. “I didn’t mean it as a negative. You’re just very easy to grow attached to.”

  And there he went, making me blush again. It had only been a week and a half since he walked into Abe’s shop, but I’d grown attached to him too. I was scared to guess how much that attachment would grow by the time we ran the marathon.

  “I’m not usually so friendly,” I said.

  He chuckled, the sound traveling straight from his chest to mine. “I do recall the first couple times I met you. You scared the shit out of me.”

  I laughed and hit his arm. “Oh my god! No I didn’t!”

  “You did! In my mind you were The Lady in Black. I couldn’t picture you smiling, but I get it. You were pretty miserable, huh?”

  “Not subtle at all, are you?”

  He shrugged. “What’s the point?”

  “Yes, I was miserable. I’m pretty sure I’m done with that phase of my life, though.”

  When we got back to Main Street, we started walking to cool down, our hands on our hips, Charlie’s breathing heavier than mine.

  “You going to come play the piano?” he asked.

  “Is that okay?”

  He grabbed my hand to stop me, then tilted my chin up with his knuckle so my eyes met his. “Of course it’s okay. You don’t have to just come in the morning. You can come during the day or at night too. You’re never going to bother me. Got it?”

  “Got it. I might take you up on it. Rachel and Joe chose three of the most complicated songs, so I’m going to have to practice a lot in the next month.”

  “I look forward to more Eliza time.”

  We were in front of Charlie’s building, smiling at each other. He stepped toward me, and I looked away toward my apartment.

  “Okay, I’m just going to go shower and get dressed. Then I’ll be back,” I said quickly.

  “See you soon, Miss Eliza.”

  After I showered, I stood in front of my closet utterly stumped. Wearing all black didn’t seem all that appealing today. But unless I wore my running clothes or jeans, that seemed to be my only choice.

  I pushed through my rack of clothes until I found a dark purple, three-quarter sleeve, boat-neck top with the tags still on it buried in the back. I didn’t remember buying this at all, but I pulled the tags off and slid it on. It wasn’t bright, but at least it wasn’t black. I found a pair of grey trousers to pair it with and slipped on a pair of nude heels instead of my usual ballet flats.

  My bangs were still driving me crazy, so instead of pulling them down on my forehead, I brushed them to the side and tied a narrow silk scarf around my head like a headband. I was so used to half my face being covered with hair, I felt almost naked and definitely exposed. Sighing, I pulled off the scarf. I wasn’t ready for that much change, but I did swipe on a dark purple lipstick instead of my typical glossy nude.

  The shop was quiet when I got there. Charlie must have been giving me privacy to play. As much as I normally liked the solitude, I wouldn’t have minded so much if he had stayed and listened.

  I worked through all three songs several times. I needed a lot of practice, but after playing the music, I felt just the tiniest morsel of confidence in my ability to get where I needed to be by the wedding.

  Just for fun, before I left, I played my favorite Coldplay song. It was one I knew so well, I could lose myself and sing along too. I almost lost my place when a guitar suddenly started playing and Charlie began singing along with me, but I kept going.

  I opened my eyes and smiled at him. He winked and continued singing, his voice as beautiful as he was, and I felt like I was being serenaded despite the fact that we were making music together.

  Even though I needed to go to work, even though Charlie needed to open up the shop, we flowed right into song after song, smiling, laughing, and playing together. I had always been a solo musician, mostly playing at home by myself. In the last few years, I’d hardly played at all. My jam sessions with Joe were the start of a new era, and they were incredibly fun, but sharing music with Charlie could quickly become addictive.

  I finally took my hands off the keys. “I really have to go! I’m going to be late, and I’m never late.”

  Charlie strummed his guitar one last time, then set it down. “That was pretty rad. Let’s definitely do that again.”

  I nodded and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “We should. Next time I jam with Joe, I’ll let you know.”

  He walked closer to where I stood by the door. “I’m into that. I’m also into what we just did, just the two of us.”

  I grinned at him. “I’m into that too.”

  After a long beat, Charlie leaned in close, and my eyes fluttered closed as I readied myself for an unexpected, but not unwelcome, kiss. My lips remained untouched, and the door chimed behind me. When I cracked my eyes open, I realized he’d been reaching around me to open the door, not leaning in for a kiss.

  Not again!

  Why did we keep having these kissing misunderstandings? And why was I completely ready for Charlie to kiss me? We were friends! Just friends.

  To hide the blush in my cheeks, I bent over and picked up my bag. Then, without looking at him, I turned and hustled out the door, waving over my shoulder as I ran across the street to the salon.

  Rachel was sitting at the desk and greeted me with a sunny smile.

  “Hey, E! Don’t you look pretty in purple today!”

  “Good morning!” I said with all the cheeriness I could muster.

  I looked across the street, and Charlie stared back at me from his shop. He grinned, then blew a kiss and walked away. He. Blew. Me. A. Kiss. He totally knew I thought he was going to kiss me. BLARGH!

  “Rach, I need to go on a date. Know anyone who’ll have me?”

  She looked up from the computer, surprise written all over her face. “Really?”

  I nodded determinedly. “Absolutely. Someone fun who will make out with me.”

  She giggled. “Joe’s friend Alex asked about you when we all hung out a month or two ago…”

  I remembered him. We’d met a few times. He was tall with a clean-cut vibe, and from what I could recall, he’d been friendly and pretty cute. Definitely more than acceptable for a make-out session.

  “Can you set us up?” I asked.

  “Sure. Actually, Joe and I are meeting him for a show at Lucky next weekend. Do you want to come too?”

  “That sounds perfect.”

  Rachel smiled. “Okay, I’ll let Alex know. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to have you as his date.”

  I wanted to date, but going to a show with my friends where there would be loud music took a lot of the first date pressure off. We wouldn’t have to talk a lot and Joe and Rachel would be great buffers if we didn’t really hit it off. I was hoping we would, though. I needed to kiss someone before I went crazy and one of my misfired kisses actually landed on Charlie and I ruined everything.

  Nine

  Charlie was driving us to another adventure—thankfully in his own car this time—but he refused to tell me what the plan was.

  “Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked.

  Charlie chuckled. “I told you we’re going to D.C.”

  “But what are we going to do? A museum doesn’t seem very adventurous or rebellious.”

  He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “Washington D.C. has a lot more than museums and politics, Miss Eliza.”

  I shrugged. “I’m sure it does, but I usually stick to Baltimore.”

  “Baltimore’s awesome, but D.C. is too. It’s less than an hour away. You should take advantage.”

  “Aren’t I taking advantage right now?”

  “Only because I forced you to move your clients around and cut out of work early,” he reminded me.

  I groaned softly. “I must like you to rearrange my clients on a Saturday. I’m pretty sure one of them wanted to murder me when I asked her to co
me in next weekend.”

  “I know you like me.”

  And I did, to a ridiculous degree. He hadn’t mentioned the almost-kiss, even though we ran together almost every day. There hadn’t been any more close calls, but sometimes, I felt like I was holding myself back from jumping him. My date with Alex was still a week away, and it couldn’t come soon enough. Because even though I had a massive crush on Charlie, he’d shown no indication of being interested in me as anything more than a friend.

  “Oh please, Charlie. You’re so charming, I’m pretty positive you have a trail of women who like you,” I said.

  “You know me so well. I am quite the ladies’ man,” he said.

  “You told me yourself you’ve slept with ‘far too many women.’ I think that’s a direct quote.”

  “You’ve got me pegged,” he said, though his voice was laced with something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

  Charlie was quiet after that, so I studied the tattoos on the arm closest to me. From seeing him without a shirt, I knew both his arms were completely inked from shoulder to wrist and across his back. His right arm was nothing short of a masterpiece, with a bright orange koi fish on top of ocean waves and floating cherry blossoms. The details were so intricate, I wanted to study it even closer. I wanted to push his arm over his head and look at it from every angle.

  “You ever think about getting another one?” Charlie asked suddenly.

  “Tattoo?” I asked.

  “Yeah. You seem mighty interested in mine.”

  “Yours are gorgeous. One day, I’m going to study them up close.”

  “Name the time, Eliza, and I’m there.” He reached over and brushed his fingers over my tattoo. “What about you?”

  “Maybe. I love this one, and I’m happy I did it, but it took me years to make up my mind and work up the guts to do it. I emailed with my tattoo artist for months. I was surprised he even replied after the tenth or fifteenth email!”

  “Skull did yours, right? I saw a picture of it in his book.”

  “He did. Has he done any of your tattoos?” I asked.

  “Yeah, he started my back piece. By the end of the year, my whole back should be covered.”

  The image of Charlie with his beautiful back covered in even more tattoos made me squirm in my seat. I’d never been with a tattooed man; I hadn’t even found myself attracted to them. But Charlie...well, Charlie was different in every way.

  “I’m sure it will be beautiful. If you ever need anyone to hold your hand, I’m your girl.” I cringed after the words left my mouth.

  “I’m a real baby when it comes to pain, so don’t think I won’t take you up on your offer.”

  I sighed. The idea of sitting with Charlie and holding his hand while he was getting tattooed sounded incredibly exciting.

  “So, you’re an overthinker, huh?” he asked.

  “That’s an understatement. I’m very decisive about some things, like my business, but I take forever to make big life decisions. I knew I wanted to break up with Edward for over a year before I finally did.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? What made you take the leap?”

  “I know I brought up the subject, but do we have to talk about this?” I asked.

  “Not if you don’t want to,” he said softly.

  His tone was so soothing and sincere, I found I wanted to tell him.

  “He was going to propose,” I said.

  Charlie exhaled slowly. “Wow.”

  I nodded. “I know. And then when I finally told him it was over, he disagreed.”

  I noticed his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “What does that mean?”

  I touched his white knuckles. “He didn’t hurt me.”

  “Good. I won’t have to murder him.”

  “He just didn’t agree that we were over. He wanted to call my parents and have them talk sense into me. He was just so out of touch with what was going on in our relationship, he really thought I would say yes when he proposed!”

  “Don’t get mad. I know the guy was a total dick. But is it possible he really loved you in a completely fucked-up way? Have you heard from him since you left him? Because I can kind of see not wanting to let you leave.”

  My hackles were raised the second the words “don’t get mad” left his mouth. Nothing good ever comes after that phrase.

  “This is exactly why I didn’t want to talk about it,” I said quietly.

  God, I didn’t want to be pissed off at Charlie. He had seen how Edward treated me. Edward didn’t need anyone else to defend him. He already had my parents in his corner; he couldn’t have my friend too.

  Charlie grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Shit, Eliza. I’m sorry. Forget I said that. I was projecting. I hope that dick is miserable as hell.”

  I squeezed his hand back. “I hope so too.”

  The Washington Monument came into view as we crossed into D.C. Living in Maryland all my life, I had seen this view countless times, but it never failed to leave me breathless. Baltimore was my love, but Charlie was right, D.C. was in a category of its own. The history was palpable.

  We pulled into a packed parking garage. Luckily, Charlie had reserved a spot. Otherwise, we would have been out of luck.

  “What’s going on in the city today?” I asked.

  He waggled his eyebrows. “You’re about to find out!”

  When we got out of the car, Charlie popped his trunk and pulled out two poster boards attached to wooden sticks.

  “I think I know the answer, but ever been to a protest or march before?” he asked.

  “Never,” I said.

  He held up the posters, and as I read them, I laughed. The first had a picture of a heart-shaped Earth with the words, “I Love My Mother” circling around it, and the other sign had a picture of a polar bear on a tiny piece of ice and the words, “Not Cool.”

  “Did you paint these?” I asked. The signs were funny, but they were also really beautiful.

  He nodded. “Which one do you want?”

  I pointed to the one with the polar bear. I certainly didn’t want to carry a sign around that said I loved my mother, even if it was referring to Mother Earth.

  “Good choice.”

  When we walked out of the garage to the sidewalk, there were seas of people holding signs like ours, heading in the same direction. We joined in, and I was suddenly nervous.

  “I gathered we’re marching for the environment, right?” I asked.

  Charlie kept his hand on the small of my back, keeping me close. “We are. There were speakers earlier, but we missed them.”

  “Sorry! Some of us actually had to work!” I said.

  “Hey, I worked too. I just have minions who can run the shop when I’m not there.”

  As we approached Constitution Avenue, my nerves grew.

  “We’re not going to get arrested, are we?”

  Charlie let out a snort that turned into a belly laugh.

  “Don’t laugh at me! I’ve never done anything like this before!”

  He squeezed my waist as his laughter died down. “As long as you’re not planning to smash any windows, you’re not going to get arrested. This is all permitted. We’re good. And I’ll protect you when the riots start.” I stiffened, and he pulled me closer. “I’m kidding! There won’t be any riots unless you’re planning to start one.”

  When we reached Constitution Avenue, I gasped. The sea of people turned into a tidal wave. There were thousands upon thousands of people all walking together toward the U.S. Capitol, holding signs, singing, banging drums. I’d never seen anything like it.

  Charlie wove our fingers together and held my hand tight.

  “Don’t want to lose you,” he said.

  At first, I let the crowd carry me, overwhelmed. I looked around and read the signs people were carrying. A lot were funny like ours, some were angry, and several were incredibly poignant. There were a lot of young people, which was who I would expect to be at a march, but next to us
was a couple who looked like they were in their seventies. There were also families with children holding adorable signs, chanting along with their parents.

  I kind of loved it.

  Charlie tugged my hand and started dancing along to the drummers marching near us. He swung our hands between us, and I found myself moving with him to the beat.

  The crowd began chanting, “Hey, hey! Ho, ho! Climate change has got to go!” I yelled the words right along with them. I waved and woohoo’d at people standing on the steps of the buildings we passed.

  We must have walked a mile that way, chanting, dancing, and yelling. I had never experienced anything like it, but it was incredible. As we approached the Capitol, Charlie pulled me toward the sidewalk.

  “Where are we going? I want to march!” I said.

  Charlie laughed and squeezed my hand, the one he’d never let go of.

  “We’re at the end of the line! We can stand over here and watch the rest of the crowd go by.” He pulled me over to a monument and we climbed a few steps so we were at a higher vantage point. I was astounded by how many people were still marching toward the Capitol.

  “How many people do you think are here?” I asked.

  Charlie shrugged. “Maybe two or three hundred thousand?”

  My eyes widened. “Really?”

  A group of people walked by and yelled to us, “Awesome signs!” I raised mine above my head and did a little dance.

  We stayed there for a long time, reading signs, talking with our fellow marchers, watching as the crowd flowed by, until it finally slowed to a trickle.

  “Want to go get something to eat?” Charlie asked.

  “Yes, I’m starving from all that marching!”

  We walked hand in hand for a few blocks and turned down a narrow side street. Charlie led us to a small restaurant I would have never found on my own. The inside was all brick walls and reclaimed wood floors and cozy booths.

  “I love this place,” I said.

  Charlie chuckled. “You haven’t even had any of the food.”

  “I can tell it’s going to be delicious.”

  We sat in a small booth near the window and ordered a few appetizers to share instead of an entree. Everything was locally sourced, and I wanted to try one of each. I’d never had goat cheese fondue, but this was a day of firsts, as were most days with Charlie.