Cut Free (The Sublime Book 4)

by Julia Wolf

  I laughed. “We are.”

  “You should come with us. We’re seeing a show at Lucky tomorrow night. My friend from college, Alex, is coming,” said Joe.

  “He’s my date,” I told Charlie.

  “I don’t know, man. Sounds like I’d be fifth-wheeling it,” said Charlie.

  I elbowed his side playfully. “It’s a concert! It’s not like a candle-lit dinner. You should come.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah,” I said softly.

  Why had I invited Charlie on my date? It was most likely inadvisable to invite the guy I was crushing on hard to my first date with another man.

  “You sure?” he asked.

  No. “Yes!”

  “Cool.”

  Soon, Joe got out his guitar and sang and played for us for a while, and then he and Charlie swapped. Joe’s voice was raspy magic, but Charlie’s voice was smooth velvet. Rachel and I sang along with them and drank way too many beers, until it was well past midnight.

  Charlie was drunk, but I was drunker as we walked down Main Street with our arms around each other’s waists, holding one another up. Mostly, he was holding me up, and I was using it as an excuse to be close to him.

  “Charlieeeeee!” I sang out.

  “Yes, Miss Eliza?”

  I bumped him with my hip. “No ‘miss’!”

  He chuckled. “You’re really cute.”

  We stopped in front of my building, and he let me go, so I leaned back against the brick wall.

  “Great. Cute is exactly what I’m aiming for.”

  Charlie stepped closer, close enough I could feel the heat from his body. He reached up and dug his hands into the back of my hair, gripping it so I couldn’t look away.

  “Should I say you’re sexy as hell? Should I tell you how crazy you drive me every damn day?”

  Even in my drunken haze, his words affected me. My hand was shaking when I brought it up to his chest. My mouth was dry when I licked my lips. My core was on fire when I tilted my hips toward his.

  I wanted so badly to lean in those last couple inches and kiss him, but something held me back, and my brief hesitation was enough for Charlie to back away.

  “Charlie…” I started.

  “Go to sleep, Eliza.”

  “Good night, Charlie.”

  I felt him watching me until I was inside my apartment.

  Part of me hoped I would forget everything that had just happened by morning, and part of me wanted to remember every last detail.

  Damn.

  Eleven

  With a pounding head, I stumbled around my apartment. Whoever invented hangovers was not my friend.

  I pulled on my running tights, sports bra and T-shirt, gathered my hair into a ponytail, brushed my teeth, and drank a gallon of water. I was running a marathon in just a few weeks; I had no choice but to power through and stick to our training schedule.

  I remembered the night before, though my memories were all slightly hazy, as though I was looking at them through a filmy window. Charlie and I had been really close to kissing, but I wasn’t quite sure if I had been the one to initiate it. I could still feel his hand gripping my hair, but had I been the one to lean in? Had he been the one to pull away?

  God, I hoped our run wasn’t awkward. I couldn’t stand it if things changed between us.

  When I stepped outside, I almost missed the piece of paper halfway under my welcome mat. My stomach churned when I bent down to pick it up.

  Dear Miss Eliza,

  Something came up and I won’t be able to join you on our run today. Have no fear, I’ll stick to our training schedule and run on a treadmill later.

  Sorry to ditch you, but some things can’t be helped. And I owe you a ditch, don’t I? After this, we’re even and neither of us can skip out on a run again. Got it?

  You’re rad, and I really hope my completely inappropriate behavior last night didn’t change your opinion of me. I’m sorry for how I behaved. I’d like to blame the booze, but I really can’t.

  Have a good run without me slowing you down.

  Still your BFF,

  Charlie Hamada

  I crumpled up the paper and threw it on the ground. What could have come up at six-thirty in the morning?

  I ran down my steps, across the street, and stopped in front of Charlie’s building. The lights were off, and I couldn’t see any movement inside.

  Before I could think better of it, I raised my arms in the air and flipped him off. He’d never see it, but that little act of defiance made me feel better.

  I didn’t know what was keeping him away, but I was inexplicably pissed about it and his note. Why did he have to be so annoying and completely endearing at the same time?

  I took off running, and with each step, I pounded bits of my frustration into the ground. I had always been a solo runner, but having Charlie as a running partner had made me start to enjoy it. I actually looked forward to running now, rather than just going through the motions the way I had been a few weeks ago.

  Instead of chatting with my friend—because Charlie talked almost the entirety of every run, no matter how out of breath he was—I put in my earbuds and listened to a podcast as I ran and ran. Today was ten miles, so not a huge challenge for me, but tomorrow we were supposed to run seventeen. I didn’t want to do it without him. We only had four more weeks until the marathon, so each of our runs were important.

  My pace was faster than it had been lately, and I completed my ten miles in an hour and a half, so I still had plenty of time to practice my songs for the wedding before I went to work. Once I was cleaned up and dressed in my all black uniform, I went to the music shop, surprised to find it was open.

  When I went inside, it was quiet, but all the lights were on.

  “Hello,” I called out.

  “Is that my Eliza?” a deep, booming voice yelled from the storage area.

  “Abe?”

  He came out into the shop with a big grin and his arms open in front of him. He gathered me into a big hug and spun me around a few times.

  “It’s been too long!” he said.

  “I know! I don’t see you for a few months and you up and sell the place.”

  “You met Charlie, I hear?”

  I nodded. “A few times,” I said.

  “Well, the kid made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I don’t think he was even that interested in the shop. He wanted the apartment upstairs. But he’s really spruced up the place, don’tcha think?”

  I shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. If you like modern and bright and clean.”

  Abe threw his head back and laughed. “Not a fan of the new owner?”

  “No, I do like him. Change is what I’m not a fan of.”

  “Me either. But I met a lady…”

  I gasped. “What?”

  Abe’s wife had died two years ago, and he’d been devastated. They’d been married forever and were best friends. Even though Abe was handsome and a smidge dreamy in a Robert Redford or Paul Newman sort of way, I never thought I’d see the day when he’d say, “I met a lady.”

  “Her name’s Alice and we’re moving down south. I’m blowin’ this pop stand.”

  “You’re leaving me? And moving to Florida?”

  He shook his head. “Florida is out. The new place to retire is South Carolina. So that’s where we’re going.”

  “Wow. I’m going to miss you. I can’t believe you’re leaving me here with Charlie.”

  Abe laughed. “Somehow, I think you and Charlie will be okay.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Maybe. Now, you know how I feel about love stories, so tell me about Alice and falling in love.”

  “You know I wasn’t looking for another lady after my Maria died. No one could replace her. But I met Alice at the library one day. She noticed we were reading the same book and we got to talking. That first day we talked for an hour. Then we both started showing up at the library at the same time, same day. She made
me laugh, Eliza. Before we knew it, we were an integral part of each other’s lives. Neither of us were looking for love, and I didn’t think either of us noticed we were falling until we were already there.”

  I reached out and squeezed his hand. “That’s going into my top ten favorite love stories. I’ll call it ‘The Accidental Fall.’ Are you going to get married?”

  “Hell no!” he said gruffly.

  A surprised laugh slipped out of me. “Well, okay then!”

  “We’ve both been there, done that. We just want to live the rest of our years together. No need for a piece of paper.”

  I smiled softly. “I’m really happy for you and Alice. I’d rather you weren’t moving away, but I wish you many, many years of love and laughter.”

  Abe swiped my chin with his knuckle. “You always were a good egg, kiddo. I wish you the same for whatever fella sweeps you off your feet.”

  “I do have a date tonight. Maybe he’ll be the fella.”

  Abe raised his eyebrows. “With Charlie?”

  I scoffed. “No, why would you think that?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. We talk.”

  “And?”

  Abe waved me off. “And nothin’! Good luck with your fella tonight.”

  He wandered into the back room again, leaving me alone to pick apart what he’d just said about Charlie. Of course, now I was dying to know what was said during their “talks.”

  I sat at the piano and played “You’re My Best Friend” first. It was the simplest of the three songs, and I had almost perfected it.

  As I skated my fingers over the keys, I smiled to myself, thinking of Abe and Alice. Two years ago, he’d been a broken man when his wife died, and now he had a second chance. It always amazed me when I was reminded how resilient and capable of healing the heart was.

  I lingered in the shop to see if Charlie would appear, but he never did.

  I still had to go to work, and Saturdays were the busiest day at the salon. Rachel and I alternated weekend days off, so she wasn’t working today, but I didn’t have to work Sunday.

  Feeling slightly off-kilter when I arrived at the salon, I did the one thing that always righted me: I went into the color room to organize the product into neat rows. Then I straightened each chair and refolded a pile of towels. I made my way around the salon, making sure products were aligned and in the proper place, stacking magazines and wiping off any fingerprints I could find.

  I stood by the front door and surveyed the expansive room. It was almost gleaming, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. As tidy as the stylists who worked for me were, there was always going to be hair on the ground and drops of color on surfaces while they were busy with their clients. And I kept myself busy so the small messes didn’t drive me mad and I didn’t drive my employees mad with my impossibly high standards.

  Once stylists and clients started coming in, my hands and mind were fully focused on my job. I did haircuts and blow-dries and highlights and color. I wasn’t as passionate about being a hair stylist as Rachel was, but I loved most sides of the business. I wasn’t an outlandishly creative stylist like Frannie, but my clients came to me for classic cuts and color. I’d found my niche in the business years ago and rarely ventured out.

  Frannie walked by while I was applying color to my last client.

  “Ready for tonight?” she whispered cheekily, shimmying her shoulders.

  I gave her a small smile and nodded. I was getting excited, not that I wanted to talk about it in front of my client. Frannie brushed her fingers along my arm and continued by me.

  This might be the start of moving on. I didn’t really expect this one date with Alex would lead to a lifelong love affair, but I was open to seeing where it went. I was open to anything at this point. And that was the most exciting part of it all.

  Twelve

  Everything I did was wrong.

  “No! Don’t even think about it!” Frannie cried.

  “What about this?” I asked.

  Frannie grabbed the black shirt from me and threw it on the bed behind me.

  “Not gonna happen, sister!”

  I sighed and held my up hands. “I give up!”

  She put her hands on my shoulders and shook me playfully. “I won’t allow you to wear all black on your first date!”

  “I brought jeans, though!”

  I’d driven to Baltimore early so I could stop by Frannie and James’ condo to let her dress me before my date. Actually, she kind of threatened to take me down if I didn’t. She knew me too well, because without her tough love, I probably would have ended up in my fall back of all black.

  Frannie held up my jeans. “Jeans are fine, but you have fantastic legs. What about a dress?”

  “Frannie, you’re like a foot taller than me! Your dresses will probably be ankle-length on me!”

  She giggled. “Oh ye of little faith.” She started pushing through her closet and throwing dresses at me. “I’m not even going to bother with trying to get you in sequins.”

  “You know me so well,” I laughed. I held up the dresses she’d thrown at me, each smaller and brighter than the next. “Do these dresses actually cover all your parts?”

  She threw one more option at me and closed the closet door. “You know my legs are my favorite part, so I like to show them off. And James appreciates it when I do.”

  “I’m pretty sure James would appreciate you in a trash bag.”

  “He would, as long as my legs were showing!” She held up one of the dresses. “Ready to try one or two on?”

  I sighed. “I don’t think I’m in the mood for a dress tonight. I want to dance and jump around without worrying about my ass hanging out in front of my date.”

  Frannie nudged my calf with her toe. “Hey, that might get you a second date!”

  I threw a dress at her. “Too funny.”

  “You’re sure no dress?”

  “No dress.”

  We went through a few rounds of trying on different tops and finally agreed on a red tank with spaghetti straps that criss crossed over the open back.

  Frannie worked her magic on my hair, giving my poker-straight locks a little bit of a beachy wave.

  I sat on her toilet seat while she curled the last few pieces of my hair.

  “What do you know about this Alex guy?” she asked.

  “Not much, really. I’ve met him twice, I think. Joe’s known him since college and I trust him not to steer me wrong.”

  “Do you remember finding him attractive when you met him those two times?” she asked.

  “Well, objectively I can say I think he’s an attractive man. I wasn’t in a place to be attracted to him when I saw him those times, though.”

  She ran her fingers through my hair, separating the curls. “Mmhmm. And how’s Charlie?”

  “Charlie’s fine. He might be there tonight.”

  “What? Why?”

  Frannie put one hand on her hip and waved the curling iron around wildly with the other.

  “Joe invited him, and I kind of said it would be okay.”

  “So, you told the guy you’re totally crushing on—even if you won’t admit it—to crash your date?”

  I nodded meekly. “But he stood me up for our run this morning, so he probably won’t come to the show tonight.”

  Frannie put the curling iron down, thankfully, and sprayed my hair with hairspray.

  “You better call me and tell me what happens!”

  “You should come,” I said.

  “I’d love to, but James actually took a Saturday off from the bar, so once you’re gone, I plan to drag him away from his computer and have my way with him all night. Maybe we’ll take a break and go out to dinner or something, but I’m not in the mood to spend hours listening to music when I could be home making beautiful music in bed with my man.”

  Seeing Frannie and James in love was magic. They’d had so many obstacles to get over, but once they’d figured it out, they fit perfectly. Their versi
on of wildly in love was different than Rachel and Joe’s, but I was no less envious of them. Their love story was absolutely in my top ten favorites of all time. I titled it “The Leap of Faith.”

  “Frannie, I love you. And I don’t blame you one bit,” I said.

  She pointed at me. “But you’re going to call me, right?”

  I laughed. “Of course!”

  She wrapped her arms around me and gave me a tight hug. “You look beautiful and are a lovely, kind, wonderful person who deserves the best. Whatever happens tonight, remember that, okay, E?”

  Her words made my eyes burn and nose tingle. “Don’t make me cry!”

  She pushed me away gently and we walked to the door together. “Have fun tonight. Be wild and do all the things I would do.”

  I blew her a kiss. “You have fun tonight too. And thanks for being such a kick-ass friend.”

  When I walked up to the venue, Alex was pacing near the entrance.

  I touched his arm lightly. “Hey.”

  He broke into a wide grin, instantly calming the butterfly dance party in my stomach. I hadn’t been on a date in years, so I’d been nervous, but Alex’s warm smile and openly happy expression were all I needed to feel at ease.

  “Hey, Eliza. I’m glad you could make it.”

  We hugged briefly, but long enough for me to sniff him. He smelled like spicy soap, a scent I did not find unpleasant at all.

  “Did I pass the sniff test?” he asked.

  I laughed, and I knew my cheeks were red. “You did! Good job!” I held up my hand and he high-fived me.

  “Rachel and Joe are already inside. You ready?”

  I linked my arm with his and nodded.

  Lucky was more mellow than the times I’d been there to see a show in the past. On the darkened stage, there was an upright piano and three chairs evenly spaced with a drum kit in the shadows. I hadn’t even asked who was playing tonight, but the set-up had me excited to find out.

  Rachel and Joe were easy to find near the bar. After we all hugged and kissed and ordered drinks, we huddled together near the stage.